Review: Apple's 27" big screen iMac (late 2009)

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  • Reply 101 of 118
    My i7 iMac arrived yesterday and it's a beast. The monitor just blows you away. Much finer brightness adjustments that allow it to go uncomfortably bright to dim enough to use upon just waking up. This will be my first iMac that I turn the brightness down a few notches below full brightness.



    Some quick observations: the mouse is wonderful in your hand. Scrolling is smooth and similar to the iPhone in momentum when you flick. But even with the settings on mouse speed on high and acceleration turned on, I find myself lifting the mouse to get another swipe at it to get the mouse across the screen. It's just a matter of technique, of course, but this 27" is going to take more aggressive moves than my 24".



    After sleep, when you return to the Mac, the mouse will sometimes take an extra moment to start functioning. I've lost the connection a couple times during use. Probably some typical issues with bluetooth. I prefer the Logitech USB Wireless mice, not only for the above but for the extra buttons.



    HD Trailers look strangely small on this monitor. Super clear and colorful and the sound is much better than the 24.



    Someone asked about font sizes. I did a very brief sync of preferences and bookmarks just to check a few things out and play around. I found I had to bump up the font size in Safari (command-+) one notch to make it comfortable. I imagine I'm going to have to tweak a few apps to accommodate this higher res monitor.



    The speed is intoxicating. Everything just snaps. It feels much faster at most things so I'm looking forward to more grueling tasks rather than just playing around here and there.



    Now it's time to clear it out and start fresh.
  • Reply 102 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bugsnw View Post


    Some quick observations: the mouse is wonderful in your hand. Scrolling is smooth and similar to the iPhone in momentum when you flick. But even with the settings on mouse speed on high and acceleration turned on, I find myself lifting the mouse to get another swipe at it to get the mouse across the screen. It's just a matter of technique, of course, but this 27" is going to take more aggressive moves than my 24".



    Download BTT to get a GUI interface where you can set tracking speed more than double what the Apple control panel allows.



    http://blog.boastr.net/



    Oh, you can also fine-tune your Magic Mouse gestures with this and enable middle-click functionality to get Exposé back.
  • Reply 103 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Why would a Blu-ray player need DisplayPort when HDTVs use universal HDMI? Does AI mean Blu-ray readers?



    I think he means BluRay players. This iMac has the ability to plug an external BluRay player into it to use the screen for BluRay features. DisplayPort is the next version of HDMI as it supports HDMI content. It also has better throughput, and resolution so it's the next step. In this Apple was ahead of the game like they were with USB.
  • Reply 104 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by webraider View Post


    I think he means BluRay players. This iMac has the ability to plug an external BluRay player into it to use the screen for BluRay features. DisplayPort is the next version of HDMI as it supports HDMI content. It also has better throughput, and resolution so it's the next step. In this Apple was ahead of the game like they were with USB.



    Except that the iMac only responds to exact 2560x1440 resolution. How many BluRay players can output at that resolution? ZERO.



    And there is currently only one adapter solution that would allow a BluRay or PS3 to connect to the 27" iMac, and the combination of devices it requires will cost you over $400.



    So no, Apple is not ahead of the game. All they had to do (and they didn't) was build scaling into the iMac display input. In its current implementation, this feature is more like putting USB into a computer but not allowing any non-Apple devices to connect to it. In other words, next to useless.
  • Reply 105 of 118
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post


    Except that the iMac only responds to exact 2560x1440 resolution. How many BluRay players can output at that resolution? ZERO.



    And there is currently only one adapter solution that would allow a BluRay or PS3 to connect to the 27" iMac, and the combination of devices it requires will cost you over $400.



    So no, Apple is not ahead of the game. All they had to do (and they didn't) was build scaling into the iMac display input. In its current implementation, this feature is more like putting USB into a computer but not allowing any non-Apple devices to connect to it. In other words, next to useless.



    The player doesn't need to do that. Players on computers have never had to do that. either the computer does it when you set it to "full screen", or the graphics card does it.
  • Reply 106 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post


    So no, Apple is not ahead of the game. All they had to do (and they didn't) was build scaling into the iMac display input. In its current implementation, this feature is more like putting USB into a computer but not allowing any non-Apple devices to connect to it. In other words, next to useless.



    What I meant was they are ahead of the game in standardizing on DisplayPort (and Mini Display port) as a video connection standard "In General". In the case of the iMac you are right, but in the case of the regular 24inch Apple Cinema Display it makes sense. When Apple finally decides to add BluRay support, they'll do it with the supported standards. Thus When they start to include in the MacPro's, the Display port that ships on it is current with all HDMI standards.



    The BluRay player will play fine on the imac screen fyi. It will look as good as most High Def tv's even with the higher resolution. This is a feature Apple has specifically indicated as a function for the Connection.
  • Reply 107 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by melgross View Post


    The player doesn't need to do that. Players on computers have never had to do that. either the computer does it when you set it to "full screen", or the graphics card does it.



