Customer Reviews

Apple iMac 24-inch Desktop PC (2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am 29 years old. I can remember learning about "DOS" and computers in grade school. Of course, this culminates into a distant memory of one long awesome game of "Oregon Trail".... This was done on a Mac and it is my earliest memory of their products.

Through a combination of time, trends, school & industry standards, I like many, was forced into a life of Microsoft. I was content, but certainly left with a longing. I was longing for something more artistic. More free. But above all....something that just made more sense.

Alas, the infamous iPod has allowed Apple to gain the revenue needed for their indomitable innovation, and the result is a series of Intel based Macs that is now capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with a PC in nearly any industry, only using a different, "outside-the-box" approach to problem solving.

After falling in love with my Macbook Dual Core notebook over a year ago, I would reminisce the hours of my life wasted troubleshooting network settings, blue screen crashes, consistent instability, and endless technical deciphering on my old PC notebook. When it came time to upgrade my Desktop to such bliss, I waited.... I waited and waited for the latest and greatest Apple desktop computer....

My decision was difficult. I really wanted to go all out and get the Mac pro, but adding an Apple display was beyond my allotted budget for my computing needs. I am not a molecular biologist, merely a tech-savvy audio/video professional with a personal life. After careful comparison, I leaned towards the 24" iMac. Any uncertainty in picking this over the Mac Pro was deleted like a keystroke when I saw the display on this beautiful machine.

I went with the 24" instead of 20" because; well, if you've seen them side by side in the store you know. I decided on the 2.8GHz instead of the 2.4GHz more for the doubled RAM and bigger HD than the actual processor. Honestly I couldn't tell much of a difference in processing speed in the store but benchmarks online say otherwise. For me personally the faster processor alone would not justify paying the increased price. So after it's release I bought it immediately. I have owned it for nearly 3 months now and it is absolutely stunning. Photographs from my 6.0 MP digital camera look better than real life! It is sad, but true.


---What I like most about it:

The display is amazing, the design is beautiful. The computing speed is fast. I feel a surge of confidence, as though if "it" won't work on my iMac, "it" won't work on ANY desktop. The graphics are amazing, I have it toggled for dual screen on my 42" Sharp LCD and it works seamlessly. Never a hiccup, never a crash. If there is a hang-up, it is a mere program application to blame. Simply "Force Quitting" any program is a 100% remedy.

It was a breeze networking this iMac along with my Macbook, Canon Printer, and External Hard Drives via the equally reliable Airport Extreme router and that purchased with this desktop. Screen Sharing is unbelievable! I can view my actual iMac AND the dual moniter it's displaying, all on a resizable window on my Macbook, or visa versa. I can literally control any machine in my house from any other machine. It's been a while but this would have taken me a Masters Degree in computer programming when I owned PCs.

The unit is amazingly quiet and the absence of a tower is pure genius. The keyboard is an indisputable improvement. All of my peripherals work consistantly and on the first try. I use all ports on it including the USB slots on the back and the keyboard, the firewire 400 and 800, the audio jack as well as the display output. The recent upgrade to Leopard was simple and painless and I do think that Leopard is an improvement on Tiger and it is worth the price. Especially the key features such as improved networking and Time Machine. I used my Apple Store Credit from my iPhone towards it and I appreciate Apple giving us that rebate.


---What I don't like about it:

I still have a real problem with the Mighty Mouse. I opted for the wireless one though I already owned one for my Macbook. I still can't believe Apple is too stubborn to put a real right click button, even though that secondary click has become a mandatory part of their operating system. Besides that, the Mighty Mouse is to bulky and ergonomically awkward for me. I like to rest my hand on the mouse and this just isn't possible on the apple mouse. Microsoft still has the edge there, and I use a Microsoft brand wireless RF mouse instead of the Apple mouse I paid extra for.

Performance does get jumpy and slow if this machine is pushed to the extreme. For example, if you open several good quality .MOV files simultaneously or something of that nature, they will all start to stutter getting worse as you open more. The same goes for working on iMovie or similar editing software while severely multitasking. Perhaps I was overoptimistic but I expected less of this behavior with such an expensive and new machine. I would be interested to know if there is a machine that doesn't exhibit this in any price range. I think that's why the most expensive gaming machines are 5 grand and up.

