Customer Reviews

Apple iMac G5 Desktop with 17" M9248LL/A (1.60 GHz PowerPC G5, 256 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Combo Drive)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

It is the attention to detail that I love about Macs. From the packaging to the software integration to the rounded end on the power cord that makes the back of the computer more seamless. It just all fits together perfectly and beautifuly.

I should also mention their tech support is the best in the industry. They really train their people so they know what they are doing. Not that you'll need tech support, but it's nice just in case.
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Some suprises:
The downfiring speakers do sound very nice. How they get that performance from those little things I'll never know.

The power button is in the back. It's a good placement for it once you know where it is, but is not obvious at first.

Fast user switching is not enabled by default. If you have more than one person who uses the computer in your home please turn it on. It is great, much better than in Windows XP.

It is the sharpest, brightest 17inch LCD I have ever seen. It blows all other 17 inch displays away.
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Let me add some practical advice on options.

First, the 1.6Ghz is not noticably slower than the 1.8Ghz, so don't spend the extra money for the "faster" model.

Second, do get more RAM. 256MB is not enough. You can buy it from Apple or install some yourself. Installing it yourself is cheaper and very easy (the instructions that come with it are pretty good by the way). It uses standard PC3200 memory.

Third. The wireless (bluetooth) mouse and keyboard are worth every extra penny. They are beautiful and responsive. They even come with Energizer batteries.

As an engineer, consultant, businessman, and educator- pramatism (bang per buck) absolutely rules.

No question- having suffered dozens of daily crashes with the latest PCs and Microsoft software, hundreds of OS updates, crippled unreliable Dell and IBM laptops (yet working in aerospace, space and formula one)- I am so P**sed off with the quality (lack thereof) in IT (17 years worth!)....Count the hours wasted and dollars spent on software...

To the new Apple- within 5 minutes it was connected to the Internet, talking with all the printers, scanners, faxes, gamespads, videocams without any hitch whatsoever (REAL WOW). OK so OSX looks scary- 30 minutes to get used to without even looking at the straightfoward manual. Appleworks free office suite reads all my papers and articles without a glitch even though they were written (and crashed) in MS Office. Some software updates- quick with a disk optimiser automatically (no fragmented disks..).

Speedwise an iMac G5 1.6/ 512MB RAM/160 GB HD/17 screen boots up and feels about 3 x faster than a Dell Inspiron Laptop/Pentium 4 1.6/512MB RAM/30GB HD/16VRAM/15 Screen. Never mind the cool factor or that an equivalent Dell costs more.. I even have to move my head from side to side as the screen is so big!

Moans- more power would be great (e.g. better graphics card options, dual processor option) but in reality the iMac is such such a marvel of industrial design in the true sense, doesn/t crash all day, and works very effectively at a great price. BTW I did a factory 1 slot 512MB option so that could 3rd party upgrade another 512 more cost effectively- but am told that the 2 slots do not need to match in size.

Overall- a real winner- My *New* Dell laptop has become a paperweight holding a cable!

UPDATE (a few days later)- everyone who has seen and used the new iMac wants one; I *want to* use the computer (fun!) rather than dread it (Windows); think that office productivity - languishing despite vast IT investments- may rebound if coporations were brave enough to invest in one of these for all staffers... (not one crash in 40 hours use- a record!!!). BTW may start to put in some industrial strength engineering modelling apps soon (with a second new Mac- a Dual PowerMac 3GHz when it comes)...

UPDATE 2- another 512MBRAM (to 1GB pair); big hardware boost for graphics:
Numbers: CINEBENCH 2003-rendering 1 cpu- 170; graphics C4D shading 204; OpenGL SW-L 529; OpenGL HW-l 928; Speedup 4.59
XBENCH Results 146.68

Hard not to smile with this computer- no crashes, virtualPC for Win apps, no viruses- soon m$ free ...

