Buying a imac 24" alu, wait a bit?

[isaack]

Hi, i've been eyeing the 24" imac since its release and began saving at the same time. now that i've finally saved enough for the top spec one, i'm wondering is now the right time, with mwsf coming up, and the problems with crashing and backlighting etc, penryn, is it likely that mac will do an update soon? i dont need it until i start university here in australia til next year (march) and figure since im off loading a few g's on it i'd prefer to have the latest (albeit for a few months til the next update). if there is likely to be a update between now and march, what should i be expecting and is it worth the wait? new GPU likely? and is penryn likely?

thanks for your feedback in advance

 

[72930]

According to the MR Buyer's Guide, the iMac is Neutral, with 103 Days Since Update 103 (Avg = 185)

 

[Cloudane]

It's a good time to buy this model.

The screen thing is more of a 20" issue. A few people have said about 24" left-right gradients but it seems a lot more rare....

 

[DesignerOnMac]

Since Apple just came out with this model...............

I doubt that we will see an upgrade in January. The 24" is a beautiful machine.
I have the 24" Extreme..2.8 and love it. I have had it for a week and a half. NO issues with anything that has been posted by others here.

This machine will do anything you want now or next March, but the decision is yours...now or later mate!

 

[Richard.John]

If you don't need it right now then wait. Of course something better will come along next year. That's the way it's always been.

 

[Leon Kowalski]

... i'm wondering is now the right time, with mwsf coming up, and the problems with crashing and backlighting etc,

IMO, this is the wrong time to buy a high-end iMac. Even ignoring the serious brightness uniformity problems, it seems kinda silly to pay for a 1920x1200 display when there's no good way to feed it true-HD 1920x1080p (BlueRay or HD-DVD quality) video signals.

As soon as Apple offers a product with an up-to-date DVD drive (and/or HDMI/DVI video inputs), the current crop of iMacs will be seriously obsolete. The perceived "generation gap" will be huge -- nearly as large as the step from PPC to Intel.

To a lesser extent, the same is true of external HD interfaces; the rest of the world has gone to 3GB/sec eSATA -- and Stevie's Wonders will have to catch up soon. Fast disk interfaces are a key enabler for the high-bandwidth video future.

...the current iMacs are pre-multimedia, dinosaurs,

LK

 

[Cloudane]

Depends what you're looking for, IMO. I'm still quite happy with DVD, and have never been that excited by BluRay. Even when I do watch DVDs, it's on a standalone player

The screens are indeed a bit iffy though.

 

[isaack]

IMO, this is the wrong time to buy a high-end iMac. Even ignoring the serious brightness uniformity problems, it seems kinda silly to pay for a 1920x1200 display when there's no good way to feed it true-HD 1920x1080p (BlueRay or HD-DVD quality) video signals.

As soon as Apple offers a product with an up-to-date DVD drive (or HDMI/DVI video inputs), the current crop of iMacs will be seriously obsolete. The perceived "generation gap" will be huge -- nearly as large as the step from PPC to Intel.

...the current iMacs are pre-multimedia dinosaurs,

LK

LK (or anyone else) do you beleive an update like that is likely before march? if not what's the most likely time for an update to the imac lineup? or is it even likely that an updated mac mini could pop up that might rival the mid to low range imacs of today?

i like to use likely alot....

 

[Cloudane]

Like I said, if you want one then now (or soon) is the time to buy. It's been long enough for the worst flaws to be ironed out (those which aren't characteristics such as the 20" screen), the freezing issues seem to have been fixed etc. You could say that non-freezing iMacs are BRAND NEW

I can't see any updates happening before March, it'd be so soon. There's a small chance of a refresh I guess, a very small refresh, but it's a very slim chance.

As for the Mini, I've seen the benchmarks against the iMac, and it received a refresh very shortly before it. Don't even go there if you desire the power of the iMac.

 

[Leon Kowalski]

LK (or anyone else) do you beleive an update like that is likely before march?

I wouldn't even guess what The iPod & iPhone Company might do next ...or when.

or is it even likely that an updated mac mini could pop up that might rival the mid to low range imacs of today

That's what I've been hoping for. After two very disappointing experiences with ALU iMac displays, I decided to hunker-down with a minimum-investment white 20". I'd love to see a $1200-$1600 midi-tower with high-end iMac performance. My main gripe with the mini is the SLOW, low-capacity 2.5" notebook hard drives. Also, $900 (incl. AppleCare) is a lot of money for a screenless, non-portable, non-expandable computer with notebook-class performance.

