Just bought my first Mac ever!

[krystal009]

I just bought my first Mac ever, and I'm pretty excited to get rid of my crappy Seanix laptop that I've been "attempting" to run CS2 programs on for the past year.

I was originally going to go with the 20", but on the advice of someone from this forum, I decided to go to a store and check out both the 20" and the 24" side-by-side. After playing with the 24" for a good 30 min, my boyfriend had to drag me out of the store. But it was too late. I knew I couldn't resist the siren song of the 24" screen estate.

Bought today from Apple online w/education discount:
24" iMac
2.33GHz
250GB HD
2GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB
Wireless Keyboard/MM
AppleCare

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I can't wait until I get my hands on my 24" of pure iMac sexiness.

 

[Lovesong]

Looks like you got the works. Congratulations, you will definitely enjoy it.

 

[mrthieme]

Very nice, I have a 20" and when I see that 24" in stores I definitely get screen envy. I guess a couple inches really does make a difference!

 

[Mr Mac Newbie]

I just bought my first Mac ever, and I'm pretty excited to get rid of my crappy Seanix laptop that I've been "attempting" to run CS2 programs on for the past year.

I was originally going to go with the 20", but on the advice of someone from this forum, I decided to go to a store and check out both the 20" and the 24" side-by-side. After playing with the 24" for a good 30 min, my boyfriend had to drag me out of the store. But it was too late. I knew I couldn't resist the siren song of the 24" screen estate.

Bought today from Apple online w/education discount:
24" iMac
2.33GHz
250GB HD
2GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB
Wireless Keyboard/MM
AppleCare

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I can't wait until I get my hands on my 24" of pure iMac sexiness.

Hope you don't mind me asking but did you think about waiting for the revised imacs and Leopard?The reason i ask as i am about to buy my first ever mac too but not sure whether to wait or not?

 

[Allotriophagy]

Hurrah! I'm glad you went to see the machines first - this way you KNOW you are going to be very happy indeed when the (utterly enormous) box arrives.

 

[krystal009]

Hope you don't mind me asking but did you think about waiting for the revised imacs and Leopard?The reason i ask as i am about to buy my first ever mac too but not sure whether to wait or not?

Yes, I agonized for months about waiting for Leopard and the revised iMacs, but nobody knows for sure when that's going to happen. It could be today, or it could be in June. I needed the iMac now, so I could start my graphic design contracts in a few weeks. Plus, I wanted to get it in time for the release of CS3.

When it really came down to it, the iMacs are amazing machines ... and even when they release something new later this year, my iMac is still going to be amazing. Maybe not the very very latest, but I'm okay with that.

 

[decksnap]

I felt bad for a moment too when someone I know plunked down on a new iMac a couple of days ago. But now that I've seen the specs of the new 'Santa Rosa', I can't see any reason to feel bad. The new chips won't be out for a couple of months and will only provide marginal improvements. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Cult Follower]

I'm soo excited for you. everytime i see one, i fall in love, the screen is beautiful. hopefully ill be able to buy one soon.

 

[krystal009]

Hurrah! I'm glad you went to see the machines first - this way you KNOW you are going to be very happy indeed when the (utterly enormous) box arrives.

Yes, I was so set on getting that 20", but you made some valid points, and I know I'll be happier in the long run spending the extra $500 to get the bigger screen (I ended up getting the 2.33GHz too, because I knew I'd be kicking myself a few months down the road if I didn't get it).

My boyfriend had never seen an iMac before we went into the store (he's a computer programmer, but is very set in his PC ways) ... and he kept looking around for a tower, and asking "are you sure the entire computer is the screen?"

 

[kixsand]

Yes, I agonized for months about waiting for Leopard and the revised iMacs, but nobody knows for sure when that's going to happen. It could be today, or it could be in June. I needed the iMac now, so I could start my graphic design contracts in a few weeks. Plus, I wanted to get it in time for the release of CS3.

When it really came down to it, the iMacs are amazing machines ... and even when they release something new later this year, my iMac is still going to be amazing. Maybe not the very very latest, but I'm okay with that.

I think you are exactly right in your thinking. I am also extremely biased as I just got my 24" iMac a couple of weeks ago! I got the exact same setup that you did...the only difference was that I went for the larger hard drive...you're going to love it. It's crazy fast...an absolute rock star.

Have fun.

darren

 

[Mr Mac Newbie]

Yes, I agonized for months about waiting for Leopard and the revised iMacs, but nobody knows for sure when that's going to happen. It could be today, or it could be in June. I needed the iMac now, so I could start my graphic design contracts in a few weeks. Plus, I wanted to get it in time for the release of CS3.

When it really came down to it, the iMacs are amazing machines ... and even when they release something new later this year, my iMac is still going to be amazing. Maybe not the very very latest, but I'm okay with that.

Thanks very much. Great Advice

 

[Accentor]

Well, I got my first Mac (an iMac 20") two weeks ago and I am VERY disappointed. I have had a multitude of problems (many of which I will air on this forum in due course) but my biggest disappointment is with the screen - it is absolutely awful. I bought the machine "blind" from Apple Portugal assuming that this was going to be wonderful for photo-processing - it isn't. Compared to my Sony Vaio X-Black it is c**p. Even after calibrating the monitor the colour is very poor and the text is almost illegible, especially at small font sizes. Text is grey instead of black, there is no contrast setting to adjust (only brightness) and the text smoothing function is a joke. It isn't just my machine as I have travelled a long distance today to a retailer and have looked at iMac 17" (slightly better than my monitor), iMac 24" (probably the worst monitor I have ever seen) and some notebooks of which the MacBook 13" was the only one with what I would call reasonable clarity.

