Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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71 of 75 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Once you go IMac - you never go back, February 9, 2002
Considering the new IMAC and you are a PC user. Well I took a plunge last week with this new unit. I got one of the first ones in Houston - yea for me. Since day one I have been able to learn the operating system, manage programs and files with NO difficulty. Its is more windows like then you think. Moreover , It has not crashed, given me a blue screen of death or locked up point where you have to pull the plug. The new OS X (the only apple OS I know) is wonderful. I added an extra 128 Megs of ram to the 256 that came with the machine and the performance improvement was terrific.
I am not a PC gamer, I use computers for a living. I have one athlon 1 gig laptop, a 1.2 gig athlon desk top both running xp, and a win 2000 600 MHZ corporate laptop. If only these other computers behaved anything like the mac. The mac is virtually silient and generates only minor heat (compaired to the blast furnace of the athlon desk top). The flat screen is all digital and so is the signal from the graphics card. This gives the screen its tremendous clarity (my other computer screens are all blurry and dark by comparison). The screen does not tire your eyes as an analog display does. Let me be candid for a moment at simply say for those using an analog display with a high end graphics card - YOURE MISSING THE BOAT. The graphic representations may be better but the limitiation in crispness and color defination is in your screen - not the graphic card - nothing you do will make your screen look better! BTW - you cannot use apple screens on PC's. Apple screens are designed with graphic card manufacturers for digital output. This is why apple tends to use "older generation cards".
For a compairson - I went to compusa and a PC DIGITAL flat panel monitor will run near 1100 dollars, then you need to purchase a card to support the monitor. This alone is closing in on the price of the IMAC - can you say BARGIN in the IMAC? For those who would like to see a 17inch monitor. The 15 has the viewable equalivent of a 17 inch standard CRT screen. If you are prosumer graphics specialist, you may opt for a power mac and a larger flat panel screen. The 17'' screen is 1000.00. For me the 15'' this is not a problem and I own a 19 inch viewable CRT screen . I love that the screen goes were you want it! A huge quantum leap in design and function.
Downside to the Imac: if you like to add on to your system you will need external devices. Software: there is a lot of it out there but not as much as there is for a PC. But how much do you use? Personally I use an office suite, photoshop and web design software and accounting. All done easily and effectivly Running applications and the internet: is there a difference: - I have run side by side compairsons with the internet. The only difference I see is the mac outperforms the PC's with streaming video - both speed of download and improved visual quality: Using the quicktime download movie trailer site and MSN's entertainment site. Applications - using ms office X is a far better experience then using windows office XP (Remember I am a PC person) In summary - quiet, virtually no heat, fast, a terrific adjustable screen, DVD - R and CD-RW, stable and sensible operating system - Wow we have a winner. It is really an easy computer to work with, and that my friends is the beauty of it. PS I have not touched my desktop or lapot in the last week unless I had to use specific software.
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A functional work of Art, July 17, 2002
I've played with computers since the TRS-80 . Since 1984, I've used PCs. I've never been a fan of Apple or it's computers so I never owned one, until the beautiful iMac.So why buy an iMac? First the aesthetics. A beautiful machine no doubt. Unfortunately, although Apple has done an admirable job of reducing the number of cords they didn't complete the journey and make the keyboard, mouse and speakers wireless. The iMac still scores huge points on its form. Next, function follows form! The cooling fan is so quiet you can hear it only in the quietest of rooms. The speakers, although beautiful clear half-globes, sound wonderful with clear high/midranges and warm bass even without the bass module. The keyboard has a wonderful touch and is useful with 2 USB ports. You will never have to worry about the mouse cord getting tangled again. And the fantastic screen is so deliciously clear and readable. It puts no strain on ones eyes and it effortlessly adjusts to any useable position with the touch of a finger. Apple has scored a home run with the functionality. On hardware and software stability/compatibility the iMac stumbles a little. Everyone says Macs don't crash. This is simply not true as I have had numerous crashes out of iMusic, iPhoto, and iMovie. The only way I could get the computer to work again after one crash was to unplug it from the wall. The hardware, however, is all top notch and works perfectly. You can only modify your iMac internally by adding memory or an Airport card but with the USB (unfortunately not 2.0) and amazing Firewire ports (wow they're fast) you can add just about anything you want externally. This is clearly a next generation computer with no throwbacks to obsolete interfaces such as serial and parallel ports and 3.5" floppies. Bravo to Apple for that. So what does this mean? The computer is rock