It could have been a grim twelvemonth for hardware on the Mac . After all , one of the most hoped-for hardware products — a 3GHz Power Mac promised by Steve Jobs way back in 2003 — never materialize thanks to large - than - carry challenge in promote the G5 mainframe ’s clock amphetamine .
But 2004stillturned out to be an excellent year for Mac computer hardware , as both Apple and third - political party developers came through with products that were either a welcome blast from the past tense or a sheer footmark into the future . The old : a keyboard from Matias that recreates the very right elements of the classic Extended Keyboard . The fresh : a revamped iMac that cue computer user that the only thing matching Apple ’s style for pattern is its knack for delivering top - flight performance . And in between those two extremes , you ’ll find a color optical maser printer with an eye - poppingly low damage tag , a twain of servers agitate Apple into the enterprise market , a clever hardware - package software that allow you look out telecasting on your Mac , and a DVD burner that exploit an exciting new technology .
Here are the Eddy Award - pull ahead computer hardware products of 2004 . you could tell apart us what hardware you think deserved top honors in our meeting place .
Best Old-School Keyboard
Still pining for the Apple keyboard of one-time ? ( “ Old ” in this example means the late 1980s and other 1990s . ) Then go to your Mac and order Matias’sTactile Pro Keyboard . Using the same key - shift engineering found in Apple ’s original Extended Keyboard , the Tactile Pro bring home the bacon similar tactual feel and feedback ( albeit with the company clackety noise ) . As a bonus , the Tactile Pro ’s keys are labeled with the alternative characters accessible using qualifier key , so it ’s dim-witted to type special characters , such as hallmark ( ™ ) and copyright ( © ) symbolisation , that would otherwise require afford Keyboard Viewer.—DAN FRAKES
Tactile Pro Keyboard : $ 100;Matias
Best Color Laser Printer under $1,000
A year ago , getting a beneficial people of color laser printing machine for less than $ 1,000 was all but unheard of . Today you’re able to pick up HP ’s meshing - readyColor LaserJet 2550Lnfor as little as $ 500 . This compact printing machine includes PostScript 3 emulation , USB 2.0 and Ethernet ports , and support for Rendezvous . And you wo n’t give print quality . While you would n’t apply this machine for high - calibre photo print , it ’ll crank out crisp schoolbook and vivid graphic at a hefty speed.—KELLY LUNSFORD
Color LaserJet 2550Ln : ; ; November 2004 ; $ 599 ( see Best Current Price ) ; HP
Best Server Hardware for Mac Fans
While its forays into consumer electronics have been pay off all the headline , Apple ’s moves in another direction — the go-ahead - level waiter business organisation — are acclamation - worthy , too . This year , the company managed to chock up the gamy - heat G5 crisp into its skinnyXserverack - mounted server , and it flesh out the capacitance of its3U Xserve RAIDto 5.6 terabytes — upgrades that let the Xserve to compete with Intel boxes in high - end markets.—JIM DALRYMPLE
Xserve G5 : ; October 2004 ; single - C.P.U. , $ 2,999 ( see Best Current damage ) ; dual - mainframe , $ 3,999 ( see Best Current toll ) ; Apple
Xserve RAID : ; October 2004 ; 1 TB , $ 5,999 ( see Best Current Price ) ; 2.8 TB , $ 8,499 ; 5.6 TB ( see Best Current Price ) , $ 12,999 ( see Best Current Price ) ; Apple
Best Way to Watch TV on Your Mac
Elgato Systems ’ EyeTV 200 is like TiVo for your Mac . Sure , it permit you watch over television on your Mac ’s covert . But its true power lies in its power to pause , instant replay , lookup , schedule , and record that TV . Its in high spirits - character MPEG-2 encoder mean that your favorite shew not only look effective , but ( thanks to stringent integration with Roxio ’s Toast ) are also ready to archive to DVD.—JONATHAN SEFF
EyeTV 200 : ; July 2004 ; $ 329;Elgato
Best New Storage Technology
The big find this year in removable storage : thanks to new double - layer videodisk , you’re able to now spell as much as 8.5 GB of data point on a individual - sided disk — enough to check an entire movie . The closed book : the new engineering countenance drive write to two different layers on stand media . Sony was the first out the door with a dual - layer drive , and a bunch of vendors are now sell them . But LaCie’s8x d2 DVD+RW Double Layer Drivewas the first to proffer Mac reenforcement , by bundling a particular reading of Roxio ’s Toast software . These and other first - genesis thrust could indite only at 2.4X , but 2nd - multiplication drives that take that up to 4X are starting to look — now we just need the media.—JAMES John Kenneth Galbraith
8x d2 DVD+RW Double Layer Drive : $ 199 ( see Best Current Price ) ; LaCie
Best Mac
iMac G5 : ; 17 - column inch , 1.6GHz , $ 1,299 ( see Best Current toll ) ; ; 17 - inch , 1.8GHz , $ 1,499 ( see Best Current Price ) ; ; 20 - column inch , 1.8GHz , $ 1,899 ( see Best Current Price ) ; December 2004;Apple
