I received my i7 more than two weeks ago via Shanghai, China. Packaging was fine and the computer fired up right away. There were no screen craps or other damage to the computer.
My first impressions of the computer:
1) Wow, this screen is big, crisp, and bright. However, during start up when the screen is one color, it is apparent the screen suffers from noticeable non-uniformity with respect to back-lighting. Instead of seeing a uniform, bright white or light blue screen, I see a marbled, cloudy sort of pattern with varying tonal changes due to less or more hot spots or cold spots, for lack of better words. Is this normal? I imagined LED back-lighting to be much more uniform.
2) Daily tasks (i.e., opening up many images via Preview, opening/closing apps, etc.) are not as fast as I expected. I?ve been using a Dual 500 MHz G4 PowerMac tower from 2000. Yes, 9+ years of straight t use (turned on about 80-90% of the time) without issue. Don?t get me wrong, it is MUCH faster than my PowerMac, but I guess I was expecting more. I have yet to stress the computer with H.264 encoding, for example, so I can?t comment on top performance.
3) FireWire, ohhh FireWire, why don?t you get along with iMac? A single FW800. That?s fine. After all, you can daisy chain and through the use of beta clouds, both FW400 and FW800 can operate at their maximum speeds on the SAME bus (for none believers, I can provide technical citations). So, here is my current FireWire setup:
i7 iMac (FW800 port) --> OWC Mercury Pro Quad-Interface Dual HD Case with 2X 1TB drives (FW800) --> Focusrite Saffire 10 audio interface (FW400)
As many studio audiophiles have said, you should separate your audio recordings and projects from your startup disk. I?ve done so. However, call me naïve, but I did not imagine that EVERYTIME my external drive read or wrote data, my audio interface would go into a state of distortion (like raising the gain on a track as high as it can go). When the activity of the disk drops below a certain level, the audio interface usually switches back to clean pristine audio. I am experiencing this within a studio environment (Logic Pro 9) and with simple CoreAudio iTunes playback via my audio interface. How is this possible? I mean, how can Apple assume customers are okay with such a blatant limitation? If anyone can provide me with a solution or a convenient work around (i.e., not telling me to turn off my hard drive and connect my I/O directly into the iMac every time I start up Logic), I will provide you with a craft beer. :-)
You can compare your machine to the ones tested by MacWorld for specific apps at the link below, but you need to call Apple and get a replacement. The number is in your Mac?s Address Book. The backlighting and audio distortion are not normal. You have spent a lot of money for a machine and it?s not up to par. You bought a 2st gen ore i7 iMac, they will be very helpful. Just explain the issues you have above.
2) Daily tasks (i.e., opening up many images via Preview, opening/closing apps, etc.) are not as fast as I expected. I’ve been using a Dual 500 MHz G4 PowerMac tower from 2000. Yes, 9+ years of straight t use (turned on about 80-90% of the time) without issue. Don’t get me wrong, it is MUCH faster than my PowerMac, but I guess I was expecting more. I have yet to stress the computer with H.264 encoding, for example, so I can’t comment on top performance.
Well, opening/closing apps and previewing images in Preview would be mostly impacted by your hard drive's i/o, wouldn't it? Granted a SATA II hard drive on the new iMac should be much faster than the (PATA?) drive on an old G4.
The most stunning upgrade I've given to my three year old Mac Pro, and both of my MacBook Pros was to replace the boot drives with 256GB SSDs. Almost instant-on on all three machines. Apps open almost instantly as well. The processors in these machines vary wildly with the a CoreDuo in the '06 MBP, Quad Core XEONs in the Mac Pro, and whatever Core2Duo the latest MBPs have.
Not too much difference on any of the machines with the same hard drive in terms of opening files and apps, though the CoreDuo machine is slower, I suspect as much from the drive interface being SATA I vs SATA II.
Hope they get this figured out and resolved today.
BTO i7, says delivery Dec 4. Very excited!
Bought one of the very first Rev A bondi blue iMacs in August 1998: 1st iMac. It was perfect and I ran it hard for years, wore out 3 keyboards, never a problem with that computer.
Lastly, before anyone tries to say I am p-whipped, it's all about me respecting my wife's ability to manage money. She does a fantastic job! It's hard to argue with a bank balance that would allow us to live for 3 or 4 years without working, and all due to her efforts! If it were not for her resoluteness, I would probably have us deep in debt.
