Horay I got my new iMac 24" 2.8GHz

[ironjaw]

Just to let everyone know that I received my new iMac 24" 2.8GHz, 750GB HD, wired kb, and wireless mouse this afternoon 1300 hours.

It's absolutely beautiful! I love the keyboard - I'm happy that I did not buy the wireless one (it would have set it to 4-6 weeks when I ordered on Aug 8th).

It's all new to me since being a iBook G4 800Mhz owner since 2003 (my first mac).

As soon as I got home from work I set it to zero out. I'm still waiting. So far I love this machine. Finally I can join the Apple Remote Fanbase

 

[Snide]

Congrats on your new baby!

Why did you set it to "zero-out"???
Do you mean wipe the hard drive?
If so, why?

 

[ironjaw]

Well being an avid reader on Apple Discussion I've heard again and again that a zero out is neccessary with any new hard drive you get.

I did it because the frictions from the delivery would have caused the hard drive reader and spindel to maybe write or cause bad sectors on it. So a fresh zero out makes a fresh start just to make sure everything is ok before installing Mac OS X. And....

I want to partition the 750GB to 200GB for the Mac OSX and the rest for my data, docs, itunes and movies etc.

 

[RainCityMacFan]

Zero out?

Like you formatted the drive when you got home?


Oh and nice... 24" 2.8ghz, I'm thinking about getting the 20" 2.0ghz or 2.4ghz...

 

[kman34]

I have the same set up and love it! Got mine on Monday after ordering it right after Jobs speach.

It is my 1st mac, so I'm getting used to everything. I Love it! I shoud have switched sooner.

 

[ironjaw]

Zero out?

Like you formatted the drive when you got home?


Oh and nice... 24" 2.8ghz, I'm thinking about getting the 20" 2.0ghz or 2.4ghz...

Yes, I formatted it (correctly: formatting it still ), it takes a whiiiiiiile like over 2 hours, so you have to be patient.

If you can get the 24" I have heard there are problems with the viewing angle on the 20" and the screen itself is entirely different. I haven't heard any problems with the 24" yet.

 

[roland.g]

Yes, I formatted it (correctly: formatting it still ), it takes a whiiiiiiile like over 2 hours, so you have to be patient.

If you can get the 24" I have heard there are problems with the viewing angle on the 20" and the screen itself is entirely different. I haven't heard any problems with the 24" yet.

That a 7-pass erase, to write zeros or a drive format. I would think a full zero out would take more than 2-3 hours on a 750GB drive.

 

[sndcj1]

got mine this morning

My 2.8 24" with 320 hard drive arrived this morning. Haven't had much time to play yet, but the screen is absolutely beautiful. Oh, and it is fast. Can't wait to get some alone time with it tonight. Already installed the 2 gig chip, giving me 3 gigs of ram. Can't wait to try a avi-ipod encode of some home videos to see if I get better than 2 frames per second...

 

[ironjaw]

It just finished now, so about 3-3,5 hours - cannot remember exactly when I started but about after 8 o'clock.

After installing Mac OSX its hanbrake time.

SNDCJ1: can you post some benchmarks ie., fps on h264 full dvd resolution? I'll do the same here

 

[blumoon]

Just to let everyone know that I received my new iMac 24" 2.8GHz, 750GB HD, wired kb, and wireless mouse this afternoon 1300 hours.

It's absolutely beautiful!

Congrats on your new machine! Post some pics of your setup when you can. Oh and I'm jealous as I type on my almost 5 yr old PC.

 

[ironjaw]

Definitely I will post some pictures tomorrow (it will be my first pictures on Macrumours )

Nearly finished instaling Mac OSX and then its off to bed - nearly 1am in the morning.

 

[techlover828]

how much faster are these then the older imacs?

 

[ironjaw]

how much faster are these then the older imacs?

