Apple eMac 17 in. (M8951E/A) Mac Desktop

First, I have always had a mac. I started out in education and even though I am no longer in education, I have stuck with macs. Never been dissatisfied with one yet! The new eMac is perfect!! So many great things! First, at little background. I have owned a Performa, then an iMac and now the eMac. I am not technically literate on computers, just use 'em for surfing the web, home movies, word processing, balancing the checkbook and now even so much more with the new eMac! So don't expect a technical review. Just a stay-at-home mom general user type review!!
Reason I choose and eMac over another iMac? Price. The major difference to me was appearance (I know, other technical differences, but all I needed for home use was included in both the eMac and iMac). The iMac is slimmer and trimmer. But the eMac is a great price considering all it does! It is just bigger than an iMac.
What do I love about my eMac? Where do I begin? OS X is great! The ease of use is even better than classic. Best of all you can run both classic and OS X!! So, all the "old" stuff still works! OS X has some changes from classic, which are easy to adjust to once you use it a few time. Changes include smoother look, where to close windows, where the "launcher" is located, now called a "dock" is among other things.
Now, onto my favorite, the Superdrive!! Yes it's a cd player, cd burner, dvd player AND dvd burner! Hook up the mini-dv video camera via firewire and you've got a fantastic set up to burn your home movies on dvd. If you haven't tried iMovie, which comes on your eMac, you MUST! It is soooo easy to figure out and easy to use. You will become addicted to creating home movie dvds!! I learned how to use iMovie and burn a dvd in less than a week while creating a music video for our youth group that featured a mission trip! Adding audio is a breeze!! I'm also looking forward to putting in the VHS movies (through my video camera) and turning them into dvds!!!
Which brings us to iTunes! Put in all your favorite songs, download off the internet, etc. I don't have an iPod yet, but the ease of iTunes combined with an iPod can't be difficult!
Then there is Safari, you internet browser (Internet Explorer is also on the eMac). You will feel like you are on a Safari! It is easy to use and I love the bookmarks being right up top! You can have up to ten bookmarks right on the top of your screen in addition to the others that you put in your bookmark folders. Google is right up top too, so no more going to a new web page to search. It's already there!
Mail is the e-mail program. That is the one downside with my eMac. I've had a little trouble getting the mail all the time. Sometimes it will say that there is no mail, when really there is. Could be my DSL connection, but I doubt it. The program is easy to use, when it is working properly. Easy to add a person to your address book, which is called "Address Book".
Onto iPhoto! Wow, haven't even fully explored this one yet! But what I have used, putting a picture in, or exporting a clip from iMovie, is so easy! This is truly the computer for the computer illiterate! I can't wait to try a digital camera and just hook it up to the USB port and import my picts! Then I will be able to create slideshows just as easy as creating movies in iMovie! These are things that I use daily.
I haven't even taken the time to explore Garage Band (a music creating program), iCal (calendar), and several other things.
What I can tell you is that for the "average" computer user, who wants a computer to store digital photos, home movies, word processing, internet, keeping finical records, sending e-mail, keeping a calendar - this is it! I have very few problems with "freezing" or other technical difficulties.
I went with bluetooth. The wireless mouse and keyboard are an added bonus! You can be across the room and be typing away. The mouse works on any surface and doesn't need to be on a mouse pad! Wireless is the way to go - no more shifting cords here and there!!!
Overall a user friendly computer that is a great tool at home! Not to mention many schools still use Macs. So, when my son is at school he uses the same computer! A nice plus for him.