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New iMac owners - opinions?
- Thread starter Memzee
- Start date
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my first Mac experience
has been really cool so far
just got my 24" 2.8 ghz with 2 gigs of RAM (4 gigs on their way)
i've managed to slow it down, but only because i'm importing 20 gigs of photos and 100 gigs of iTunes
at the same time trying to export a movie for my AppleTV
i can't wait for the 4 gigs
screen is absolutely beautiful
huge
can't believe i'm a mac owner!
has been really cool so far
just got my 24" 2.8 ghz with 2 gigs of RAM (4 gigs on their way)
i've managed to slow it down, but only because i'm importing 20 gigs of photos and 100 gigs of iTunes
at the same time trying to export a movie for my AppleTV
i can't wait for the 4 gigs
screen is absolutely beautiful
huge
can't believe i'm a mac owner!
I'm interested to see if anyone has picked up one of the new iMacs and their experiences with it thus far - particularly the 24" 3.06GHz version.
Boot times? How loud are the fans? etc. etc.
I can't hear the fans and Ive done some pretty heavy gaming in World of Warcraft and also encoded some DVDs. I just switched from a PC with 'quiet' fans that could be heard in the next room.
new meaning of "switcher"
I'm actually considering "switching": from an almost two year old Mac Pro ( 4 core 3 GHz) to the new 3.06 GHz iMac. After Apple made the switch to intel, I went for the Mac Pro and a 30" ACD from a 20" G5 iMac. It's been great having such a powerful computer, and of course 30 beautiful inches of screen real estate has been very nice as well. But I do miss the all in one form factor, and I absolutely love the aesthetics of the aluminum iMacs. And while some complain about them, I find the glossy screens to be absolutely breathtaking.
Last night I went to the local Apple store, and I brought an SDHC card from my AVCHD video camera. It contained 1 minute of Hi Def video, and I wanted to compare the time it took to download and render on a 3.06 iMac vs. my Mac Pro. They didn't have a 3.06GHz iMac on display, so I had to try it on a 2.8. Results? The whole process, which took 2:10 on my Mac Pro (8 GB RAM), was actually about 10 seconds faster on the 2.8 iMac (with 2GB RAM)! This is about the most intensive thing I use my computer for, and I can imagine that a 3.06 with 4 GB RAM would only be quicker, even if only marginally so.
I understand that this was only one, very short, test. In some extended CPU/RAM intensive tasks, I'm sure the 8 GB, four core 3 GHz MacPro will still outperform the 4 GB two core 3.06 GHz iMac. On the other hand, 90% of my computer time is on the internet, using iWork, MS Office, etc. I don't want to be disappointed, but in these applications the faster RAM in the new iMac may even feel "snappier" than my current configuration.
I must say, these results and the comments in this thread are very, very encouraging. I would love to hear more from anyone who has hands on experience with a 3.06 GHz iMac.
I'm actually considering "switching": from an almost two year old Mac Pro ( 4 core 3 GHz) to the new 3.06 GHz iMac. After Apple made the switch to intel, I went for the Mac Pro and a 30" ACD from a 20" G5 iMac. It's been great having such a powerful computer, and of course 30 beautiful inches of screen real estate has been very nice as well. But I do miss the all in one form factor, and I absolutely love the aesthetics of the aluminum iMacs. And while some complain about them, I find the glossy screens to be absolutely breathtaking.
Last night I went to the local Apple store, and I brought an SDHC card from my AVCHD video camera. It contained 1 minute of Hi Def video, and I wanted to compare the time it took to download and render on a 3.06 iMac vs. my Mac Pro. They didn't have a 3.06GHz iMac on display, so I had to try it on a 2.8. Results? The whole process, which took 2:10 on my Mac Pro (8 GB RAM), was actually about 10 seconds faster on the 2.8 iMac (with 2GB RAM)! This is about the most intensive thing I use my computer for, and I can imagine that a 3.06 with 4 GB RAM would only be quicker, even if only marginally so.
I understand that this was only one, very short, test. In some extended CPU/RAM intensive tasks, I'm sure the 8 GB, four core 3 GHz MacPro will still outperform the 4 GB two core 3.06 GHz iMac. On the other hand, 90% of my computer time is on the internet, using iWork, MS Office, etc. I don't want to be disappointed, but in these applications the faster RAM in the new iMac may even feel "snappier" than my current configuration.
I must say, these results and the comments in this thread are very, very encouraging. I would love to hear more from anyone who has hands on experience with a 3.06 GHz iMac.
OMG ... AWESOME .... is all I can say.
I got my New IMAC 24" 3.06 Duel Core on Friday and I must say it is a beautiful machine. The screen is huge and the glare issue is not an issue at all. I installed 4 GB of memory in there and its super fast. The new grapic card is awesome. I play a lot of WOW and I can tell that this machine rocks. The screen is so surreal that I almost got motion sickness just playing the game.
This is a must have machine! If you are thinking of getting one, stop thinking and just get it. You will NOT be dissappointed.
This coming from a former PC user!