Can I borrow her for a few years? She sounds a lot more able than my wife and I put together.
I'm one of the holdouts waiting to buy an iMac that doesn't attract women who pass by to stop and check their hair, put on lipstick and start using it as a mirror.
The glare is unacceptable. People may be attracted to the glass at first and for short periods of time. Even those who's use it short stints to just check email or surf the web for 20 min.
However, any and all professionals who have to spend hours at a time on a computer will develop headache's and severe eyestrain from the iMirror.
Hey, at the start of 'The 5th Element', when the professor yell's "Azzeze... LIGHT!"... is that an iMac Azzeze is holding?
FWIW I just don't get all the complaints about it having the glossy screen. Glossy looks much better in a perfect viewing environment where you control the lighting, which is exactly what you should have for your desktop, if you need it matte your in the minority, or have a poorly planed desktop space. Laptops on the other hand are completely hindered by the glossy screen and need a matte option, in fact the only time I can see having one glossy is if your were using it mostly as your desktop.
You can compare your machine to the ones tested by MacWorld for specific apps at the link below, but you need to call Apple and get a replacement. The number is in your Mac?s Address Book. The backlighting and audio distortion are not normal. You have spent a lot of money for a machine and it?s not up to par. You bought a 2st gen ore i7 iMac, they will be very helpful. Just explain the issues you have above.
I concur with Solipsism. My i7 has been on for a while but I was taking a very critical eye to it on that first start up, looking for unevenness and blotchy lighting and/or bad pixels. On startup, with that huge 27" gray screen, my iMac is as uniform and clear as I can imagine it can be produced. You can move side to side and it's still uniform. You can, however, move your head up and down and the bottom inch seems to have somewhat of a 'band' of uniform darker lighting. But that's being very critical and in daily use, I cannot find any fault with the display.
Note that I'm not a pro anything, but satisfy yourself by comparing your iMac to one at an Apple store.
I read through this thread with interest. I hope they don't find a lot of heat issues with this model and that they tested it robustly with running it hard over long periods to vet out any heat issues. I would bet Apple has learned more from the G5s in this regard than any other item they've manufactured.
As far as the packaging... I've ordered 20 iMacs over the years, covering every model of flat panel they've produced, and the packaging seemed ample for the new i7. The corner foams are huge, allowing a little space for the foot. Then there is the top piece. The white iMac box is the same, but the outer plain brown box is a bit thicker, especially in the corners. I noted that when I was cutting it to fix in my recycle bin. All together, I would be surprised if it was packaging. If these few iMacs all break in the lower-left corner, there is probably some extra stress at that point that is affecting the glass. At first glance, it sounds like a few iMacs rolled off the line with defects. Another good reason to have Apple Care, in case this issue asserts itself over time, and not just initially.
As far as the glass vs matte screens, that's another one of those issues that so quickly devolves into a religious war with proponents on both sides refusing to just accept that tastes and needs vary. Someone really can have a different point of view than you on this matter of pure personal preference without being stupid, uninformed, or just plain wrong. If someone prefers the model you don't, get over it, life goes on. How does it impact you?....
NO, NO, NO !!!
Personal preference has nothing to do with this!... Teckstud's own preference is the only thing that matters!.. Anyone who prefers something different is a complete imbecile... we should all boycott every Apple product sold... and toss out any current Apple products we use!! Non one anywhere should EVER buy another Apple product until they re-introduce matte screens on the iMacs!!!
Personal preference has nothing to do with this!... Teckstud's own preference is the only thing that matters!.. Anyone who prefers something different is a complete imbecile... we should all boycott every Apple product sold... and toss out any current Apple products we use!! Non one anywhere should EVER buy another Apple product until they re-introduce matte screens on the iMacs!!!
Personal preference has nothing to do with this!... Teckstud's own preference is the only thing that matters!.. Anyone who prefers something different is a complete imbecile... we should all boycott every Apple product sold... and toss out any current Apple products we use!! Non one anywhere should EVER buy another Apple product until they re-introduce matte screens on the iMacs!!!
I could care less if you're foolish enough to want a high gloss computer screen. GO for it.
We just want our option for matte back. It will happen- the 17" then the 15' MBP unexpectedly got it. You shall see- in due time.
