I am really frustrated!

[eyecon3]

Hello again,

I have bough a brand new i mac 27" and payed a sack of money for it hopping that my life will get easier since i wont have to care about viruses and other problems anymore, but it seems i got into more trouble than my old pc.

Imac problems:

So first problem i faced was when i decided to install windows 7. After countless hours searching the web for solutions about some black screens i got graphic card, sound drivers problems etc i managed to get that fixed, it seems that few people have managed to do that since from the forums i have read only 1/20 said that he had successfully installed them. I also have to install the drivers for the sound card every time i log into windows.

Another problem that i haven't fixed or cared about is when i put my computer at sleep i have to shut it down from the button behind the Imac and reboot it. Even though i don't care about sleep mode its unacceptable that it doesn't work properly.

Slow internet i haven't fixed that yet as well, my speed test is 6mb/s and the best i get when downloading something is 700kb/s (and i said the best , normally i download with 200-300kb/s) i don't bother mentioning the humiliating upload rate. I have seen on forums that many people have this problem.

Poor wireless signal due to the aluminum case. I have read that some people just by moving their imac only 1 meter or by changing the angle of the imac facing the modem which could be 2 meters away the signal strength changes. (I don't have problems with my signal or a just haven't realized it yet)

Yesterday i watched a movie from my external HD with VLC media player and when i lowered the volume from my keyboard i observed that there was a 2 seconds delay on that so i double clicked to exit full screen and the was big delay there as well so i went to istat to check my CPU condition and it said that VLC was using 70% of my CPU. Also sometimes the Imac gets really slow for no reason at least nothing obvious. If i restart it gets fast again.

And at last the problem which made me write this post Connection timeout!!! Suddenly my internet stopped working i tried to reconnect but i always get the same error "Connection timeout". I am sharing internet with an office which has 3 imacs 21" none of them has this problem. I cant even log into the modem from 192.168.1.1 seems like my Imac sees the connection but cant access it. Lucky me there is a neighbor who has his wireless without pass and i can steal the internet to search for a solution.

I am really disappointed right now and i blame apple for selling a problematic machine. Anyways even if i get all my problems fixed i don't understand why i have to become a technician and spend a lot of my free time fixing and not enjoying this computer.

If you have any ideas how to overcome these problems please post.
Many thanks in advance.

My imac is up to date Version 10.6.4
more info :

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac11,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 4

Graphic card:
ATI Radeon HD 4850:

Chipset Model: ATI Radeon HD 4850
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB

 

[87vert]

return it if you are unhappy. What do you expect anyone to do?

 

[Hastings101]

return it if you are unhappy. What do you expect anyone to do?

What a helpful response

In your Applications/Utilities Folder there's something called Activity monitor, use it when your Mac is running slow to find out why. Chances are, it's because a third party program is bugged and is using more CPU & Ram than it should be, which is why your computer seems to be fast again after a restart.

For the wifi issue, try restarting your router, or moving the router closer to the computer if it's possible. The connection time out is something I get if my wireless network signal isn't strong enough.

The slow downloads you're seeing are normal for anyone, real download speeds are always much slower than what a speed test show, for example, my speed tests show around 20 mb/s but I only see about 1 mb/s when downloading. I don't know enough about this to know why it happens, I just know it's normal.

 

[eyecon3]

87vert well, considering your reply i would rather not having you posting here i am looking for people willing to help. But if i could return it and get a fair amount of my money back i would consider it.

 

[eawmp1]

I am really disappointed right now and i blame apple for selling a problematic machine. Anyways even if i get all my problems fixed i don't understand why i have to become a technician and spend a lot of my free time fixing and not enjoying this computer.

If you have any ideas how to overcome these problems please post.

A few of your concerns are valid iMac issues. Most are due to extraneous issues (internet connection/configuration, Windows {though MOST have no problem with Windows under BootCamp}, thirs party software, etc.). For MOST iMac buyers, things "just work." You seem to be the exception, suggesting either a lemon machine or PEBKAC. You DON'T have to be a technician, you are under warranty. Call Apple, use online help, or make a Genius Bar appointment and get it straightened out or replaced.

 

[eyecon3]

The slow downloads you're seeing are normal for anyone, real download speeds are always much slower than what a speed test show, for example, my speed tests show around 20 mb/s but I only see about 1 mb/s when downloading. I don't know enough about this to know why it happens, I just know it's normal.

I am experiencing connection problems even when i surf at the web sometimes , so its not so normal i guess. Thanks for your help.

{though MOST have no problem with Windows under BootCamp},

i am only referring to imac 27" with ATI radeon HD 4850 i know that other imacs don't have any problems

 

[MacAndMic]

Are all of these problems when using Windows 7 or OSX? You do not separate the two. It does however sound like you have some driver issues and your Win 7 install may not have been per the instructions provided by bootcamp? Please elaborate how you installed Win 7.

