First Look: Apple's 27" big screen iMac

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  • Reply 121 of 244
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    I have to agree with Quadra 610 on this point. I think, JeffDM, you are being a little too quick to judge. Also, I really don't think it a moderator's role to be judging the 'worthwhileness' of responses. If that were the criterion, one could easily make the case for shutting down half of this thread (including a couple of my own posts).



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Nice to see that gentleman-liness prevails yet again on AI!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    In Jeff's defense, he was correct in spirit. The subject in question was a touchy one, anyway. Not always easy to deal with, and it's difficult to craft guidelines about it. I mean, AI's are pretty good in this particular area, but not exhaustive, because they really can't be. If there was an attempt to make them exhaustive, we run the risk of eliminating subjects like Psystar's Rebel EFI hack, hackintosh discussions, etc. I might be stretching it here, but it could go in that direction.



    But thanks for noticing the resolution. It doesn't always happen that way around here.



    i don;t understand ??

    what is a 1080p movie ? apple HD is 720p ?



    and this whole back and forth between friends here is surreal

    i am happy you guys shook hands over this misunderstanding



    pirates have cost tens of thousands of jobs worldwide . i await the day they are no more



    peace 9
  • Reply 122 of 244
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post


    I n.



    The other side of the coin here is that there are perfectly legal place where you can find high quality HD content. These tend to be demos, trailers and short features but they exist.









    Dave



    amazon has tons of legal HD for DL . does this not work on a mac ?
  • Reply 123 of 244
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by brucep View Post


    amazon has tons of legal HD for DL . does this not work on a mac ?



    not to mention you can attach a bluray external drive to it.



    Btw I am very pro piracy in some respects: if you buy a blue Ray disc for your living room player why instead of ripping it yourself to some h.264 codec shouldn't you be able to download somebody elses rip over the net. You own the disc in the first place.
  • Reply 124 of 244
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Woei View Post


    I'm a bit confused by this statement. Does this mean that the card can drive an external monitor up to a resolution of 2560x1600, next to the iMacs's own native 2560x1440 resolution, or that the total maximum resolution is limited to 2560x1600 ?



    Concretely, since I already own a 24" ACD screen (mini-display port), I'm wondering whether I can attach it to a 27" iMac to get a grand total resolution of 4480x2640, and do so at reasonable performance.



    I know, it would be a rather obscene resolution. A couple of years ago I was still stuck at 800x600 on a 15" CRT. How times change :-)



    LOL you might want to check your math.
  • Reply 125 of 244
    chris_cachris_ca Posts: 2,543member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hiimamac View Post


    Well since these machines have only one hard drive and no eSata, in audio you need three HDd

    ...

    !



    Over 5000 posts and you still know how to quote articles correctly!

    Excellent!
  • Reply 126 of 244
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    I am looking to buy but waiting a while to see if any issues come out.



    The only issues I have heard of so far are:

    - Flash video

    - Screen flicker

    - Excessively noisy hard drives



    The Flash issue doesn't happen when booted in to Windows, so it's not a hardware thing, and doesn't happen on other Macs with Snow Leopard. So is probably the ATI driver, or some other part of Snow Leopard other Macs don't have.



    The noisy hard drives all appear to be WD Black drives, but in a shop near here a 27" had a Seagate 1TB inside, and was quiet, so I guess it's luck of the draw. Screen flicker has not be resolved yet AFAIK.
  • Reply 127 of 244
    Who wants that shit for shit keyboard? It's so disproportionate!!!!
  • Reply 128 of 244
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DocNo42 View Post


    Give me a break. This isn't the New York Times (and they even screw up as far as the "purists" are concerned). Like it or not this site (and many others) are supported by ad revenue. I was just on three other photography sites earlier this morning and every single one of them have affiliate links.



    Agreed.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacsRGood4U View Post


    Very well said. I actually consider the links and price guide a pretty good service cause it helped me save about $300 on my MBP a few months ago, which was about $150 more than the cheapest prices on price grabber and other compare engines at the time.



    I?ve used their discount guides several times to find the best rates.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Spot on! (Perhaps AI should offer a non-ad-supported subscription version: let's see how many of these 'morally indignant' types would sign on).



    The setup might be costly and cumbersome without actually resulting in a net profit. If automatically removed any of Teckstud?s posts, including the quoted comments in replies I may change my feelings on the idea.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kotatsu View Post


    It's a great machine in so many ways, except one - no blu-ray. I will not pay so much money for a system with a 10 year old optical drive.



    Add a blu-ray burner, and I buy. Until then, I have Windows 7 to keep my old PC running for as long as it takes.



    1) The optical drive in the iMac is not 10 years old. That slim-loading drive nor those speeds and all the features were around in 1999.