Maybe a compromise anti-glare treatment of some kind. But going back to matte after using glossy is really hard. It actually looks like something's wrong with the screen. My opinion of course. Is there no acceptable anti-glare treatment or other technology in the works that will reduce or nearly eliminate glare?
This does seem to be a religious issue on this board.
Let me also add that because of the crap MicroSuck based systems I have had to put up with for the last 10+ years, even getting an i5 would be like getting out of a VW Beetle into a Mercedes-McClaren F1 race car.
because MS based systems dont have access to i5s either right?
you're paying for the apple ecosystem, not really the hardware since its essentially universal now.
I also find it weird that these issues are only happening with the Core i7 iMacs. Kinda makes you wonder if they are opening up i5's once they're off the assembly line and upgrading them to i7's manually. Possibly rushing to get all this done and either forgetting to attach some cables or being careless when reassembling them?
Glossy Screen Fix:
You can always buy an anti-glare screen to lay over the display. Here's two companies that make them. The 3M solution even provides a privacy feature where you have to be directly in front of the display to see anything.
At least this is one possibility of going from glossy to matte. If the screen were only matte, then you would truly be screwed, as it would be impossible to make a matte screen glossy. Furthermore I'm not even sure it is even possible to make a matte glass screen? All matte screens that I know of are made of plastics.
It is possible the boxes have fallen on their face or back. That would stress the corners of the screen and may lead to failures. All the Plasma boxes I have seen say to ship the screens vertically, the Apple box is not so marked. Apple may have to specify that in the future on the outer packaging. My i5 did arrive without any cracks.
It is possible the boxes have fallen on their face or back. That would stress the corners of the screen and may lead to failures. All the Plasma boxes I have seen say to ship the screens vertically, the Apple box is not so marked. Apple may have to specify that in the future on the outer packaging. My i5 did arrive without any cracks.
plasma is different than LCD.
plasma cannot shift more than 15 degrees of vertical or the plasma inside can leak out or least damage the stuff inside (if i remember that part correctly)
LCD screens, it doesnt matter if its shipped vertical or horizontal.
Count me in... I am currently writing from a "lower left corner damaged glass" iMac i7. Replacement should arrive by a couple of weeks. The origin must be a factory/material defect or it wouldn't explain why it is always the left bottom side. The possible transport mishandling might be accentuated by the fact that there is - on purpose - no Fragile sign and the box shape, now even larger, makes this a difficult to handle box and thus prone to last inches drops on the ground. and the packging given the edge glass of the new imac, is imho a bit too minimalistic. Some extra softer foam in the corners "might" have prevented this. For the record it's a very small dent, I'd say around 1 inch away from the corner and it runs form edge to edge and forms a sort of triangle.
Comments
That's exactly what I thought when I first saw the new iMac. Taking the glass to the edge didn't sound like a good idea to me.
I thought the same thing. It looks nice but it doesn?t seem like the most durable design.
I received my i7 more than two weeks ago via Shanghai, China. Packaging was fine and the computer fired up right away. There were no screen craps or other damage to the computer.
My first impressions of the computer:
1) Wow, this screen is big, crisp, and bright. However, during start up when the screen is one color, it is apparent the screen suffers from noticeable non-uniformity with respect to back-lighting. Instead of seeing a uniform, bright white or light blue screen, I see a marbled, cloudy sort of pattern with varying tonal changes due to less or more hot spots or cold spots, for lack of better words. Is this normal? I imagined LED back-lighting to be much more uniform.
2) Daily tasks (i.e., opening up many images via Preview, opening/closing apps, etc.) are not as fast as I expected. I?ve been using a Dual 500 MHz G4 PowerMac tower from 2000. Yes, 9+ years of straight t use (turned on about 80-90% of the time) without issue. Don?t get me wrong, it is MUCH faster than my PowerMac, but I guess I was expecting more. I have yet to stress the computer with H.264 encoding, for example, so I can?t comment on top performance.
