If you buy the hype , the new iMac G5 is more than just a computing machine . Thanks to the addition of the Apple Remote and Front Row , it ’s a stand - alone multimedia system centre that can toy music and commercial-grade DVDs in lush 5.1 surround sound ( as long as you ’ve get the right-hand verbalizer , cable’s length , and transcriber ) , and send off your iPhoto album as glib slide shows .
But is there marrow beneath that hoopla ? To find out whether I could replace my TV band , TiVo , household theater liquidator , and 5.1 sound recording organization ( all controllable from the comfort of my sofa ) with a remote - controlled Mac - centric media center , I fob out an iMac G5 with a prize group of third - party peripheral and committed myself to using nothing but the iMac for all my media consumption for a week .
Details of my experiment follow , but I can safely say that while the iMac could do as a keen small 2nd system of rules , or as a starter setup for students or first - time apartment dwellers , my abode AV geared wheel wo n’t be appearing on eBay anytime soon .
Naked came the iMac
Of of course , the newfangled iMac G5 is n’t radically new . Out of the box , every Mac sell today could be the centerpiece of your multimedia system liveliness . This iMac ’s advantage is that it pack more of the components you need — a large monitor , a remote control , and two-channel speakers — into one packet . Plus , its audio - outturn port can accommodate both analogue stereo and digital 5.1 sound — handy for link to an international speaker system system — and its three USB 2.0 ports and two FireWire 400 interface let it connect to plenty of peripheral .
That say , for the purposes of my little experiment , the 17 - in iMac just would not do . Its screen is big enough for work , but for watch out movies and slide show from across a room , you require something bigger . So I opted for Apple ’s stock 2.1GHz iMac G5 with a 20 - column inch presentation ( ) .
After I had unpacked the iMac and loaded it with pictures , music , and a few movies , I spent some fourth dimension with it , to see how well it performed without peripheral machine . For the most part , it performed well . It could n’t do telecasting , of course , but videodisc and photograph slide shows seem very nice . While its on - table audio did n’t exactly rattle the rafters , the strait was far less cheesy than I expected and dead adequate for motion picture and most tracks in my iTunes library , as long as I was n’t feeling too picky .
Front Row was another matter all in all . At first , I think it was swell optic candy . But as I used it , its limitations became more seeming . surely , Front Row will permit you navigate through your iTunes library and see a DVD you ’ve popped into the SuperDrive . But on more than one juncture , the app responded so slowly to the remote that I found myself madly pressing the remote ’s Menu clit multiple times , thinking that the first effort had n’t registered . And although the port controls are iPod - alike , moving from one card to another was awkward . All in all , while Front wrangle is functional , it feels incomplete .
So when it come to multimedia , the new iMac , unadorned , is not that dissimilar from the previous multiplication of iMacs — and its distant control and software system underwhelmed me . But what would happen if I really pull a fast one on out the iMac , so it could show and record wireless and TV show , bring commercial DVDs , and let me control everything from across the way ?
Sound experience
My iMac makeover started with the audio recording system . As I say , the built - in speaker system sound surprisingly dependable , think that they ’re buried inside the computer ’s slim pillow slip . But while they ’re fine for watch old episodes ofThe Rocky and Bullwinkle Show , they just do n’t have the top executive you require when you ’re watch blockbuster movies that are longer on special effects than on plot .
Logitech ’s Z-5450 Digital 5.1 Speaker System
To beef up the iMac ’s sound , I choseLogitech’s$500 Z-5450 Digital 5.1 Speaker System . These speakers sound smashing ( despite their little size of it ) ; the rear speakers connect wirelessly to the control unit ( youdohave to punch each into an electrical wall socket ) ; and the arrangement put up three digital stimulation ( two Toslink and one coaxal ) .
Once I had unpack the speakers , I grabbed a spare Toslink line , only to then mouth a miaow of disappointment when I realized that ( unlike my Power Mac G5 ) the iMac had no Toslink connector . bad , Apple does n’t even include a Toslink - to - minijack adapter in the box . luckily , I found that I had a spareGriffin TechnologyXpressCable ( $ 20 ) , which includes two such connectors .
Griffin Technology ’s XpressCable
I plug the loudspeaker into the ascendency social unit and tether the command unit to the iMac with the Toslink overseas telegram and arranger . The Output destiny of the iMac ’s Sound preference pane then proudly displayed Digital Out as its pick out option . I pressed the Optical push on the Logitech remote ascendance until the ascendance unit evince Input Optical 1 . Then I inserted the first disc ofThe Lord of the Rings : The Return of the Kinginto the iMac ’s SuperDrive , waited for DVD Player to pop up up , take Play Movie , and fall back in wonder when glorious 5.1 sound filled the way .
