Cons: Not the warmest wool, better for moderately (rather than extremely) cold weather.

Neutal: The fit is just a bit large for a small sweater - more of a loose look than a tighter, fitted look.

Most of all, it keeps my special person warm on cold nights.

256 MB RAM.
The wonderful G4 processor, at 800 MHz, which is deceptively fast.
80 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
The SuperDrive which lets me burn CDs and DVDs.
A crystal clear 17" flat panel display. Flat panel monitors run into the HUNDREDS of dollars by themselves (...).
10/100 Base-T ethernet port.
TWO FireWire Ports
FIVE USB ports (three on the console, two on the keyboard)
NVIDIA GForce 4 MX Graphics card
Apple Pro Optical Mouse
Apple Pro speakers, and they are outstanding.
Built-in Microphone
Built in Airport antenna, for wireless networking.
Mac OS 9 and the luscious, UNIX-based Jaguar (OS X 10.2)
AppleWorks, a convenient suite of Office-type apps. Their database app is one of the easiest and friendliest around. I store lists of books, CDs and other such things with it.
Explorer
Quicken
The amazing iApps: iChat, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD and iTunes, all of which make computing so easy and fun in the digital age.
And still more apps--too many to list here.

To buy a quality PC with all of these things would cost about the same, if not more. The ports alone make this a good investment. Best of all, I know all the things in this computer will work together. That's what having a Mac is all about.

As always, Apple doesn't do anything on the cheap, not even with their "everyman" computers, like the iMac. Everything here is top of the line, and it all works beautifully. The most taxing thing about setting up the computer was getting it out of the box (the design makes it more fragile than most computers). Once I had that done, I had it up and running in about 15 minutes--and some of that time was spent upgrading to Jaguar. Connecting to my husband's Powerbook through our DSL router was as easy as clicking on Connect to Server, then clicking on his computer in the listbox. Jaguar even recognized my son's PC, and I was yanking mp3s off there, very fast.

The computer itself is very quiet, although the SuperDrive can get rather noisy at times. But the hard drive? Barely a peep out of it. The display is crisp and clean. The screen really does move with the touch of one finger--smoothly, effortlessly. The G4 processor screams through apps. Burning mp3s and CDs has never been easier, thanks to iTunes. Downloading mp3s and audio books to my iPod is a dream--and speedy indeed over the FireWire connection. I made a DVD the other day of just some clips that I'd collected over the years, and it was disgustingly easy with iDVD. I connected my new Olympus digital camera through the USB port; iPhoto popped right up and filled up the screen with thumbnails of my digital images--with only one click asking if I wanted iPhoto to always do that. Everything just WORKS with this computer, seamlessly, flawlessly, which has been the most refreshing thing about switching to Apple.

But let's face it: Besides the fact that it's a Macintosh, which means a user-friendly computer with quality hardware, the real reason anyone buys this new iMac is because its design is flat-out cool. It is so beautiful that, even weeks after receiving it, I'll just sit there staring at it, still amazed that THIS is a computer. Having my computer's circuitry nestled under a dome rather than entombed in yet another rectangular box is a delight. A round computer case! Who but Apple would have thought of it? Everybody will copy this idea (Gateway[snort!] has already tried), but, as usual, no one will come close to matching the sheer ingenuity of what Apple has done. Don't be fooled by wannabes. This is the real thing, and it's worth every penny you'll spend on it--and then some.

The operating system, Mac OS X, is extremely stable and almost flawless. And the applications that come built into OS X (iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie to name a few) are wonderful. I have over 1100 songs on iTunes which automatically syncs with my iPod when I plug it in.

Of course, I also love how beautiful the iMac is. The screen looks as if it just floats in mid-air.

I am so glad that I "switched" to a Mac. I absolutley love this computer, and I know the next time I buy a computer, it will be a Mac.

They even showed me how well it does two things at once - like burn a cd and play a game on the side while they were waiting. When I burn a cd I have to go do something else because my computer slows to a crawl.

And it just looks awesome. It cost a lot, but I am giving it some serious thought. There is nothing else like it.

Given that, I would still buy it because it's fresh new style. The computer itself is really thin and the screen is really nice. It is cool to look at web pages in widescreen format. I would suggest to buy it, but only if you are ok with adding external speakers.

My advice : Listen to a G4 first when you consider buying one; as it seems, not all of them are equally noisy.