If you want to use Time Machine, plan on spending an additional 300 bucks. That is because, with any back-up external hard drive, the external has to be AT LEAST the size of the computers Hard Drive you are backing up. Due to Time Machine's amazing features, it requires even more! I think mine requests 422 gigs. You figure you have to purchase at least a 500 gig external drive, and thats strictly a back up! Then you have to of course calculate the ACTUAL storage amount because no one can seem to advertise the ACTUAL storage capacity of any hard drive product! WTF?! So the consumer gets gypped for a good 10% of the gigs they pay for. And Apple's hard drive upgrades are just way to expensive to consider for me. So personally, I will be shopping around Amazon for an external 1TB hard drive and call it a day.

Glare is noticable in extremely bright environments, but it has to pretty much be direct sunlight until it is an issue. To me the enhanced clarity of the glossy glass outweighs the glare issue, I like Apple's decision there. Also noteworthy, the brightness of the display gets so bright that it can be intolerable if you do not adjust it.

I think that about sums it up. I am extremely happy with this purchase and I would highly recommend it to anyone who can afford it. I appologize for such a lengthy review but if you have stuck with it this long, hopefully it has helped you. I rely on other's objective online reviews and hope that I can proliferate this by helping you.

This is the best apple computer that I have yet owned. While the previous models combined the ease of use and (relatively) commonsensical and reliable software, there is a design beauty to this model that makes it my favorite for several reasons.

First, I at last feel I can trust the brand completely. All in all, even with Leopard, this model is essentially an incremental extension, so I knew that I could trust the user experience to be friendly and familiar. Not to be too banal, but the integration of the software with the machine, both developed by the same company, is superior to anything that suffers the combination of Microsoft with commodity hardware.

Second, the monitor screen is absolutely fantastic. I have never seen graphics with such clarity. You can play dvds or games and see new detail, you can enlarge digital photos far beyond the analogue range and discover things you didn't notice when the pic was taken, and it makes surfing the internet an entirely new experience. You have to play with it to believe it. While I would have preferred a non-shine surface to the glass cover, I do not notice this issue in use.

Third, it is very fast with the intel chip, and I have loaded windows onto it seamlessly (well, I hope so, anyway, but from all appearances so far). This should make it even easier to use for work with my non-applied colleagues.

Fourth, the new keyboard seems to be easier to use and more robust than previous ones. This is important to me, as I will write a huge amount on it and my children will play games on it rather roughly. It is also as aesthetically pleasing as an Alessi cafetiere.

But the most important thing is that it has the indefinable magic of great design, kind of like an art work - you look at the screen, enjoy the curve of its back, and the subtle sounds it emits - that you can trust to function as advertised. The experience is holistic and connoisseurs of design will delight in it.

All this being said, it is of course too early to judge its reliability over time. I have had problems in this respect with apple in the past. My G5 died on me after only 1.5 years use, though I loved that one almost as much; it was not worth the cost to fix it (I did not purchase an extended guarantee because I live in Europe and it wouldn't be valid there), so I bought this one and now have yet another expensive paperweight to recycle. Moreover, I have had problems with apple software in the past, and have been frustrated with the same kind of incomprehensible programmer explanations that appeared, indeed they were as cryptic as those of MS.

So, I will have to add comments to this review in a year, after the heavy use that a family makes of this, the electronic hearth. But this is love at first sight, no doubt. My kids have taken to it in the same way.

OBSERVATION: we have a serious problem with the disk drive. It appears to be a software problem - sometimes, it is very difficult to get the disk to eject (when playing a DVD), which since it is controlled by software, can take up to 10 minutes and is a serious pain. Unfortunately, the guarantee that I purchased with it covers only US usage, and I brought it to Europe, where we live.

Recommended nonetheless.

After watching Outlook crash and recover for about the 80th time on my 9 month old laptop, I decided to replace my wife's equally glitchy Vista machine with a shiny new iMac. (my wife's machine had been "upgraded" to Vista and was really a mess!) I'm a Windows guy. I started computing on Apples back in the Lisa days, but left the fold when Windows got a seemingly insurmountable lead in hardware and software and just never really looked back except with some pity thinking how much I liked the early machines...

