Moore's law roughly states that computer processor speeds will double every 18 months while prices remain the same. With the iMAXpowr, a 466 MHz G3 upgrade, Newer Technology has doubled the speed of the original iMac and has significantly increased the speed of subsequent first-generation iMacs. Unfortunately, they were unable to do it at a reasonable price.
The upgrade itself is beyond criticism. It nearly doubles the speed of a 233 MHz iMac as should be expected, and it requires no adjustments to your computer other than the installation of the card. Drivers aren't even needed since the card uses a recycled iMac processor card with the new processor grafted on it. Newer also doubled the backside cache on the processor card to one full megabyte.
Installation was made moderately difficult by the iMac's compact construction, but Newer Technology is not to blame for Apple's engineering. The included documentation was thorough and helpful, and made the daunting task of figuring out how to install the card far easier. The black-and-white illustrations were useful, but the descriptions were adequate on their own. I was surprised by how quickly and easily I was able to install the upgrade; the whole process took under 30 minutes. If you're familiar with installing RAM in your iMac, installing the iMAXpowr will be a breeze, requiring only a few additional steps.
The iMAXpowr leaves nothing to be desired it does exactly what it promises and is relatively straightforward to install. Unfortunately, the price is simply too high. An initial investment of $699 is required to purchase the iMAXpowr, with a $200 mail-in rebate for your old processor card (assuming you return your old card within a week of receiving the iMAXpowr; if you wait longer the rebate drops to $150).
Even after the rebate, this processor upgrade still costs half as much as a new iMac 350. Couple that with the value of your current first-generation iMac ($500-$800 depending on model and upgrades) and prospective iMAXpowr users can can sell their old iMac and purchase a new one. While the processor in a second-generation won't be as fast as the iMAXpowr, the added Rage 128 AGP graphics card coupled with the faster hard drive will surely make the second-generation iMac feel as fast if not faster depending on applications. And that's not counting the improved speakers, enclosure, AirPort support, dual-USB busses, and, if you splurge for a DV model, DVD and FireWire.
In the end, the iMAXpowr is an expensive attempt at keeping an aging computer up to date with today's newer systems.
