3 Days and not impressed

[BlakTornado]

After saving up for an iMac for 9 months, I finally had enough to buy a new iMac. 9 Months.

So, it arrives. I'm happy. No problems at all, everything works fine.

Then, I try to change the time settings. The spinning beach ball appears and nothing happens for a while. Not impressive.

Everything is fine, then the beach ball appears when I'm using Photobooth.

I know the beach ball is just a loading indicator but it shouldn't really be happening for apps such as these... Especially considering they aren't huge apps that require a lot of memory.

So, I'm making a video in iMovie 06 (Downloaded it) and IMing on Skype and MSN. My brother saw me reverse some footage and he asked me if he could video himself eating something and then reverse it. So I agree, save my project and WHAM. I'm hit with a FULL SYSTEM freeze. Skype went crazy and started ringing a random person (I got annoyed at them, thinking they rung me) and I just decided to restart. After 3 days of owning the machine, I shouldn't really be getting into problems like that...

Anyway, I carried on after the crash... and then I realize I have a stuck pixel (It's blue so I don't notice it against my background). However, it's Noticeable when I either have Red or Black displayed in front of it (Doesn't display that badly when grey, green or blue are behind it).

So now, I'm getting tired of these problems. I don't mind as I understand that technology isn't perfect, but my Mom does mind, and she's making a big deal about it. But the fact it cost me £1000 (Which is a HELL of a lot) is just ridiculous for something that has serious errors (Possibly even permanent) after 3 days of low-level use.

It's outrageous... I shall be calling Crapple in the morning and complaining.

 

[paetrick]

Yeh, I think APPLE have lost it, lousy screens and [bad] quality...
Seriously, even when you WANT to buy a mac you can't because you know it's [not good], and that kinda sucks...

How do you like the screen on the 20" btw?

Is it like this?

(Click for larger)

 

[mkrishnan]

Something sounds defective. Sorry for your luck with this unit. Failures happen with any mass-produced hardware, but it always stinks when it happens to you. Nothing you described sounds symptomatic of the normal operation of a functional Mac.

It all sounds like either bad hardware or perhaps, at a lower likelihood (aside from the stuck pixel) like there's some errant software that you perhaps installed....

Good luck!

 

[iBookG4user]

Before you call Apple, try doing an erase and install using the Mac OS X install disk. You shouldn't be getting those problems, you're right, but just try and do the erase and install before you call.

 

[synth3tik]

Sorry your iMac is not as wonderful as it is supposed to be. When you got the unit in did you do a full clean install? I recommend doing this. Also opening Disc Utility [Applications-Utilities] and doing a repair disk and repair disk permissions may help with the beach ball. I know how frustrating it can be. I have a 2.66 Mac Pro with 4G of RAM and I get the beach ball when opening Safari. My issue is either a bad HD or RAM, but your issue should be fixable though Disc Utilities.

Hope this helps

 

[steveoh]

my first imac was acting similar to the op. when the beach ball would appear, the imac would either freeze up completely, or it'll just not respond to anything. i returned it and now i am on my second imac. this one has been working flawlessly. i say return it and get another one.

 

[HLdan]

First off, sorry to hear about the issues you are having but it sounds like it's an easy solve.
Could you please post which iMac you have and the specs?

I just bought the new iMac about a week or so ago and what I did (what I generally do on a new computer) was pop in the restore disc and do a full reformat and install of the image on the disc. I do this to get rid of the unwanted programs. It's not that it's a known fact that the factory image has issues however one of the programs that came with the system may be corrupt and is causing your issues. The beachball shouldn't be coming up like that.
As far the pixel since it's actually stuck there are a few programs that can be used to make the pixel become unstuck.

Before you take other's advice about popping in the hardware test disc (which generally doesn't help) do a reformat first. Any of the same issues after that could be happening due to faulty memory and in that case get a replacement computer.

 

[BlakTornado]

How do you like the screen on the 20" btw?

Personally, I love my screen. I think it's great! (Apart from the dead pixel, which doesn't really bother me since I don't use the part of the screen it's on (Near Desktop icons) It's just my Mom who is making a big deal about it)

However, when I open Front Row and view from an Angle that isn't straight on, it looks lighter in some parts. but that isn't a problem. Personally, I think it fits in with the gradient, so I don't mind.

It all sounds like either bad hardware or perhaps, at a lower likelihood (aside from the stuck pixel) like there's some errant software that you perhaps installed....

Well I read somewhere that iMovie 06 crashed a lot, so that may be case. And apparently, it wasn't optimized for new Macs so that could be one of the causes.

First off, sorry to hear about the issues you are having but it sounds like it's an easy solve.
Could you please post which iMac you have and the specs?