Isn't it amazing that people will take the time to bash a product they know nothing about and they haven't even tried? Makes you wonder where the motivation comes from. It's interesting to note that "Bob" has posted only 3 reviews, each one identical and posted for each model of the new iMac G5. I guess I'll do the same. Normally, I'd rather not take the time to write this, but as a totally satisfied iMac user, I feel I better get my two cents in so any potential users don't get the wrong idea. I must admit that I haven't tried the new iMac yet (they haven't even started shipping yet!), but it looks like a worthy successor to the previous model. Frankly, I'm tempted to switch to the new iMac G5 but I'm going to stick with my 2-year-old iMac G4 for a year or two more. That machine has performed flawlessly and it shows no sign of slowing down. One huge plus for the new machine is how user accessible the innards are. It looks like most users will be able to replace many malfunctioning components themselves. One thing I would miss is the articulated arm of of the older machine. That really does come in handy sometimes.

Several points made in Bob's "review" need rebuttal, however. First of all, his argument about the all-in-one computer makes no sense at all. Face it, the WHOLE computer is worthless if something breaks. Does he find some comfort in having a blank monitor if he has to ship the computer? He also says the virus-free claim is silly. Well, it just happens to be true. I still haven't heard of any OS X virus being found. Sorry Bob, but if you want a safe and secure computing environment, without spyware and viruses, switch to Apple. I keep hearing the virus woes PC users seem to be plagued with and I wonder why someone would put up with that. I don't get it, but if they don't mind, so be it. As for Mac software being scarce...well, just go to an Apple store or the Apple website and check. Frankly, I've had to buy very little software because Macs come with most of the software an average home user will use built in, and the software just plain works GREAT. Making movies, managing your photo and music collection, recording your hit composition, it's all there and plenty more. No, the new iMac G5 isn't for the hardcore gamer, and it's not meant for that market, but the casual gamer will be very happy. I don't play computer games so it's a mute point with me. As for expandability, the Apple website says that the user can replace the following on this computer: AirPort Extreme Card, Memory, Hard drive, Optical drive, Power supply, LCD display, Modem card, Mid-plane assembly (contains the main logic board, the G5 processor, fans, NVIDIA graphics processor, and so forth). Who knows what third-party manufacturers are going to come up with? Bob is correct about one thing: Macs do crash, even in OS X. My iMac goes down about once ever two months, and it's pretty much on all the time.

As for price, I've read many people who have taken the time to compare the iMac with a comparatively equipped Dell and, believe it or not, the Apple actually comes out ahead. Those 20" flat panels don't come cheap! And Macs are well known for their quality. Comparing one to a Wal-Mart special is silly.

I have to agree with other reviewers of this system that praise the power, the industrial design and the usability of the iMac G5. Apple has always been an industry leader in user-friendly computing and yet guys like Bob have to jump at any opportunity to slam them.

If Bob had done any research at all, or better yet, had ever USED an iMac for longer than his 2 minute maximum attention span, he would realize that most of his opinions are unfounded.

Software is not an issue and hasn't been for many years. I challenge Bob to list all the essential software he can't live without on his "Dell Whatever" that is unavailable on a Mac. But I'd also take this one step further to suggest that he may need more software to get things done on his PC that can be done in fewer steps with better results on a Mac. The very fact that every new Apple ships with a complete office suite (Apple Works), photo and video editing software (iPhoto, iMovie), not to mention iDVD (a DVD mastering program), iTunes (the industry-leading mp3 software) and Garage Band (a sophisticated music composer) has been completely overlooked by our friend Bob. All that software is in the box! What's even better is that all this software is designed by Apple and designed to work with each other in much the same way. That means once you become comfortable with a particular Apple-designed program, you'll intuitively understand how to find your way around the others. What's more, you can pull elements from each program into another (adding photos to an iMovie and bringing them both into iDVD) without any hassle. At the very most, you might want to pick up a copy of MS Office if you need to, which, by the way, is 100% compatible with the PC version making file sharing perfectly seamless.

Let's not forget about the thousands of 'drivers' that the PC world simply can't live without. You know, those annoying little programs that have to be given to you on a CD rom or download from the internet for your PC so you can operate a printer or a digital camera? In the world of Apple, the drivers for all current and most future peripheral devices are pre-installed. Have a digital camera you want to connect? Plug it in and the Mac instantly recognizes the device and even opens the program you need to use. Have a new printer, plug it in and print. If you're not a computer techie and don't get off on dabbling in DOS, stop wasting your time with a PC.

