Hands-On With the New iMac
Yes indeedy.
iMac: HOME RUN.
iPod: HOME RUN.
iTunes Video Store material on the iPod: HOME RUN.
iTunes Video Store material on the iMac. BAG OF SHITE.
Had a good play on it earlier on ...
It has a built-in (invisible) infrared port -- AS DOES THE NEW IPOD DOCK. The little remote is LITTLE. Just like a shuffle, only smaller, and you'd better get ready to lose it down the sofa. It sticks to the side of the Mac magnetically, and it's really, really cool.
The display is hella-bright ... really, really bright it seemed to me. The menu information is darn fine. Does it kick Windows Media Center Edition's arse? Yes it does. It is like an iPod interface with the MCE-style motion graphics. The machine is fast as hell as you'd imagine.
I watched a chunk of Lost from the iTMS on the iPod and iMac, as I can compare with how it looks on my computer (cough).
Imagine how 320 x 240 looks on an iPod.
You can't actually: it is SO fluid and with great depth; awesome.
Imagine how 320 x 240 looks blown up on a 20" screen.
Exactly.
And, you know what, it was in 4:3. It looked awful. I have no doubt that other video will look stunning however.
Questions?
iMac: HOME RUN.
iPod: HOME RUN.
iTunes Video Store material on the iPod: HOME RUN.
iTunes Video Store material on the iMac. BAG OF SHITE.
Had a good play on it earlier on ...
It has a built-in (invisible) infrared port -- AS DOES THE NEW IPOD DOCK. The little remote is LITTLE. Just like a shuffle, only smaller, and you'd better get ready to lose it down the sofa. It sticks to the side of the Mac magnetically, and it's really, really cool.
The display is hella-bright ... really, really bright it seemed to me. The menu information is darn fine. Does it kick Windows Media Center Edition's arse? Yes it does. It is like an iPod interface with the MCE-style motion graphics. The machine is fast as hell as you'd imagine.
I watched a chunk of Lost from the iTMS on the iPod and iMac, as I can compare with how it looks on my computer (cough).
Imagine how 320 x 240 looks on an iPod.
You can't actually: it is SO fluid and with great depth; awesome.
Imagine how 320 x 240 looks blown up on a 20" screen.
Exactly.
And, you know what, it was in 4:3. It looked awful. I have no doubt that other video will look stunning however.
Questions?
Comments
Originally posted by badtz
is it already in Apple stores?
No.
Originally posted by Harald
Questions?
Is it possible to test the new GPU? Or run some HD trailer?
How about heat/noise levels? What Temperature monitor reports?
Is this the new low power G5? I hear that the new iMac is thinner.
It seems that there is now a soldered RAM module. Is it true?
There doesn't seem to be any control panel or prefs for Front Row inside the app itself, and I didn't have the forethought to look inside System Preferences.
It is thinner, but not a lot. You can't really tell actually no matter what Steve said in the keynote.
Originally posted by Harald
The one I played with had a 2.1GHz G5 with a 700MHz bus. I'm not near it now, but combined with the PCI-X graphics card, the trailers from Front Row were BUTTER. I have no idea if this was the HD trailer -- but it could well have been and will deal with HD with no problem, I have absolutely no doubt.
There doesn't seem to be any control panel or prefs for Front Row inside the app itself, and I didn't have the forethought to look inside System Preferences.
It is thinner, but not a lot. You can't really tell actually no matter what Steve said in the keynote.
Well, it looks to be same thickness in technicality (ie, how big of a box it could fit in), but rounds down towards the edges.
Oh, and it's PCI-e, not PCI-X. Two get confused a lot.
Originally posted by Placebo
and it's PCI-e, not PCI-X. Two get confused a lot.
Doh.
if you like integration, you'll love it
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Explain the Front Row interface a bit more. If the computer is just in...um, regular computer mode and you pick up the remote across the room, how do you choose a particular photo album to view as a slideshow? How do you pick a particular iMovie? Does it just grab all these playlists, albums, and movies from the respective folders and create a menu structure for them?
Watch the demo in the keynote
http://stream.apple.akadns.net/
Originally posted by lundy
Watch the demo in the keynote
http://stream.apple.akadns.net/
For a number of reasons I'm not able to upgrade to QT 7 at all right now, therefore I can't watch the keynote. That's why I asked.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Explain the Front Row interface a bit more. If the computer is just in...um, regular computer mode and you pick up the remote across the room, how do you choose a particular photo album to view as a slideshow? How do you pick a particular iMovie? Does it just grab all these playlists, albums, and movies from the respective folders and create a menu structure for them?
The first thing you do is press the button under the keys that look like a clone of the shuffle. It's big and marked "Menu."
Then the desktop disappears off backwards and darkwards over the horizon and the 4 iApp icons arrive.
When you select one of them, the albums / playlists / menu of various types of movies / DVD options arive, looking like the translucent QT7 options.
Some of the menus are just based on the contest of eg the photo albums; some have extra options.
It's very like - very like - a complex iPod menu list.
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Thanks Harald! Your description and an article on MacCentral combined give me a really good idea. Yeah, it sounds like Front Row can really go places in the future.
Check the pics on the bottom of the Front Row page, they can give you a good idea too...
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Thanks Harald! Your description and an article on MacCentral combined give me a really good idea. Yeah, it sounds like Front Row can really go places in the future.
http://www.apple.com/imac/tour/
Originally posted by Londor
http://www.apple.com/imac/tour/
I am afraid this one too requires QuickTime 7.
Also, if one has video that is encoded at a good quality (not the postage stamp itunes video size) will it still play back in the ipod video? will it be downscanned to fit the screen?
Oh yes ... let's say you have a 1000 songs in your library and you want to choose one starting with Z. There is no wheel to spin, just a down arrow to press ... but the longer you keep it down it speeds up, exactly -- exactly -- the same way that an iPod menu will speed up. They have gone for all the same metaphors.
Did I mention that 4:3 tv looks shite, esp. at low res?
Correct me if i'm wrong but does the original iSight use a larger lens/CCD and therefore possibly better quality than the new iMacs?
Being an IR remote likely that's too much data to send; the motion and the speed of motion. Probably much more reliable to do the acceleration in software rather than over IR com.
MiMac:
I thought the same when I saw it. Likely the CCD is smaller; I suspect that is the quality compromise, not so much the lens.