You do say that you bought it to relax the virus problems and such and then here you are installing Win 7, I hope you do not believe that you are protected just because it is a Mac machine, it's the OS that is vulnerable.

The power button could just be a setting. Can you shutdown in Windows by hitting Start then Shutdown or in OSX by hitting and then shutdown?

Poor reception and slow network, that could be a reception issue but it is that way in both OS's?

Like Hastings said, check your activity and you may find your solution.

All of the problems you have are so opposite of my experience with an iMac. I pretty much turned it on, setup bootcamp with Win 7, installed the drivers for Windows 7 using the CD that came with my iMac and everything has been perfect since.

troutspinner

 

[eyecon3]

Are all of these problems when using Windows 7 or OSX? You do not separate the two. It does however sound like you have some driver issues and your Win 7 install may not have been per the instructions provided by bootcamp? Please elaborate how you installed Win 7.

You do say that you bought it to relax the virus problems and such and then here you are installing Win 7, I hope you do not believe that you are protected just because it is a Mac machine, it's the OS that is vulnerable.

The power button could just be a setting. Can you shutdown in Windows by hitting Start then Shutdown or in OSX by hitting and then shutdown?

Poor reception and slow network, that could be a reception issue but it is that way in both OS's?

Like Hastings said, check your activity and you may find your solution.

All of the problems you have are so opposite of my experience with an iMac. I pretty much turned it on, setup bootcamp with Win 7, installed the drivers for Windows 7 using the CD that came with my iMac and everything has been perfect since.

troutspinner

My Mac shuts down properly on OSX and windows the problem is with the sleep it never recovers after i put it in sleep mode in OSX and i have to shut it down from behind and the boot it up again.
All the problems i have mentioned take place when i run OSX i rarely use the win 7 i have installed.
About the WIN 7 installation i did it exactly how the bootcamp guide said. But i will say it again i am talking ONLY ABOUT IMAC 27" LATE 2009 apple has released some fixes only for those computers for example to install win 7 i have to plug in a USB with some drivers while i install them to prevent the black screens thats something other imacs don't experience so its normal if you haven't got any problems, its only for people who have Imacs 27" late 2009 with ATI radeon 4850 if you don't have this GC you will not have those problems. After installation was complete i installed the drivers from the Install CD i got when i purchased my mac but just so you know those divers don't work for me because apple has given bad drivers for my GC i found the right ones "10-8_mobility_vista_win7_32_dd_ccc" only these work.


About the activity monitor i will keep it in mind when it starts to get slow again.

"You do say that you bought it to relax the virus problems and such and then here you are installing Win 7, I hope you do not believe that you are protected just because it is a Mac machine, it's the OS that is vulnerable."
Yeah of corse i am aware of that.

 

[mjsmke]

Did you experience any of these problems before you installed windows?

+1 on the previous comment about viruses..... you are still at the same risk as a PC when using windows on a mac.

 

[eyecon3]

Did you experience any of these problems before you installed windows?

+1 on the previous comment about viruses..... you are still at the same risk as a PC when using windows on a mac.

I didn't experience these problems before installing windows but this is irrelevant because after installing them a fair amount of time passed and i had no problems something else must be it. Installing windows was one of the first things i did when i bought this Imac so the problems maybe hadn't showed up yet.
I know that i am at risk when i am using windows i have an anti-vrus active and my comp is clean.

 

[mjsmke]

If you have the time you could try a clean install of just OSX and see if the problems persist. If they do then its a hardware issue. If they don't then its more than likely due to windows.

 

[TMRaven]

Slow internet i haven't fixed that yet as well, my speed test is 6mb/s and the best i get when downloading something is 700kb/s (and i said the best , normally i download with 200-300kb/s) i don't bother mentioning the humiliating upload rate. I have seen on forums that many people have this problem.

Just because your measured download speed to a specific server is 6mb/s doesn't mean your download speed to another site's server will be the full 6mb/s download.

 

[silentnite]

Let me start out by saying most of the members here will try and help another member when they can. I have had similar experiences but was able to root out the problem with the process of elimination. Living in an area that has recently become over populated I notice computer slowing down, loading pages slowly & my download speed decrease. My first step was contacting my local cable provider & found that a lot of people in my area were all on the network at same time. Keep in mind I'm in a small town in Pa. I upgraded my router to an apple extreme which helped a lot. (also router is closer to my computer) I Also uninstalled windows completely from my main computer. Removed all cookies every now again & I did a complete reinstall of Leopard or Snow leopard to get rid of some of the crap. Just try a few things first. Hoping everything wrks out.