And to the comments about DELL having better value, check it out. Do your research. To get a comparatively powered machine from Dell (remembering of course that 1.8 Ghz on a Mac equals about 2.6 Ghz on a PC) complete with comparable monitor, graphics card, RAM and software the price is the same if not more. The technical specifications cannot be compared between the two platforms, but it's not worth getting into here.

Fact is, since Apple holds a comparatively small marketshare of consumer computers, most of the general public are unaware of the many, many virtues. If you like to be creative, if you like to be efficient, if you like to use your computer as an extension of your abilities, the iMac should be seriously considered. Once you go Mac, you don't go back.

I received my iMac G5 yesterday, and here's what I an tell you about this new machine:

1)If you have a Mac with a Firewire port and supports the Taret Disk bootup mode, this will be the easiest, most pain free upgrade you'll ever have. I was somewhat unsure about how good the Setup Assistant would be..it does the job RIGHT. I didn't have to worry about any of my DSL network settings, finding my iTunes library, my various passwords and logins--I shoud have taken a photo of the screen telling me "your iMac G5 is ready to be used" Just amazing!

2) Like all Macs, the iMac G5 is easy to set up and get going. The new bodywas easy to lift out and onto my desk. The screen is very sharp, I love just adjusting the angle (just for fun), and I had to wait until my house was totally silent at 5am just to hear the usual hum, annd I can barely pick that up. The fans will kick in when you go to a site like ESPN, which uses alot of animated icons, moviing text, etc, but in each case te fans slow down then stop after about a minute. Plus they pup out some nice cool air from the speakers! Some people have complained about the fans being loud, so far nothing I haven't been through before with my previous iMac G3--whose hard drive spinning makes it sound like a garbage truck compared to my iMac G5.

3) Speed and power--I ordered mine with 512 MB of RAM, and this should be what other buyers should do as well. The iMac G5 is built for power and speed--I downloaded the pdf manual on my old iMac G3, and rendering the pages would take a good 3-4 miniutes. iPhoto--getting my photos imported, edited, and ready for emailing took several minutes. Itunes, the same. On my new iMac G5, everything FLIES. In Preview, PDF files just zip opne like..I do't know, a regular text file. The Quicktime moie trailers are much more detailed. iPhoto takes your digital photos and have them ready for you to use like it was nothing. Itunes blazes.

I'm stunned. I really am. There aren't enough words to describe how happy I am with this iMac G5. The only thing left is to watch a dvd this afternoon on the widescreen, hmmm Star Wars maybe? This is the best computer I've eevr used, except now I do't have to go to a store to try it out--I own it!!!

There are a lot of people who'll go on and on about the virtues of Macs as though they were divine gifts. Let's dispense with that and get down to why you really want one.

First is that you really, really do save space. My mother (the owner of a new 17" iMac G5) was astounded at the sheer amount of desktop area she got back by going from a comparatively bulky Windows computer to an iMac. You have room to breathe, and you never have to crawl on the floor to plug in a cable.

The second reason is that of security. I won't pretend that OS X is invincible, but it's been so free of attacks (and so free of the mistakes Microsoft made) that security programs are just good policies, not absolutely necessary. What good is a cheaper Windows computer if it's virtually guaranteed that you'll need security software or a trip to the local computer service shop?

Another point I've noticed while using the iMac G5 is that it's extremely quiet in common use. You don't have to listen to your computer humming or whirring. The loudest it gets is the DVD drive spinning! And the quiet is extremely valuable, since it lets you focus on the task at hand... or at least makes it easier to appreciate your music.

The only qualms I have with the iMac are that the video is a bit underpowered (it's still good enough for young kids or casual gaming, though!), and that many people will want to add more RAM shortly after they get it. But its strengths for the *real* average user - the one who wants to get work done, and enjoy the Internet instead of fearing it - more than compensate.

Reveiled at the Apple expo in Paris, I beleive this is a great update to the iMac line. The styling originally leaves a bit to be desired, with the white gap at the bottom of the screen, and this immeaiatly catches the eye, but then when you look at it closl, you see the attention to detail is amazing. The speakers, concealed in the base of the screen/computer, face downwards, and bounce the sound waves off the table, or surface below, and into your ears, sounding as good as if the speakers were facing you. The Power button on the back of the screen/computer, is the only sticking out button, or port, or the back of the iMac and therefore is easy to find, and the standby light on the front is in line with the power button also. Little features, you might think, but these little features add up to make an amazing overall package. At the Paris Expo, they joked, " We like to joke, that the back of our computer looks better than the front of any other..."