Other than that, the new G4 series is great; real workhorses and OS X also is fantastic.

Go read this review on the slightly faster 1.25 DP machines coming out soon:
[URL]

These guys are some of the top CPU reviewers out there and they give Apple a fair run against Intel and AMD computers and let you know where Apple does well and where it does poorly.

I am an experienced PC user so it was and still is a bit of a transition. Once you get the function variations down, you notice that operating the Mac is so much simpler than a PC. My favorite thing is not having to negotiate through Internet popups of course. Simple things such as this are built in to the Mac and are so easy to enable and disable. The G5 is super fast and silent. My only discontent with the machine actually is with software and hardware compatibility. I have since found that it is hard to find software and some hardware locally that is compatible with OS X panther. Programs I love to use, like MSN or Yahoo Messenger, lack in functionality with the Mac. The costs of my Children's games are quite a bit higher as well and most do not work in the OS X platform yet either. When purchasing equipment such as web cam's, printers, etc, it is critical that you verify and double verify that they will work with your PC. This is really not a MAC issue, more of an industry issue, but it is real and limits what you can do, especially if you are an old PC user. This is becoming less important as I find good Internet sites and other resources to find Mac support; it just takes a bit of getting use to.

Even with all of the problems I had, I would highly recommend this product. I do believe Murphy had a bit to do with my experience and with the exception of the long wait times, and I am hoping Apple gets on this one, they did handle it in a professional and very acceptable manner. I love my new machine and am slowly building up a software inventory that has awesome graphics and play speed. I am even getting good at locating drivers for devices from sources other than the hardware manufacturers, since they are so slow to step up to the plate, which expands the hardware compatibility issue.

Opening the machine to install RAM or an airport card is easy. The inside is AMAZINGLY well engineered and beautiful. There is no need for any tools to install RAM or an airport card.

You won't be disappointed.

Despite being a beast of a machine (nearly 60 lbs!) and probably the complex computer Apple has ever sold, it is a breeze to set it up and get it going (remember this is a Mac!) I bought it with a seperate Airport Extreme Card that was trivial to install. The G5 even comes with an external Airport antenna.

The included keyboard is very minimal and can take some getting used to. The keys are so tight that I often found myself hitting F13 when trying to hit the delete key. The mouse is a classic Apple mouse, i.e. one button and no scroll wheel. Personally I like Apple mice because they are very natural to use, even though it would seem like two buttons and scroll wheel could be added withot upsetting the ergonomic...

The G5 is amazingly quiet ... most of the time. I have it sitting just a few feet from a P4 2.4GHz and the difference in sound is amazing. I have got the G5 to be noisy though, while installing Panther, and it was incredibly loud then. Nothing else I've done has been able to get it to be quiet. The superdrive is a little noisy, though really no more than most high speed optical drives.

My G5 came with Jaguar pre-installed, but with a full retail version of Panther included in the box. I was very pleased with this, as most computers (not just Apple) only come with "restore" disks. I could write a ton just about Panther, but I will keep it short. I setup the G5 with Jaguar then immediately installed Panther. It took less than 20 minutes to install it, which is amazingly fast (no doubt because the hard drive was nearly empty!)

I was also pleased to see that the G5 software bundle included a Photoshop patch to optimize Photoshop (7.0.1) for use with the G5 cpu. You could download this from Adobe's website, but it was cool that they included it anyways. I didn't run Photoshop on the G5 without the patch, so I can't really say what the net effect of the patch is, but Photoshop on my G5 is so much faster than Photoshop on my P4 ... there is no comparison!

iTunes and iDvd are also very speedy on the G5. I could rip CDs to 256 kbps AAC at speeds over 16x. Again this blows away my P4. I was also able to make a dvd of my wedding, using a dv recording of the 15 minute ceremony, a 10 minute slideshow of pictures (made with iPhoto), and more pics and music for menus. iDvd made it a breeze to put together, and burned the dvd in less than 30 minutes. I made a similar project once using a friend's G4 and it took almost three times as long.