    2) If you want a Blu-ray player, buy one. Internal or external, your choice. I don?t understand the complaints that Apple doesn?t offer the exact setup one wants but then also chooses not to take the most rudimentary of action to get that option. You?ll have to install Windows Vista or 7 play HDCP protected media but the display on the iMac is surely much nicer than what you have now, even though it?s still far from ideal for how most people want to watch protected video on Blu-ray media.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rob55 View Post


    I do. But let me be perfectly clear, I do not want a Blu-ray drive on my Mac to watch movies. [?] And yes, I'm disappointed every time there's a refresh and there's still no Blu-ray burner. My luck, I'll buy a 3rd party burner and Apple will add the option next year.



    Then spend substantially less money than Apple will offer for a slim, slot-loading Blur-ray burner buy buying your own external. Since you don?t want to use it for movies then you have no additional caveats.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rob55 View Post


    Aside from the 720p stuff from Apple and any content you make yourself, where are you getting HD content to play on it? (Ripped Blu-ray movies don't count).



    Besides what Quadra 610 already said, there are 720p and 1080p podcasts, you can play video that you recorded with your camcorder, copy over video you saved to your TiVo, and even play Blu-ray movies in Windows via BootCamp by simply buying your own Blu-ray player. Why this idea that it?s impossible to do if Apple doesn?t supply the expensive option that few want for their PCs. It?s ideal tech for the home theater technology, not for consumer PCs.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sippincider View Post


    When my matte iMac dies, it looks like Apple is giving me three options: Go used, go Dell, or go Amish.

    Too bad one can't be Apple.



    Going Amish means that an Apple is an actual Apple. \





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    There is very little HD content available for downloading, even more so for streaming because most users do not have the bandwidth to stream HD content.



    Then they can watch it on their HDTVs, where Blu-ray movies were designed to be watched, buy from a different PC vendor or install Windows and buy their own Blu-ray player if they are one of the few that want to watch 1080p movies on their computer.



    Quote:

    Blu Ray is not available from Apple while its available from HP, Dell and Sony.



    Available, yes, but not for all their systems, and being available doesn?t mean that it?s being bought. You are upset that Apple doesn?t cater to your specific needs on every level. That will never happen. Macs do not fit your needs so buy a different machine. It?s that simple. Dell?s don?t fit my needs but you don?t see me writing about how much Dell sucks for not including this feature or for including a feature that I?ll never use. It?s silly. You don?t have to like it, but as an adult you should accept it.



    Quote:

    This is typical Apple, build something that doesn't support what the rest fo the world uses. You can try to put any slant on this you want but there isn't anyone (except you) that doesnt think this entire display port issues is beyond stupid.



    The rest of the world, except for Japan, likely has Blu-ray acceptance in PCs lower than the US. If you want to hook up your Mac to an HDTV then do so. The adapter is cheap.



    Quote:

    Even in the dark deep woods of Canada you may have heard of something called HDMI. You know the standard the rest of the world uses.



    The rest of the world? I bet there are more devices connected with Composite video or coax than with HDMI. Oh, and Apple supports HDMI output from all Macs with DP or DVI, so I guess they support that standard. BTW, standard means very little as there are plenty of standards out there. It does mean it?s the most common method, and it certainly isn?t the most common method for connecting PCs to monitors. If you haven?t figured it out yet, Apple?s Macs are consumer PCs.



    Quote:

    You cant site quality or premium this time because there isnt any more premium then HDMI.



    DisplayPort is considerably more premium and more future-forward than HDMI without costing a premium to use.
  • Reply 129 of 244
    kotatsukotatsu Posts: 1,010member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Quadra 610 View Post


    AppleTV got better, yes indeed. I'm not keeping up with it's development that much, though.



    Still waiting for HD content availability on the Canadian iTunes store. That's right, as far as I can tell we still don't have it.



    I just had a quick look round the Canadian iTunes store, and believe me, you guys have a LOT more HD content than we do in the UK. Plus you get stuff when it's actually new, and for reasonable prices.



    To get an idea of what it's like on a good day in the UK, take a show like House, Season 6. The Canadian price for the HD season pass is CA$70. In the UK, we pay CA$87 for the same HD pass. That's a best case example.



    A more typical example would be Mad Men Season 3. The Canadian HD season pass is CA$40 , but in the UK the show has yet to appear, and won't do for at least 6 months. Based on past seasons of Mad Men it will be in SD only, and cost CA$40. Yep, the same price for 6 month old content in SD.



    You guys may not have quite the selection they do in the US, but you're still way ahead of the way Apple screw us UK customers.
  • Reply 130 of 244
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sippincider View Post


    As one of the matte fans, it's not a matter of a little whining.



    I have sensitive eyes & glare causes severe strain. IT HURTS to use a glossy display!!!