3) FireWire, ohhh FireWire, why don?t you get along with iMac? A single FW800. That?s fine. After all, you can daisy chain and through the use of beta clouds, both FW400 and FW800 can operate at their maximum speeds on the SAME bus (for none believers, I can provide technical citations). So, here is my current FireWire setup:
i7 iMac (FW800 port) --> OWC Mercury Pro Quad-Interface Dual HD Case with 2X 1TB drives (FW800) --> Focusrite Saffire 10 audio interface (FW400)
As many studio audiophiles have said, you should separate your audio recordings and projects from your startup disk. I?ve done so. However, call me naïve, but I did not imagine that EVERYTIME my external drive read or wrote data, my audio interface would go into a state of distortion (like raising the gain on a track as high as it can go). When the activity of the disk drops below a certain level, the audio interface usually switches back to clean pristine audio. I am experiencing this within a studio environment (Logic Pro 9) and with simple CoreAudio iTunes playback via my audio interface. How is this possible? I mean, how can Apple assume customers are okay with such a blatant limitation? If anyone can provide me with a solution or a convenient work around (i.e., not telling me to turn off my hard drive and connect my I/O directly into the iMac every time I start up Logic), I will provide you with a craft beer. :-)
You can compare your machine to the ones tested by MacWorld for specific apps at the link below, but you need to call Apple and get a replacement. The number is in your Mac?s Address Book. The backlighting and audio distortion are not normal. You have spent a lot of money for a machine and it?s not up to par. You bought a 2st gen ore i7 iMac, they will be very helpful. Just explain the issues you have above.
2) Daily tasks (i.e., opening up many images via Preview, opening/closing apps, etc.) are not as fast as I expected. I’ve been using a Dual 500 MHz G4 PowerMac tower from 2000. Yes, 9+ years of straight t use (turned on about 80-90% of the time) without issue. Don’t get me wrong, it is MUCH faster than my PowerMac, but I guess I was expecting more. I have yet to stress the computer with H.264 encoding, for example, so I can’t comment on top performance.
Well, opening/closing apps and previewing images in Preview would be mostly impacted by your hard drive's i/o, wouldn't it? Granted a SATA II hard drive on the new iMac should be much faster than the (PATA?) drive on an old G4.
The most stunning upgrade I've given to my three year old Mac Pro, and both of my MacBook Pros was to replace the boot drives with 256GB SSDs. Almost instant-on on all three machines. Apps open almost instantly as well. The processors in these machines vary wildly with the a CoreDuo in the '06 MBP, Quad Core XEONs in the Mac Pro, and whatever Core2Duo the latest MBPs have.
Not too much difference on any of the machines with the same hard drive in terms of opening files and apps, though the CoreDuo machine is slower, I suspect as much from the drive interface being SATA I vs SATA II.
It's actually about a 50/50 split on the gloss/no-glare question.
I'm interested in how you come up with that "fact"..... seriously. Link?
BTO i7, says delivery Dec 4. Very excited!
Bought one of the very first Rev A bondi blue iMacs in August 1998: 1st iMac. It was perfect and I ran it hard for years, wore out 3 keyboards, never a problem with that computer.
Apple shipped the new remote today :-)
Lastly, before anyone tries to say I am p-whipped, it's all about me respecting my wife's ability to manage money. She does a fantastic job! It's hard to argue with a bank balance that would allow us to live for 3 or 4 years without working, and all due to her efforts! If it were not for her resoluteness, I would probably have us deep in debt.
Can I borrow her for a few years? She sounds a lot more able than my wife and I put together.
The glare is unacceptable. People may be attracted to the glass at first and for short periods of time. Even those who's use it short stints to just check email or surf the web for 20 min.
However, any and all professionals who have to spend hours at a time on a computer will develop headache's and severe eyestrain from the iMirror.
Hey, at the start of 'The 5th Element', when the professor yell's "Azzeze... LIGHT!"... is that an iMac Azzeze is holding?
You can compare your machine to the ones tested by MacWorld for specific apps at the link below, but you need to call Apple and get a replacement. The number is in your Mac?s Address Book. The backlighting and audio distortion are not normal. You have spent a lot of money for a machine and it?s not up to par. You bought a 2st gen ore i7 iMac, they will be very helpful. Just explain the issues you have above.
I concur with Solipsism. My i7 has been on for a while but I was taking a very critical eye to it on that first start up, looking for unevenness and blotchy lighting and/or bad pixels. On startup, with that huge 27" gray screen, my iMac is as uniform and clear as I can imagine it can be produced. You can move side to side and it's still uniform. You can, however, move your head up and down and the bottom inch seems to have somewhat of a 'band' of uniform darker lighting. But that's being very critical and in daily use, I cannot find any fault with the display.
