My new iMac finally arrived... (not sure if the extra shipping cost was worth it.... it still took 6 days)
But anyway.... it is a really nice machine, great colours and brightness. I find that I have to turn the brightness down in my florescent lit office... Very very bright screen
Too early to say much more about the iMAC...
And for me... the glossy screen is not an issue.
(If there was light behind me (a window) then that would create a lot of glare.)
I have a glossy macbook pro as well... all is grand
Other than a few driver problems, and a hiccup with my wife's iTunes account, all seems to have went well.
I used Firewire drive mode to bring all the stuff from their startup drives over, and except for those above problems, that went like a charm. Passwords, everything, moved over smoothly.
The machines (24" 3.06 GHz) are fast. faster than many people seem to think an iMac can be. I changed out the 2 GB RAM from Apple to 4 GB from OWC, and that was easy. OWC gives a rebate for the old Apple RAM up to 60 days after you buy from them, but I don't know how much.
CS3 works very well. PS is very fast. I mean very fast. 200 MB files are very smooth.
The monitors are beautiful. I saw none of the problems some others are complaining about. One monitor is perfect, and the other almost, but better than most other good monitors. Saturation is excellent, and the color gamut is very good. I calibrated them today with my Xrite i1 PhotoUV, and it worked without any problems.
As with my own machine, prints off my daughters looks exactly like the screen, as viewed under my Graphiclite D50 print box. My wife doesn't do that work, so I didn't check, but it would seem as though hers would be as well.
The machines are DEAD silent, even after being on for hours.
It does take some getting used to putting a disk in a sideways, vertical DVD slot, but that's not a fault, just different.
There are reflections, but with a bit of vertical adjustment, they can't be seen when the machine is on. I notice that the old monitors, which are sitting near these machines (until I'm sure everything is ok, the old machines are still hooked up), and are matte, have terrible reflections, but they are spread over the entire screen face, so you might be fooled into thinking that they aren't there, but they are, lightening up all of the colors, esp. the blacks. These iMacs are much more saturated than the older matte screens. Much more.
The camera and mic works well. If you have the screen too high, as many people do, then you have to look up, which is funky, but these are at the proper level.
Movies look great. The sharpness, and saturation help a good deal. The old monitors always presented a bland view.
There is too much brightness and contrast out of the box, and I advise people to turn both down a fair amount. But the color is closer than I would have expected.
My daughter had a half dozen friends over this evening, and those not used to iMacs, either at home, or in school, were asking where the tower was. I explained, and they had that shocked look on their faces.
My daughter was overwhelmed by the size of the monitor at first (they use the 20" models at school) but quickly became enthused.
The speakers sound much better than expected, though they do need a sub. I haven't looked to see if the H-K iSub works with this. If not, I'll have to get them something else.
Other than that, my daughter needed ten minuted to get used to the new keyboard, but then all was well, she, as all her friends, types very quickly, and the flat keys threw her for a bit at first.
She has been using the M Mouse since it came out, and likes it, but my wife prefers her Logitec trackball. I'm a trackball user as well.
The finish on the machines is impeccable!
The remotes don't stick to the sides of the machine like they used to. I suppose the new models don't have the magnet. Too bad, as my daughter will surely lose hers.
If it was me Dept. I'd keep the Apple supplied RAM. I don't know what OWC pays for it, but I can't imagine it's very much. My reasoning is that if you ever have to take your machine in, or send it in for service, and RAM is part of the issue, Apple will not even touch it. They will return the machine to you, and tell you that you need to replace the RAM because they do not deal with 3rd party RAM. So, if the machine ever needs service, I just pop in the RAM that came with the machine, and Apple does their service work on it.
I've had that problem, so I know first hand. My old G5 PPC iMac has been to the Apple Store a couple of times.
I used Firewire drive mode to bring all the stuff from their startup drives over, and except for those above problems, that went like a charm. Passwords, everything, moved over smoothly.
Am I askign too much for Apple to make a Windows app that assists switchers in migrating the bookmarks, contracts, saved email and folders, and stores files over a Mac? I found this to be a real chore. For example, I had to install Thunderbird on the Windows machine to import the contacts from Outlook and then export to and send to the Apple's AddressBook.
Quote:
The machines (24" 3.06 GHz) are fast. faster than many people seem to think an iMac can be. I changed out the 2 GB RAM from Apple to 4 GB from OWC, and that was easy. OWC gives a rebate for the old Apple RAM up to 60 days after you buy from them, but I don't know how much.
The 2.4GHz iMac for $1,100 up from 2.0GHz is a great speed bump for the price if you are looking for something cheaper.