...IMO, of course,

LK

 

[Richard.John]

Yes but BD is pointless on a 24 inch screen anyway. I use my PS3 for BDs on a Sony 32 inch HDTV and its debatable if its superior to an upscaled DVD.

 

[Leon Kowalski]

Yes but BD is pointless on a 24 inch screen anyway.

Lack of BlueRay/HD-DVD is just one example -- along with the lack of eSATA and high-bandwidth video inputs. Overall, I see the current iMacs as seriously behind-the-curve in the rapidly-developing multimedia revolution. Apple will have to start catching up in the very near future -- or they'll lose their ability to sell computer hardware at premium prices.

...in the meantime, I'll keep my Apple hardware investments to a bare minimum,

LK

 

[SaSaSushi]

Lack of BlueRay/HD-DVD is just one example -- along with the lack of eSATA and high-bandwidth video inputs. Overall, I see the current iMacs as seriously behind-the-curve in the rapidly-developing multimedia revolution. Apple will have to start catching up in the very near future -- or they'll lose their ability to sell computer hardware at premium prices.

...in the meantime, I'll keep my Apple hardware investments to a bare minimum,

LK

Yes, while keeping your Apple-bashing FUD campaign at an absolute fever pitch.

I've never seen anyone with such a lack of love for a company's products post so much negativity for them so vehemently in a user forum.

The new machines aren't for you, right? They're subpar and you've returned the ones you tried. Move on. Get a life.

It's way worse than the fanboys, sorry.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Assuming Apple adds an up-to-date DVD drive, would it be able to play both Blue Ray and HD-DVD, or just one of the two formats?

Either way, the lack of Blue Ray/HD-DVD isn't that big of a deal as not everyone cares about the ability to play true HD video on a desktop computer. It also isn't a factor for people like myself who refuse to buy any Blue Rays or HD-DVDs until the format war is won.

 

[Leon Kowalski]

Yes, while keeping your Apple-bashing FUD campaign at an absolute fever pitch.

Thanks ever so much for the insightful point-by-point rebuttal of my comments.

I've never seen anyone with such a lack of love for a company's products ...

Yes, I must admit to a lack of "love" for inanimate piles of obsolescent Al and Si.

OTOH, I greatly admire the Cupertino software weenies -- because they create
products that allow me to do precisely what I want. Ironically, that's the exact
opposite of the company's "we know what's best for you" hardware philosophy.

...be sure to give your glossy screen a big wet kiss for me,

LK

 

[jbstew32]

Thanks ever so much for the insightful point-by-point rebuttal of my comments.


Yes, I must admit to a lack of "love" for inanimate piles of obsolescent Al and Si.

OTOH, I greatly admire the Cupertino software weenies -- because they create
products that allow me to do precisely what I want. Ironically, that's the exact
opposite of the company's "we know what's best for you" hardware philosophy.

...be sure to give your glossy screen a big wet kiss for me,

LK

I actually agree with you. If nothing else, the high end iMac should contain your suggested changes. I don't know why people get so bent out of shape when you say that kind of thing....

my guess is that Apple is holding off until one format destroys the other and becomes a real standard. I think currently HDDVD/Bluray are seen more as novelties by the majority of people, and it won't really take off until people know exactly what to buy and things become standard. I would guess HDDVD to win (though I think Bluray is the superior format, technically), but remember Divx? what if Apple makes all iMacs have built in Bluray? AWESOME you will say. what if in 2 years it becomes no more than a glorified Divx player...

I haven't thought too much about the issue though. I'm just kind of rambling.


by the way, I do like the glossy screens. To the OP, if you don't care about the stuff we are talking about and just need/want a computer, I'd say buy now. There will always be something new down the line, and besides, I think Macworld will be all about notebooks (ultraportable Macbook)/ipods/itunes anyway.

 

[Roller]

IMO, this is the wrong time to buy a high-end iMac. Even ignoring the serious brightness uniformity problems, it seems kinda silly to pay for a 1920x1200 display when there's no good way to feed it true-HD 1920x1080p (BlueRay or HD-DVD quality) video signals.

