Apple Imac G5

Microsoft hasn’t had much success getting us to buy Media Center PCs for our front rooms, but Apple is clearly hoping for more luck with its latest version of the Imac.

In technical terms, this is a relatively minor upgrade. The £899 model (pictured) has a 17in screen and 1.9GHz PowerPC G5 processor, which is roughly comparable to a 2.5GHz Pentium 4.

The all-in-one chassis is slightly thinner and the graphics card has been boosted to a Radeon X600 Pro. There’s also a £1,199 version with a 20in screen that runs at 2.1GHz.

More interesting is that a webcam has been built into the upper edge of the screen, and software called Photo Booth lets you take pictures and muck about with special effects.

The real step forward, though, is revealed when you look at the dinky remote control included with the Imac. This allows you to launch a new piece of software called Front Row, which can then be used to remotely control and play any music, video or photo collections stored on the Imac.

It’s not exactly a startling innovation, but Apple’s strength, as always, lies in its ability to make products that are easy to use and uncomplicated.

Front Row works extremely well and the Imac’s little remote control has a mere six buttons compared to the button-festooned models provided with many Media Center PCs.

We’re still not convinced that many people will really want either an Imac or a Media Center PC in their living room but, even so, the Imac still stands on its own merits as a great home computer.

It’s elegantly designed, competitively priced and includes an impressive combination of hardware features and bundled software.