I got my New IMAC 24" 3.06 Duel Core on Friday and I must say it is a beautiful machine. The screen is huge and the glare issue is not an issue at all. I installed 4 GB of memory in there and its super fast. The new grapic card is awesome. I play a lot of WOW and I can tell that this machine rocks. The screen is so surreal that I almost got motion sickness just playing the game.
This is a must have machine! If you are thinking of getting one, stop thinking and just get it. You will NOT be dissappointed.
This coming from a former PC user!
Very nice machine
My inlaws went out Saturday and purchased the 3.06 Ghz iMac, upgrading from their first Mac, a 700mhz eMac that I got for 100.00 on eBay.
Quite the difference. I spent Saturday setting the machine up, moving their data and setting up their Apple TV. I didn't get a chance to do any 'benchmarks' but overall the machine felt just as snappy as my year old 2.66 quad Mac Pro.
Someone said the handbreak numbers they are getting are 30fps?
I'll have to try it out. My Mac Pro gets 60-70 fps on average and my brother's 8 Core 2.8 Mac Pro comes in over 100 fps.
If you're doing a lot of video encoding I'm guessing the more cores the better but for someone doing graphic design, photography, etc, you can't go wrong with the iMac.
My inlaws went out Saturday and purchased the 3.06 Ghz iMac, upgrading from their first Mac, a 700mhz eMac that I got for 100.00 on eBay.
Quite the difference. I spent Saturday setting the machine up, moving their data and setting up their Apple TV. I didn't get a chance to do any 'benchmarks' but overall the machine felt just as snappy as my year old 2.66 quad Mac Pro.
Someone said the handbreak numbers they are getting are 30fps?
I'll have to try it out. My Mac Pro gets 60-70 fps on average and my brother's 8 Core 2.8 Mac Pro comes in over 100 fps.
If you're doing a lot of video encoding I'm guessing the more cores the better but for someone doing graphic design, photography, etc, you can't go wrong with the iMac.
3.06Ghz, 4GB RAM, 500GB, nVidia GeForce 8000 GS minus faulty screen/graphic card here.
The boot time is dramatically shortened vs PowerPC Mac (duh!)
It's extremely quiet. A little bit warm on the top back left side, you can literally feel cool air sucking in from the speakers (bottom).
Hardware-wise, it's an extremely solid Mac. I owned the iMac Rev. A 233Mhz and Rev. D 333Mhz before and this 3.06Ghz iMac is just awesome. Sure, I miss out multiple hard drive slots, but I dig the all-in-one concept.
The boot time is dramatically shortened vs PowerPC Mac (duh!)
It's extremely quiet. A little bit warm on the top back left side, you can literally feel cool air sucking in from the speakers (bottom).
Hardware-wise, it's an extremely solid Mac. I owned the iMac Rev. A 233Mhz and Rev. D 333Mhz before and this 3.06Ghz iMac is just awesome. Sure, I miss out multiple hard drive slots, but I dig the all-in-one concept.
Pulled the trigger...
This morning I bit the bullet and ordered a new iMac: 24" 3.06, 4 GB, 1T.... Based on the comments on various websites, some apps might even be snappier than on my Mac Pro by virtue of the speedier RAM. Shipping date is May 7-9, so we should know soon enough. Thanks for all the comments.
This morning I bit the bullet and ordered a new iMac: 24" 3.06, 4 GB, 1T.... Based on the comments on various websites, some apps might even be snappier than on my Mac Pro by virtue of the speedier RAM. Shipping date is May 7-9, so we should know soon enough. Thanks for all the comments.
mine is badass! i just bought the 3.06 ghz one straight from the store with a student discount.
- i have yet to see the fans go above 1900 rpm's
- the screen is drop dead gorgeous (Jessica Alba's never looked so good)
- running CS 3 is no problem at all, but then again, my MBP (2.33 ghz) didn't have any trouble running that either so no surprise there for me
- DVDs and movies look fan-frickin-tastic
- it does get a bit warm while i'm watching DVD's, like mentioned the above, you can feel the air coming outta the top vents. however, this still has nothing on how hot my MBP could get
i guess i'm lucky cause my screen has been good to go from day one. my white's are white, not yellowish, no dead pixels either...but i'm not really worried about it either cause i got me some
care. this thing can spawn green baby aliens in the next 4 years and they'll still fix it sweet...
- i have yet to see the fans go above 1900 rpm's
- the screen is drop dead gorgeous (Jessica Alba's never looked so good)
- running CS 3 is no problem at all, but then again, my MBP (2.33 ghz) didn't have any trouble running that either so no surprise there for me
- DVDs and movies look fan-frickin-tastic
- it does get a bit warm while i'm watching DVD's, like mentioned the above, you can feel the air coming outta the top vents. however, this still has nothing on how hot my MBP could get
i guess i'm lucky cause my screen has been good to go from day one. my white's are white, not yellowish, no dead pixels either...but i'm not really worried about it either cause i got me some
care. this thing can spawn green baby aliens in the next 4 years and they'll still fix it sweet...Just received my BTO 3.06 24" iMac and I'm already having to take it in for servicing.