But after using iPods and iPhones, I was really curious to see if the mighty Steve had brought Apple back to glory. And my frustration with Vista gave me the final nudge to take that plunge.

Out of the box, it is just like they say: Mac just works. I had no trouble figuring out what I needed to do to set the computer up. I was on the Internet within minutes, with a .Mac account ready and waiting. Bluetooth keyboard and mouse installed themselves instantly. One freakin wire sticking out of the back of the computer: the power cable! Next I plugged in the printer. No driver disc first, my old Canon 4300 was just ready to go seconds after plugging it in. So was my Nikon D80, I just plugged it in and it was ready to download pics to iLife and Aperture. Shortly after that I have my first batch posted as a gallery in .mac. Easy peasy,no hassle and sweat!

My kids (12,9, and 3)jumped right into it. Photobooth and the integrated webcam and Garage Band are great little applications that drew them into the machine. Now they are all very comfortable on the net with their games and stuff running flawlessly on Safari.

I imported a bunch of Word and Excel docs that ran great on Apple's included software (errr I bought iWork...). Got my Christmas labels printed with little fuss.

OK, I'm only 3 weeks in, but I'm new to everything here and I am not frustrated and pissed off like I would expect with a whole new way of doing things. It's intuitive and simple and the software apps work TOGETHER and give you what you need. I'm not fighting glitchy software and watching system recoveries... I'm doing productive things!

I had wanted to get a Mac for a very long time. I felt that with MS Vista, there was no future for me in PC's. Vista did not solve any of the problems of XP, and many ways, made it worse. I was becoming more and more frustrated with XP. With each update, XP ran slower. I was also getting sick of using anti virus software (Norton) that was constantly interrupting my use of the computer. Waiting for Norton to properly boot up before I could go on the internet was becoming a nuisance.

I bought my iMac, finally, before Christmas and I had the following concerns:
How would I get my files from the PC to the Mac?
Would my current email work with the Mac?
Could I use an external hard drive with both the PC's and Mac?
Would my printer work for the PC's and Mac?

Files
When I turned my 24" 2.8 ghz iMac on for the first time (without doing anything at all), I opened Finder and saw all, not some, all of my shared drives from my 2 laptops and 1 desktops. I was able to get all of the files as if they were on my local machine.

Email
I opened iMail and configured my email in about 3 or 4 clicks. I did not need to know the secure incoming/outgoing port numbers or secure settings, all I had to know were the pop3 address and smtp address. Mac did the rest. If you have Gmail, Yahoo, or some other common mail, Mac already knows the pop3 and smtp addresses.

External Hard Drive
I bought a brand new network storage hard drive from DLINK D-Link DNS-323 NAS 2-Bay SATA Enclosure and was able to access it immediately from the iMac and the PC's. All computers on my network have read/write capability. I did have to manually connect to the drive only once, but now find it as a shared drive each time I log onto the Mac. The file system used on the network drive is EXT3 (Linux based). That is why it is read/writeable by both PC and Mac. NTFS is readable by Mac, but not writeable. I had experimented with another hard drive prior to dedicating it to time machine.

Printer
Setting up my printer was probably the easiest thing I did. I own an HP Photosmart C7180 wireless network printer Photosmart C7180 All-in-One. The Mac immediately saw the printer on the network and asked if I wanted to use it. I clicked "OK", and without having and HP software of my own, the printer was ready for use. I think that totaled 3 clicks. I did have to download the Mac software from HP in order to use the printer's Scanner and Fax features, and that was just as easy. Now I can use all of the printer's features from all computers.

So the initial setup and integration with my existing network was seamless. I was prepared for a few set backs with my conversion and got none.

Since using Leopard over the last 2 weeks I have learned quite a bit about the differences and similarities between Mac and PC. I definitely can see where PC may have an advantage in some areas, but I also why most people love their Macs. I have gotten to such a comfort level with Leopard at this point, that I really can't think of a reason to turn on my PC. The reality is, that anything that I want to do on a computer, I can do it faster and more efficient on my Mac. I guess it also helps that the Mac screen is enourmous and the images are stunning.