As soon as Apple offers a product with an up-to-date DVD drive (and/or HDMI/DVI video inputs), the current crop of iMacs will be seriously obsolete. The perceived "generation gap" will be huge -- nearly as large as the step from PPC to Intel.

To a lesser extent, the same is true of external HD interfaces; the rest of the world has gone to 3GB/sec eSATA -- and Stevie's Wonders will have to catch up soon. Fast disk interfaces are a key enabler for the high-bandwidth video future.

...the current iMacs are pre-multimedia, dinosaurs,

LK

I think that characterizing the iMacs as pre-multimedia dinosaurs is a bit much. "Pre-multimedia" implies that you can't use them to create or view multimedia (which most people take to include video, audio, and images), which is clearly not the case.

However, I agree that it may be wise to wait a bit. I'm in the market for a new Mac, and I've been considering the 24" iMac. But I'm put off by continued complaints about uneven backlighting and color gradients. I'm also not a fan of the glossy screen, and I'd prefer a matte option.

Your point about optical drives is well taken, IMO. I want to be able to burn my HD video to the iMac's optical drive. High speed eSATA and HDMI are somewhat less important to me, but I'd certainly prefer to have them.

With MW Expo less than two months off, I'm going to wait. It's possible that Apple will announce an iMac with some of these features, although I'd be even happier with a mini-tower in between the iMac and Mac Pro.

 

[eRondeau]

I ordered a 24" Extreme five days ago, so there's my answer.

I think we've seen over the years that Apple does continuous "minor" product updates, between the "major" updates that get all the press. I would bet that when it finally arrives, my new iMac will have numerous minor design/build improvements compared to the "Week-1" iMac production run. So it's wrong to think that Apple only "improves" their products at MWSF.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I am going to have to agree with LK on this one. The high-end iMac is a great buy, but I don't think it's ever going to catch up with the PC market in terms of BTO options and the such. In the iMac's defense... was it ever built for that anyway. I am still waiting for the Mac Pro to catch up to current tech offerings in the PC world.

Blu-Ray is over rated ... so when it does become essential, I will be insisting that Apple put a BR drive in their high-end machines or as BTO options.

As for the iMac being a good buy or not.... why are you even asking us. If you like it, want it now, and can afford it go for it. I don't think anyones does this kind of fence sitting on an other form of technology. If you want to wait for another revision then sit on the fence, and join the countless others... including myself... waiting for their right machines. The iMac is a good machine. It's not great... but it's good for what you pay for.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

For what it's worth, I've had my 24" 2.4GHz iMac for less than a week and I love it. Haven't had any problems at all and would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

CS3 shows up in the mail Monday or Tuesday so I won't be able to say for absolute sure how great it is until then, but I'm pretty sure it's going to continue to be 5000% better than the PC I'm forced to use at work.

As for the BlueRay/HD-DVD issue, I don't really understand why it's that big a deal. If you want to watch movies in HD, buy a 50" plasma and a PS3. If you want to have the best-looking computer monitor you've ever seen, you could hardly go wrong here.

 

[eRondeau]

Blu-Ray & HD-DVD are both just data-delivery containers; intermediate steps enroute to the inevitable online digital delivery of HD content. I already own two-hundred VHS movies I'll never watch again, a hundred more DVD's, plus countless CD's, audio cassettes, LP records, and even Dark Side of the Moon on 8-Track. I'll be damned if I'm going to waste more $$$ on yet another new content format that will again become obsolete as soon as I build-up a decent collection. Send all those 1's-and-0's to my house digitally, let me save them in any format I choose to, and I'll pay a fair price for the service.

 

[atl27426]

I am going to have to agree with LK on this one. The high-end iMac is a great buy, but I don't think it's ever going to catch up with the PC market in terms of BTO options and the such. In the iMac's defense... was it ever built for that anyway. I am still waiting for the Mac Pro to catch up to current tech offerings in the PC world.

Blu-Ray is over rated ... so when it does become essential, I will be insisting that Apple put a BR drive in their high-end machines or as BTO options.

As for the iMac being a good buy or not.... why are you even asking us. If you like it, want it now, and can afford it go for it. I don't think anyones does this kind of fence sitting on an other form of technology. If you want to wait for another revision then sit on the fence, and join the countless others... including myself... waiting for their right machines. The iMac is a good machine. It's not great... but it's good for what you pay for.