    For what Apple charges for their products, there's no reason they can't spend an extra buck on non-reflective glass (it's available if they bothered).



    When my matte iMac dies, it looks like Apple is giving me three options: Go used, go Dell, or go Amish.

    Too bad one can't be Apple.



    Glare can only occurs by shining a bright directly onto the screen.
  • Reply 131 of 244
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by extremeskater View Post


    There is very little HD content available for downloading, even more so for streaming because most users do not have the bandwidth to stream HD content.



    Yet again Apple created a device that can only be used in an all Apple world. You can not plug an PS3 or Xbox 360 in the system, which is foolish seeing your average Gateway monitor can perform this function. Blu Ray is not available from Apple while its available from HP, Dell and Sony.



    This is typical Apple, build something that doesn't support what the rest fo the world uses. You can try to put any slant on this you want but there isn't anyone (except you) that doesnt think this entire display port issues is beyond stupid.



    Even in the dark deep woods of Canada you may have heard of something called HDMI. You know the standard the rest of the world uses. You cant site quality or premium this time because there isnt any more premium then HDMI.



    As you have already told us, you are a PC'r through and through. Why do you continue to be here?
  • Reply 132 of 244
    jfanningjfanning Posts: 3,398member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    DisplayPort is considerably more premium and more future-forward than HDMI without costing a premium to use.



    Then why didn't Apple use it then? We are stuck with this mini display port which means you need to purchase something to connect it to other displays
  • Reply 133 of 244
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kotatsu View Post


    I just had a quick look round the Canadian iTunes store, and believe me, you guys have a LOT more HD content than we do in the UK. Plus you get stuff when it's actually new, and for reasonable prices.



    To get an idea of what it's like on a good day in the UK, take a show like House, Season 6. The Canadian price for the HD season pass is CA$70. In the UK, we pay CA$87 for the same HD pass. That's a best case example.



    A more typical example would be Mad Men Season 3. The Canadian HD season pass is CA$40 , but in the UK the show has yet to appear, and won't do for at least 6 months. Based on past seasons of Mad Men it will be in SD only, and cost CA$40. Yep, the same price for 6 month old content in SD.



    You guys may not have quite the selection they do in the US, but you're still way ahead of the way Apple screw us UK customers.



    If I am not mistaken, all prices listed in the UK have VAT included? Not in Canada.
  • Reply 134 of 244
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jfanning View Post


    Then why didn't Apple use it then? We are stuck with this mini display port which means you need to purchase something to connect it to other displays



    I think they intended it for plugging your Mac laptop in to and nothing else. You have an iMac at home, a Macbook on the road, and when you get home you can plug the Macbook in to the iMac's screen, simple as that.



    The only machine Apple makes that considers non-Apple hardware is the Mac Mini which is for switchers and designed to work with a PC keyboard, mouse and monitor. And even the latest Mac Mini, refreshed at the same time as these iMacs, still does have DVI.
  • Reply 135 of 244
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jfanning View Post


    Then why didn't Apple use it then? We are stuck with this mini display port which means you need to purchase something to connect it to other displays



    They did use it!!! When referring to DisplayPort in general it refers to the whole spec, not the port interface, unless specified. Mini-DisplayPort singling and capabilities are the EXACT same as DisplayPort port interface. Having a variance in the port size is not uncommon. Look at USB of DVI.



    Not a big deal, especially when you consider that the gains from using the smaller port option out of the gate and the capabilities of the spec makes the longterm use of DP very likely. More so than any other display output technology and port interface that Apple has ever used across the board.



    Every Mac has the EXACT same connector. Every Mac can push a 30? display. No need to have DL-DVI for the larger Macs with more powerful GPUs, Mini-DVI for Macs with weaker GPUs that can?t push dual-link displays or Micro-DVI for the MBA because Mini-DVI was too large for the design. For once Apple has the exact same connector for all Macs in the best option available for PCs, and one that has been widely adopted across PC vendors and you are crying because Apple?s ahead of the curve on a port interface option and aren?t willing to spend $5 on an adapter?
  • Reply 136 of 244
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DocNo42 View Post


    Give me a break. This isn't the New York Times (and they even screw up as far as the "purists" are concerned). Like it or not this site (and many others) are supported by ad revenue. I was just on three other photography sites earlier this morning and every single one of them have affiliate links to various resellers at the end of their reviews. If you like "free" content, this is how it works.



    It you enjoy a site like this, it's how they stay in business. If you are going to go all ultra-legalistic then stick to consumers reports (which you will have to pay for). Otherwise we need to cut the moral indignation crap.



