Difference in Quality - 20/24" iMac

[iVersa]

Hi guys,

simply put, I bought a new 20" iMac about 10 days ago and still have the right to return it.

The glossy screen isn't an issue and the size is fine, but as a lot of other people have been noticing, the quality isn't 'wow' like the old white imacs, and it has a very slight gradient being a touch darker at the top and lighter at the bottom.

If I wasn't a graphic designer by trade then this really wouldn't be an issue, but it is slightly annoying as I am working with colours all day.

My question is this: is the 24" screen a lot better?

Is it worth me sending mine back and paying the (£200) extra for the 24" in terms of quality alone? leaving out size as an issue.

Anyone with any knowledge or experience with both screens, please give me some input.

Many thanks.

 

[Sijmen]

Back when I was making my purchase decision between a 20" and 24", I was at an Apple retailer and the difference was as clear as day and night, the 24" screen was so much better!

I felt kind of sad about the lack of quality (viewing angle mainly, but also colors) of the 20".

 

[Jon.Stewart87]

I purchased a 24'' back on the 16th and cannot wait for it to be delivered in 3 days!!!!

I decided on the 24'' because I do a lot of movie/show watching on my computer while at uni. and something about big screens and mac's just go well together.

If I were you, I'd return the 20'' and go for the 24'', I've yet to see mine, so i'll give you a first hand perspective in about 3 days!

 

[Sir Cecil]

If I wasn't a graphic designer by trade then this really wouldn't be an issue, but it is slightly annoying as I am working with colours all day.

Do you have an example of a project that has been negatively affected by the iMac screen?

 

[h0e0h]

I had a customer come in my store looking at 20" vs. 24" and he mentioned something about a twisted LCD screen in both the 20" and the MacBook. He said something along the lines of the displays enhancing the 'thousands of colors' instead of natively displaying 'millions of colors'. He also said there was a gradient issue with the 20 that wasn't present on the different LCD screen in the 24". I can't see it but i'm not a PS expert or anything like that either, just basics for me... plus I have an external display neway. Just what i've heard though, i'm not sure about any of it.

 

[iVersa]

Thanks for the replies.

I have just arranged for John Lewis to collect and refund my imac this friday.

And have just bought a c2d 20" g5 imac with a years applecare left on ebay!

This is originally what I was planning to do but ended up risking the aluminum one.

I am really disappointed with apple, I think the c2d g5 imac was the height of apple and they have been going downhill from there.

First the glossy only option on the imacs to persuade professionals to fork out the extra for a mac pro and cinema display, and now the bad quality screens.

Its a shame.

I have 2 2gb sticks of ram for my allu imac, does anyone know if they would by chance fit into a c2d g5 imac?

 

[dalvin200]

I have 2 2gb sticks of ram for my allu imac, does anyone know if they would by chance fit into a c2d g5 imac?

i think you're confusing things here.. by c2d do you mean core 2 duo? as that's an intel naming convention, whereas G5 was powerPC.. 2 different things..

 

[iVersa]

Sorry my mistake, not a g5. A white intel core 2 duo

 

[Nevpaurion]

I bought the 24 inch iMac this February 2008, and I'm more than happy with it. But there is one thing really noticeable to me and that's a dead pixel. Of course it's only one so I'm not going to try and get them to replace it or anything, there are millions of them in a monitor so it would be so costly for quality control to make all perfect monitors.

All this being said, if you work with colours all day, and you have a monitor with no dead pixels, then stick with it. In my opinion getting a new iMac with an even larger monitor makes that much more room for error in the pixel department. It only slightly bugs me because I game alot, I can't imagine working a colour/visual intensive job with dead pixels...

 

[NowhereMan]

I have a new (may 2008) 20" imac. I am very happy with this computer. I do notice the lack of viewing angle, but it is not that big of a deal. I only use this computer for personal use. I noticed that the 24" looked better in the store but honestly do not want that large of a screen. It'd be too big for my work space and completely pointless for my use. I do game but have a 1080p 40" TV for that

The only problem I have is one dead/stuck pixel off to the right of the screen. It does bother me since the computer is less than a week old but I might be able to live with it. I am considering returning it, but what if I get one with more pixel problems? Or possibly one that keeps restarting randomly like the first iMac I got 2 weeks ago. So far this runs flawlessly.