Quote:
The machines are DEAD silent, even after being on for hours.
That is something most PC users never consider when purchasing a machine. It makes a big difference if you jeep your machine on and it's in your bedroom.
Quote:
These iMacs are much more saturated than the older matte screens. Much more.
I have an issue that I am not sure there is a resolution for. I can't use the native reolution for the 20" iMac because everything is too small for aging eyes to read. So I had to use a non-native resolution, but that blurs everything, especially text with Font Smoothing on. With it off it looks even worse. Any ideas on how to keep the crispness but increase the size of everything would be great.
Quote:
The camera and mic works well. If you have the screen too high, as many people do, then you have to look up, which is funky, but these are at the proper level.
That is an issue with the 20" iMac too. until they can put the camera behind the screen there is solution for this that I can see.
I do wish the iChat A/V background effects worked better and that the resolution of the camera was higher. There was also some annoying reverb when using the the internal mic and speakers for an audio chat. Though I'm not sure if this can be helped without headphones, though we had software that could fix it on the fly.
Quote:
There is too much brightness and contrast out of the box, and I advise people to turn both down a fair amount. But the color is closer than I would have expected.
For those that don't know, you can adjust the contrast by holding down the Control+Option+Command keys and pressing comma ( , ) or period ( . ).
Quote:
My daughter had a half dozen friends over this evening, and those not used to iMacs, either at home, or in school, were asking where the tower was. I explained, and they had that shocked look on their faces.
Viral marketing at its best. I expect that several more Macs will be purchased by friends or my parents this year because of the one I set up for them. I expect my stock to double over the next year.
Quote:
The speakers sound much better than expected, though they do need a sub.
They 20" iMac speakers sounded "tinny" to me. I'd expect the 24" iMac uses better speakers than the 20".
Quote:
Other than that, my daughter needed ten minuted to get used to the new keyboard, but then all was well, she, as all her friends, types very quickly, and the flat keys threw her for a bit at first.
The keyboards seem to be loved or hated, but a little time spent on it seems to change most people's mind about them. I'm guessing you got the BT model.
Quote:
She has been using the M Mouse since it came out, and likes it, but my wife prefers her Logitec trackball. I'm a trackball user as well.
This was a chore to teach a Windows user how to use the MM.
Quote:
The remotes don't stick to the sides of the machine like they used to. I suppose the new models don't have the magnet. Too bad, as my daughter will surely lose hers.
I understand that they wouldn't want to put a hole in the aluminium on the side for the remote to attach, but I think they could have allowed it to stick underneath. I may try to rig something up.
Since I've never had need for a remote for my desktop Macs, and none of my Macs ever came with a remote, not knowing what to do with it, I'd probably stick it in a drawer.
If it was me Dept. I'd keep the Apple supplied RAM. I don't know what OWC pays for it, but I can't imagine it's very much. My reasoning is that if you ever have to take your machine in, or send it in for service, and RAM is part of the issue, Apple will not even touch it. They will return the machine to you, and tell you that you need to replace the RAM because they do not deal with 3rd party RAM. So, if the machine ever needs service, I just pop in the RAM that came with the machine, and Apple does their service work on it.
I've had that problem, so I know first hand. My old G5 PPC iMac has been to the Apple Store a couple of times.
I had an issue with bad 3rd-party RAM a few back with a 12" PB. Though it works for months and then started having issues right after a point update so I never considered taking out the RAM and checking the system. Long story short, I sent it to Apple with the 3rd-arty in place, they sent it back to me with the 3rd-party RAM removed, the OS reinstalled and a note saying that the RAM was bad. I was impressed with that service and thanks to .Mac getting my system back the way i like it was a an username and password away.
I had an issue with bad 3rd-party RAM a few back with a 12" PB. Though it works for months and then started having issues right after a point update so I never considered taking out the RAM and checking the system. Long story short, I sent it to Apple with the 3rd-arty in place, they sent it back to me with the 3rd-party RAM removed, the OS reinstalled and a note saying that the RAM was bad. I was impressed with that service and thanks to .Mac getting my system back the way i like it was a an username and password away.
Since I don't use .Mac, I have a cloned copy of my internal iMac drive on an external eSATA drive with a FW interface.
My RAM issues were with RAM from 1800memory. They sent me replacement RAM, and it was also bad. Rather than wait for more mail order RAM, I went to Fry's and got Kingston RAM. That way I was back in business immediately. If I wasn't in a hurry for the RAM, I'd buy from OWC, or more likely from http://www.datamemorysystems.com/, because they usually have better prices.
