Are you happy with your new Alu 24" iMac?

[CavemanUK]

overall i would say this is the best Mac ive owned.

Screen is lovely. it does have a slight shade on one side but nothing thats really gonna bothe 98% of the population. Colours are vibrant and the picture is sharp. Its also very fast and responsive (even compared to my Dual 2.3 PowerMac G5). I would recommend going for 2GB really tho (especially if you want to run parallels).

My biggest complaint was the struggle to install Windows XP via bootcamp (which obviously is still beta). I know some have installed without a hitch but i had a few hurdles to over come. (like no keyboard during setup unless I unplugged the mouse).

Notable Points

PLUS: Screen. Its lovely. Best screen ive ever used (and sell them for a living!). The screen IS glossy and could present problems if you have a bright light behind you but the machine is cool enough to re-arrange your room/office for!

PLUS: Keyboard. Very nice to use. Find it very responsive and very fast. Large improvement over the last generation of spongy keyboards.

PLUS: Looks beautiful. Arguably the best looking Mac of all time. Takes the old iMac and fixes the problems with its huge "chin" with a mixture of design tricks. All in all a very pleasing machine to look at.

MINUS: Mighty Mouse. Had a few of these and the touch sensor gimic has worn off. This mouse is horrible. Feels like its fighting against you and it basically horrible. Would prefer a cheap genius mouse over this thing.

MINUS: Problems installing windows. Ok, granted its still beta so not really knocking anything off for this but people need to be aware.

MINUS: You look like a grinning idiot everytime you see it cos its so big and cool.


Overall I would give this machine 8.5/10 and plan on keeping it as my main machine for a long time to come.

 

[Hibbsy]

My vote is 9/10 overall and really that is against a pretty high expectation if you take into account OSX and compare with a PC then its leagues ahead.

Plus points:

- Screen is great, glossy is only ever an issue if screen has large areas of black and even then you can forgive for just how great it looks all the rest of the time.
- Speed is fantastic 2.8 flies
- ilife and iwork 08 are really amazing suites and well worth every penny
- keyboard is lovely
- OSX rocks, not until you go back to a PC that you realize just how stupid the whole thing is.

Negative points:
- DVD drive is little slow and very fussy
- MM is not that great ... feels like it has got cheaper and dual button thing doesn't really work in practice

It's pretty amazing really, the wow factor isn't really appreciated until a PC fanboy rocks up for a look

 

[Kpjoslee]

I just got my Mac today (imac 24" 2.4) and this is my first mac ever since PowerMac 6100 all the way back in 1994. Only used it for couple of days but it has been a real pleasing experience. I am waiting for 4GB memory upgrade from OWC and I think it will only going to get better. I will post pictures soon.
Screen - it is THE best screen I have ever used with. Especially color and brightness. I was debating between 20" and 24" and I don't have any regrets that I spent $300 more for 24"....24" has MUCH better quality screen. I spent 30 min just comparing the screens between two models.
Performance - Pretty responsive. Yet to have much performance issues even with only 1GB of memory. Since I will be using Logic and quite a few soft synths, 4GB upgrade will come in handy.
Input - I have no problems with keyboard, but mighty mouse needs to get improved. Although I don't have much problem with its one button setting, it is too small for my hand, and my hand is not that big either. I will probably buy another third party mouse real soon.
After 13 years of windows, I am glad I switched to mac. I think I finally figured out why Mac people are reluctant to switch to Windows...Macs are simply more enjoyable to use.

 

[HLdan]

overall i would say this is the best Mac ive owned.

Screen is lovely. it does have a slight shade on one side but nothing thats really gonna bothe 98% of the population. Colours are vibrant and the picture is sharp. Its also very fast and responsive (even compared to my Dual 2.3 PowerMac G5). I would recommend going for 2GB really tho (especially if you want to run parallels).

My biggest complaint was the struggle to install Windows XP via bootcamp (which obviously is still beta).

Notable Points

MINUS: Problems installing windows. Ok, granted its still beta so not really knocking anything off for this but people need to be aware.


