Four and half years ago, in July 2000, Apple launched what was arguably the world’s first small form factor PC ? the Power Macintosh G4 Cube. Largely for reasons of poor pricing, the Cube flopped and production ended barely a year after its launch. However, the design concept put the seed of an idea in the PC world, and 15 months after the launch of the Cube, in October of 2001, Shuttle launched the SV24 ? the first of many small form factor ?Wintel? computers based around the same idea. Unlike Apple, Shuttle and their peers were to turn the concept into a commercial success, but in terms of design elegance the original Cube arguably has yet to be bettered ? and it still remains smaller than the typical SFF machine at only 10? by 8? by 8?.

Fast forward to October 2004 and the PC world is still producing small form factor PCs that are almost identical in design to the original Cube or SV24. If you were to compare the basic design of the original SV24 with those of Shuttle’s latest and greatest you’ll find few differences, other than some cosmetic case changes and updated chipsets. In terms of concept, little has changed in three years ? although enthusiasts would claim that this is the result of having got it right first time. Apple, however, has moved on in their design thinking and in September’s Apple Expo in Paris it unveiled its latest offering ? the iMac G5. The most striking thing about the new iMac is that the screen is the computer ? the computer has essentially now disappeared and the whole thing fits into a widescreen 17? or 20? TFT LCD display that is a mere 2? (2.5cm) thick. That’s thinner than many LCD displays! A small form factor PC with separate LCD screen suddenly begins to look not so small.

 

Of course, the all-in-one computer is nothing new. The earliest personal computers often were built into their CRT screens, and so were the first generation iMacs and the current budget eMac machines. However, packing a computer into an LCD screen is somewhat harder due to the much reduced volume of the display. Sony tried to do this with their $2000 VAIO PCV-W series, as did Gateway with their Profile 5 series, but neither company managed to truly engineer an all-in-one machine ? they are both essentially minitowers glued to the back of a screen. All-in-one in name only ? lacking the expandability of a machine built from separates, and lacking the space-saving elegance of a true all-in-one machine. Few would argue that the iMac G5 is the first real all-in-one computer, exhibiting a fusion of design and engineering that leaves current PC designs in the dust. For the first time that I can remember, the new iMac is being applauded not just by the Apple-enthusiast media, but by the mainstream PC press as well. By way of example, PC Magazine gushed:

?Apple has another design coup on its hands with the Apple iMac G5. Its clean, simple look?imagine if an iPod grew into a full-size, self-contained PC?exclaims, “It’s about time they designed a computer like this.” ... Simple, stunning all-in-one design. Quiet. Just one cord (for power), thanks to optional Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. More compact than other all-in-one desktops. Gorgeous 20-inch screen and desktop-caliber hard drive make machine more usable than a desktop-replacement notebook, for the same money and space use. ?

next >

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• Let the flames ignite... (1 of 8)
• The iMac G5 20? Specifications (2 of 8)
• First impressions (3 of 8)
• Mac OS X - probably the best OS in the world? (4 of 8)
• Bundled applications (5 of 8)
• MacOS X the memory hog - Mushkin to the rescue! (6 of 8)
• Benchmarks (7 of 8)
• Conclusions (8 of 8)