 

[MacAndMic]

If you have the time you could try a clean install of just OSX and see if the problems persist. If they do then its a hardware issue. If they don't then its more than likely due to windows.

eyecon3,

I would highly recommend taking mismike's suggestion and do a clean install. If you can prove these problems on a clean install then you can narrow it down to hardware issues and get fixed or replaced.

troutspinner

 

[eyecon3]

First of all i would like to thank you all for your help! I will wait a bit to see if i can fix my problems with activity monitor and all the advices i got above if i don't succeed i will do a clean install but that will be the last thing i will try. As for the Sleep problem i know that my mac came with it because its been like this since the first day i bought it and i have seen that more imac users got the same issue as for the rest they popped up as time passed, so a clean install should fix them. But i want to mention again that all these problems i have mentioned if you google them you will realize that many users are experiencing them, so that makes me assume that its not something i am doing wrong maybe its a hardware problem.

 

[lcseds]

How is your signal strength? You said you share your wireless with an office, but also have a neighbors wireless you can get on. Do you have your own wireless system, or are you "borrowing" a connection? Can you hook it to the network via ethernet and check your speeds?
Agree with a clean install for the sleep issue and also a wired network connection to develop a baseline.

 

[Paulywauly]

eyecon3,

I would highly recommend taking mismike's suggestion and do a clean install. If you can prove these problems on a clean install then you can narrow it down to hardware issues and get fixed or replaced.

troutspinner

Im sorry to hear your having so much difficulty. I agree with the above post, the clean install is defiantly the way to go. If you have a lot of niggeling issues sometimes its the easiest way to diagnose whether you are having issues with the OS or the actual machine itself. If a clean install doesnt help its most likely the hardware.

 

[eyecon3]

How is your signal strength? You said you share your wireless with an office, but also have a neighbors wireless you can get on. Do you have your own wireless system, or are you "borrowing" a connection? Can you hook it to the network via ethernet and check your speeds?
Agree with a clean install for the sleep issue and also a wired network connection to develop a baseline.

At the moment i am borrowing the internet from the office since i am new to this city, next week i will have my personal telephone line and connection so i will try what you said to see if something changes. About the signal strength it changes every time i move my computer i can have 3/4 bars and if i move my computer 10 centimeters i get 1/4 even if i change the angle of the computer signal changes sometimes. Well i know that you will recommend me to have the modem next to the computer but i payed 1800 euro for this machine its unacceptable to be forced to have the modem next to my computer. Even with my phone i get better signal!
So what i am saying is shouldn't apple be more reliable?

 

[Spike88]

Personally, I find my HP Laptop running Windows 7 can access and download internet files (even in wirelss mode) much faster then my iMac connected via UTP ethernet. Even with my iMac's MTU set at its optiminal level, the Laptop/Windows 7 machine blows my new iMac out of the water. The iMac is simply "slow" for movie downloads, You Tube viewing and general surfing - expecially all at the same time.

I find my new iMac for pictures is amazing. Easy to load pictures, easy to view pictures and all pictures are crystal clear. In this area, the iMac is much better then my Windows 7 laptop. With digitial pictures, the iMac actually blows the HP Laptop / Win 7 system out of the water.

For mail, I like our HP with its Windows 7 Mail package better. For automatic spell checker (in mail and within forums), I like our new iMac better. For viewing You-Tube files, the iMac screen is crystal clear. Although, streaming video can be choppy - while waiting for its next download chunk.

For automatic backups, I love the IMac's Time Machine. Set it / leave it and it works.

For Web caming, I like our HP Laptop / Windows 7 machine "much" better. This bundle includes software that allows you to change WebCam settings. Simple things like Zoom and lighting. On the iMac, the iSight Camera is fixed. One needs to buy 3rd party software (re: iGlasses) to change its basic settings. Like gee. Pay $2,000 for an iMac and one has to buy 3rd party software to change their built in WebCam? Talk about stupid. Apple Corp needs to shake their head over this gap.

To change fonts on the iMac, one needs to use a 3rd party software as well. re: Tickertool. It changes some fonts but NOT all. And, it doesn't change Menu sizes (like fixed text within a windows label). Within Windows 7 system, simply go into Video Screen Resoluton and select usge large fonts. re: 125% DPI. All fonts and "menus" become larger. Clean / simple and easy to use. To me, the iMac OS needs this same "one global click" feature.

The new iMac don't support Jumbo Frame sizes. With Win xx systems, one can cross reference their onboard ethernet cards and if needed, install different eithernet cards.

Win XX and virus problems?? I've been using Win xx for years and practice "safe computing" (along with FREE Virus software packages - like MS Essentials). re: I don't visit smut sites, I don't click on "free offers" or open attachments from folks I don't know. Never had a virus problem on my Win xx systems.

As you can tell, the iMac is NOT perfect. It has some things that are the way behind the Windows 7 systems. But, are better in some areas. As a suggestion, take your large "user needs" checklist and review the Win xx against the Mac OS system side by side. Which system is better - for you? That's the one you buy. Knowing what I know "today", my family should have bought a "beefed up" Multi-Media Class Win 7 system - instead of our current iMac. But, we're now stuck with our new iMac - until it breaks or needs to be replaced.

