Noise levels on Intel imac

[JW8725]

Its all high and mightly having a play about with the iMac in the shop but one thing you cant really experiment with in a large store is the relative noise levels. I spoke to the lady in the shop and she was like this is really quiet blah blah blah but having it at home is a different story right? Far less ambient background noise at home..etc.

I'd like to know from users how this compares to the mini for noise levels? Does the HD make an audiable churning noise? Does the fan belt at full pace often? Any other nasty noises? Ta

 

[plinden]

Its all high and mightly having a play about with the iMac in the shop but one thing you cant really experiment with in a large store is the relative noise levels. I spoke to the lady in the shop and she was like this is really quiet blah blah blah but having it at home is a different story right? Far less ambient background noise at home..etc.

I'd like to know from users how this compares to the mini for noise levels? Does the HD make an audiable churning noise? Does the fan belt at full pace often? Any other nasty noises? Ta

Don't have a mini so I can't compare, but my iMac is almost totally silent. Yes, the HD makes an audible whirr when in use, and the optical drive also makes noise, but I can't hear the fans at all. Ever.

Coming from a PC background, where I had a Dell space heater under my desk for four years and an external HD running 24/7, I no longer understand how I managed to work under those conditions. But with the iMac's silent operation, I'm still sometimes scared that it's defective and I have to keep checking the internal temperature. It never gets over 43C/110F (assuming Temperature Monitor is accurate).

 

[powerbook911]

Mine has a Maxtor Hard Drive (my iMac), and I never hear it (knock on wood).

The only thing I really hear is the optical drive, when in use. I might hear the slightest fan sound, when encoding, but I have to tell you this is the quietest computer I have ever owned.

 

[JW8725]

Greatstuff, thanks for the replies. Oh man I'm sooooooooooo getting one tomorrow morning! Anything else I should be made aware of?

 

[plinden]

Greatstuff, thanks for the replies. Oh man I'm sooooooooooo getting one tomorrow morning! Anything else I should be made aware of?

There may be a problem if you use wireless internet with WPA encryption. Many people (myself included) can't get more than 200-300kb/s either on the network or downloading from the internet with WPA. It seems to be a fairly common problem and I hope it can be fixed with a software update. I've downgraded to using WEP with SSID broadcast off and MAC address filtering on. That's nowhere near as secure as WPA and can be easily broken by a determined hacker, but I'm hoping I'm not an attractive target for this.

Apart from that, this iMac is the best computer I've ever owned.