New iMac thread, please post thoughts/experiences here - Page 2

I have had the new 21.5 iMac now for a couple of weeks and simply love it. I had last years model for about a year, gave it to my wife and got the new one. I just couldn't have a 27 inch monitor setting on my desktop. It is just too big.

I am glad to hear that both Craig and Ron love theirs too. I am sure that Ron will not regret for a moment going from his Mac Pro to the new iMac in performance and the screen blows all others away.

BOOM, baby: http://www.macrumors.com/2009/11/14/core-i7-based-27-imac-benchmarks-show-significant-improvements/

Boom confirmed:
http://gizmodo.com/5407204/benchmarked-the-quad+core-i7-imac-is-super-fast

Too bad it doesn't have Blu or it would be on my desk.

Geez, like it's hard to buy an external burner if and

when Mac announces it will support the format?

 

Some still say Mac will never support Blu-ray.

I am not convinced the hdcp chain will allow ROM playback from an external device if and when apple supports it. I don't technically need a new computer. So I'll stick to my guns until they wake up and when they do I'll get a fast new desktop in addition to blu. I can afford to be patient and a critic for a while...

I have spent the last few weeks on the various Mac
forums on the Internet talking about the new iMacs.

As far as Blu-ray is concerned, outside of Home
Theater Forum, it's an entirely different world out there.

I was shocked to find that the majority of people on
the forums when discussing Blu-ray and Apple did not
care for the format. 

Most don't own Blu-ray players.  Many see BD as
a temporary format that will not live for many more
years.  Many think that movie downloads are where
we are heading.  Most of all, people don't want to
watch Blu-ray movies on their PC.

While there are those that agree that BD would be
great to archive home movies off a camcorder, I
was again surprised to see that those of us that
wanted it for that purpose were in the minority.

Many feel that Apple doesn't see BD as an
important format and through iTunes, is hoping
to promote the downloading of movie content.

Frankly, for me, Blu-ray is not a life and death
situation.  If and when Mac announces support
for it I will buy an external drive.   I can't see Apple
not making the use of such drives incompatible
with their BD upgrades.

I hear you.  But I don't shop for other people, I shop for me.  For friends and family I can happily point them to the 21/27 and say "PLEASE go get this, you will love it"

But with a Mac Pro that I love like a kid, and a MacBookPro thats a joy to use I'm SET.  Speed bumps aren't really a driving factor for me.  But you combine those with a full Blu support line including writing to blank media and I'll budge for sure.  I'll have to save up but I'd be motivated to do it personally where I am not currently.

The worst any HDCP difficulties will cause you to use third party software, which works NOW without any help from Apple, with external BD drives (MakeMKV + Plex).

I'm interested in that too.  I don't want to rip media, I want to burn large backups of NEF raw files to the burner and watch packaged media via Quicktime/iDVD or whatever...

There is nothing stopping you from burning BD media with an external burner right now.  Toast is one program I know of that supports it.

To watch commercial BDs, you need to rip them to disk first, using MakeMKV see:
www.makemkv.com/download/
www.makemkv.com/aboutmkv/

For playback, use Plex:
www.plexapp.com/

It is my understanding that "problem" BDs do crop up, but it is also my understanding that they are just as likely to not to play smoothly on a fully sanctioned Windows software/hardware combo: part of that "world of hurt" that Steve Jobs spoke about.  Indeed if I had to make a wild guess as to why Apple pulled the rumored BD drive from the 27" iMac my top guess is that they didn't want to help an iTunes competitor.  But close behind is El Jobso popping in a Pixar BD in the test iMac and having the playback choke on him and ordering the the hardware be pulled.

Cmon Ted, lets be reasonable.  Ripping a BD in order to watch it later is a hell of a lot different than having a library of hundreds of BDs and being able to to watch any of them at a moments notice...  Again, does it pass the "Mom test"?

Anyway, the iMac stories continue to write themselves when the numbers are this good:
http://www.macworld.com/article/143998/2009/11/corei7vsmacpro.html

I expect a huge bump to the pro line early next year...  Until then nobody should be shocked when the newest iMacs meet or beat these beasts... 

Sam

I feel the need to again sing the praises of this new i7 iMac.

It is by far the best computer I have ever owned. It is super
fast, quiet, and the display is something I can stare at all day.

I will never go back to the Mac Pro line -- not if Apple keeps
pushing the envelope with these iMacs.

Don't hesitate to buy one of these babies.  It will be the best
desktop hardware purchase you have ever made.

Wow, you've got a ton of apps installed and you don't run spaces?  CRAZY =)

I like that desktop image too.

Not so sure about the widgets running on the desktop tho.  I like having them hidden.

Core i7 iMacs arriving DOA and/or with cracked screens:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/24/core-i7-imacs-showing-up-doa-including-ours/

Ron: You can't possibly keep that many applications on your Dock, can you? I guess that exceeds my maximum by a bit, which is probably 20 or 25.

Fix for the 27" flicker problem is out:
http://www.macrumors.com/2009/12/21/apple-releases-firmware-update-to-address-screen-flickering-on-27-inch-imacs/

The iLemon?  OUCH!
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/12/23/27-inch-imac-screen-problem/
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142657/iMac_firmware_update_fails_to_fix_flickering_problems

Well, I didn't get a new iMac; but I did get a new Mac. 

I was considering the 21.5 iMac but I'm not a big fan of the glossy screens.

