Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Different, but I love it., 18 Oct 2007
I bought my new iMac about three days ago (after always having been a Windows user) and, my God, I think I'm in love.
At first I wasn't too keen on the new look compared to the white iMac, but it's definitely grown on me a lot. After getting used to the makeover, I much prefer it to the cheap-looking white plastic. The new design is much more sleek and glossy.
I was very impressed by this as the basic model of the range - the 20" screen looks huge, though from the side, there is almost nothing to it, yet it still manages to pack 250GB of hard-drive and 1GB of RAM.
As a new (and fully converted) Mac OS X user, little things annoy me about the way in which it runs, but it's mainly due to the change of scenery. My only real problem is the fact that my Creative Zen Vision isn't compatible. I even managed to get around this, however, by downloading XNJB, software designed specifically to combat this problem. It's not perfect, but it works.
Front Row is a nice touch, essentially allowing the iMac to be used as a media center with the help of the included remote. I'm currently listening to A Perfect Circle through iTunes, and the sound is absolutely phenomenal, even without any external speakers attached.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
screen gradient problem, 2 Feb 2008
I bought the 24" Imac that had a horizontal brightness gradient problem, i.e. the left side of the screen was much brighter than the right. I had it replaced but same problem was on new machine. At the Apple store the display machine had same problem and many are complaining about this issue on Apple's Imac discussion board. The 20" apparently suffers from a vertical gradient that is more noticeable than the 24"'s uneven screen.
Think twice if you intend to use this machine for professional graphics work.
My advice if you want to buy this: Check the screen consistency immediately using the light grey solid colour desktop. It should quickly reveal any problems and spare you the difficulty of replacing if you only realise 3 months down the line.
NB: I bought the 24" not the 20", however thought it worth highlighting this issue as no other reviewers have mentioned this.
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47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
World's Best Home Computer?, 18 Dec 2007
A few years ago, buying a new home computer was a fairly automatic decision. You'd buy a Microsoft Windows PC. But a lot has changed in a few years. Both Apple's hardware and software has radically improved and got much more affordable, leaving the average desktop PC looking positively stone age. The result is, many people are switching from PCs to Macs. For example, at the start of 2006, nobody I knew owned a Mac or really knew what one was. But once they saw a Mac in person, they suddenly got very interested. Now, at the end of 2007, seven of them own iMacs and two of them own MacBooks. Times are definitely changing.
Where did the computer go? Yes, the design of this computer is impossibly thin. Despite being a computer and an LCD display in one, the iMac is miraculously thinner than the majority of stand-alone LCD displays. The build quality is the very best. The casing is machined from solid aluminium and the screen a plate of perfectly flat, smooth glass. This computer doesn't creak, or wobble when touched. The screen doesn't indent or warp if you press on it. Everything is reassuringly solid and beautifully engineered.
So how is the performance of a computer that's SO thin? The answer is, fantastic. The performance of the iMac is really its strong point. Due to the efficiency of Leopard (the operating system) and the quality of the components used, Macs can do a lot more with relatively little spec. For example, a Mac with 1GB of memory will typically outperform a Windows PC with 1GB of memory, particuarly if that PC is running Vista! Also, both the hardware (the iMac) and the software (Leopard) are already fully 64-bit, which means you won't need to upgrade from a 32-bit to a 64-bit operating system in the future, and can install up to 4GB of memory today and actually use all of it.
The iMac starts up in 27 seconds and shuts down in 7. It goes to sleep instantly and wakes from sleep instantly. It runs whisper quiet, even when ripping DVDs using Handbrake or circling 3D buildings on Google Earth. It has both a Firewire 400 and a Firewire 800 socket, offering transfer speeds more than twice as fast as USB 2.0. It has both a digital optical audio input and output, meaning you can record and playback audio entirely digitally through fibre-optic cables. It has a built-in 802.11n WiFi adapter which enables you to connect to the Internet, print and sync content to an Apple TV without any cables. It also has a built-in Bluetooth adapter which enables you to easily pull digital photos off of your mobile phone and listen to your iMac through Bluetooth headphones. It has a built-in webcam which enables you to video chat with others on iChat and Skype, take photos of yourself with Photobooth, record video of yourself with Photobooth, iMovie or QuickTime, and scan barcodes with Delicious Library. It has a very good built-in microphone which enables you to talk on iChat and Skype, record a podcast and do multi-track recording with GarageBand, control your computer using your voice, even listen out for sounds in your room to animate real-time screensavers. And there's more. The Apple logo on the front of the iMac is actually an integrated IR receiver which enables you to control your music, control slideshows, control presentations and turn your computer on and off using the supplied Apple Remote. Also hidden inside the iMac are stereo speakers which sound surprisingly good, reducing the need for external speakers.
If you've bought a Windows PC before, from the likes of HP, Dell and Sony, then setting up your iMac will be a refreshingly simple experience. The iMac comes in one surprisingly slim box. There is very little inside the box, other than the iMac itself, a power cable, mouse, keyboard and remote control. There aren't endless bags of cables, special offers, a mountain of support CDs, and inch-thick instruction manuals. All you need to do is plug the power cable in, just like a toaster, and turn your iMac on. Leopard will ask you some questions, ask you for your WiFi network password, and in about 5 minutes you'll be on the Internet. Your desktop won't be littered with special offers, adverts to "get online", adverts for virus killers, adverts for spyware removal software and other crapware. You won't have to uninstall anything or remove anything. You'll have a nice clean desktop, ready to go.
People often say there aren't as many software titles available for Macs as there are for Windows PC. While this is still true, it really depends on what software you use and need. For example, if you already own a Windows PC, what software do you actually use on it? Microsoft Office, Firefox, iTunes, QuickTime Player, Adobe Photoshop, Google Earth, MSN Messenger, Skype, Yahoo Messenger, Audacity, DivX Player, Flickr Uploadr, maybe Quicken? Well, all of these these familiar titles are available for Macs and thousands more.
I haven't even covered any of the features of Mac OS X Leopard or iLife '08, both included for free with the iMac. For those, I advise you to watch the free Guided Tour videos on Apple's website. Nor have I talked about the new Apple Keyboard, which is so small, well engineered and fast to type on that it's actually desirable! Needless to say, the iMac is an extremely attractive piece of technology and in my opinion the World's best home computer.
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