    You are too stupid to get it! AppleInsider is specifically telling people to buy it from their sponsor to get a discount, a lousy 3%, which in turn makes AppleInsider money. No one else reviews a product, even a basic review, and then tells people to buy it from their sponsor at the end of the article! They even tell people they must click their link in order to get the special discount (which is for AppleInsider's benefit).



    There is a difference in having ads on a web page compared with an article for people to read ending with a forced advertisement to buy the product from their sponsor.



    That is when AppleInsider loses credibility, but then they have never been known for credibility.
  • Reply 137 of 244
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Undo Redo View Post


    Stunning only in the dark. Were it not for the reflections, I'd buy a new iMac. \



    I don't have any reflections on my iMac, so you are missing out.
  • Reply 138 of 244
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,324member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Undo Redo View Post


    Steve Jobs wears a black turtleneck so he doesn't have to see the reflection of his shirt in his iMac.



    Your smiley at the end shows you wrote that in jest, but there is a lot of truth in it. When I first got my 24" March 2009 3.06GHz iMac, I was color-correcting in Photoshop for 20 minutes trying in vain to remove a light green color cast on a photo. I then look down for a second and noticed that my shirt was green. I then grabbed a black book on my desk and held it in front of my shirt. The color cast vanished!



    So "white reflections" are not the only problems with these glass screens. Your clothing will also induce a color cast as well -- something that I never noticed in years past when color-correcting on matte screens.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DocNo42 View Post


    I sit in front of a glossy display wearing a white shirt with two large windows to my right and no reflections to speak of. ...there is no perfect display.



    I was about ready to type "give me a break!" in response to this, but I had to stop myself. Such would be insensitive. I have nearly perfect eye-sight. I don't need contacts or glasses. But I realize that many people do have vision problems. Clearly, wearing a white shirt and sitting in front of a 24" sheet of glass in a well-lit room and NOT noticing any reflections is a sign of bad eye-sight. Believe me, I like many things about glassy screens but I hate the reflections. And I go out of my way to eliminate the reflections, which includes wearing dark colored clothing, preferably black.



    Another issue is where you live. I was born and raised in California, so I know all about how badly lit most American homes are lit. But here in Japan, we use almost all flourescent lighting and every room is lit quite well (in modern homes or apartments). As such, we have more of an issue with reflections here then "almost candle-lit" style American homes. So before bashing matte proponents, people give due consideration to the fact that their homes may be better lit than yours. And also consider that matte proponents are sensitive to what they seen on a computer screen (obviously), as such matte film is out of the question for many. I myself have seen matte films applied to glassy screens and they look terrible -- no substitute for the Apple 30" Cinema, let me tell you.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dontlookleft View Post


    shit keyboard



    Finally, someone who understands how to type well! A desktop computer like the iMac deserves a desktop keyboard. The keyboards Jobs and Ive want us to swallow are laptop keyboards, run over by a MACK truck and then sliced and diced on the right side. Yes, I am aware of the BTO option, but how long does Jobs want that to last? Remember it was Jobs who also wanted the 128k keyboard to ship without the numeric keypad, and they later added that as a separate product.



    I know how to type well, and I can tell you that laptop keyboards are no fun primarily due to the fact there is virtually no tactile feedback. Sure there are 3rd party options, but the point is that Apple should include "desktop" components with its desktop computers and give laptop users the flattened keyboard bastardizations they love so much. If I wanted a smashed and truncated keyboard, I'd go for a MacBook over an iMac.





    In regards to the content of this article, I appreciated what was written. I didn't mind the sale prices posted at the end either. Although it would have been nice to have a sale price that would at least cover the sales tax in most states! Three percent is nothing.



    At first I thought the 27" would be too big but the screen is much wider than it is tall, so it's not really too much bigger overall than my Apple 20" Cinema ADC display I use now (which has an enormously thick bezel around it). I just want to know how much faster that 2.8GHz i7 is versus the other models. If it's 25% faster in real world performance versus other models, the high end iMac is probably worth the price (even without any 3% discount).
  • Reply 139 of 244
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kotatsu View Post


    It's a great machine in so many ways, except one - no blu-ray. I will not pay so much money for a system with a 10 year old optical drive.



    Add a blu-ray burner, and I buy. Until then, I have Windows 7 to keep my old PC running for as long as it takes.



    Buy an external BluRay. A slot load BluRay is $999, no one wants that price increase for a drive no one will use for backups or watching movies on a 27" screen.
  • Reply 140 of 244
    hillstoneshillstones Posts: 1,490member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cliphord View Post


    I often wonder if the "Blu-Ray disappointment" would be so great if Apple/tech rumors sites didn't insist it was coming this refresh. Who the hell buys Blu-Ray movies anyway?



    Many people buy Blu Ray movies, but they don't watch them on their Mac. Just because you don't buy them, doesn't mean no one buys them.
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