now that there's a new emac/imac.

[i need help]

Okay, two options, obviously the imac is better, but what i wanna know is, how much better. I'm debating between a 1.42ghz g4 emac with the following options:
-512mb memory
-160gb hard drive
-airport extreme
--this comes out to $910.00

or the following 1.8ghz g5 imac:
-512mb hard drive
-160gb hard drive
-(included) airport extreme
--this comes out to $1200.00

I guess my main question is, will that $300 be worth the extra boost in speed. I'm in high school and really all i do is email/aim chat, light music downloading, word processing, no gaming or anything that really sucks the juice out of the comp. However, i might try recording a song or two here and there, but again nothing too extreme.

btw, im leaning towards the emac just because $300 is a lot of money to high school kid, so really take that price into account.

[johnq]

G5, hell yeah. You'll get more enjoyment from it over the long haul because it'll seem "fast" for longer.

[IonYz]

I guess my main question is, will that $300 be worth the extra boost in speed.

Yup. I don't own any Macs with a G5 chip but if Apple lists it as a requirement (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/hdgallery/recommendations.html) for playing HD video it's gotta be fast. In the long run, your gonna want that "speed boost".

[Luca]

The G5 will be a bit faster, but I think the more important thing is the quality of the display. The iMac's display is FAR better than the eMac's cruddy CRT.

[alcimedes]

just the difference in eye strain between the eMac and the iMac would be enough for me to shell out $300.

go with the iMac.

[Stevuh]

The iMac will last a while and the eMac won't. The eMacs are slow when you open them out of the box. at least they always felt that way to me. But those iMacs are awesome. and they will last a while if you treat them right.

[Luca]

eMacs aren't slow unless they don't have enough RAM, like the low-end one.

You know, there are some good deals on previous-model iMacs in Apple's special deals section. Click the red "SAVE" tag in the lower right and scroll down to see them. You can get the 1.6 GHz Combo drive model for $899, and the 1.8 GHz Superdrive for $999. They come with 256 MB of RAM, though, so you'll want to add at least another 256 MB if you go for one. But remember that the new ones come with Bluetooth, Airport Extreme, a faster video card, a larger hard drive, more RAM to begin with, and higher processor speeds. I'd only get one of those models if I were really short on cash.

[kretara]

If you must go with an AIO (all-in-one) computer I say go with the iMac. The eMac is a dog because of its crappy CRT. I believe that you would be much happier with the 17" LCD over the CRT.
To echo Luca, look at the "refurbs". Up until I bought my Mini, all of my Macs had been refurbs (or ebay) and all the refurbs were perfect.