Finally, when it comes to picking your G5, I must recommend the 1.8 GHz as being the best bang-for-the-buck. The 1.6 GHz version has notable downgrades in comparison (no pci-x, no ddr 400, etc.) The dual 2GHz is virtually identical to the 1.8 GHz version, but having dual processors. Also, I recommend sticking with the cheaper NVidia graphics card. The ATI cards are more highly regarded, but most of that is for their superior DirectX 9 implementation. DirectX 9 is a Windows technology, so it is meaningless on a Mac. Everything on a Mac uses lots of OpenGL, and NVidia is superior on OpenGL. So the NVidia card is really better than the ATI 9600 that is available, though it is cheaper. The ATI 9800 probably outperforms the NVidia, courtesy of having twice the amount of memory, but it is $350 more.

Good for the average gamer or video editor, but by no means a dream machine for a hardcore gamer.

My dad's firm uses HP Servers and he was referred to look at the HP Pavilions. He is an IT Manager and knows how to get answers to his questions. The HP service recommended he take a look at the Pavilion line that were introduced in the 2nd half 2003 and my dad did so.

My mom and dad ended up buying me an HP a350n for Christmas. I had it setup and burning DVDs in under one hour. It is so very quiet and very powerful. The CPU is a P-IV with HyperThreading - meaning the CPU can run tasks in parallel. I mean the unit is very fast. And the graphics card, although not the best on the market, is very adaquate for gaming, burning and viewing DVDs, digital photography, and my college work. My dad loaded software he purchased from Microsoft - including Office and Visio.

The HP a350n is fabulous. Now, I can do my homework and research work from my apartment at college and do my digital photography too.

A friend received a Sony DS420 for Christmas. Both the HP a350n and Sony DS420 are comparably equipped - with the Sony coming with more software titles but a slightly smaller hard drive. My friend and I were going to run benchmark tests side-by-side. But, two weeks after Christmas, my friend is still waiting to setup his Sony. At first, he could not get support to give him a straight answer to why Windows XP would not load. His recovery files were not there. He finally got some help from Sony service and an RMA for the HD. I helped him extract the HD from the case and package it up to be returned. There is no assurance the HD is the problem. I suspect the problem is the HD controllers on the mother board. My friend paid for expidited S&H or else it would be longer time without his "new" PC. He is waiting for the HD to be returned. He will go to college without it - and wait until he comes home for a holiday.

I had a few problems with my A350n but nothing serious. The XP operating system (XP Home) needed some tweaking that my dad helped me with. And HP Service helpdesk was excellent too! I spoke with a "David" who was very helpful and curteous. I am no "hot-shot guru" but he stepped me through some evaluations / testing, explaining what the test results meant and what to do to resolve the problem.

The HP a350n is a fabulous computer. I am a happy and satisfied HP customer.

Now, we are packaging the unit up so I can take it to college with me when I leave on Saturday for the San Francisco Bay area.

I am excited about my HP Pavilion a350n. Thank you HP!

We have had very good experience with HP's. In 1998, we purchased an HP Pavilion with a P-II/400. In June 2000, we bought an HP OmniBook laptop with a P-II/400. Both are still running today - and are fully functional PCs. A little slow but they are operating.

I did a comparison of PCs and decided I'd get an HP Pavilion a350n. I compared it to many $1,000-PCs (including Sony 420) and decided the HP Pavilion a350n was the one I'd get. My previous positive experience with HP was a factor.

The HP Pavilion a350n is a fabulous computer for home or home/office. It is reliable, well-equipped, and F-A-S-T! Set-up ran flawlessly. The PC is quiet - very quiet. Software included is very good. Graphics are excellent. It is an excellent value for the dollars invested.

One thing - I explored the 160-GB HD and found extra preloaded software that was not advertised. The HD, after setup, had 130-GB free. HP uses about 8-GB of the 160-GB HD for its recovery partition. The other 22-GB was pre-loaded software - much of it I have not loaded. I explored the pre-loaded folders and found several software titles not advertised that was pre-loaded that I was going to buy. A nice addition from HP.

One piece of advice: After two days, the PC began failing to shutdown a video driver application on shutdown. I went to HP's website and saw they had an update that had been loaded and installed during the setup process. I went to NVIDA's website and saw they (NVIDIA) had a more recent update dated mid-December 2003. I downloaded & installed the updated drivers and the problem went away. I recommend getting the updated video drivers directly from NVIDIA's website. The drivers seem to have fixed the minor problem I was encountering. I consider this a "little inconvenience" and not major - taking maybe 20-minutes time to correct.

I feel, overall, the HP Pavilion a350n is an excellent value. Thank you HP.

