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PowerWatch Systems:
PowerTower Pro

 The Look


ATX full tower enclosure. It's huge!

 The Stats

See anything incorrect? Let Jeff know and it'll be fixed ASAP!

Processor: One or Two (!!) PowerPC 604e on upgradable daughtercard. Third party upgrades currently available!
Speeds:
200, 225, 250 MHz (180 discontinued)
Bus Speed: 45-51MHz (?); varies with machine
Memory: 16-64mb standard. Memory is interleaved, 8 168 pin DIMM slots.
Level-2 Cache: 1Mb
Graphics: ixMicro Twin Turbo 128M8 card, 8mb VRAM; Resolutions upto 1920x1080. Core systems include ixMicro based built-in video, 2mb VRAM;
Hard Drive: 2Gb 7200rpm AV-ready drive or 4gb 5400rpm drive; 2gb 5400rpm drive on core systems.
SCSI Architecture: Dual SCSI buses; Internal fast (10Mb/sec) and external standard (5Mb/sec).
CD-ROM drive: 24x CD-ROM drive
Networking: Built in AAUI and 10BaseT ethernet
Expansion: 6 12" PCI slots; 9 drive bays.
Cases: ATX full tower enclosure

The Bundled Goodies

MacOS 8, FWB Hard Disk Toolkit 2.0, FWB CD-ROM Toolkit 2.0, Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0, ClarisWorks 4.0, Corel Gallery Clip Art, Fractal Dabbler 2.0, Connectix SpeedDoubler, Now Up-to-Date/Contact, Blockbuster Guide to Movies and Videos (CD-ROM), 250 Bitstream fonts; Trial versions of AOL, Compuserver, Nisus software; 

Your Reviews

  • Kimo Yap from Pasadena, CA had this to say:
    • Great machine. It even can run Word 6.0.1 acceptably. Unfortunately, came with a defective logic board. Also had problems with the IBM drive which turned out to be more of FWB's problems (chronicled elsewhere on this site). A worthy successor to my IIfx. Running with the FWB SCSI jackhammer, the IMS card, and the Second Wave PCI->Nubus bridge; carted over the OrangePC card (the new ones don't have what I wanted) and my old SuperMac Thunder/24 with Photoshop DSP upgrade (which allows me to get the DSP processing on some Photoshop functions). Using a Viewsonic 21 monitor as primary and an old 640x480 Magnavox as secondary. No major problems, even with about 100 inits. Customer service was OK but trying, although the waits seemed to be getting shorter toward the end. More of a problem with getting the spare parts shipped while the logic board was a problem (although I found I could run without the L2 cache, it appears that the L2 cache card was not the problem). A few different video glitches with the IMS card, but it runs the video mode changes that OrangePC does (especially when Win 95 boots) much better than the SuperMac card did.
  • Steve Weintraub from Missouri has good news and bad news about his PTPro 225 RAID
    • Long wait for delivery; lies about arrival date; wrong configuration and broken Jaz drive on arrival; long wait on phone for tech. support; great in home service to fix problems; PowerTower Pro 225 up and running--an unbelievably great machine
  • Mary Anne Buhr from New York gives us a very positive review!
    • Beautiful, stable system, so fast it gives you a head rush. Bought an Apple 9500 same week, and that's noticeably slower. Have not had any compatabilty problems, despite using lots of weird software.
  • Jason Brizzi also is having a great time with his PT Pro 225! (so would I!)
    • I've had mine since last Thursday, and I must say it is a real joy to have such a powerful machine in my home. I have been having a blast with some early betas of Fractal Detailer, and a 2.0 beta of Strata Studio Pro. I am also on the team for Adobe Photoshop 4.0. I must say they all perform incredibly well.. . . I have enjoyed every second of using it. I love having the power of GOD in my own living room. =). I have had a few problems, mostly because of Microsoft Office (gee, what a suprise.), but afterards I still have the occasional error -11 in heavy graphics/ram apps. Oh well, beyond that it has been a joy to use and is well worth the money. It is upgradable enough to stand the test of times.
  • Delane Barrus from Utah has a problem that several Power owners have mentioned:
    • I just recieved my PowerTower Pro 225. I'm very happy with the machine, it makes my other mac (7100/80) seem painfully slow. I ordered my machine with two 8 meg twin turbo cards and 64 megs of ram. Unfortunately my machine only came with one of the video cards I ordered. I waited 25 minutes to a half an hour on the phone each time I called customer support. I was very dissapointed that I had find and pay to fax the shipping paper (config Log) that came with the computer. I figured that since THEY sent me the computer generated printout in the first place, they should be able to retrieve the information. Power Computing also said they would call to confirm reception of my fax. They never did, so after leaving messages on two support operators phone mail, I called support again the next day (on hold for about 30 minutes) to get a confirmation. I finally recieved the card on Friday (It was supposedly sent Tuesday overnight Fed Express?). In short, my machine gets an A for speed, a C for it's looks, and a D for support.

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