I give the Mac 5 stars. I will update the review in the next months.

Alright - We're going to keep this short and sweet. I appreciate the few people's reviews below but I figured I would give a review that got straight to the point for someone who's not trying to read the dictionary in 20 minutes. I'm a networking engineer and I have worked on PC's for years. I always trusted Microsoft, never complained, I was happy. That is, because, I was like a child that was raised not knowing Chuck E. Cheese existed.

Did I lose you? Let's put it this way. THE FRIGGIN THING ROCKS. How much more could you ask for? I mean its thickest point is 2 inches (super space saver!) and IT RUNS VISTA FASTER THAN A PC. I have never worked on a Mac in my life. I saw the 24" model at a BestBuy and fell in love. The ease, the comfort, the intuitiveness of the operating system. Everything came together in some sort of nirvana. But then I realized there was no explanation to this wonderful feeling. It was simple. With Apple, it just works.

I JUST bought the best one they had from the Apple.com store online. I'm still waiting for it and can't wait to crack her open, so I can't help you with what it comes in besides a box. Moving on...

Also, coming from a technical background, this sucker has balls. It has a screaming processor, enough RAM to power a small enterprise server, and a graphics card that would make an Xbox 360 look like a joke. The largest hard drive you can get for it is 1TB - and for people who really don't know what that means, 1TB can hold around 880 days of continuously playing mp3's. That's just under 2.5 years of continuous music!

My last thing I want to talk about is the screen. I mean come on. This is America. Bigger is better. Always. This screen is running at a resolution of 1920x1200 pixel count. Once again, for laymens that aren't sure of what that means - that makes full HDTV 1080p look like your grandmother's old analog black and white TV set.

Folks, I hope you find this helpful in your quest to purchasing an iMac or any of Apple's products. I know I'm happy. They're expensive, but totally worth it. Because if I can leave you with one thing to remember, just remember that IT JUST WORKS. Apple makes quality plus products that have withstood the test of time. They are a solid company, and their support team is AMERICAN and not over in some country reading from a checklist and telling YOU how to fix YOUR computer.

GO APPLE!!!

and I am so happy I did. I like fine things and things that work. 20 years ago I left Apple because there was more pc software, and pc hardware was less expensive....back then an Apple floppy drive was $300 and a pc floppy drive was $80...remember those floppy drives?

My PC all software was not integrated and I had hardware issues. My son bought an Apple to do his art work, I read all the reviews I could find and bought my imac 4 months ago. I am glad I did. Out of the box, I could run everything. It is so easy making photo books with iphoto. My family loves them. I am working on editing vcr tapes with imovie now.

Everything is backed up with Time Machine. These Apple guys have it all together.

This is a fine piece of equipment and a worthwhile investment. Get the wireless mouse but stay with the wired keyboard. I bought the extended care plan because of my pc experiences, but have not used my Apple extended care plan yest...$129 cost, Consumer Reports said to buy it, do I did.

I write this review because all of the reviews have been helpful to me when considering a purchase, and I think I should give back a little of my time to help perhaps one or two other people out there make a decision.

Buy it and have fun.

* Our PC experiences over the past 10 years has inadvertently lead us to comparing the Low-maintenance factor of our older Mac's (G4 PowerBook w/Tiger + a 2000 iMac Graphite SE model w/Panther), versus, the extremely High-maintenance demands, by our XP Window boxes (HP desktop + a Dell Inspirion laptop). Here's our Real World opinions and side-by-side comparisons between our iMac's + G4 PowerBook and Window XP boxes. Microsoft Security + Repair Software - They have to run Daily, and that means they take your System's resources, as well as Affect your PC's Performance (slows down to a crawl, unexpected Crashes, Freezes, etc)

* Regarding Cross-Platform options - The ability of a Mac to run different types of OS (operating systems), like Macintosh Tiger / Leopard + Microsoft XP / Vista Windows + Linux and others, all on one computer is purely Genius in terms of the Evolution in 'Integrating' multi-platform computing. This is where Apple is light-years ahead of the old dinosaurs. You no longer need two (2) separate PC's anymore. We bought the 20 & 24" with the new Glossy scratch-resistant screens.