It turns out the 2nd machine had a power supply issue which made the CD-RW and hard drive work intermittently; not a good thing. I determined that the noise from the 1st machine was the same problem, though I experienced no performance issues.

Just to be safe, though, I'm returning both and upgrading to the 350. I wanted a DVD burner anyway and I'm eager to see what the "hyper-threading technology" can do for a processor. I'll probably review that one next week (1/04).

So, all-in-all, I didn't have the machine long but really liked it. If there are no problems, it's fast, quiet, runs mid-level games very well (didn't try anything real high-end), has very easy-to-use recording software, has lots of storage device ports and looks great. Perfect for the intermediate user. I guess it's just a matter of getting one with everything working (as I've found several problem-filled reviews on-line).

Note: A previous reviewer said that the PC doesn't come with any disks, which is true. If you've purchased any computers in the past 5 years however, you know that there is a trend towards pre-loaded everything without disks (cab files, etc.), including Windows. That is why you should create a set of system recovery disks when you first get the PC (finding out if the CD-RW works correctly while you're at it), though I'm not sure why they only allow you to do it once. Make copies of those disks, I guess! The rest of the disks you used to get with a PC was just useless software anyway. And there are multiple ways to "restore", including a Windows restore option. Read the manual.

The reviewer also mentioned the fact that there is a lot of "junk" "trial software" and that it wasn't listed in the control panel. Unless you build your own PC, they pretty much all come like this and the software is easily deleted. No, you can't do it from "Add/Remove Programs" but if you know your way around a PC a little bit, it's not a problem. (If not, don't worry; you have a 120GB hard drive after all!) The software companies aren't subsidizing the PC makers just so you can remove all their software as soon as you get the machine! You can argue that you didn't pay all that money to have to take stuff out, but in actuality you probably did, considering the comparatively low price.

Also at issue was the "HP Organizer". This isn't the type of program for me, but I can see it being handy to the novice PC user. There is a link right on the window for options, which allows you to tell it not to run at boot-up. Pretty simple. It only interferes with Windows as long as you keep it open. Just click the, "X". Again, pretty simple.

Whatever you do, however, don't buy a Dell. I'd go into the horror stories about the Dell users I know, but it's the holidays and you don't need that kind of carnage on your mind.

I usually start out with the pro's, but given the seriousness (or even worse, silliness) of the cons, I am going to start with those...

Cons...
1) Virtually no software *of value* is delivered with this machine. Except those items that are automatically bundled with Windows XP (MS Works, Explorer, Windows Media Player, etc), you're on your own when it comes to software. As a matter of fact, there was so little software, I originally thought someone forgot to load it. A brief call to the Sony help line (22 minute wait for a rep) quickly cleared this up.
2) The cabling for the mouse, speakers, and keyboard is uncommonly short. Fully eighteen inches shorter than the cables that came with the PC that the Sony is replacing. I really have to question the decision making process that Sony used here.
3) The speakers that came with the machine are not even worth plugging in. The thin sound delivered is accompanied by noticeable crackles (on new CDs) and they even distort the music. This is especially disappointing given Sony's heritage of excellence in audio products.
4) The issue with the sound, coupled with a weak video card, is why I suggest gamers stay away. Although for a little more money, you can pick up some decent speakers and a video card that would make this PC rock

Pros...
1) The tightest boxing and packaging of a PC that I have ever seen (this is my 7th or 8th PC). Gives me a warm and fuzzy that this thing is built to last.
2) When I checked under the hood, with the exception of the weak video card, everything looked to be of very high quality.
3) Great form factor -- the box looks great and they have packed a lot of power into a surprisingly small space -- great for those with limited desk space
4) USB slots to spare (I have found 6, the documentation suggests there are 8)
5) I am unfortunately still only able to get dial-up service, but the v.92 compatible modem coupled with the 512 MB of RAM and 2.8 Ghz CPU clock speed (with hyperthreading) make it seem like the internet is loading much, much faster
6) Easy set-up (important if you're a first time buyer!)
7) Buttery smooth operation for both the DVD recorder and CD-RW drives -- and both are wicked fast
8) Lightening fast handling of word processor and spreadsheet applications

Net/net: questionable cost savings decisions by Sony turned what could have been an awesome PC-for-the-home product into a sometimes silly, sometimes smoking solution for all but gamers.