Stylish New Multimedia Mac Comes Chock-full of Built-in Features for Home Users.
Jeffrey S. Pittelkau
Reviews Computers/
We're pretty jaded here at MacUser -- we look at scores of the latest and greatest Mac products every month, so it's hard to really impress us. But when we sifted through all the nifty features built into Apple's new all-in-one PowerPC Performa 5215CD, we got excited. With its well-thought-out design and wonderful multimedia and telephony features, this is the Mac to buy if you're looking for a computer for the home or for a college-bound student. Priced at about $2,000 -- and that price includes everything you need, including software -- the new Performa is also relatively easy on your wallet.
TV Generation
When you first see the Performa 5215CD from a distance, you may think you're looking at a television set. The smartly styled case encloses a built-in monitor and stereo speakers; a tilt/swivel stand lets you easily adjust the angle of the screen. The new Performa is nicely compact too -- measuring about 17 inches high, 15 inches wide, and 16 inches deep, it's an easy fit on the family-room table or on a college-dorm desk. The computer weighs in at 47 pounds and comes with a keyboard and a mouse. Because everything is built in -- basic features for the model we reviewed include a 15-inch monitor, a 1-GB hard drive, a 4x CD-ROM drive, and a 14.4-kbps internal fax modem -- setting up the Performa is a study in simplicity. Plug in three cords -- one for power, one for the keyboard, and one for the modem -- and you're in business. If you're a computing neophyte, there's plenty of hand-holding to help get you started -- an animated tutorial does a great job of teaching all the basic Mac skills.
The new Performa is equipped with a 75-MHz PowerPC 603 processor. It comes with System 7.5 and a disappointing 8 MB of RAM, but you can easily expand the RAM to a maximum of 64 MB. For do-it-yourself types, Apple has made adding memory to this machine a snap -- simply remove the plastic cover on the rear of the machine, pull out the motherboard, and install additional SIMMs. Tracks assist you in guiding the motherboard back into place when you're done.
The ports on this Performa are what you'd expect -- SCSI, ADB, printer, modem (if you don't opt for the internal model), and sound-in and sound-out. For more money, you can also opt for a video-input card, a TV-tuner card, a graphics card (for a second monitor), and any one of the many LC PDS cards now available. There are also plenty of bundled CD-ROM titles and software to sweeten the deal, including ClarisWorks, eWorld, WealthBuilder, Quicken, and a variety of games.
Please Leave a Message
But the best part of the Performa's array of built-in goodies is the telephony features. The model we reviewed comes with a built-in Global Village TelePort Gold IIv internal voice and fax 14.4-kbps modem and GlobalFax and Cypress Research's MegaPhone software preinstalled on the hard disk. MegaPhone is a complete telephone package that turns the Performa 5215CD into a full-duplex speakerphone and digital answering machine. Easy-to-use dialing, message-handling, and contact-list software is included as well. To dial a number, simply type it into MegaPhone's window and click on a button. When you hang up, MegaPhone automatically prompts you to enter the contact information for the number you just dialed. Incoming and outgoing messages are stored on your hard disk -- a one-minute message occupies about 1 MB of hard-disk space.
MegaPhone's voice-mail capabilities include several nifty options -- you can have the system autodelete previously played messages after a specified number of days, for example, and you can have MegaPhone record messages while you work on other tasks -- most of the time. Because the Mac's operating system is not truly multitasking, MegaPhone is dependent on how well other active applications get along with it. In our tests, MegaPhone had no trouble answering calls and recording messages while we were running ClarisWorks, but when we were playing PowerPete (one of the bundled games), MegaPhone wasn't aware of incoming calls until we quit the game.
The Performa's microphone and built-in speakers are what power MegaPhone's speakerphone capabilities. Sound quality for both listening and speaking is quite good, pretty much on a par with the quality you get when listening to sound files from applications and CD-ROM titles. But don't set your expectations too high for audio CDs -- the speakers have a disappointing tinny quality for music.