Note that I'm not a pro anything, but satisfy yourself by comparing your iMac to one at an Apple store.
I read through this thread with interest. I hope they don't find a lot of heat issues with this model and that they tested it robustly with running it hard over long periods to vet out any heat issues. I would bet Apple has learned more from the G5s in this regard than any other item they've manufactured.
As far as the packaging... I've ordered 20 iMacs over the years, covering every model of flat panel they've produced, and the packaging seemed ample for the new i7. The corner foams are huge, allowing a little space for the foot. Then there is the top piece. The white iMac box is the same, but the outer plain brown box is a bit thicker, especially in the corners. I noted that when I was cutting it to fix in my recycle bin. All together, I would be surprised if it was packaging. If these few iMacs all break in the lower-left corner, there is probably some extra stress at that point that is affecting the glass. At first glance, it sounds like a few iMacs rolled off the line with defects. Another good reason to have Apple Care, in case this issue asserts itself over time, and not just initially.
As far as the glass vs matte screens, that's another one of those issues that so quickly devolves into a religious war with proponents on both sides refusing to just accept that tastes and needs vary. Someone really can have a different point of view than you on this matter of pure personal preference without being stupid, uninformed, or just plain wrong. If someone prefers the model you don't, get over it, life goes on. How does it impact you?....
NO, NO, NO !!!
Personal preference has nothing to do with this!... Teckstud's own preference is the only thing that matters!.. Anyone who prefers something different is a complete imbecile... we should all boycott every Apple product sold... and toss out any current Apple products we use!! Non one anywhere should EVER buy another Apple product until they re-introduce matte screens on the iMacs!!!
NO, NO, NO !!!
Personal preference has nothing to do with this!... Teckstud's own preference is the only thing that matters!.. Anyone who prefers something different is a complete imbecile... we should all boycott every Apple product sold... and toss out any current Apple products we use!! Non one anywhere should EVER buy another Apple product until they re-introduce matte screens on the iMacs!!!
I stand corrected.
Here's another: http://www.bang-olufsen.com/beovision10-pr
How much pwnage can you stand?
Try me. Bang - I'm impressed.
NO, NO, NO !!!
Personal preference has nothing to do with this!... Teckstud's own preference is the only thing that matters!.. Anyone who prefers something different is a complete imbecile... we should all boycott every Apple product sold... and toss out any current Apple products we use!! Non one anywhere should EVER buy another Apple product until they re-introduce matte screens on the iMacs!!!
I could care less if you're foolish enough to want a high gloss computer screen. GO for it.
We just want our option for matte back. It will happen- the 17" then the 15' MBP unexpectedly got it. You shall see- in due time.
This does seem to be a religious issue on this board.
Try me. Bang - I'm impressed.
Sony KDL-46XBR5
Let me also add that because of the crap MicroSuck based systems I have had to put up with for the last 10+ years, even getting an i5 would be like getting out of a VW Beetle into a Mercedes-McClaren F1 race car.
because MS based systems dont have access to i5s either right?
you're paying for the apple ecosystem, not really the hardware since its essentially universal now.
Glossy Screen Fix:
You can always buy an anti-glare screen to lay over the display. Here's two companies that make them. The 3M solution even provides a privacy feature where you have to be directly in front of the display to see anything.
NuShield: http://www.nushield.com
3M: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...rivacy_Filters
At least this is one possibility of going from glossy to matte. If the screen were only matte, then you would truly be screwed, as it would be impossible to make a matte screen glossy. Furthermore I'm not even sure it is even possible to make a matte glass screen? All matte screens that I know of are made of plastics.
It is possible the boxes have fallen on their face or back. That would stress the corners of the screen and may lead to failures. All the Plasma boxes I have seen say to ship the screens vertically, the Apple box is not so marked. Apple may have to specify that in the future on the outer packaging. My i5 did arrive without any cracks.
plasma is different than LCD.
plasma cannot shift more than 15 degrees of vertical or the plasma inside can leak out or least damage the stuff inside (if i remember that part correctly)
LCD screens, it doesnt matter if its shipped vertical or horizontal.