>> From: Beverly Woods <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Writing from a machine Chas would find very unsatisfactory: an iMac G3 >> DV400 running 10.3.9 > >Actually, I would find that machine "unsatisfactory" ONLY from the >perspective of someone wanting to do videoconferencing. For most >other general use, that's a nice little unit (particularly if you >invest in some RAM). > >Look, I'm not making up specs that aren't right there on the box. >Check it out for yourself: >http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ichat/ > >Where it says quite clearly that in order to host (initiate) or >participate in a video chat, the minimum spec required is a 600MHz G3 >with a fast internet connection. That means your machine doesn't meet >the spec. It's perfectly fine for audio conferencing, just not video.
Never trust Apple's specs. They are a great guideline, but are rarely the end all truth. And in recent days, since Apple has become a "we want to be a high turnover computer dealer", the specs more often then not lie (after all, iTunes 6 clearly says you need a 600 MHz G3 or better, and yet runs fine on any OS X machine, and 10.4 says you need at least a 400 MHz mac (built in firewire), yet runs pretty nice on a 233 with 256 MB of RAM). As for a 400 MHz G3 not being able to video conference, that will depend on what kind of quality you are looking for. I've got one running right now (400 MHz G3 iMac DV, the blue one), that runs with Quicktime Broadcaster. With no tweaking, it can pump 4-10 fps, with minor tweaking, it can ramp up to 12-15 fps. This is at 320 x 240 broadcast (that can be enlarged further on the recipients end with no ill effect to the broadcasting machine). I do admit, I don't recall exactly what I got out of iChatAV, I only used it briefly when testing the machine (however, I recall that it worked about as well as the untweaked Broadcaster, so likely in that 4-10 fps range) 15 fps is the "magic" number for video where it starts to lose its jumpy look. So the iMac can *almost* do "good" video if you want it to (heavy stress on ALMOST). Now, if you are looking to do this for home/personal use, I'd say that is more than fine (it was for me to keep an eye on my cat before it gave birth). For business/professional... you probably want to go with a faster machine. I did. I stopped using that machine for its intended use, because an average of 10 fps was not acceptable to me for business use. So I bought an eMac and push out 30 fps at 640x480 (we stream the CCTV system for our conference room so our clients don't have to fly here to view their studies). I still use the iMac for personal use or for things that "perfect" video are not important to me (or when we need a 2nd stream for some reason) But to bring this back to the initial point on this thread, using a 233 with iChat, I'm not sure I'd want to do that except for some really basic "hey this is neat" kind of stuff. I'd guess a 233 is going to be lucky to get 1-2 fps. So I'd have to side with Charles on this one, that a 233 just isn't up to the task and will yield disappointing results (possibly yield no results at all). Interestingly however, if you can find a USB encoder/camera that is supported by iChat (since you would have to use USB with a 233 anyway), you *might* get BETTER performance than a faster machine gives using firewire. The reason being, the firewire feeds are raw video and the Mac has to do all the encoding/compression. That takes horsepower. However, most USB devices have the MPEG encoder built into the device, so what you get is a pre-encoded/compressed stream. That means the Mac is free to worry about other things and just has to push out the ready to go video unaltered. That takes way WAY less horsepower to do the job. I'd be curious what kind of results a 233 with a USB encoder actually yields. -chris <http://www.mythtech.net> -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