Then theres the main point, the G5 processer, squeezed into that 2inch thin display, and cooled in a revolutionary way, meaning that the overall operating sound is 25dB, quieter than a whisper. It is a stunning looking computer, with G5 power, and at the moment, nothing can toutch it. Of course, it is a Mac, so you can expect a great OS, Panther, and brilliant aftercare.

I've already put my order in.

There is nothing on the market even close to the new iMac G5. Let's start with the fact that it is based on a 64-bit processor. Apart from Apple's PowerMac G5's and a handful of other high-powered, workstation desktops, the iMac G5 stands alone in this regard. In less than a year's time, OS X, Apple's remarkably easy to use and elegant operating system (which never crashes and has no viruses) will be fully optimized for the 64-bit G5 chip. The results are said to be astonishing. Look for a consumer computer from anyone else with a G5 chip and you'll need to keep looking. There aren't any. And if you try to find even a 32-bit-based consumer computer--from Dell or HP--that matches the iMac G5 feature-for-feature, you'll likely spend more money for something lacks the simplicity and artistry of the all-in-one iMac design. In the space of a LCD monitor, without even so much as an external power brick, you have a ghostly silent and extraordinarily powerful computer.

Outfitted with iLife--Apple's Mac-only digital lifestyle suite--there is nothing this computer can't do faster and astonishingly better than a Window-based computer. Team it up with an Apple iPod, and your life will be filled with music. There are the tools here to let you--or your kids--be the next Fellini, the next Prince, even the next Shakespeare. Never has so much power, simplicity, and ease of use been so inexpensive and awe-inspiring. Just go down to your local Apple store in two weeks to check it out yourself. You'll be blown away.

The best computer I have ever owned. Just read various reviews and you will know why many Windoze users switch to the Mac OS X platform. Granted Macs are not used in the business world but that didn't stop me from buying one (heck i also own an iBook G4 12"!) There is one small problem with the model I bought, it has one Stuck Pixel in green. Its on the far right corner of the screen but it still bothers me. Some say to massage it to bring it back to life some say it will come back on its own, its no biggie. This design is just wonderful. I mean come on, its beautiful!!!!!

The iMac G5 is a very powerful computer even with its 1.6Ghz processor. Make sure you add as much RAM as possible as the OS X loves it. I put in 1GB of RAM and it flys. The 256 is unacceptable!!!! you MUST have at least 512 in there to make everything run smooth. iLife '05 is fine but I don't need iDVD as I do not have a Super, maybe in the future I will buy an external DVD burner. I have edited a few movies on it so far and it works great. I edit them using iMovieHD and then save them on my iPod and bring the project over to my friend's house who has the 20" iMacG5 with Super. Hook up iPod - transfer movie project to his HDD - and bam, we're burnin' Don't you just love Macs!!!

A word of advice, try not to buy Apples from CompUSA, if you have an apple store nearby please go there. CompUSA from what I have been told get some "old stock" Apple computers that have been sitting around or may have been dropped and they try to sell them. Apple Store always has fresh stock and good service. CompUSA has poor service and the so called Apple Rep does not work for Apple, he's just a CompUSA employee that went to a class on Apple products. There are many complaints regarding CompUSA selling Apple computers all over the 'net so buyer do your research.

If you are thinking about getting this, BUY IT NOW. You will not be sorry, no way!

I got my first (second-hand) apple computer in 1983 or 84, and have stayed with them ever since. In 2004, I bought a floor model Apple iMac G5 Desktop with 17" M9248LL/A (1.60 GHz PowerPC G5, 256 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Combo Drive), because I could get it at a bargain price.
It's 2008 and I'm still using it, and it still works just fine.
The only thing I'm changing about it is that I'm finally adding memory. I'm going to go all the way and put in 2 gigs.
I also now have my first new computer, a MacBook Pro, to which I will also add memory in a while.
One thing at a time.
Always Mac's.
Always!