Out of curiosity what are your feelings on returning or keeping my computer with the pixel problem? I know that one for certain is dead/stuck and I have a few others that might be but are not very noticeable.

 

[iVersa]

Personally I would never be happy or except even one dead pixel. You are paying money for a working piece of kit.

Anyway, as mentioned, I have returned my new imac as its just no where near as good quality as the white ones.

I have a white 20" 2.16ghz core 2 duo on its way and am wondering if a 2gb stick of ram that fits the aluminium 2.4ghz will fit into it?

Anyone know?
Cheers

 

[SamoanDude]

I had nothing but trouble with my white one. The superdrive went out 3 times, the mainboard went bad, the keyboard went bad, the screen got burn in. Apple replaced it with the aluminum model and I couldn't be happier!

 

[freddyaudiophil]

i received a 24" 3.06 last friday and immediately noticed one stuck red pixel on the screen. after messing around on these forums, i noticed that mine also had the mysterious backlighting issue as well... when you set the desktop background to a solid colour, the colour was not consistent from the left side to the right side of the screen (almost like a spotlight was shining on the left side).

I did call apple and they required at least 6 or 8 dead/stuck pixels to warrant replacement on that basis alone. Once I mentioned the gradient issue, they suggested that i take it to my local apple tech shop. After diagnosis, they replaced the entire lcd panel and backlight yesterday so i get to pick it up here shortly.

i agree with a previous poster... if i pay top coin for a machine, i would expect nothing less than perfect. i've used flat panel monitors since they came out in large enterprise settings and we've never had an issue with getting ones replaced with dead or stuck pixels. just one call and back they go.

if you do have one stuck pixel, you might be able to get some of the free "unstucker" apps to work... some friends of mine used them and they worked fine. stuck pixels are usually a solid colour (mine was red)... dead ones are either black (or white).

freddy

 

[Nevpaurion]

I have a new (may 2008) 20" imac. I am very happy with this computer. I do notice the lack of viewing angle, but it is not that big of a deal. I only use this computer for personal use. I noticed that the 24" looked better in the store but honestly do not want that large of a screen. It'd be too big for my work space and completely pointless for my use. I do game but have a 1080p 40" TV for that

The only problem I have is one dead/stuck pixel off to the right of the screen. It does bother me since the computer is less than a week old but I might be able to live with it. I am considering returning it, but what if I get one with more pixel problems? Or possibly one that keeps restarting randomly like the first iMac I got 2 weeks ago. So far this runs flawlessly.

Out of curiosity what are your feelings on returning or keeping my computer with the pixel problem? I know that one for certain is dead/stuck and I have a few others that might be but are not very noticeable.

I am not too bothered with the dead pixel, the only thing's I do that are graphic/visual intensive is gaming. My area of work is audio, so a dead pixel is ok. As for returning a monitor for one dead pixel I don't agree with it nor do I think they would go for it. If everyone refused to have just one dead pixel in their monitor, quality control would become so costly that apple products would be even more overpriced than they already are. As for whether they would even replace a monitor for one dead pixel, from what I've heard the rule of thumb is that there needs to be a quarter sized region or larger for them to replace it, of course this is just what I've heard.

 

[DesignerOnMac]

Thanks for the replies.

I have just arranged for John Lewis to collect and refund my imac this friday.

And have just bought a c2d 20" g5 imac with a years applecare left on ebay!

This is originally what I was planning to do but ended up risking the aluminum one.

I am really disappointed with apple, I think the c2d g5 imac was the height of apple and they have been going downhill from there.

First the glossy only option on the imacs to persuade professionals to fork out the extra for a mac pro and cinema display, and now the bad quality screens.

Its a shame.

I have 2 2gb sticks of ram for my allu imac, does anyone know if they would by chance fit into a c2d g5 imac?

1. The glossy screen is not an issue. Way over blown on this forum and others. (CRTs had glossy screens as well, but everyone seems to have forgotten that.)

2. The screens are different in a 20" screen, and the 24" screen. The 24" is much better.

3. As a graphic designer working on Rev A Alum iMac 2.8 extreme, I am more than pleased with the screen and the iMac in general.

The iMac has come a long way from what it was. For me a G5 Pro was way too much money and I do not need all these extra HD bays. And the RAM was so much more money compared to RAM on the iMac.

I am very happy with this new machine. For me Apple quality has not been degraded.