The internal mic doesn't work. I'm thinking this is not a big issue, probably a loose connection somewhere. But the bigger issue is the warm yellow spot in the centre of the screen. There is also a slight gradient issue where the left side is slightly brighter than the right, but it's not very noticeable. The yellowing is. I'm hoping this can be fixed.
I ran the following command in Terminal to determine what panel I have:
ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6
And it turns out I have:
LM240WU2
Color LCD
So that means the panel is an LG.Philips LM240WU2-SLB1, S-IPS, 8-bit, the same panel used in the Aug '07 24" ALU. Frustrating!
The internal mic doesn't work. I'm thinking this is not a big issue, probably a loose connection somewhere. But the bigger issue is the warm yellow spot in the centre of the screen. There is also a slight gradient issue where the left side is slightly brighter than the right, but it's not very noticeable. The yellowing is. I'm hoping this can be fixed.
I ran the following command in Terminal to determine what panel I have:
ioreg -lw0 | grep IODisplayEDID | sed "/[^<]*</s///" | xxd -p -r | strings -6
And it turns out I have:
LM240WU2
Color LCD
So that means the panel is an LG.Philips LM240WU2-SLB1, S-IPS, 8-bit, the same panel used in the Aug '07 24" ALU. Frustrating!
Waiting for my 24" 3.06 iMac to arrive. It's now in the UK and hopefully due on Friday.
Shame I'll be leaving early doors Saturday as I'm being shipped out to Kenya again with work ~ booooo
Shame I'll be leaving early doors Saturday as I'm being shipped out to Kenya again with work ~ booooo
Servicing my eye!!!!
That's terrible! Might you consider insisting on a new machine and checking it out before you leave the store? I would be very angry: do they have any quality control at all???
That's terrible! Might you consider insisting on a new machine and checking it out before you leave the store? I would be very angry: do they have any quality control at all???
I, too, am looking into purchasing my first MAC...I am thinking of going with the 3.06 IMAC, 24", myself. I really appreciate all of the posts on this forum. I've always been a PC user, so this is a huge step for me to take, but I think, after lurking around here for quite sometime, you all have convinced me it is the way to go!!!
just received my new 24" imac 2 hrs ago
and i'm lovin it so far!
first time switch from PC to mac, setup was easy. i liked the little intro video "welcome" thing too =/ made my screen feel bigggg haha
gotta set up everything and properly test out the speed , etc... give me a day or 2 for that
and the screen "issues" (gradient and backglow or whatever) are non issues in my opinion for the average person and for average work ... i only notice them (slightly at that) if i am really paying attention and looking for them. otherwise the monitor looks way better than my old monitor which i'm looking at right now. so don't worry about that guys.
and i'm lovin it so far!
first time switch from PC to mac, setup was easy. i liked the little intro video "welcome" thing too =/ made my screen feel bigggg haha
gotta set up everything and properly test out the speed , etc... give me a day or 2 for that
and the screen "issues" (gradient and backglow or whatever) are non issues in my opinion for the average person and for average work ... i only notice them (slightly at that) if i am really paying attention and looking for them. otherwise the monitor looks way better than my old monitor which i'm looking at right now. so don't worry about that guys.
I took back to the Apple Store within 24 hrs of receiving it. They replaced my 3.06Ghz iMac right away and installed the RAM upgrade in the backroom. The service part was great.
Hearing lots of positives about the 3.06 on this thread so far minus the screen issues.
I'm a graphic designer (full time and freelance) and I've never ever considered the iMac as an option. I currently have a MBP and was planning on getting a Mac Pro some time down the line (only makes sense to keep it PRO right? haha). But after reading a couple of forums (esp this one) and hearing some opinions from fellow designers, I'm starting to lean towards the iMac (24", 3.06, 4GB ram) as my next purchase!
IMHO, the Mac Pro would be overkill for what I do (print and web stuff) as well as kill my $$$. ~3K for base system... yikes.
Also, I've always been a fan of the glossy screen and liked how it brought out colors... but being a designer blah blah blah matte screen... we've heard it a million times. A 23" ACD connected to the iMac will fix that problem. Seems like a NICE SETUP to me.
Any other graphic designers iMac-ing it out there?
I'm a graphic designer (full time and freelance) and I've never ever considered the iMac as an option. I currently have a MBP and was planning on getting a Mac Pro some time down the line (only makes sense to keep it PRO right? haha). But after reading a couple of forums (esp this one) and hearing some opinions from fellow designers, I'm starting to lean towards the iMac (24", 3.06, 4GB ram) as my next purchase!
IMHO, the Mac Pro would be overkill for what I do (print and web stuff) as well as kill my $$$. ~3K for base system... yikes.
Also, I've always been a fan of the glossy screen and liked how it brought out colors... but being a designer blah blah blah matte screen... we've heard it a million times. A 23" ACD connected to the iMac will fix that problem. Seems like a NICE SETUP to me.
Any other graphic designers iMac-ing it out there?