The fact that the Mac Pro doesn't even come with Blu-Ray I seriously doubt we will see Blu-Ray in the iMac for years to come. Apple has never been on par hardware wise with the pc world and i'm not sure with Steve Jobs running things they ever will.

All Apple hardware gets modest increases each cycle the new iMac compared to the last gen is a perfect example, same down the line with the new Macbook and the current MBP.

If someone is going to wait for Blu-ray drives, esata they have a long wait, they better not plan on buying a Mac for three years.

I have an iMac, I bought it understanding what it can do and what it can't, I really enjoy this current version but it's not a powerhouse and never will be, in my opinion, it will always be a mid level mainstream system, which honestly isn't all that bad.

If someone wants either a desktop or notebook with hd-dvd or blu-ray, multi media ports, they really need to go the pc/windows route at this point. I expect it to be the way for a while.

This isn't bashing, just being realistic, I don't see Apple going this direction anytime soon.

 

[atl27426]

Blu-Ray & HD-DVD are both just data-delivery containers; intermediate steps enroute to the inevitable online digital delivery of HD content. I already own two-hundred VHS movies I'll never watch again, a hundred more DVD's, plus countless CD's, audio cassettes, LP records, and even Dark Side of the Moon on 8-Track. I'll be damned if I'm going to waste more $$$ on yet another new content format that will again become obsolete as soon as I build-up a decent collection. Send all those 1's-and-0's to my house digitally, let me save them in any format I choose to, and I'll pay a fair price for the service.

Another good point. The battle between blu-ray and hd-dvd isn't even settled yet. Wouldn't be too smart of Apple to start adding blu-ray drives with no media to go with it. Unless your going to watch Spider Man 3, all day long.

 

[Leon Kowalski]

Blu-Ray & HD-DVD are both just data-delivery containers

Agree, 100%. Unfortunately, today's iMacs are incapable of shipping or receiving those
containers -- or moving data between those containers and other container types.

My criticism has nothing to do with watching DVD movies on my computer; I have an
HDTV for that. The 'problem' is much more fundamental -- the current iMacs lack the
high-bandwidth input/output pathways (especially input) needed to support full-HD
multimedia data manipulation. In a very few years, they will seem as outdated as a
computer with floppy disks but no CD/DVD drive -- and no way to connect one.

... Send all those 1's-and-0's to my house digitally ...

There's the rub -- there is currently NO WAY to send the full HD-content of those
"containers" to your house in real time. Neither satellite nor CATV carriers offer
'Joe Sixpack' the option of purchasing that much video bandwidth.

...bandwidth is your friend,

LK

 

[atl27426]

Agree, 100%. Unfortunately, today's iMacs are incapable of shipping or receiving those
containers -- or moving data between those containers and other container types.

My criticism has nothing to do with watching DVD movies on my computer; I have an
HDTV for that. The 'problem' is much more fundamental -- the current iMacs lack the
high-bandwidth input/output pathways (especially input) needed to support full-HD
multimedia data manipulation. In a very few years, they will seem as outdated as a
computer with floppy disks but no CD/DVD drive -- and no way to connect one.


There's the rub -- there is currently NO WAY to send the full HD-content of those
"containers" to your house in real time. Neither satellite nor CATV carriers offer
'Joe Sixpack' the option of purchasing that much video bandwidth.

...bandwidth is your friend,

LK

I agree with what you are saying, however the question the person asked is if they should wait to buy an iMac and I believe the answer is no because I don't think we are going to see any of these options in the iMac anytime soon.

The Mac Pro doesn't even offer these as options, until that happens I don't see them being offered on the iMac or even the MBP models.

The fact is Apple has always been way behind the curve when it come to hardware, they still only offer 1gig of ram standard in the iMac which goes to show they have no clue how to build a balanced system.

Same goes with the Mac Pro, they put server processors in them and then add 1gig of ram and a 128bit 7300 video card. Talk about an unbalanced system.

I like my iMac but I understand what it can and can't do, I don't see these offering much more then what they currently offer anytime soon.

When we look at the last iMac gen and this one I don't think we can say there were huge leaps in technology, a decent price drop and moderate gains but thats about it. I have never seen Apple offer anything with major leaps in technology. They often offer modest gains at either the same price point or slightly reduced if possible.