Since I don't use .Mac, I have a cloned copy of my internal iMac drive on an external eSATA drive with a FW interface.
My RAM issues were with RAM from 1800memory. They sent me replacement RAM, and it was also bad. Rather than wait for more mail order RAM, I went to Fry's and got Kingston RAM. That way I was back in business immediately. If I wasn't in a hurry for the RAM, I'd buy from OWC, or more likely from http://www.datamemorysystems.com/, because they usually have better prices.
The RAM that had an issue with so many years ago was from CompUSA (rookie mistake ).I flip between OWC and Crucial. for pricing. Newegg is a good store, but the prices do tend to be higher.
The RAM that had an issue with so many years ago was from CompUSA (rookie mistake ).I flip between OWC and Crucial. for pricing. Newegg is a good store, but the prices do tend to be higher.
Hmmmm, I just checked, and OWC is $7 cheaper than DMS for 2-2GB modules for the new 24" iMac. Too bad I don't have a new iMac in my immediate future. \
Hmmmm, I just checked, and OWC is $7 cheaper than DMS for 2-2GB modules for the new 24" iMac. Too bad I don't have a new iMac in my immediate future. \
With RAM as low as it is these days they are all fine prices.
BTW, I don;t how long they've had but Crucial now has a scanner for Macs so you don't have to walk friends and family through the sometimes painful task of System Profiler to find out their RAM and limits
I look forward to the day that Apple puts their built-in iSights inside the monitor. Not sure how feasible it is, but it's a dream to look forward to!
Quite feasible. The IR receiver, camera and mic already work over a USB bus in the notebook and iMac line, and Apple has USB and FireWire in the Cinema Display cable bundle. I think we all shocked that they haven't been updated in so long and will be even more shocked if they don't come with those 3 additions when they are refreshed.
Quite feasible. The IR receiver, camera and mic already work over a USB bus in the notebook and iMac line, and Apple has USB and FireWire in the Cinema Display cable bundle. I think we all shocked that they haven't been updated in so long and will be even more shocked if they don't come with those 3 additions when they are refreshed.
I think he meant "in" the monitor, as in actually within the LCD, not a feature of the cinema displays.
what they should do i put a camera like right behing the monitor in the middle so when like u have an ichat u look at yourself and the camera
They filed a patent for that very thing but we have no idea if or when they will be coming out with such a product. With as secret as Apple is, I would expect we'd see prototype devices from other manufacturers first as a proof-of-concept, but I don't recall reading about any such device.
Comments
where is the tear down photos? very quiet indeed....
no one gotten their hand on new iMacs yet?
where is the tear down photos? very quiet indeed....
A number of us have gotten them. No tear down photos yet, or at least, none that have been publicized.
I don't imagine there is too much difference.
A number of us have gotten them. No tear down photos yet, or at least, none that have been publicized.
I don't imagine there is too much difference.
Give us the rundown on your two new iMacs.
But anyway.... it is a really nice machine, great colours and brightness. I find that I have to turn the brightness down in my florescent lit office... Very very bright screen
Too early to say much more about the iMAC...
And for me... the glossy screen is not an issue.
(If there was light behind me (a window) then that would create a lot of glare.)
I have a glossy macbook pro as well... all is grand
Cheers
Give us the rundown on your two new iMacs.
Other than a few driver problems, and a hiccup with my wife's iTunes account, all seems to have went well.
I used Firewire drive mode to bring all the stuff from their startup drives over, and except for those above problems, that went like a charm. Passwords, everything, moved over smoothly.
The machines (24" 3.06 GHz) are fast. faster than many people seem to think an iMac can be. I changed out the 2 GB RAM from Apple to 4 GB from OWC, and that was easy. OWC gives a rebate for the old Apple RAM up to 60 days after you buy from them, but I don't know how much.
CS3 works very well. PS is very fast. I mean very fast. 200 MB files are very smooth.
The monitors are beautiful. I saw none of the problems some others are complaining about. One monitor is perfect, and the other almost, but better than most other good monitors. Saturation is excellent, and the color gamut is very good. I calibrated them today with my Xrite i1 PhotoUV, and it worked without any problems.
As with my own machine, prints off my daughters looks exactly like the screen, as viewed under my Graphiclite D50 print box. My wife doesn't do that work, so I didn't check, but it would seem as though hers would be as well.
The machines are DEAD silent, even after being on for hours.
It does take some getting used to putting a disk in a sideways, vertical DVD slot, but that's not a fault, just different.
