Apple eMac Desktop M8577LL/A (700-MHz PowerPC G4, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive)

At this point I'm leaning toward the eMac, thinking the flat-panel iMac looks too much like a halogen lamp or potential "period piece." Moreover, I hate the thought of paying for two external little speakers that I'll never use. Finally, the eMac has a "sound-in" input that has been omitted from the new iMac. If you digitalize analog sources, that could be a factor in your decision.

If you're attacted to DVD burning and the "Superdrive" (which I'll admit I am), you still have a tough decision to make because the eMac with SuperDrive is really the same price as the iMac with Superdrive. In fact, you may have noticed that DVD burners are getting faster and cheaper. So why not go with the entry-level Power Mac (which many users insist is the only machine to consider if you're serious about computing speed and memory requirements) and supplement it later with an external DVD burner?

In any case, why make my problem yours (though it irritates me that manufacturers so insistently assume the consumer requires the "illlusion," at least, of so many basically insignificant choices--I chose Macs, which should be enough).

If you purchase this eMac, you'll find it works considerably faster if you install at least an additional 256 MB of Ram (which takes all of 30 seconds--don't be conned into paying an installation fee). Also, as pleasing as OSX/Jaguar is to look at, it's not always intuitive, and Apple doesn't provide much in the way of instructions. Even locating a saved document in Word is an adventure, which was not the case in 0S9.