Apple Power Macintosh G4 Cube 15 in. (B5073LL/A) Mac Desktop

The Apple G4 Cube may someday become a collector's item. Behold, you've heard it here first.

But as Today matters most, Apple's G4 Cube is a modern day marvel of Apple Computer's engineering which has reduced this remarkable machine to one quarter the size of a traditional desktop computer. It is a similar wonder of product design, that trademark Apple genius, which has transformed the Cube into an aesthetically pleasing home and business companion. Whatever would I do without my Cube? In the immortal words of Marvin the Paranoid Android, I would probably "sit in the corner and rust, or fall apart where I'm standing."

Looks:

The computer itself is a less than 8 inch by 8 inch cube of computer pugnacity. From above, it looks a bit like your kitchen toaster, as its slot loading DVD/CD drive sits splendidly at a vertical position. In addition, the top of the Cube features an oval filled with grates, allowing the hot air to rise up and out, providing for greater cooling ability. The Cube itself is grey in hue, and is surrounded by a shield of diaphanous plastic armour. Above the grate is an on/off button built-in and flush against its roof. When the Cube is running, the light glows softly, in the shade of pale pink. Above the on/off switch another much more slender oval fitted with two regular rows of holes provides additional venting for the heat generated by this super computer beastie.

I should also mention that when you need to pop in some added RAM, you can easily remove the core of the Cube from its crystalline outer casing. At this point, the inner core, now visible, will look like some kind of beautifully designed Nuclear fission experiment that your buddies will be drooling over in awe. Clearly, just as the clean design of its exterior extends into the design of its interior, so indeed does this attention to detail transfer to its ease of use and functionality.

TECH SPECS
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Processor:

450 or 500 MHz PowerPC G4 processor
Velocity Engine vector processing unit (superior to the PC processing system, pound for pound it wields more power)
Full 128-bit internal memory data paths
Powerful floating-point unit supporting single-cycle, double-precision calculations
1MB backside level 2 cache running at 225 MHz
100MHz system bus supporting up to 800-MBps data throughput

Memory:
Comes with 128 MB RAM installed. Can hold up to 1.5 GB of Memory. You know, in case Netscape gets any fatter or slower.

Sound:
Twin USB Harmon Cardon Speakers which look like crash-landed Alien technology, two clear globes with speakers mounted on their faces, provide great stereo sound. It's not hard to see why stereo makers are concerned these days. Most college kids have ditched their Sonys in favour of PC and Mac desktop MP3/DVD/CD/streaming media playing entertainment centers. Are grownups next? My vote already reads: Yes! Now, would anyone like to buy my boom box?

Modem:
Features a built-in 56K modem, you know, for emergencies. Just kidding. But with a fine machine such as this, Cable/DSL high speed is the way to go. You wouldn't drive a Pinto in a street race, would you?

Size and weight:

Height: 9.8 inches (24.8 cm)
Width: 7.7 inches (19.5 cm)
Width: 7.7 inches (19.5 cm)
Weight: Approximately 14 pounds (6.4 kg)

The Rest
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Accessories:

Beautiful silver-grey keyboard, inset with semi-permeable charcoal black keys which allow you
to see the diodes and resisters which sit beneath them. Includes 15 assignable function keys, volume controls and an eject button (overdue, especially if you used to own an iMac which lacked the latter two features.)

You also get an elegant, comfortable USB Apple Optical Mouse which is a combination of black and clear plastic. And a red glow emanates from beneath. It is also a one button mouse. You will either love or hate this. Personally, I do a lot of gaming and I found that I needed to buy a 5 button optical mouse made by the Evil Empire in Redmond, WA. And even though the MSFT mouse died after a few months, they couriered me a new one (a better model I might add) right away. I couldn't help myself, it was like "Luke, come over to the Dark Side ... I've got a 5 button mouse for you!"

Apple also throws in a Firewire cable which you can use to hook up to your cam corder or other Firewire-ready device.

Monitor:

A monitor is not included, but I would recommend the 17 inch Apple Monitor. It has a see-through back where you can see wires and all kinds of electronic wizardry. It offers fantastic colour and resolution and while you are sitting in front of it, it appears to be a flat screen. (A fact that will save you a thousand or so bucks on buying a real one.) You may also be surprised that the monitor dwarfs the Cube itself, in terms of size. That's not really a drawback, but it is something that will astonish you, early on.


Graphics:

Their ATI Rage Pro graphics card gives you very good bang for your buck, as far as graphics rendering goes. You can upgrade (before buying only, I might warn you) it to an even more powerful graphics card called NVIDIA Ge-Force, but I've had lots of fun playing RAM guzzling applications such as Unreal Tournament, Rune and Elite force and I've had great results so far without the upgrade. Hint: you might want to crank in some extra RAM since OS's are getting more and more unwieldy (OS X requires over 100 MB dedicated to the system itself!).

I personally have 320 MB locked in the core of my cube. And while it may seem excessive, it makes gaming and multi-tasking a real joy. I haven't to worry what programs I've got running in the background for the longest time. Sometimes, I'm surprised when I notice I've forgotten to close 5 or 6 applications after surfing the web with Explorer or Netscape. Since RAM prices are pretty good, I'd load up here if I was buying a new Cube today. Again, it's like putting unleaded fuel in your Jaguar XJS -- it only feels right.