Bottom line... Pick the system that is best for you, and your "user needs". As implied, NO system is perfect. Even the iMac platforms...

Good luck...

.

 

[eyecon3]

Well spike88 i got fascinated by the design of the imacs and i always herd people saying how much they enjoy working with them and how happy they are making the jump from PC to mac. I am a photographer so this operating system suits me well but my needs don't end there. I am also interested in programing for which i have heard mac's are the best is that true?

 

[mmomega]

I have the exact same iMac as you and experience maybe 1-2 of the problems.
When bootcamping Win7 I too had the black screen but luckily had a 2nd monitor so I continued installing Windows thinking...weird that my main screen isnt working, after install finished and downloading updates and restarting my iMac screen sprang to life to I know it was a driver issue.

Never noticed the sleep problem only because I never left it in Windows very long.

No wireless problems that I've ever noticed. I have 3MB/s down and 2MB/s up and I've never noticed less than 2MB down which is usually during peak times in the evening. Running an AEBS on 5GHz N only. I am in the same room as the router so who knows.

Have only ever noticed a connection timeout on my MBP when on the complete opposite end of the house, but usually only if the back of the laptop was partially covered. It was more the router being able to transmit that far through that many walls than the computer to receive the signal. On another note The Apple on the iMac is the wireless antenna is located.

I am known to regularly reinstall OSX on my main machine so I may never get to the point where it goes to snail speed. Other than running Windows on it I haven't had a problem with the Mac side of things.....so far.

 

[Tec972]

I will be the first one to tell you that airport sucks on the iMac. I have a very good router and every wireless device in my house would work at full capacity almost all the time except for the iMac. Either airport is very weak or the aluminum chassis causes problems. You really need to look at the advanced info for the airport. It can show a pretty good signal but if the connection rate is not at 130, you will not be at full bandwidth if I remember correctly.

I have a 30Mb/sec internet connection and the iMac would never max out on it. I went wired ethernet and have no problems now. Airport is turned off. Also keep in mind, not only your internet bandwidth but different websites will not always allow your connection to max out. Sometimes I can download stuff at 4MB/sec actual download on places like itunes and other days it will only go a few hundred KB/sec, and its not my ISP, it's itunes.

The best advice they gave you is to do a clean install and see what happens. Take note of your problems before putting windows back on the Mac. If everything seems good, then you can go ahead and try bootcamping the machine again and see if you have any other problems.

Yes there are some things that windows machines are definately better at. But I recently bought a mac and use most of the time. I like it.

 

[crut]

Slow internet i haven't fixed that yet as well, my speed test is 6mb/s and the best i get when downloading something is 700kb/s (and i said the best , normally i download with 200-300kb/s) i don't bother mentioning the humiliating upload rate. I have seen on forums that many people have this problem.

Internet speed test sites display speed in bits.

Internet browsers display download speed in bytes.

There are 8 bits in every byte.

6 mega-bits/second ~= 6,000,000 bits a second.

To go from bits to bytes, divide by 8, which gives 750,000 bytes, which in turn is the same as 750 kilobytes/second.

Your internet speeds are exactly correct. Most sites will only provide downloads in the 200-300 kilobytes/second speed due to limitations in their own internet connection.

Hope this helps.

 

[MacHamster68]

first you definitely need to find the source of the problem ,
guessing doesnt help ,
so reformate the harddrive using your osx disc , then install osx fresh , then test out your internet speeds ,browsing experience , if you still experience the problems under osx then bring the mac into a genius bar and get it fixed



windows is alright if the sole purpose of the computer is to be a gaming rig , windows 7 has less flaws then windows vista , but that doesn't mean its good, if i would install windows on my iMac , i would activate it by phone and never ever let it go online , as windows and online is like to try to extinguish a BBQ with petrol

i was windows user from 1990 (windows 3.0)- 2008(windows vista ) and thats more then enough if they would have kept windows 2000 (please dont get it confused with that nightmare called windows Me) then i possibly would still use windows

 

[Jaro65]

In regards to the Win 7, I'm not sure what you use it for, but if you absolutely don't need to log into it through Bootcamp you may want to try running it through Parallels or VMware Fusion. My MBP is not as powerful as your iMac (though I do have an SSD) and I can tell you that my Win 7 through VMware Fusion runs as fast as on a native Win machine. The Office 2010 or Project 2010 are simply a joy to use. Most of the time I simply have Win 7 running in through Unity mode and open any Win applications on as-needed basis.

For the Internet connectivity I got a Netgear powerline adapter. This is because my WiFi router is on the other side of the house and I wasn't getting a very good signal. The powerline adapter works great.