Other Gadgets (general gadgets)

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by taxwonk
Thank Fucking God. After a couple of days, I was laying low, thinking I'd broken this board for good.

CES gave us some nice fodder. Also, Macworld starts today, and there are plenty of rumors about what we might see in tomorrow's keynote.

My wishlist: a headless imac in a stereo component form factor that will slip into my component rack. Would love if if had the following:

-DVD R/W (superdrive)
-80gb HDD minumum (smallest drive currently available in the iMac is 80GB)
-Airport Extreme (802.11g) for streaming audio (not yet enough bandwidth for streaming video)
-Bluetooth (for use with the apple wireless mouse)
-HD out (component, DVI, HDMI) in 720p
-Full OSX with an optional UI layer specifically designed for display on the lower resolution of a tv screen

A superdrive at this pricepoint (rumored to be $499) is unlikely, I know. Still, if anything like the rest of these specs materializes, it will replace my DVD player and CD changer, making a tidy home server for both music and video.

If apple does something like this right, they won't be able to make enough of them.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
a headless imac in a stereo component form factor that will slip into my component rack.

.

Aren't these two separate products?

1) A low-cost Mac box for PC converts. Bring your own monitor

2) An home audio/video center with Mac panache that allows full integration with current itunes/iphoto/imovie.

On the latter, which I'd love (Tivo doesn't have it quite right), why not a much larger HD? I suppose FW ports would be enough--my entire CD collection, ripped in lossless format, could reside on a couple of HDs in my stereo cabinet.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Aren't these two separate products?

1) A low-cost Mac box for PC converts. Bring your own monitor

2) An home audio/video center with Mac panache that allows full integration with current itunes/iphoto/imovie.

On the latter, which I'd love (Tivo doesn't have it quite right), why not a much larger HD? I suppose FW ports would be enough--my entire CD collection, ripped in lossless format, could reside on a couple of HDs in my stereo cabinet.

Why clutter the product matrix with 2 devices? I think you could serve both markets with the same box. A base system for your #1; a media center config for #2. Sure, a much larger HDD would be terrific, but I was trying to stick to the $499 price point floating around on the rumor sites.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
Why clutter the product matrix with 2 devices? I think you could serve both markets with the same box. A base system for your #1; a media center config for #2. Sure, a much larger HDD would be terrific, but I was trying to stick to the $499 price point floating around on the rumor sites.

Because it seems that you're tailoring the machine to do two different things. I suppose you could have a single box, but a low-end mac would have different features than a media server, it seems.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Because it seems that you're tailoring the machine to do two different things. I suppose you could have a single box, but a low-end mac would have different features than a media server, it seems.

I'm not sure that they would be all that different at the most basic level (form factor, HDD, firewire, optical drive). The differences might be wrapped up in a BTO "home media package" or something similar, which could give you the tv-specific features and bumped-up HDD and RAM.

[andViolins]

www.macrumors.com seems to believe that the big announcement at the macworld show will be the iPod micro. A 1G device with no screen. 4 buttons on a little white device that can play the songs only in one set order or in a random fashion. Hence the slogan.

aV

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by andViolins
www.macrumors.com seems to believe that the big announcement at the macworld show will be the iPod micro. A 1G device with no screen. 4 buttons on a little white device that can play the songs only in one set order or in a random fashion. Hence the slogan.

aV

An italian fanboy site posted pics yesterday but then took them down. I think there must be something to the headless mac idea, or Apple would not have gone after ThinkSecret the way that they did.

[NotFromHere]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
An italian fanboy site posted pics yesterday but then took them down. I think there must be something to the headless mac idea, or Apple would not have gone after ThinkSecret the way that they did.

No surprises.

SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Computer Inc. Tuesday said it would begin selling a stripped-down Macintosh computer without monitor, keyboard or mouse for $499 and new iPod digital music players costing as little as $99.

[Alex_de_Large]

As the good folks at Gizmodo said, it's the iPodPregancyTest.

[mmm3587]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
My wishlist: a headless imac in a stereo component form factor that will slip into my component rack. Would love if if had the following:

-DVD R/W (superdrive)
-80gb HDD minumum (smallest drive currently available in the iMac is 80GB)
-Airport Extreme (802.11g) for streaming audio (not yet enough bandwidth for streaming video)
-Bluetooth (for use with the apple wireless mouse)
-HD out (component, DVI, HDMI) in 720p
-Full OSX with an optional UI layer specifically designed for display on the lower resolution of a tv screen

A superdrive at this pricepoint (rumored to be $499) is unlikely, I know. Still, if anything like the rest of these specs materializes, it will replace my DVD player and CD changer, making a tidy home server for both music and video.

If apple does something like this right, they won't be able to make enough of them.

The specs look pretty sweet. Price is reasonable, but not great, considering the optional pricing:

512MB SDRAM - +$75
1G SDRAM +$350

Superdrive +$100

Bluetooth +$50

Airport +$75

Matching wired keyboard and mouse +$58
Matching bluetooth keyboard and mouse +$99

I like the approach, I think. You can get a sweet component computer system, totally wireless, pretty quick, all necessary goodies, for $1000. And it's tiny and looks awesome. But, it's pricey for a non-Mac crowd. This might be my first Mac since an 8100/110, but it doesn't seem like as much of a homerun as the iPod. Still, they'll make money. Apple is strong, and Jobs has clearly shown himself to be a true visionary. Fuck, I wish I had bought AAPL when it was languishing in the fucking teens for several years.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by mmm3587

I like the approach, I think. You can get a sweet component computer system, totally wireless, pretty quick, all necessary goodies, for $1000. And it's tiny and looks awesome. But, it's pricey for a non-Mac crowd.

Yeah, but I think they figure you already have some of those bits, like a monitor and keyboard, and that you don't really need bluetooth, at least if you're just starting out. Making the price even lower.

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Yeah, but I think they figure you already have some of those bits, like a monitor and keyboard, and that you don't really need bluetooth, at least if you're just starting out. Making the price even lower.

Agreed. If this has digital audio out I would have already ordered one. With a bluetooth wireless mouse, this would be a cool home media server

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
Agreed. If this has digital audio out I would have already ordered one. With a bluetooth wireless mouse, this would be a cool home media server

ETA: here is a solution for the optical audio out...

[yadda yadda yadda]

Originally posted by Alex_de_Large
ETA: here is a solution for the optical audio out...

Have you ordered one yet?

[Alex_de_Large]

Originally posted by yadda yadda yadda
Have you ordered one yet?

:-) No, not yet.