Apple Power Mac Desktop M8787LL/A (867-MHz DP PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 60GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

[Archived in Apple, Apple Computer, Power Mac G4 Desktops, Products]

Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Price at amazon.com: This item is currently not available.

Product Description:

The new dual 867 MHz Power Mac G4 combines the brawn of two fast processors with improved system throughput, and features a high-performance graphics processor, a combination DVD player/CD burner, and the new Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar preloaded. The dual 867 MHz processors enable the Power Mac to run professional applications like Adobe Photoshop up to 45 percent faster than a 2.53 GHz Pentium 4-based PC. And it's not all about processor speed--a 133 MHz system bus, new memory cache technology boosts, and other engineering improvements inspired by Apple's new Xserve server architecture boost the speed of throughput between main memory and the system controller. Graphics performance is excellent, with nVidia's GeForce4 MX graphics processor and Mac OS X Jaguar's new Quartz Extreme--a breakthrough combination of software and hardware that accelerates the compositing of 2- and 3-D images using your graphics card instead of the main processor. This gives the Power Mac G4 an order-of-magnitude advance in graphics capabilities--including color, lighting, modeling, transformations, texture mapping, motion blur, and more. In addition, the Power Mac lets you spread your work across two monitors for a larger workspace. This Power Mac comes with a fast 60 GB Ultra-ATA hard disk drive and three additional 3.5-inch hard disk drive expansion bays--with support for a total of up to four internal hard drives, for up to 480 GB of possible storage. Since Mac OS X has the ability to burn CDs built right into the system software, you can burn data CDs to archive your work with point-and-click ease, minutes after you take your new system out of its box. It also accommodates a second DVD or CD drive, so you can even watch a DVD movie while your work is burning to disc, or archive material at the same time. You also get the benefit of built-in Gigabit Ethernet for shooting large files across your network at previously unheard-of speeds, the 108-key Apple Pro keyboard, a 56K modem, four USB ports and two high-speed FireWire ports for connecting all kinds of peripherals, and an AirPort card slot. Four PCI expansion slots are also integrated directly into the main system controller, speeding expansion cards' throughput.

Description from Manufacturer:The new dual 867 MHz Power Mac G4 combines the brawn of two fast processors with improved system throughput, and features a high-performance graphics processor, a combination DVD player/CD burner, and the new Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar preloaded.

The dual 867 MHz processors enable the Power Mac to run professional applications like Adobe Photoshop up to 45 percent faster than a 2.53 GHz Pentium 4-based PC. And it's not all about processor speed--a 133 MHz system bus, new memory cache technology boosts, and other engineering improvements inspired by Apple's new Xserve server architecture boost the speed of throughput between main memory and the system controller.

Graphics performance is excellent, with nVidia's GeForce4 MX graphics processor and Mac OS X Jaguar's new Quartz Extreme--a breakthrough combination of software and hardware that accelerates the compositing of 2- and 3-D images using your graphics card instead of the main processor. This gives the Power Mac G4 an order-of-magnitude advance in graphics capabilities--including color, lighting, modeling, transformations, texture mapping, motion blur, and more. In addition, the Power Mac lets you spread your work across two monitors for a larger workspace.

This Power Mac comes with a fast 60 GB Ultra-ATA hard disk drive and three additional 3.5-inch hard disk drive expansion bays--with support for a total of up to four internal hard drives, for up to 480 GB of possible storage.

Since Mac OS X has the ability to burn CDs built right into the system software, you can burn data CDs to archive your work with point-and-click ease, minutes after you take your new system out of its box. It also accommodates a second DVD or CD drive, so you can even watch a DVD movie while your work is burning to disc, or archive material at the same time.

You also get the benefit of built-in Gigabit Ethernet for shooting large files across your network at previously unheard-of speeds, the 108-key Apple Pro keyboard, a 56K modem, four USB ports and two high-speed FireWire ports for connecting all kinds of peripherals, and an AirPort card slot. Four PCI expansion slots are also integrated directly into the main system controller, speeding expansion cards' throughput.Average Customer Rating:

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Comment: unbelieveably noisy Rating:
I've never written a review for Amazon before, but I feel I must to urge people away from this this product. The primary issue with it is the fan noise. At times it sounds like a jet fighter taking off, at others a whiny AC or air filter set to maximum power. When you're trying to concentrate to get work done, or playing a game, it gets in the way. That alone would be enough to avoid a purchase, but there are other issues.

It's prone to crash when you use an app that is intensive in sound and 3D graphics - in other words, games. When this 1st happened I went thru multiple diagnostics to find out what the issue was. One thing I found, from using Apple's own testing tools, was that the memory chip was corrupted. I got that replaced, but later crashes still occur. I later find out from developers, that their sound API is very unstable.