solid, the operating system is not quite there yet. The much touted ease of use and integrated software is also a mixed blessing. In general, all of the iSoftware is very easy to use. iMusic being the best. Pop in a CD and iMusic starts. Connect to the internet and with a click it finds all of the titles and artists for your CD. Way cool and time saving. Click one button and you're ripping songs. It also plays songs from the CD while it rips... very cool and very easy. Hook up an iPod and it automatically updates it for you. It is so simple, easy, and fun you will be making your own portable music library within minutes. iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD still need work. All are pretty easy to use but there is no manual and the help is lacking. When I was trying to import movies and pictures into iPhoto, it would not let me or tell me why. Very frustrating (reason: iMovie will import only DV or a specific movie format. It won't import normal Quicktime movies. Also, the JPEGs were the wrong size so it would not import them.) All of that should be transparent to me. The next thing about these programs is that they are easy to use but you'll outgrow them after the first time you use them. These programs could easily have been made more powerful without making them any more difficult. However, once you start playing with your photos and movies and creating marvelous digital albums of your life, you'll be addicted. I made a movie from pictures of a recent hiking trip. Set it to music and I was amazed. A whole new world has opened. In addition, it was incredibly nice to plug in my Digital Camera, my Digital Camcorder, and my Smart Media reader and have them all work seamlessly. No trying to figure out how to install a driver. No wondering if you loaded the software in the right sequence. It just worked. Very Very nice. To the PC veteran thinking about switching. For the most part things work very similarly so you should have no trouble using the machine. If you stick with the standard mouse, you will miss the right click and scroll wheel. iMac can read PC files so you can copy any info you want to the Mac. Also, the is a Windows emulator so you can even run many of your programs albeit slower. To the computer newbie. Apple really touts the ease of using the iMac. I would say it is easier to use than a PC. But, that doesn't mean it is as easy to use as a common household appliance. The help system is pretty descent but doesn't replace a good manual that all computers so sadly lack. You absolutely must learn file management and common commands. In plain English, don't expect to just plug in the iMac and know how to do anything useful. Take a class, read a book, or have a friend teach you. Apples, to me, have always been overpriced--one of the reasons I never owned one. Although there is no comparable PC, the iMac does cost slightly more than a comparatively equipped PC but the difference is negligible. So what does all this mumbo jumbo boil down to. Very simple. If you like to play games, don't buy one. The video card is obsolete and there are relatively few games available. If this computer speaks to your soul, buy one. If you're in the market for a computer in iMac's price range, buy one. As far as which iMac to get. I recommend the G4 800. You get a faster computer, more memory, a bigger hard drive, and a DVD burner. Quite a good deal. If you don't want or need the DVD burner then get the cheapest one. There is really not enough in the middle one to pay the extra (speakers, more memory, and DVD player).
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Be Brave!, April 17, 2002
I discovered that I was using my old PC for five main uses: (1) surfing the Internet; (2) writing e-mail; (3) word processing; (4) digital music; and (5) digital photography. I decided that my next computer purchase would be the computer that did these five things the best. The iMac won hands-down.I looked at Dell, but I really was not in the mood for a large PC box all over again. I also was unimpressed by the Dimension 8200's inexplicable lack of FireWire ports. I also wanted something new. I am tired of Windows, and WinXP is still a difficult, quirky, obnoxious operating system. By the time all was said and done, the iMac won not only on usability but also on price. I defy anyone to purchase a Dell with this good of a flat-panel display, Superdrive (DVD, CD, DVD-R, CD-R), sheer number of ports (3 USB, 2 FireWire, network, phone, etc.) and ease of use at anywhere close to the same price. And it's a good-looking machine to boot. I can do everything that I did on my PC on the iMac, and I can do it better, faster, and cheaper. Digital photography is a snap. The iTunes software for digital music is easier to use than Windows Media player, and it syncs beautifully with an iPod. OS X is also a wonderful operating system. Not only that, but I'm exchanging files between my PC at work and my iMac flawlessly. Mac users are not isolated from the PC world merely because they use a superior OS. Everyone (meaning PC users) cringes when they hear that someone is contemplating buying a Mac. They think that Mac purchasers buy computers merely because they look cool and sacrifice on usability for sheer aesthetics. That's far from the case. These are not only better-looking machines, but they are better machines, period. Go to a store. Use one. You'll see what I'm talking about, and you'll realize that it's better than a PC. Be brave, and buy the iMac. Your friends will be jealous.
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