* Elegantly brought together in fine Form, Function, and Aesthetics, featuring seamless professional grade aluminum, a high-def wide-screen brilliant scratch-resistant glass screen, built-in iSight camera and microphone, an new ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, and with the compact Integration of Hardware (Hard drive, Chipset, RAM memory modules, USB/FireWire connectors, in a superb AIO (all-in-one) Hardware platform. See Photos!

* Powered by a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor from the newest "Santa Rosa" chips. The 24-inch iMac Extreme features a 500 GB hard drive, 4 GB of RAM; what it means is that I am now running the Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard operating system + Windows XP + Linux, ALL on ONE PC and that just simply ROCKS!

* Tech Support Report - Apple gets an Excellent to Superior Rating (4 to 5 Stars), whereas Microsoft gets a Fair Rating (2-Stars) period! You need to try this yourself to get it!
Hello ... Dumb-Bombay?

* Downside for AIO platforms - The only 2 things that can be Upgraded in an iMac from a Consumer standpoint, is the RAM and OS software. Attempting to Upgrade your Chipset, Hard drive, DVD/CD burner may not be possible, where it's much easier with Mini-towers, with a few screws to open the sides for any hardware upgrades, however, they are non-mobile & bulky.

* Another Mac Upside - This is where the iMac's, appear as an elegant compromise between boxes & laptops.
For instance, our new iMac's are totally Wireless, so we can simply just pick them up & move to any new location! Try that with any Desktop tower!
Have you noticed lately how other PC manufacturers are Emulating Macintosh?

Summary - My first Apple was the 1993 PowerBook 180, with OS 7.6.1 and a Motorola 33 MHz CPU, to the present 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor (latest Santa Rosa chipset), with a top-of-the-line 800 MHz front-side bus speed and a huge 4 MB L2 cache.
You've come a long way Baby!

I've had this model iMac for a year. It rivals Mac Pro performance in most tasks and is the finest piece of technology to have graced my desk.

Here is what I like:

*Can drive a second screen-no probs.
*Has FW800 connectivity for external drives. I've 4TB daisy chained and get awesome r/w speeds.
*Big, beautiful screen.
*A real eye catcher, always draws the techies out of the woodwork.
*Blazing friggen fast.
*Has never crashed!
*Never a security problem--ever!
*First-rate build quality.

Downshots:

*Pricey, at first, even though, over the lifespan of the machine, it will work out to be cheaper due to power useage, build quality and up time.
*OSX adores ram. Max it out and lump it.
*Finally, the screen is bright. Too bright. A pain to calibrate, expect to spend half a day on this if you're fussy.


Overall, if you want the best computing experience available to the consumer today, this high-end Mac is very close to fitting the bill. Between the OS, hardware and Apple's support of same, you'll be congratulating yourself everyday you fire this rascal up.

After owning a 20" iMac, I thought I knew what it would be like but the larger brighter 24" screen still blows me away! I got the larger 750GB internal drive and the wireless keyboard & mouse so I'm a very happy guy now. The 24" screen allows me to make all the fonts larger and still get multiple "entire" windows open at the same time, which makes for much less eye strain during extended surfing secessions... The black band that surrounds the outside the the LCD is a great idea, as it makes the screen seem even larger! + Don't forget to sit real close the first time you start this baby up, because when the screen first lights up you will be JAZZED...

Plus don't forget to buy the Apple Care warranty which gives you 3 full years of great service and support just in case - After 2 years of perfect service my old iMac 20" started having logic problems and Apple replaced it with this one for free, (they even gave me a prorated rebate off my original Apple Care warranty so I could buy the new one; that is world class service) enough said)!

What would make it even better? Buy your max of 4GB of RAM memory at OWC for less than $100 and get a rebate for your "old" Apple RAM memory, installing it takes only about 4 minutes.

What would I change, I wish Apple would make a slick Aluminum "full" keyboard that is wireless like the small (without the number pad) wireless Aluminum standard keyboard...

Awesome computer... 10 out of 10. But...

Why would you buy this here for $500 MORE than the full retail price?

Did I miss something?