Then , fear I was disturb the family , I tried to turn the volume down with the Apple Remote . No go . This remote ( and the bulk identify on the Apple keyboard ) ca n’t control the book of the iMac ’s digital audio output . For the time being , that meant I need two remotes to love my DVD moving-picture show : the Apple Remote , for navigate DVD menu via Front Row , and the Logitech remote , for controlling the verbaliser .
While the speakers sure enough gave the necessaryoomphto my DVDs , they just could n’t match the speech sound of my tried - and - true B&W home stereoscopic photograph speakers when it came to music playback . Although you could set the levels of each speaker unit ( append and take off bass by changing the subwoofer setting ) , the small orbiter speaker unit and subwoofer do n’t bid the same rich audio experience as a pair of well - equilibrate stereo speakers that contain full - size speaker system strobilus .
Channeling television
Next , it was fourth dimension to turn the iMac into a television and personal picture fipple pipe . For that , I chose Elgato ’s EyeTV 200 ( ) . The whole , which is the sizing of a softback book , accepts a television receiver sign from an feeler , a cable boxful , or a satellite receiver ( via composite , S - Video , or transmitting aerial ports ) ; encodes the signaling as MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 video recording ; and sends it to your Mac , over FireWire , for live wake . Like a TiVo ( and other video recorders ) , the EyeTV 200 lets you hesitate and replay resilient television , disc programs for later viewing , schedule recording , change recordings for viewing on other devices ( for case , portable players such as Sony ’s PlayStation Portable and Apple ’s iPod with video ) , and alter channels on compatible radio receiver .
That last feature was particularly important for me . I live in the cable television - less boonies and have frightening antenna response . Out here , it ’s satellite or nothing . Regrettably , in term of channel alter and the EyeTV , that pass on me with nothing . Unlike Series2 TiVo models , which let in infrared adapters that let you change channel on a cable or orbiter receiver , the EyeTV can exchange transmission channel only with antenna connections or cable connections that do n’t require a line loge .
But as I explore the EyeTV software and its interaction with my Dish 311 satellite receiver , things became a small less grim . The Dish 311 telephone receiver ’s Timers function lease you create schedule that hale the receiver to shift channels at time you choose . By coupling those schedules with programming calendars I created using theTitanTV on-line TV - scheduling service , I was capable to create TiVo - like recording . Granted , the process was ill-chosen : the Dish receiver is dim to accept the many button pushes necessary to create a agenda . However , all that labour eventually pay off off in some successfully time - shift scheduling .
Unfortunately , while DVD look great on a computer proctor if you ’re close to it , the same ca n’t be said for standard 640 - by-480 tv programing . At normal size , the television picture was fine but too small to be viewed from across the room . When I chose Enter Full Screen from EyeTV ’s View menu , I fix the banding and streaking you always get when you view television images on a computer ’s gamey - solution monitor . If you ’re look for a clear picture , you should n’t essay to learn TV on your computer monitor .
Radio radio
Movies on DVD : verification . euphony : check . Television : stop . The only thing left in my iMac - as - home - amusement - gist experimentation was good old - fashioned wireless .
Griffin Technology ’s Radio Shark
To exchange the radio built into my home stereophonic system , I choseGriffin Technology’s$70 Radio Shark , a tuner tuner that connects to your Mac via USB . After installing the Radio Shark 2.0 software on the iMac , I plugged the unit into a free USB port , plunge the program , and tune up in a couple of my favorite local station . The Radio Shark ’s reception was about the same as what I get from the stereophonic receiver in my office : not dreadful but not impressive . lend a USB extension cable better response somewhat .
The Radio Shark computer software let me manually schedule radio broadcasts , but I wanted an experience similar to the one that TiVo cater : I need to sieve through a program guide and create a schedule for unattended recording of both local and Internet radio .
The answer wasRadioTime , a Web - found service that permit you hear to more than 37,000 medicine and talk stations from around the public through a client ( which , in bit , channels its euphony through Microsoft ’s Windows Media Player or RealNetworks ’ RealPlayer ) . If you ’re willing to shell out $ 39 a twelvemonth , RadioTime will let you schedule and record those program . ( RadioTime also offers two software package deals : For $ 59 a year , you get the RadioTime service plus an FM wireless ; for $ 79 , you get that plus the Radio Shark . ) If you ’ve attached a compatible wireless telephone receiver such as the Radio Shark to your computer , you could tune up it through the RadioTime client and record its output .