Put to the Test
When it comes to features and design, the Performa 5215CD clearly rates a rave review. But what about performance? How fast is the machine? How good is the quality of its display? To answer these questions and more, we ran a series of formal and informal tests on the new Performa and found it to be an all-around able performer. To run our tests, we installed an additional 8 MB of memory in the machine, for a grand total of 16 MB.
We first wanted to see how the new Performa's speed compares with that of a Quadra 630 -- an older, 680x0 Mac also aimed at home and student users. We ran the four primary MacBench subsystem tests -- Processor, Floating Point, Disk Mix, and Video Mix -- as well as the CD-ROM Mix. We found that the Performa's 75-MHz PowerPC 603 processor has all the processing power its target audience will ever need. The Performa's processor clearly outpaced the Quadra 630's, although we found the new machine's built-in video to be no faster than the Quadra's. Measuring drive speed, we found that the Performa's 1-GB Quantum IDE disk drive was actually slower than the Quadra 630's 250-MB Quantum IDE drive, but the new Macintosh is still faster overall.
In application-specific tests, we ran the latest PowerPC-native versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on the new Performa and again compared the results with those of the Quadra 630 running 680x0 versions of the same software. The results were very similar to those of the MacBench tests -- processor-related tasks, such as large Excel macros and global search-and-replace in Word, were marginally faster with the Performa. However, the Performa's speed for scrolling in Word and PowerPoint was dead-even with the Quadra's. And it was no surprise that, with its slower drive, the Performa was slower at doing Finder copies than the Quadra.
The Performa's 4x CD-ROM drive outperformed the Quadra's 2x drive by a wide margin, but speed is only one of its advantages. The drive's electronics are fully integrated with the Performa, so you can control volume by using buttons on the front of the machine -- a handy feature. In addition, the Performa ships with the latest Sound Manager software, which lets you individually adjust volume for system-alert sounds and audio-CD playback.
The Performa's built-in 15-inch color display boasts excellent quality for the price. The machine's video circuitry supports several resolutions, including the Mac-standard 640 x 480 pixels at thousands of colors and 832 x 624 pixels at 256 colors. PC-standard resolutions, from 640 x 480 pixels (VGA) to 800 x 600 pixels (VESA), are also supported. We would have liked to see more video memory in the Performa, which would allow it to support millions of colors at 640 x 480 pixels and thousands of colors at 832 x 624 pixels. However, that would have added significantly to the base price of the system. Unfortunately, VRAM is not expandable. You can, however, add a graphics card for a second, external monitor if you want higher resolutions or more colors. But keep in mind that such a card would occupy the slot designed for Apple's optional low-cost $299 MPEG Media System -- a card that supports full-motion, full-screen video for the growing line of MPEG CD-ROM titles.
The Bottom Line
Affordable, versatile, and elegantly designed, Apple's Performa 5215CD is certainly not the speediest Power Mac on the block, but its PowerPC 603 processor makes it plenty fast enough to run ClarisWorks and other mainstream applications at a respectable pace. Moreover, the Performa's compact design and simple three-cable connection scheme make it a great fit in the family room or dorm room. Built-in telephony features -- combined with microphone, speakers, and CD-ROM drive -- are icing on the cake. If you've been waiting for the perfect home machine, get out your checkbook -- you won't find anything better for the price.
Performa Performs / Apple's home Mac is fast . . . enough
The new Apple Macintosh Performa 5215CD isn't the zippiest Power Mac you can buy, but it's faster overall than a previous Apple offering for home users and schools -- the Quadra 630 -- and is plenty fast enough for running mainstream applications such as ClarisWorks. The Performa's built-in 4x CD-ROM drive offers an obvious speed advantage over the 2x drive of the Quadra 630.
Apple Macintosh Performa 5215CD
Rating: (4.5 out of 5 mice) Very Good/Outstanding
Price: $1,999 to $2,299 (list), depending on configuration.
Cons: Built-in speakers sound tinny with audio CDs. MegaPhone application doesn't answer phone and take messages when certain games are running. Comes with only 8 MB of memory.
Company: Apple Computer, Cupertino, CA; 800-538-9696 or 408-996-1010.