I would not be able to tell you exactly, check for example macworld.com,

but the older imacs were 2,16 and 2.33GHz compared to 2,4 and 2.8Ghz

 

[ironjaw]

Handbrake Results

Here it is

iMac 24" 2.8GHz, 2GB RAM, 750GB HD
DVD rip taken from hard drive

File format: MP4,
Codec: H.264 Main
Framerate: 23.976
Bitrate: 2000 kbps
2-pass encoding
Anamorphic Output
AAC Audio 128Kbps,
Sample rate: 44.1KHz,

at 40 fps !

 

[bram.]

I'm doubting between the 2.4 and 2.8GHz. I'm concerned about the fans' sound production in the 2.8Ghz version.
Do you think they make more noise than the 2.4 when the cpu is working hard?

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Zero-ing out the Hard drive is by far Unnecessary. A fresh install is something that might be necessary but zeroing the data is a waste of time.

Just get to using the machine already!

 

[Osarkon]

Zero-ing out the Hard drive is by far Unnecessary. A fresh install is something that might be necessary but zeroing the data is a waste of time.

Just get to using the machine already!

Exactly what I was thinking. I've never done anything like that with the countless computers I've built or the laptop's I've owned. And I haven't had a problem with a hard drive as a result of not doing it.

 

[Snide]

Yeah, that's why I asked - seems like a huge waste of time for a new machine.
Even a single-pass zero-out would take quite a while, and then at least another
hour to re-install OS X, and apply all the software updates. When a new machine is
shipped, the HD is off, and so the heads are parked. I don't see how any damage
could occur in shipping.

In any event, when I sell or give away my old machines, I always do a 7-pass
erase and then a fresh install, creating an Admin account with a blank password.
Then all the new user has to do is create a new Admin account and delete the original...

 

[GimmeSlack12]

In any event, when I sell or give away my old machines, I always do a 7-pass
erase and then a fresh install, creating an Admin account with a blank password.
Then all the new user has to do is create a new Admin account and delete the original...

This is the point of zeroing out data. Secure erases. Not some setup scheme. People on these boards can work people into a paranoid frenzy pretty easily. Even a 7-pass might be a bit overkill for your word documents, but I'm done here.

 

[Cormier6083]

I want one so friggin bad. I'll have to save-up I suppose

 

[ironjaw]

I'm doubting between the 2.4 and 2.8GHz. I'm concerned about the fans' sound production in the 2.8Ghz version.
Do you think they make more noise than the 2.4 when the cpu is working hard?

Actually I cannot remember the noise level of the 2.4 but yes the 2.8 has a slight fan noise. It's constant but over time you get used to it, sometimes I don't hear it but when I carefully listen I can hear it.

You shoiuldn't be worried about it and that itself should not preclude your purchase

And as to the zero out it's a matter of opinion, I do it and will keep on doing it. Judge for yourself, I'm not forcing nor preaching to anyone. I was just informing for the first time on Macrumours for nearly 3 years my brand new iMac

 

[AlanTheBrit]

how much faster are these then the older imacs?

My G4 Sawtooth (2000) 400MHz with 1.4GHz G4 Accelerator scores 748 - and it's NO SLOUCH! - And my BEAUTIFUL SKINNY iMac 2.8GHz scores 3700! 5 times faster - I'm well pleased with that - I love my music Apps!
I'm now keen on skinny (size zero) models! And it's all down to this transcendental iMac...

 

[ironjaw]

Just got the Ministack v3 and a Seagate baracuda 750GB hard drive today, so far everything looks great.

The glossy screen has not given me ANY problems whatsoever since I bought it. Cannot understand why people frig about it so much

 

[bembol]

Where are the Unboxing Pics? LOL

Congrats! I only got the 2.4GHz, even if I wanted the 2.8GHz Apple Store Yorkdale didn't have any available.

 

[rainydays]

at 40 fps !

I just ripped walk the line from DVD at an avarage of 38fps on the 2.4GHz.
But the frame rate depends a whole lot on which movie it is, so it's not a good comparison.