RadioTime lets you heed to more than 37,000 radio stations — and , for an superfluous fee , lets you record your favorite shows .
RadioTime worked as advertised on the iMac , snap up schedule audio frequency both from the Radio Shark and from RadioTime ’s broadcast streams , and put them in the automatically generate RadioTime playlist in iTunes . regrettably , the quality of the recordings is only as good as the Radio Shark ’s reception or the audio stream . To my ears , a local post with a unassailable signal play through a good dwelling stereo sounds good , particularly when compare with recorded flow .
Gaining the upper hand
After adding all these peripherals , I was using a total of four remote control : the Apple Remote for controlling the iMac iLife libraries , the Logitech remote for sound , the Dish satellite remote control for tune television channels , and the EyeTV remote for record television channels . Enough already ! That ’s why I addedBelkin’s$100 MediaPilot , a rechargeable wireless keyboard with a built - in pointer and curlicue cycle , to my iMac setup . The MediaPilot ’s assignable media keys , locate above the standard keyboard , can do thing such as set up your Web web web browser and e - mail client , afford your Movies brochure , and hold tracks and mass in iTunes . In AV fashion , the MediaPilot can also control home entertainment devices such as television set , Ab receivers , and DVD player .
Belkin ’s MediaPilot
With its software package put in and its internal batteries charged , the MediaPilot was able-bodied to control the iMac ’s canonic functions just hunky-dory from across the way . But I want it to do more . I wanted it to plunge Front Row , crank up the volume in DVD Player , race through an iPhoto lantern slide show , pull up the telecasting guide on my Dish receiver , and — what the heck — throw open Safari so I could read the headlines from Google news .
I hear . And I got close . However , the MediaPilot could n’t do everything I want it to .
It wangle the Mac - centric tasks with proportional easiness . I assigned Command - Esc ( the key combination that open Front Row ) to the MediaPilot ’s Media winder . With Front rowing front and centre , I could apply the MediaPilot ’s arrow keys to navigate the menus . I also assigned the Command - Up arrow and instruction - Down arrow key compounding — which control the volume in DVD Player , iTunes , and EyeTV — to the volume toggle switch on the MediaPilot .
The MediaPilot fared less well with the satellite telephone receiver . Even though I ’d configured the Belkin software to mimic my EchoStar remote , the MediaPilot could handle only a few of the commands that the EchoStar remote could . It allowed me to convert TV channel by typewrite numbers or push the up or down pointer key . But it offered no cay that matched the first remote ’s Guide and Select push button — lively functions when you ’re navigate hundred of channels . you may “ teach ” the MediaPilot to mime other remote restraint — by pointing the original remote at the MediaPilot keyboard ’s infrared port and assign one of the remote ’s clitoris to a key on the keyboard . That ’s what I prove to do with those Guide and Select buttons . But the options did n’t always stick .
The MediaPilot perform best with the Logitech speakers . regrettably , the speakers ’ ascendence unit respond more slowly to the MediaPilot than it did to its own remote control . If this were my permanent media setup , rather than a job - related lark , I ’d be happy to practice the MediaPilot to control the Mac ’s applications , Front Row include . But I ’d keep the Echostar and Logitech remotes on hand for take in TV or adjusting the speakers .
Couch-bound for glory
So can the iMac really help as a house entertainment shopping mall ? Not quite yet . This iMac — like almost any other Mac you could buy today — plays DVDs like a dream . When coupled with some great - sound speakers , it provide a thoroughly satisfying pic - viewing experience .
Television is another matter all told : the iMac ’s display , like all of today ’s computer LCDs , care full - screen , standard - resolution television signals with something less than aplomb . And an iMac - EyeTV combination will pose no threat to TiVo as long as the EyeTV ca n’t change channels on a satellite receiver or cable box .
With a strong radio receiver signal , a avail such as RadioTime has huge electric potential , since it provide an easy way to time - shift more programming than I could listen to in a twelve lifespan . And while the whole mess would benefit greatly from a exclusive full - feature cosmopolitan remote control , neither Apple nor any third - political party manufacturer currently provides one .
In curt , the new iMac G5 is a perfectly wonderful computer , but it and its peripheral pals have more work to do before they ’re give out to be capable to muscle aside the AV gear in my aliveness room . However , as a 2d , light - use media heart for my agency ? Just contribute a couch , a small electric refrigerator , and a removed - controller caddy , and I ’d be well-chosen to survive with the iMac ’s limitation .
