Home > Consumer Reviews > Apple Power Mac Desktop M8787LL/A (867-MHz DP PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 60GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

This is by far the best computer I have ever owned. It is super fast and never freezes or gives me any kind of problem. This is my first mac and I love the OSX, it is sooo much better and easier to use than Windows XP. I recommend this computer to anyone especially people with Windows.

Since personal computers first became available and affordable circa 1980, I have owned three different PC-compatible computers (a 286 running MS-DOS, a 486 running Windows 3.1, and a Pentium running Windows 95/98). When it came time to replace this last machine, I decided to take a look at Apple's product line. I liked what I saw. Their new operating system -- OS X -- is based on Unix, which means it can run all the GNU software. A world-class GUI called Aqua runs on top of that. My only question was which machine to buy. I decided that the towers provided more of an upgrade path than the iMac and eMac. So I bought the dual 867 MHz machine, and am very happy with it.

This computer is FAAAAAAAST. Fast is the only way to describe it. Having TWO G4 processors at 867 MHZ makes this machine absolutely scream through all of the tasks I can put it through. Since OS X takes advantage of both processors as well as the velocity "Altivec" engine, all system tasks are completed instantaneously.

Now that more and more applications are being released for OS X, there is no need to boot into OS 9(although it is still possible). OS X is the future of computing. A Rock solid UNIX foundation ensures that your computer will virtually never crash. I have had mine for almost two months, and the system has never crashed on me. Apps(Internet explorer, for one) have crashed before but it doesn't cause a full fledged system lockup.

The one thing that you will need to do is buy an extra 512 MB of RAM. In this case, you need PC2100 DDR RAM(266MHz).

The graphics performance of this machine is also quite impressive. I personally bought the Radeon 9000 Pro with my machine but this particular model comes stock with the GeForce 4 MX. This card is good for current games(Q3, RTCW, Medal of Honor, Warcraft 3), but the lack of shaders and advanced Anti Aliasing capability mean that games like Doom 3 will struggle to play smoothly.

The Specs listed on Amazon's page are a little misleading. It says, for instance that the machine comes with 1 MB of L2 cache, when in fact it comes with 1 MB of L3 cache as well as 256k L2 cache. the L3 cache really adds an extra kick to the processors ability to crunch information without having to access the RAM or the hard drive.
Also, it says the machine is not 3d capable. Huh? I believe the fact that it has a 3d card makes it quite capable.
Amazon's specs for the combo drive are also incorrect. the CD-RW part of the combo drive can write at 16x and rewrite at 10x.

Anyway, from my own experience, this is a wonderful machine that has it waiting for me more than me waiting for it. Highly recommended.

Originally I set out with the 17" iMac as the kind of machine I'd like most. But when I saw the actual screen at the Apple Store, I found it to handle text and pictures fairly poorly [not that it's worse than most LCD screens out there] and so the only alternative was to go to the Tower, which also gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of memory, hard-drives and driving multiple screens at the same time [important if you're going to do video editing].

I can't say much for Apple's quality control, as it seems I ended up with a lemon with my first one, after a very frustrating week spending endless hours on the phone with the help desk. They finally agreed to replace it, and I haven't had any major problems since. Keep in mind that the software bundle with the Tower does NOT include any word processing application. Currently there is a deal to buy Microsoft's Office suite in conjunction with a computer purchase for $199, and I think that's a great deal for a superior product to it's PC mothership.

OS X.2/Jaguar is definitely very sophisticated, yet simpler to use than OS 9.2. But it certainly isn't nearly as reliable as they would have you believe. There are still going to be numerous reboots necessary--just not nearly as many as with another OS [certainly not as many as on Windows ___].

There is definitely the idea in the computer world, from the software point of view, that Mac/OS X makes you some kind of "red-haired stepchild." The difficulty is more with websites/software that don't make clear they have no Mac/OS X version right upfront. There are also some problems with printers etc. not having the proper drivers. But in compensation, the Mac "community" [and I think it can be rightly called that] steps in with a much more personalized response to specific issues to help you out. They want to help you have the best computer experience possible, and I think on balance you end up with one with a Mac in general, and specifically with this Tower should you need the specific flexibility I've mentioned.

I recommend getting the "Superdrive" option with it, so you can burn DVD's for storage or video display. Also I recommend buying extra RAM memory [DDR memory is more expensive, yet not noticeably faster--but you have to get it], and another hard drive. It's a pain to install [why can't they put any time in the design of things like that as they do other elements??], but great to have onboard instead of as a firewire-connected model. I really like my Monsoon speakers as well.

I got the LaCie 19-III monitor, which is terrific. Unfortunately OS X's "text smoothing" results in blurry, inconsistent text letters [even on their Cinema Displays], but I find the CRT superior for color correcting photos/video and a lot cheaper for what you're getting than LCD's. Apple customer service is definitely a cut above the average intelligence, but they're not very good at follow-up or dealing with major issues that don't meet their initial job descriptions. The also are only open until 6PM pst, so that leaves out a lot of time when you may need help.

Bottom line: not a breakthrough Apple product, but a good value and the best computer if you're going to be using Photoshop, iMovie/Final Cut Pro etc. and want to use monitors that are going to produce the best results.

This computer is pricey, but it is certainly better than most of the pc's in this price range. This Power Mac is well built, like all Apple products, and runs the world class Mac OS X. This operating system is awesome, and combined with the stability of it's Linux base, and the dual Power PC processors, it's nearly impossible to freeze or crash this computer. And you couldn't bog it down if you wanted to. I've had mine for several weeks and haven't had it fail me yet.

All in all, this a great system. It's sort of like the BMW of computers. And if you buy Virtual PC you can even run Windows XP on this system. There are no limits to what you can do with a Power Mac. Truely awesome....