If you have never seen a Sony X-Black screen you should take a look - a real eye-opener. Maybe I have been spoiled in the past.

Colin

 

[r-sparks]

Well, I got my first Mac (an iMac 20") two weeks ago and I am VERY disappointed. I have had a multitude of problems (many of which I will air on this forum in due course) but my biggest disappointment is with the screen - it is absolutely awful. I bought the machine "blind" from Apple Portugal assuming that this was going to be wonderful for photo-processing - it isn't. Compared to my Sony Vaio X-Black it is c**p. Even after calibrating the monitor the colour is very poor and the text is almost illegible, especially at small font sizes. Text is grey instead of black, there is no contrast setting to adjust (only brightness) and the text smoothing function is a joke. It isn't just my machine as I have travelled a long distance today to a retailer and have looked at iMac 17" (slightly better than my monitor), iMac 24" (probably the worst monitor I have ever seen) and some notebooks of which the MacBook 13" was the only one with what I would call reasonable clarity.

If you have never seen a Sony X-Black screen you should take a look - a real eye-opener. Maybe I have been spoiled in the past.

Colin

I think you might have been spoiled I think I'm right in saying that no TFT screen does solid black very well right now, or at least not as well as a CRT.

I can see your point but I think the 20in iMac screen is the best I've ever seen, on a notebook or on a standalone LCD panel. The colors are strong without being too vivid. There's no washing-out or color bias, as there is on virtually every TFT monitor I've ever seen (and, believe it or not, I've seen many).

One suggestion: have you tried SuperCal to calibrate the monitor?

http://www.bergdesign.com/supercal/

 

[islandman]

Congrats and welcome to the club!

 

[matthew24]

Well, I got my first Mac (an iMac 20") two weeks ago and I am VERY disappointed. I have had a multitude of problems (many of which I will air on this forum in due course) but my biggest disappointment is with the screen - it is absolutely awful. I bought the machine "blind" from Apple Portugal assuming that this was going to be wonderful for photo-processing - it isn't. Compared to my Sony Vaio X-Black it is c**p. Even after calibrating the monitor the colour is very poor and the text is almost illegible, especially at small font sizes. Text is grey instead of black, there is no contrast setting to adjust (only brightness) and the text smoothing function is a joke. It isn't just my machine as I have travelled a long distance today to a retailer and have looked at iMac 17" (slightly better than my monitor), iMac 24" (probably the worst monitor I have ever seen) and some notebooks of which the MacBook 13" was the only one with what I would call reasonable clarity.

If you have never seen a Sony X-Black screen you should take a look - a real eye-opener. Maybe I have been spoiled in the past.

Colin

Your statements 'probably the worst monitor I have ever seen' gives me the strong suspect you are just another MS troll. What a way to 'protect' the MS marketshare.

 

[KingofAwesome]

It isn't just my machine as I have travelled a long distance today to a retailer and have looked at iMac 17" (slightly better than my monitor), iMac 24" (probably the worst monitor I have ever seen)

I have a hard time believing anyone who says that any modern monitor is the worst monitor they've ever seen. Have you ever seen a 15" CRT monitor circa 1993? They're worse in terms of flicker, screen size, footprint, resolution, and power consumption.

I have a ~2 year old Viewsonic 19" widescreen LCD at home that is not as good as the current ACD's or iMac screens. I think you just haven't looked at any recent consumer models.

 

[wizwaz3]

You're going to love it; the 24" is the best! I use al three sizes (17" & 20" at school) and it's much much nicer.

 

[r-sparks]

I have a hard time believing anyone who says that any modern monitor is the worst monitor they've ever seen. Have you ever seen a 15" CRT monitor circa 1993? They're worse in terms of flicker, screen size, footprint, resolution, and power consumption.

Those nightmare days are gone, I hope! Back in 1997 a colleague of mine used a 14in monitor that ran 800x600 interlaced. It was like looking at the desktop through X-Ray specs. He could run 640x480 non-interlaced, but that was next to useless.

And the blurriness of CRT monitors... Unavoidable, unless you paid high dollar for a model with a Sony tube (and then you probably had small but visible horizontal wires splitting the screen into thirds).

If nothing else, at least TFT screens are pixel-perfect.

 

[MonkeyHugger]

Your statements 'probably the worst monitor I have ever seen' gives me the strong suspect you are just another MS troll. What a way to 'protect' the MS marketshare.

And you're just another Apple Troll.

Over and out, scotty.

 

[sparkyms]

Nice spec, you went all out!

I too was going to get the 20inch, but then i just decided "what the hey", its my birthday next week ill get the 24inch. That was a month ago and I am so glad I made that decision (well worth the extra few hundred £).
I sacrificed RAM at the time for the larger screen, though. But that's no bother, as its not too power-hungry and I'll probably buy new RAM in the summer.

And if you've not recieved it yet (I'd be amazed if it hasn't) The box is MASSIVE.

 

[sellitman]

I'm 2 weeks into my 1st Mac and I wonder....

I wonder why it took me this long. I had space constraints and only bought the 17" with the faster processor but I am happy as a clam. My next purchase will be a laptop as soon as Leopard is realized. Congrats on the 24" I am jealous but content.

Regards,
Kevin