'Crashes happen in PC's too' you may say. That's true, but when this so called uncrashable OS crashes, its messy and un-graceful. You can't force quit the program under a severe crash, and there is no way to force a reboot - no reset button, no cntl-alt-delete mechanism outside of pressing the power button for 10 seconds, or unplugging the cord (and I'm aware of the combo with esc-opt-eject whatever, that doesn't work).

This is obviously a system that was rushed out of the gate w/o sufficient testing and review. By far the worst computer Apple ever produced. Think different Apple.

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Comment: Good If You Need Flexibility Rating:
Originally I set out with the 17" iMac as the kind of machine I'd like most. But when I saw the actual screen at the Apple Store, I found it to handle text and pictures fairly poorly [not that it's worse than most LCD screens out there] and so the only alternative was to go to the Tower, which also gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of memory, hard-drives and driving multiple screens at the same time [important if you're going to do video editing].

I can't say much for Apple's quality control, as it seems I ended up with a lemon with my first one, after a very frustrating week spending endless hours on the phone with the help desk. They finally agreed to replace it, and I haven't had any major problems since. Keep in mind that the software bundle with the Tower does NOT include any word processing application. Currently there is a deal to buy Microsoft's Office suite in conjunction with a computer purchase for $199, and I think that's a great deal for a superior product to it's PC mothership.

OS X.2/Jaguar is definitely very sophisticated, yet simpler to use than OS 9.2. But it certainly isn't nearly as reliable as they would have you believe. There are still going to be numerous reboots necessary--just not nearly as many as with another OS [certainly not as many as on Windows ___].

There is definitely the idea in the computer world, from the software point of view, that Mac/OS X makes you some kind of "red-haired stepchild." The difficulty is more with websites/software that don't make clear they have no Mac/OS X version right upfront. There are also some problems with printers etc. not having the proper drivers. But in compensation, the Mac "community" [and I think it can be rightly called that] steps in with a much more personalized response to specific issues to help you out. They want to help you have the best computer experience possible, and I think on balance you end up with one with a Mac in general, and specifically with this Tower should you need the specific flexibility I've mentioned.

I recommend getting the "Superdrive" option with it, so you can burn DVD's for storage or video display. Also I recommend buying extra RAM memory [DDR memory is more expensive, yet not noticeably faster--but you have to get it], and another hard drive. It's a pain to install [why can't they put any time in the design of things like that as they do other elements??], but great to have onboard instead of as a firewire-connected model. I really like my Monsoon speakers as well.

I got the LaCie 19-III monitor, which is terrific. Unfortunately OS X's "text smoothing" results in blurry, inconsistent text letters [even on their Cinema Displays], but I find the CRT superior for color correcting photos/video and a lot cheaper for what you're getting than LCD's. Apple customer service is definitely a cut above the average intelligence, but they're not very good at follow-up or dealing with major issues that don't meet their initial job descriptions. The also are only open until 6PM pst, so that leaves out a lot of time when you may need help.

Bottom line: not a breakthrough Apple product, but a good value and the best computer if you're going to be using Photoshop, iMovie/Final Cut Pro etc. and want to use monitors that are going to produce the best results.

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Comment: Power^2 Rating:
This computer is FAAAAAAAST. Fast is the only way to describe it. Having TWO G4 processors at 867 MHZ makes this machine absolutely scream through all of the tasks I can put it through. Since OS X takes advantage of both processors as well as the velocity "Altivec" engine, all system tasks are completed instantaneously.

Now that more and more applications are being released for OS X, there is no need to boot into OS 9(although it is still possible). OS X is the future of computing. A Rock solid UNIX foundation ensures that your computer will virtually never crash. I have had mine for almost two months, and the system has never crashed on me. Apps(Internet explorer, for one) have crashed before but it doesn't cause a full fledged system lockup.

The one thing that you will need to do is buy an extra 512 MB of RAM. In this case, you need PC2100 DDR RAM(266MHz).

The graphics performance of this machine is also quite impressive. I personally bought the Radeon 9000 Pro with my machine but this particular model comes stock with the GeForce 4 MX. This card is good for current games(Q3, RTCW, Medal of Honor, Warcraft 3), but the lack of shaders and advanced Anti Aliasing capability mean that games like Doom 3 will struggle to play smoothly.

The Specs listed on Amazon's page are a little misleading. It says, for instance that the machine comes with 1 MB of L2 cache, when in fact it comes with 1 MB of L3 cache as well as 256k L2 cache. the L3 cache really adds an extra kick to the processors ability to crunch information without having to access the RAM or the hard drive.
Also, it says the machine is not 3d capable. Huh? I believe the fact that it has a 3d card makes it quite capable.
Amazon's specs for the combo drive are also incorrect. the CD-RW part of the combo drive can write at 16x and rewrite at 10x.

Anyway, from my own experience, this is a wonderful machine that has it waiting for me more than me waiting for it. Highly recommended.

Posted at November 11, 2003 07:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)