Upgraded from a 1.25 Power PC Mac ( the Mirror Door tower - a.k.a. Wind Tunnel model) to a 2.56 Ghz Mac Mini ( the $800.00 model ).  So far, I'm very pleased with the upgrade.  The system is pretty responsive and is incredibly more pleasing in terms of the absence of noise from the unit.  I love the old tower, but the change is striking particularly at night when it is quiet.  I probably should have done this upgrade sooner.  Still getting used to some of the changes in Snow Leopard; but so far what I see, I like.

I'm running an slightly older LCD monitor from my Windows box as my display and it works just fine via the DVI display adapter.

Hope the 27" problems get squared away.

- Walter.

Meanwhile my 27" iMac, the one reported as being a lemon,
is working BEAUTIFULLY!  Not one problem in the past month. 

I suspect the Lemon story is just pure yellow journalism, a tech crunch special.  I don't doubt there are those who have a flicker issue but I don't think it's wide spread.  Glad to hear yours is doing fine Ron!  For now I'm sticking with my Mac Pro, but I expect Apple to shake things up in 2010 and I'll have to evaluate each new release.  I suspect I'll be in for day 1 on whatever tablet doohicky they launch, no matter how ridiculous it is, but I'll not be buying a single laptop or desktop from them until they finally adopt blu, which may be never =)  If that's the case, I'll be holding on to my MBP and MPro for a looong while, both are serving my needs just fine.

 I have a 21.5 machine and have had no problems since I got it. I've had the opportunity to work with two of the 27-inch models. The very first one I unboxed had a dead wireless card and had to be returned for a warranty exchange. The second one has been problem-free.

I will say that over the past recent years, quality control of
Apple products has gone way down.

While I realize Internet forums are mostly designed for 
people that want to complain, I have seen a surge of
complaints about the quality of Apple products on the 
other forums.

These new iMacs went through a great deal of problems.
I am fortunate to have gotten a good one.  There is now 
talk that most all these iMacs (or at least the 27" ones)
are plagued with yellow screen tint across the bottom. Most
everyone is seeing it.  If it's on my Mac, I am not aware
of it.  There is a test you can run, but I never figured out 
how to do it.  So, basically, if I don't see it, I don't worry.

The bottom line for me is that this computer has run
flawlessly for me.  Best Mac I ever bought.  Tops the
Mac Pro by leaps and bounds.  Just like having the 
freedom of cords running all over the place and the
absolute beautiful and vibrant screen this computer
provides.

That's a hell of an endorsement.  Apple has had growing pains going from a specialty computer maker to the worlds premier consumer electronics company, there's no doubt about that.  But they stand behind their stuff like no other company does and their return policies are over-generous in my experience.  And the geniuses have leeway to make command decisions that affect customer satisfaction even when the legal dates of a warranty have been crossed.  You can't ask for more than that IMO.

Giz is not so lucky.
http://gizmodo.com/5435561/

I did have a hell of an endorsement, didn't I. Read
those Gizmodo member comments and you'll find
my opinion isn't exactly in the minority.

Count me in as a new iMac owner. I had an old G4 iMac (the first widescreen - looks like a lamp) for the last 7/8 years. I used to be able to use Photoshop/After Effects and not really mind performance. But things have changed, and it's been long enough. I could no longer view youtubes or use Hulu or any fun stuff anymore. Seems like the internet is bogged down with so much excess code and shite, it's a drag owning an old processor.

My boss recently bought me the 21.5" iMac at work and I was sold. Bought the i5 27" on Monday. This thing is a beast! Going from 17 -> 27 at home is scary!! I had been hesitant to get the new iMac due to the screen issues/yellow/flickering etc. Glad to say I see no flaws on my new baby this week, and hope to have a problem free computer for many years to come :) My biggest problem is trying to figure out where this thing will live. I use a corner cubby desk, and this thing is just too big for that spot, have it on my dining table right now. May look into wall mounting.

I was hoping for a refresh, but with that other new thing Apple just released, I doubt there will be any love going to the iMac line for a bit. Rumors of the Macbook Pro revisions are growing stronger...but I couldn't wait at home any longer and prefer a desktop. I did want Blu-Ry and an SSD option...but I'm really glad I finally jumped in.

So while all you Apple enthusiasts are going gaga over your new iPads...I'm a happy camper with the big mama! ha

 I am seriously looking into getting a imac, preferably a 27".  I haven't had an apple computer since my old school apple IIc.  A lot has changed since then.  I've gone through numerous windows based pc's that left me with a bad taste in my mouth.  Any suggestions on programs I should definitely have installed? (I know that can be a personal preference type of thing, but still asking).  Suggested hardware?  I don't know what is overkill for the imac in terms of hardware, versus what will last me tech wise 3-5 years.

Any help is appreciated. 

p.s. Mike Caronia that is impressive that your G4 iMac lasted that long!

Hmm.

I went overkill.  Got the i7 with 8GB Ram. 

The 8GB ram may be overkill (4GB is ideal), but
I generally have a lot of startup programs and I
use Parallels to run Windows (where I allocate
2GB to that).

If you want to save money, an i5 with 4GB 
of ram will probably come close to what I am
running.

Software is hard to recommend.  I think that
either iWork or Microsoft Office 2008 is essential.
Also think that Roxio Toast is the most important
CD/DVD burning tool you could have. 

Please, if you have any additional questions feel
free to ask.