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Mundy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 8, 2006
144
13
I was rather surprised to see the FedEx lady show up with my iMac Core 2 Extreme this morning. It was still in Anchorage, AK clearing customs late yesterday afternoon. But from there it went straight to Memphis, and since I'm only about 250 miles away, my new iMac was able to make it onto the truck this morning, instead of next Monday like FedEx had originally predicted.

Before installing my 4 GB of RAM from OWC, I started up the computer to make sure everything was in working order. Based on all the recent complaints on this forum, I was expecting to find something wrong. But as far as I can tell, my iMac is perfect. There are no dead or stuck pixels on the screen. The screen uniformity is at least as good as my Dell 2407WFP, if not better, even when using a solid background. This was important to me since sometimes I feel like I live in Photoshop CS3. Honestly, I don't know how I could ask for anything more from this display. (I have heard that the 20" LCDs are of a lower quality, however.)

The hard drive is a Western Digital 500 GB model, which is fine with me. I've had equally good luck with Seagate and Western Digital over the years. They're my two favorite hard drive companies.

Some people have complained about the keyboard, but I like it. I've been using a MacBook for the past several months, so the new iMac keyboard is easy to get used to.

I have not had any lockups as of yet (knocking on my wood desk).

I had a very difficult time seating one of my RAM modules. It got stuck halfway in/out, so I had to extricate it with needlenose pliers(!) and reinstall it. On the second try it went in fine. (The RAM was oriented so that the "key" was lined up correctly both times, so I don't know what the problem was.)

After installing the 4GB of RAM I downloaded Geekbench and ran it. The iMac scored 3805, leaving the PowerMac G5 Quad in the dust.

On a final note, it was very cold in my neck of the woods when the FedEx lady delivered my iMac, and I wondered if I was going to experience the condensation issue when I immediately started up the computer in my 72 degree office. I never saw any condensation whatsoever, and I think this is probably an even more isolated issue than the lockup problem.

In the end, I have nothing bad to report. Everything on this iMac is as it should be. It's even quieter than the first-generation iMac Core Duo I used to own (which is to say "incredibly quiet"), and the aluminum enclosure is a welcome change.

If you're hesitating to buy a new iMac because of all the negative things you've heard, maybe you should think again. Mine is perfect, and I'm sure most of the others are too.
 
Glad you're enjoying it. Personally I think the new iMac is a stunning machine and absolutely superb value for money...
 
My 24" came in monday, and I can echo the OP's sentiments verbtim. It is an excellent machine. My bet is that these are the experiences of the vast majority of iMac buyers. I truly feel bad for those who got some of the duds.
 
I got mine last week, and besides me having no idea how to navigate OSX, my machine has been great with no lock ups, and the screen looks much better then I expected.
 
yeah I love this comp... I spent an hour on my sister g4 macboook today and when I cameback to my 2.8 imac I was overwelhmed by the size lol
 
hmm...i don't know. I was in the apple store today and I kidn've think the 24 inch is a little too big. But i'm sure I could get used to it:p.

The way my desk is set up, it has shelves above it so I can only fit a 20" in there anyways. Which is probably better because now I won't be forced to spend all the extra money for the 24"
 
I've been stressing the video card all afternoon. I have yet to experience any freezes (knock on wood again).
 
Congrats! I wanted an imac but have been scared off buy the ati card issues.I want to replace my p4 3.0 pc box.I almost bought a dell:eek: .I was going with the mini but i heard it was going to be discontinued.What the hell.Anyway enjoy your new imac and good luck.
 
hmm...i don't know. I was in the apple store today and I kidn've think the 24 inch is a little too big. But i'm sure I could get used to it:p.

I know that feeling well. I had a 20" Core Duo iMac before my current 24" aluminum and I remember going into the Apple Store and marvelling at how gigantic all that screen estate seemed.

The weird thing is once you use it for a while that feeling wears off. It doesn't seem particularly large to me at all anymore. It doesn't seem small either but somehow I've gotten used to it to the point where 24" now seems the norm.

I think it would be the same even with a 30" display.
 
I know that feeling well. I had a 20" Core Duo iMac before my current 24" aluminum and I remember going into the Apple Store and marvelling at how gigantic all that screen estate seemed.

The weird thing is once you use it for a while that feeling wears off. It doesn't seem particularly large to me at all anymore. It doesn't seem small either but somehow I've gotten used to it to the point where 24" now seems the norm.

I think it would be the same even with a 30" display.

Been using mine for a week, and I will echo this sentiment.
 
+3

I've been using a 24" monitor for a couple of years now. It feels very "normal," and anything less feels tiny. By the time Apple releases a 30" iMac, I think I'll be ready for it. :)
 
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