There are reflections, but with a bit of vertical adjustment, they can't be seen when the machine is on. I notice that the old monitors, which are sitting near these machines (until I'm sure everything is ok, the old machines are still hooked up), and are matte, have terrible reflections, but they are spread over the entire screen face, so you might be fooled into thinking that they aren't there, but they are, lightening up all of the colors, esp. the blacks. These iMacs are much more saturated than the older matte screens. Much more.
The camera and mic works well. If you have the screen too high, as many people do, then you have to look up, which is funky, but these are at the proper level.
Movies look great. The sharpness, and saturation help a good deal. The old monitors always presented a bland view.
There is too much brightness and contrast out of the box, and I advise people to turn both down a fair amount. But the color is closer than I would have expected.
My daughter had a half dozen friends over this evening, and those not used to iMacs, either at home, or in school, were asking where the tower was. I explained, and they had that shocked look on their faces.
My daughter was overwhelmed by the size of the monitor at first (they use the 20" models at school) but quickly became enthused.
The speakers sound much better than expected, though they do need a sub. I haven't looked to see if the H-K iSub works with this. If not, I'll have to get them something else.
Other than that, my daughter needed ten minuted to get used to the new keyboard, but then all was well, she, as all her friends, types very quickly, and the flat keys threw her for a bit at first.
She has been using the M Mouse since it came out, and likes it, but my wife prefers her Logitec trackball. I'm a trackball user as well.
The finish on the machines is impeccable!
The remotes don't stick to the sides of the machine like they used to. I suppose the new models don't have the magnet. Too bad, as my daughter will surely lose hers.
So far, very impressed.
I've had that problem, so I know first hand. My old G5 PPC iMac has been to the Apple Store a couple of times.
I used Firewire drive mode to bring all the stuff from their startup drives over, and except for those above problems, that went like a charm. Passwords, everything, moved over smoothly.
Am I askign too much for Apple to make a Windows app that assists switchers in migrating the bookmarks, contracts, saved email and folders, and stores files over a Mac? I found this to be a real chore. For example, I had to install Thunderbird on the Windows machine to import the contacts from Outlook and then export to and send to the Apple's AddressBook.
The machines (24" 3.06 GHz) are fast. faster than many people seem to think an iMac can be. I changed out the 2 GB RAM from Apple to 4 GB from OWC, and that was easy. OWC gives a rebate for the old Apple RAM up to 60 days after you buy from them, but I don't know how much.
The 2.4GHz iMac for $1,100 up from 2.0GHz is a great speed bump for the price if you are looking for something cheaper.
The machines are DEAD silent, even after being on for hours.
That is something most PC users never consider when purchasing a machine. It makes a big difference if you jeep your machine on and it's in your bedroom.
These iMacs are much more saturated than the older matte screens. Much more.
I have an issue that I am not sure there is a resolution for. I can't use the native reolution for the 20" iMac because everything is too small for aging eyes to read. So I had to use a non-native resolution, but that blurs everything, especially text with Font Smoothing on. With it off it looks even worse. Any ideas on how to keep the crispness but increase the size of everything would be great.
The camera and mic works well. If you have the screen too high, as many people do, then you have to look up, which is funky, but these are at the proper level.
That is an issue with the 20" iMac too. until they can put the camera behind the screen there is solution for this that I can see.
I do wish the iChat A/V background effects worked better and that the resolution of the camera was higher. There was also some annoying reverb when using the the internal mic and speakers for an audio chat. Though I'm not sure if this can be helped without headphones, though we had software that could fix it on the fly.
There is too much brightness and contrast out of the box, and I advise people to turn both down a fair amount. But the color is closer than I would have expected.
For those that don't know, you can adjust the contrast by holding down the Control+Option+Command keys and pressing comma ( , ) or period ( . ).
My daughter had a half dozen friends over this evening, and those not used to iMacs, either at home, or in school, were asking where the tower was. I explained, and they had that shocked look on their faces.
Viral marketing at its best. I expect that several more Macs will be purchased by friends or my parents this year because of the one I set up for them. I expect my stock to double over the next year.
The speakers sound much better than expected, though they do need a sub.
They 20" iMac speakers sounded "tinny" to me. I'd expect the 24" iMac uses better speakers than the 20".
Other than that, my daughter needed ten minuted to get used to the new keyboard, but then all was well, she, as all her friends, types very quickly, and the flat keys threw her for a bit at first.
The keyboards seem to be loved or hated, but a little time spent on it seems to change most people's mind about them. I'm guessing you got the BT model.
She has been using the M Mouse since it came out, and likes it, but my wife prefers her Logitec trackball. I'm a trackball user as well.
This was a chore to teach a Windows user how to use the MM.