    He was talking about the display input on the iMac in target display mode. Not playing Blu-Ray through the OS.
  • Reply 108 of 118
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    The 27" iMac is great but the glossy screen is really beginning to wear out my eyes.



    Does anybody have a link for a matte film cover I can tryout?
  • Reply 109 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hillstones View Post


    Hey AppleInsider...when people shop for a Mac, they aren't interested in PC's. So stop comparing them to PC's and giving them a CON in your review because they don't have a TV tuner or Blu Ray drive...two things most people don't want to pay for in a Mac or a PC. Then you recommend an expensive PS3 instead of a less expensive stand-alone BD player?



    That's not true! I was interested to buy top iMac configuration and actually went into an Apple store to get one. When I realized new iMacs lack TV tuner I was stunned. This was 2300$+ configuration (with a company discount).

    The sales person also told me that the stand cannot be removed (attached to motherboard or something like that), so if I want to wall mount iMac the stand will be hanging there. I mean how stupid is that?? So I am interested in an objective all-in-one PCs vs. iMac comparison.
  • Reply 110 of 118
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    Has anyone else noticed the max wireless connect speed was bumped up to 300 Mbit/s? I was just browsing the network config and noticed it connected at 300 instead of 270.



    I find the mouse irritates my hand. The edges are too sharp. Clicks are better (less vague), but it's still too easy to not get a proper right click. I'll keep at it for a few days to see if I adjust or not.



    Display is beautiful and man is it bright.



    Very fast..easily twice as fast as the 3.06 iMac.



    One odd piece to note: This iMac doesnt' seem to be affected by the Virtual Software noise introduced in 10.6 that everyone was experiencing when using USB audio.
  • Reply 111 of 118
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Moler View Post


    That's not true! I was interested to buy top iMac configuration and actually went into an Apple store to get one. When I realized new iMacs lack TV tuner I was stunned. This was 2300$+ configuration (with a company discount).

    The sales person also told me that the stand cannot be removed (attached to motherboard or something like that), so if I want to wall mount iMac the stand will be hanging there. I mean how stupid is that?? So I am interested in an objective all-in-one PCs vs. iMac comparison.



    There is a vesa wall mount for the 27" iMac, see here. For some unknown reason there isn't a vesa mount kit for the old 20 " iMac or the new 21.5" iMac.
  • Reply 112 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backtomac View Post


    There is a vesa wall mount for the 27" iMac, see here. For some unknown reason there isn't a vesa mount kit for the old 20 " iMac or the new 21.5" iMac.



    Thanks for the link!

    It says there that the stand CAN be removed so "genius" from the Apple store gave me wrong information that the stand cannot be removed since it is welded to the motherboard.
  • Reply 113 of 118
    Anyone know of:



    Reviews comparing benchmarks of the new i7 iMac to all current Mac models, including newest Mac Minis?



    Any viable 3rd party solution to add matte finish to glossy screen 27" iMac?



    Thanks.
  • Reply 114 of 118
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Review links can be found in the other iMac thread. I'm also looking for a screen solution as well.



    By the way, I bought my 27" a few days after they were announced. Today I got my first low battery warning on the Magic Mouse.



    That's less than a month. Is that normal? This is my first wireless mouse.
  • Reply 115 of 118
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Moler View Post


    Thanks for the link!

    It says there that the stand CAN be removed so "genius" from the Apple store gave me wrong information that the stand cannot be removed since it is welded to the motherboard.



    Knowing Apple, he probably just assumed everything was welded to the motherboard...
  • Reply 116 of 118
    djrumpydjrumpy Posts: 1,116member
    For those of you on the 27" and the Magic Mouse, if you still think the magic mouse acceleration is too slow, even with the tracking speed turned all the way up, you can use MouseZoom.



    Works like a charm. I'm kind of surprised that Apple didn't get that one right out of the box. It should be a no brainer that folks would need a bit more speed to get across all that real estate.



    You may also have trouble putting Windows 7 on this box. I hit this issue on the 64 bit version of Windows 7. Not sure if it also affects the 32 bit version but I suspect it does. Apparently the buillt in ATI driver causes a black screen when installing (after the files are copied over and it is finalizing the installation. If you experience this, you must either boot into repair mode using the Windows 7 CD (use the command prompt option) or just install NTFS-3G and delete the ATI driver file from OS X side.



    The files to delete are in the System32 directory: C\Windows\\System32\\Drivers\\ATI*.sys



    Just delete any ATI*.SYS files in that directory and boot back into Windows.



    After that your install can continue without issue.
  • Reply 117 of 118
    this was long overdue - and from the look the quad core versions hold some serious firepower. haven't been excited in a long time like that. perfect for hd video editing/rendering and intense audio production. i compiled some benchmarks for these new babies here. now get me my quad-core laptop already !
  • Reply 118 of 118
    Picked up my stock, Core i5 today. Fantastic!
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