Overall I would give this machine 8.5/10 and plan on keeping it as my main machine for a long time to come.

I would recommend raising the bar to 9/10. You really shouldn't count bootcamp issues although I haven't had any but what I generally do is reformat the hard disk with any new Mac just so I can install only what I want and some factory installed apps can be corrupt causing a conflict with bootcamp.
One other note, don't discredit this beautiful machine because it won't install Windows properly!!! Come on man, we are trying to get out of the Windows world which is why we buy Macs, it's truly a plus that it won't install Windows with ease.

 

[swordfish5736]

im gonna give it a 9.5/10...it looses that half a point cause the lowest brightness setting is probably the brightest my powerbook screen gets. I wish there was a way to dim it. I know there is a 3rd party app to do it just wish apple would integrate it

i have seen a few people saying how they dont like the mighty mouse but i love it. I accidentally ordered a wired one when i meant to get the wireless so apple is giving me a wireless one free

 

[Audioslave]

I loved my 24" iMac, but had to return it because of yellowing in the middle of the screen. Was told that a new one would be shipped within 5 days of my call (7th of September) and even got an e-mail saying that they had started assembling the new machine. Now I get an e-mail saying that the machine will ship by the 20th of September and be at my door by the 27th of september. I already waited over three weeks for my machine and now have to wait almost three weeks more. I dont understand this since they already started building "my" machine, but now its delayed because of high demand. This sucks, hopefully I can get my money back and pick one up at the local store instead. I have so much work I need to do that I simply cant wait any longer..

But except of my defective screen it was a very nice machine!

 

[rainydays]

I already waited over three weeks for my machine and now have to wait almost three weeks more. I dont understand this since they already started building "my" machine, but now its delayed because of high demand. This sucks, hopefully I can get my money back and pick one up at the local store instead. I have so much work I need to do that I simply cant wait any longer..

But except of my defective screen it was a very nice machine!

That's really odd. What configuration did you have? Was it a CTO or standard?
They ordered my replacement on Monday and it's prepared for shipping now, will most likely ship tomorrow.

My original order was on the 10th of August so I really feel your pain. At least they let me keep this machine until the next one arrives this time. The previous replacement took 2,5 weeks to get here and it was hard to be without one for so long.
I was returning returning the first two because of the yellow tint issue. Sure hope I will get a good screen on the next one.

 

[Audioslave]

It was a 2,8 ghz, 750GB HD and a wireless MM.

Ill make a call to some of the stores here in Oslo tomorrow to check if they have any iMacs, and Im sure things will work out. Have to remind myself that this is a "luxury problem", and that things could be a LOT worse! I dont have a computer, while 2 billion people dont have food.. So no more complaining from me...

 

[bembol]

Since I can't see what wrong with the LCD. LOL I'm absolutely happy with my Aluminum 24" iMac!

 

[rainydays]

It was a 2,8 ghz, 750GB HD and a wireless MM.

Ah, that would explain the difference. Mine is a 2,4GHz 500GB so they probably aren't running short of those parts.

I don't know if any store over here has the 2.8GHz. None of the stores I checked has it. Might be luckier in Oslo though

 

[CavemanUK]

I would recommend raising the bar to 9/10. You really shouldn't count bootcamp issues although I haven't had any but what I generally do is reformat the hard disk with any new Mac just so I can install only what I want and some factory installed apps can be corrupt causing a conflict with bootcamp.
One other note, don't discredit this beautiful machine because it won't install Windows properly!!! Come on man, we are trying to get out of the Windows world which is why we buy Macs, it's truly a plus that it won't install Windows with ease.

The thing is.. one of the main reasons i bought this machine is for windows. I know thats blasphemous but windows is important for my work. Apple themselves push that one of the reasons to go for an intel mac is windows compatibility (see http://www.apple.com/getamac/windows.html ) . I would love to never ever use windows but most of us HAVE to for one thing or another.

8.5 is fair I think considering the issues i have mentioned and also the other issues people have been having with Garageband (its part of the package so part of the score!) messing up. And frankly the mighty mouse being the primary input device of the machine is really spoiling the experience.