Cube is Airport Ready:

This means your Cube can hold an Airport card that allows you to surf the Net, 150 feet away from your internet provider source (Cable) even through walls, floors and ceilings! No word as to whether you could secretly surf using only your next door neighbour's cable connection ... but probably not.

Storage:

20 GB hard drive. Good enough for most people, unless you are a budding film editor. In that case, you would be wise to purchase an additional external drive. Hint: You might want to have a means to back up that 20 GB of data, since bad things do happen to good people. And 20 GB of space will lull a lot of people into a false sense of security. For instance, due to the vast size of your drive, you may not even consider backing up a year's work of work, MP3 hoarding, and personal information ... until it is too late. Be it a ZIP drive, CD-R, or something else - by all means, splurge!

DVD or CD-RW:

All of which brings me to this item. At this point, G4 Cubes are no longer being sold in retail. But so that you know what is out there, you should know that the 450 MHz Cube comes with either DVD player or CD-RW drive. I already had a great CD-RW drive (Lacie - see my review) so I opted for the DVD. Too say the least, I was very satisfied. DVDs play wonderfully on my monitor and over my funky Harmon Kardon speakers. The 500 MHz edition comes with a 60 GB HD, the GeForce card, 256 MB of RAM and CD-RW. This model never offered the option of DVD, as far as I know.

USB/FW/Ethernet:

The Cube features two USB ports, two Firewire ports and an Ethernet port.

Software:

Mac OS 9 (offers an excellent resource in Sherlock, which lets you scour your HD or the web from
your desktop), iMovie 2 (for budding editors), Quicktime, iTunes (a great music player which simultaneously displays an ever-changing rainbow of psychedelic designs on your screen, and lets you listen to streaming Net radio -- although iTunes' extensions may conflict with your CD-burning software if you have an external burner), some business and office type software and a few games (the games are only included on the CD-RW version).

Set-Up:

Having said so much, can it possibly be simple to set up? Pretty much. There are very few cables or connections to worry about. None of them requires opening a thick manual in order to match them up with their destination. Plug your keyboard into your monitor. Power cable to Cube. Speakers to monitor. Mouse to keyboard. Ethernet cable to Cube (if you've got a cable modem). That's it. Then, once you turn on your Cube you will be pampered by a set-up assistant to register your Cube and set up your internet service. But you can easily quit the tutorial and do it yourself. At this point, you're ready to roll.

Warranty:

The Cube comes with a standard One Year parts and service warranty. I would advise you to buy it on a credit card that doubles (or adds a year) to warranties on items purchased with it. American Express and many other companies offer this feature. Regardless of whether you have that deal in place, I would suggest that you purchase the extended warranty for another 200 or so bucks. This will give you plenty peace of mind and will increase its resale value (not that you'd ever part with this lovely little fellow!). Perhaps, this warranty is all the more important, since Apple has discontinued producing the Cube. Its downfall was essentially bad marketing by Apple that left a lot of people confused as to the difference between the Cube and the Desktop G4. The short answer is: the Cube is a higher end product for people who wanted more power than they were getting from their iMacs; though, like the iMac, it is not as expandable as the Desktop G4 Tower (as far as adding various cards and upgrading processors to higher speeds).

The Bad:

Not much. I knew when I bought my Cube I was stuck at 450 MHz and that it is not upgradeable. I know I can't upgrade my video card or stick a TV tuning card in it. But I'm still happy with my choice.

One minor thing: if you need to plug/unplug ethernet or USB ports frequently then it might annoy you somewhat to keep turning your techno super-cube on its side to access its beautiful, technologically perfect underbelly.
It is stocky and you must be careful to treat it with all the respect due to a marvel of its sort. That, and, if you don't tip it slightly and carefully (onto a soft cloth, although mine prefers velvet), the power cord might yank out, therby dissipating your new screenplay into the ether.

Of course having these cables hidden away makes for a much better, neater appearance -- and you know this, if you've taken a look at the back of a desktop PC lately.

Of course, in a pinch, you could use the extra USB port on the keyboard or another on the monitor (if you unplug the speakers). There. That was my most ferocious attempt at criticism of this finely fangled beast.

[An Update: Jan 14th, 2002. The Cube, having been discontinued by Apple, has actually gone up in price in a number of dealers' stores and auctions, and in general, has held its value rather well. A small surprise, perhaps. But one not unwarranted, as this is a one of a kind item indeed.]

One More Unexpected Bonus:

Your Cube will run quietly.

How did they manage this? Cool air enters through an aperture one-third the height of the Cube, in the shape of a wide arch, and is located at the rear of the case where USB/Firewire/Ethernet cables feed into your Mac. In turn, heat exhausts by rising through grates in the top of its case. Brilliant, innit?

It has no fan!

That's right. As it churns away, clocking billions and billions of operations per second, indefatigably crunching some inhumanely large computation, you can be assured there will be no headache inducing background buzz, nor any distracting whirrings as you put your feet up on your desk, listening for any sign of your boss's impending return.

Pure paradise. Cubed.