imac i7 - is it worth the hassle?

[Mr Freezetag]

I'm going to be switching to apple from pc (or I was planning on it) and I was completely set on getting the i7 today but seeing so many of you with issues I don't want to be spending $2500 and have to cross my fingers when I open the box and plug in my new toy.

I understand that the screens cannot be perfect but the combination of there being a strong likely hood of getting a yellow screen or a noisy HD worries me.

I have the luxury of going to a large Apple store here in New York, so I guess if I do have issues I can head over there and get it taken care of, but now I'm reading online that some stores are only fixing the monitors once and after that you are screwed.

My main reasoning for getting this machine is to edit hi-res photo's and videos so for my needs and budget I couldn't be happier with this imac, until hearing all of these horror stories.

So is there a serious issue at hand or are the happy consumers just not making their way to forums to talk about their perfect machines? To me this sounds like a bunch of BS to be buying "quality" products for a decent chunk of change and to know there is a good chance I will be lugging it back to the store to cross my fingers again for a better computer...

 

[frega]

I highly doubt its "fix it once, after that you're screwed". That is not Apple. Worst I've heard is people exchanging iMacs/replacing LCDs 2-3 times, until its fixed and you're satisfied.

 

[jicka]

I think most people don't watch threads on macrumors so they don't look for the problems. It really is a big problem though just because so many people are having issues with multiple machines (I am on my 3rd personally).

I was really hoping the refresh would fix the problems and maybe it has somewhat but my new iMac has still has some yellow but It is better than the first two I had before the refresh. I kind of wish I wouldn't have seen the forum topics about all the problems because this one is good enough I might not have noticed the yellow if I hadn't been looking for it. Ignorance is bliss haha

 

[Mr Freezetag]

I think most people don't watch threads on macrumors so they don't look for the problems. It really is a big problem though just because so many people are having issues with multiple machines (I am on my 3rd personally).

I was really hoping the refresh would fix the problems and maybe it has somewhat but my new iMac has still has some yellow but It is better than the first two I had before the refresh. I kind of wish I wouldn't have seen the forum topics about all the problems because this one is good enough I might not have noticed the yellow if I hadn't been looking for it. Ignorance is bliss haha

Yeah I agree. I am the kind of person who is pretty nit-picky when it comes to these things. I would def notice the yellow tint even if I never looked on the forums. My thing is I will not settle for something I'm just "ok" with.

What will most likely happen for my situation, is I will go with what I originally planned on getting and then go from there. I am set on getting this but I am not going to be a happy camper if I have to go through several machines until I am happy. I find it ridiculous that this stuff is happening on what seems to be a large scale. And then factor in all their issues with the iphone, what's going on here?

What bothers me just as much as the yellow tint is people talking about loud noises coming from their computers.

I plan on talking to the apple representatives about possible issues before I purchase to get a feel for where they are at. I am assuming they will just tell me that they haven't had any issues and everything should be fine. I wish I knew someone that worked at apple so they could really let me know what's going behind the scenes here.

 

[Gregintosh]

Since you are buying in the store, just have them open it right there for you and inspect it throughly to make sure it meets yours expectations before you take it home.

That's probably easier than lugging it to and from. Just prepare a checklist of things you want to check (since being in a store you are always distracted and tend to forget things until you get home) and go from there.

This way if there's a problem they can just open another computer for you right away and you go home happy on the 1st trip.

Though I must say, perfect units of ANYTHING are hard to find, especially of tech items like this. Really consider what is good enough for you and take it if you see it. Not saying settle for something that is crippled, I am just saying if a screen is good except one stuck pixel in a corner you will never look at maybe that could work for you.

As many people who do a lot of exchanges point out, sometimes it happens that the exchanged units are worse than the original and they wish they'd stuck with their originals.

I am in the same boat, in that my 27" i5 refurb has bit of a gray splotch across the bottom but it is only visible on the boot up screen (and from some angles you cant even see it at all). I literally cannot see it even if I look for it during normal use. It is very minor and sounds a lot worse when I am describing it.

I also have a stuck pixel on the right bottom corner which I am hard pressed to find on anything but a pure black background (it is light blue-ish).

I am just fine with both imperfections as they do not impede my day to day enjoyment or usage and had I not been looking for something to be wrong with this computer I probably wouldn't have found them anyway. But what's acceptable to me may not be for you.

I am also not going to exchange my machine since I dont even notice the imperfections in day to day usage and I am worried if I do exchange it, not only will I be hassled (I use my machine to do real work since I work at home) and lose productivity but also I may end up with something worse that I may actually notice (and thus be annoyed by).

If you do expect a 100% perfect, flawless machine, expect to be disappointed (and not just with Apple but every monitor and computer manufacturer).

 

[jicka]

I wish these problems would get blown up like my iphone 4 dropping calls. I have no complaints about my phone even if it isn't perfect. I do have a problem spending 2k on the ultimate display imac and having part of the screen look like I pissed on it though.

Also, if you ask an apple store employee about it they will act like they have no idea what your talking about I have talked to 2 managers and about 4 sales people and they all looked at me like I was crazy

 

[Mr Freezetag]

thank you for the responses Greginstosh and jickta.

I would def think about opening the imac right there and then but by me this store is crazy busy at all hours and plus like people have said, its hard to point out the yellow tint in bright light situations. And since I am going to be doing some serious editing on this machine I want this screen to not have any dead pixels, and to not be discolored. If i really had some serious issues with my purchase I would probably return it, get my money back and stick with PC.
I'm sorry but there is no reason for me to pay lots of money and not even get what is promised.

The store is only a ten minute drive from my house so I will probably just take it home and check it out. Since this is my first mac I'm just hoping I don't have some newbie issues setting up and whatnot. Should be interesting.

And I have had powerful PC's with HD monitors in the past that were picture perfect, and before I really did a lot of research on the imacs, I assumed that to be the case with these compact beasts.

 

[rgp19699]

This, the yellow-tint issue, has been discussed ad-nauseam in this forum. Just look a page or so back. The consensus is, I believe, that it is a hardware issue and not going to go away until/if there is a major design change. In fact, one of the regulars pointed out that it is even in Apple's patent description (?) - there is another term for this - that there will be some discoloration.

However, there are varying degrees of discoloration; some are acceptable, some are not. So I don't know what the exact truth is. I DO know that this is one of the absolute best, if not the best, display out there. It's called an IPS display; I'd say more about it but I am not that technologically astute, this is what I've learned in the last month or two reading all these threads. Just thought I'd give you a quick opinion - I think you'll be insanely happy with your purchase.

First I've heard of this whistle-thing. I'm ordering a Quad i7 2.8 refurb in the morning; and I'm slightly worried about both things, too. This will be my 4th Mac, though, and including the other three members of my family who all have Macbooks/MBP's, we've had seven. NONE of my PC's have held a candle to my Macs, and they even have decent resale value (for computers.)

Good luck!