The remotes don't stick to the sides of the machine like they used to. I suppose the new models don't have the magnet. Too bad, as my daughter will surely lose hers.
I understand that they wouldn't want to put a hole in the aluminium on the side for the remote to attach, but I think they could have allowed it to stick underneath. I may try to rig something up.
If it was me Dept. I'd keep the Apple supplied RAM. I don't know what OWC pays for it, but I can't imagine it's very much. My reasoning is that if you ever have to take your machine in, or send it in for service, and RAM is part of the issue, Apple will not even touch it. They will return the machine to you, and tell you that you need to replace the RAM because they do not deal with 3rd party RAM. So, if the machine ever needs service, I just pop in the RAM that came with the machine, and Apple does their service work on it.
I've had that problem, so I know first hand. My old G5 PPC iMac has been to the Apple Store a couple of times.
I had an issue with bad 3rd-party RAM a few back with a 12" PB. Though it works for months and then started having issues right after a point update so I never considered taking out the RAM and checking the system. Long story short, I sent it to Apple with the 3rd-arty in place, they sent it back to me with the 3rd-party RAM removed, the OS reinstalled and a note saying that the RAM was bad. I was impressed with that service and thanks to .Mac getting my system back the way i like it was a an username and password away.
I had an issue with bad 3rd-party RAM a few back with a 12" PB. Though it works for months and then started having issues right after a point update so I never considered taking out the RAM and checking the system. Long story short, I sent it to Apple with the 3rd-arty in place, they sent it back to me with the 3rd-party RAM removed, the OS reinstalled and a note saying that the RAM was bad. I was impressed with that service and thanks to .Mac getting my system back the way i like it was a an username and password away.
Since I don't use .Mac, I have a cloned copy of my internal iMac drive on an external eSATA drive with a FW interface.
My RAM issues were with RAM from 1800memory. They sent me replacement RAM, and it was also bad. Rather than wait for more mail order RAM, I went to Fry's and got Kingston RAM. That way I was back in business immediately. If I wasn't in a hurry for the RAM, I'd buy from OWC, or more likely from http://www.datamemorysystems.com/, because they usually have better prices.
Since I don't use .Mac, I have a cloned copy of my internal iMac drive on an external eSATA drive with a FW interface.
My RAM issues were with RAM from 1800memory. They sent me replacement RAM, and it was also bad. Rather than wait for more mail order RAM, I went to Fry's and got Kingston RAM. That way I was back in business immediately. If I wasn't in a hurry for the RAM, I'd buy from OWC, or more likely from http://www.datamemorysystems.com/, because they usually have better prices.
The RAM that had an issue with so many years ago was from CompUSA (rookie mistake
The RAM that had an issue with so many years ago was from CompUSA (rookie mistake
Hmmmm, I just checked, and OWC is $7 cheaper than DMS for 2-2GB modules for the new 24" iMac. Too bad I don't have a new iMac in my immediate future.
Hmmmm, I just checked, and OWC is $7 cheaper than DMS for 2-2GB modules for the new 24" iMac. Too bad I don't have a new iMac in my immediate future.
With RAM as low as it is these days they are all fine prices.
BTW, I don;t how long they've had but Crucial now has a scanner for Macs so you don't have to walk friends and family through the sometimes painful task of System Profiler to find out their RAM and limits
and after the udate i got an imac.
got the 24" 2.8ghz with the 512mb graphics card its so sickkkkkkk
btw get logitech z5500 speakers because they iamcs speakers sound tiny and crappy
u can get these speakers for only 200 at tigerdirect.com
I look forward to the day that Apple puts their built-in iSights inside the monitor. Not sure how feasible it is, but it's a dream to look forward to!
Quite feasible. The IR receiver, camera and mic already work over a USB bus in the notebook and iMac line, and Apple has USB and FireWire in the Cinema Display cable bundle. I think we all shocked that they haven't been updated in so long and will be even more shocked if they don't come with those 3 additions when they are refreshed.
Quite feasible. The IR receiver, camera and mic already work over a USB bus in the notebook and iMac line, and Apple has USB and FireWire in the Cinema Display cable bundle. I think we all shocked that they haven't been updated in so long and will be even more shocked if they don't come with those 3 additions when they are refreshed.
I think he meant "in" the monitor, as in actually within the LCD, not a feature of the cinema displays.
what they should do i put a camera like right behing the monitor in the middle so when like u have an ichat u look at yourself and the camera
They filed a patent for that very thing but we have no idea if or when they will be coming out with such a product. With as secret as Apple is, I would expect we'd see prototype devices from other manufacturers first as a proof-of-concept, but I don't recall reading about any such device.