2.4Ghz 20" 1GB RAM 500GB Hard Drive

I will try your suggestion.

Thanks for your help, everyone

 

[flopticalcube]

If the pixel is just stuck instead of dead, you could try an exercising program like www.jscreenfix.com

 

[JimmyDreams]

Perhaps more memory?

I'm running a 2.8Ghz with 4GB RAM...when I open date and time, I get the beachball for about 12 seconds before it opens. I almot NEVER see the beachball otherwise.

YMMV.

JimmyD

 

[oduinnin]

Perhaps more memory?

I'm running a 2.8Ghz with 4GB RAM...when I open date and time, I get the beachball for about 12 seconds before it opens. I almot NEVER see the beachball otherwise.

YMMV.

JimmyD

I have a 24" 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM ... When I open Date & Time, it is immediate, no spinning beach ball at all. My screen also looks great! Dimming it with Brightness Control software really cuts down on the glare too.

Nearly every problem relating to system software can be corrected without doing the "Microsoft Panacea" AKA reinstalling Operating system.

Call Apple tech support.

 

[Tom J]

Try reseating the RAM. Others have mentioned that it fixed their intermittent issues. Plus it's easy enough to do.

 

[gazelleintense]

its under warranty, so you should demand they make things right... give you another unit if need be.

ask that they toss in applecare for free or half price...

just in case.


I agree, you spend big bucks.... things should work. sounds like bad luck...

 

[AlexisV]

Then, I try to change the time settings. The spinning beach ball appears and nothing happens for a while. Not impressive.

Everything is fine, then the beach ball appears when I'm using Photobooth.

The time beach ball occurs as your machine is trying to sync with the Apple server to get the right time.

You will get the beach ball in all applications as things load.

Your machine sounds fine. I think you have unrealistic expectations that any computer will load applications in 2 seconds flat. Even with SATA hard drives, it still takes some time to read off the hard disk.

I'm hit with a FULL SYSTEM freeze. Skype went crazy and started ringing a random person (I got annoyed at them, thinking they rung me) and I just decided to restart. After 3 days of owning the machine, I shouldn't really be getting into problems like that...

OS X is not crash proof. You may get a full system freeze 2 or 3 times a year. OS X is better than Windows for stability, but it's not perfect.

 

[puckhead193]

it happened to me, i reinstalled OS X and it works fine now..

 

[HLdan]

I have a 24" 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM ... When I open Date & Time, it is immediate, no spinning beach ball at all. My screen also looks great! Dimming it with Brightness Control software really cuts down on the glare too.

Nearly every problem relating to system software can be corrected without doing the "Microsoft Panacea" AKA reinstalling Operating system.

Call Apple tech support.

Agreed, I have no beachball from anything in system preferences as it barely uses any system resources. Although I disagree, if you are getting a beachball from opening date and time then either reset the PRAM or an archive and install or reformat is fine. There's nothing wrong with a reformat when you first get your new computer. Some preinstalled apps may be corrupt and interrupt computing. A factory image isn't always perfect.
I did reformat the day I got my new iMac and removed all the languages and extras I didn't want. My iMac runs beautifully and fast.

 

[JimmyDreams]

The time beach ball occurs as your machine is trying to sync with the Apple server to get the right time.

I never knew that. I took a closer look at Date and Time and turned OFF the 'Set Date/Time Automatically' option.....no more beachball!!

I'll leave it ON since I want my system date/time to be correct.

JimmyD

 

[Artful Dodger]

Well I read somewhere that iMovie 06 crashed a lot, so that may be case. And apparently, it wasn't optimized for new Macs so that could be one of the causes.

2.4Ghz 20" 1GB RAM 500GB Hard Drive

I will try your suggestion.

Thanks for your help, everyone

I've had my iMac since January and iMovie works fine for me so I think mkrishnan is right on about some type of software issue, maybe even a slight issue with some hardware. Really it's not trouble all the time for everyone with an iMac and I'm sorry to hear it happened to you. Just give them a call and let us know the outcome of your issue incase others suffer the same inconvenience.

 

[0007776]

It does sound like a software problem, reinstall the OS and see if that fixes it, sometimes the factory installs are bad. otherwise call Apple. the pixel if it is stuc and not dead should also be fixable.

 

[gamerz]

Wow... that must suck... I hope that doesn't happen with mine... If it does happen though, how do I return it if I bought it online?

Sorry for intruding on this thread.

 

[rainydays]

It's outrageous... I shall be calling Crapple in the morning and complaining.

You have probably already called them. But just to make sure. Always be polite when calling the support, remember they might be the company's face towards the costumer but they haven't done anything wrong and they just want to help.