The New iMac Ownership Thread

[OldCorpse]

I have to ask though mate, what do you do for a living to be able to go out on launch day and buy the latest Apple gear at the age of 22?!

He's on the dole, of course, the right chav that he is! Plus, did you see his teeth... now you know where his money should've gone!

OK, enough kidding. This is an awesome thread, and thank you guys for posting the photos here, and the videos are great - very helpful. Can't wait for November... I want to buy the i7! I suppose I should wait for the first reports and feedback though, just to make sure the i7 doesn't overheat or have other problems.

 

[DoFoT9]

You may want to make that request after they come out in November.

Bryan

oh, my mistake! i thought it was just australia that didnt have them yet

what dates in November does anybody know?

OK, enough kidding. This is an awesome thread, and thank you guys for posting the photos here, and the videos are great - very helpful. Can't wait for November... I want to buy the i7! I suppose I should wait for the first reports and feedback though, just to make sure the i7 doesn't overheat or have other problems.

yes im a bit hesitant as well. it is, after all, a quad core in the iMac! thats un-heard of! the TDP is low enough though so it should be smooth sailing.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

what dates in November does anybody know?

There's not a published date yet, so it's anyone's guess.

Bryan

 

[Shaun.P]

I noticed a problem with my iMac this morning:

Last night I set my computer to sleep, but beforehand I put the brightness down to 1 notch (so when I check my email as soon as I wake up in the morning it doesn't burn my retina's). This morning when I woke the computer up I noticed the screen was flickering for quite some time, as if the display was going slightly bright and then slightly duller. The picture on the screen was not distorted or anything, but the backlit seemed to be flickering. When I put the computer above 3-4 notches of brightness it went away.

I have been able to recreate the problem by putting the computer to sleep on a low brightness level and waking it up. It happens when the computer is shut off and I start it up too. It does go away when I turn the brightness up though, and when I turn it back down, the display no longer flickers.

My computer is plugged into a MonsterPower unit (which provides clean power) so I do not believe the problem to be related to my electricity.

I have tried to research this problem and something similar appears to have happened to the MacBook Pro's.

It's something I could live with, but I am worried if it is a sign of a potentially larger problem, or probably nothing to worry about?

P.S. I thought I'd let everyone know - when scrolling on the Magic Mouse you do not have to lift your other finger for the scroll to be acknowledged. I know you need to take your left finger off to acknowledge a right click annoys a lot of people. This mouse is the same, but it's nice you don't need to take all but one finger off to scroll.

Shaun.

 

[DoFoT9]

There's not a published date yet, so it's anyone's guess.

Bryan

blast. thanks anyway.

shaun: a very intriguing problem! my guess would be that the LED isnt yet powered up? what happens if you leave the screen "flickering" for a number of minutes? dies it fix itself up?

 

[Peewee-k9]

I could be wrong, but I THINK it's full aluminum base. I can verify it when I get home later on tonight.

Not a silly question. I bought a new desk to go with the iMac (27") and I too was concerned about that. Before placing it on the desktop (which is a painted hard wood surface, black) I placed a soft towel down and slid it back to where I wanted the display. It worked. Yes, I think it could scratch some surfaces.

 

[Shaun.P]

blast. thanks anyway.

shaun: a very intriguing problem! my guess would be that the LED isnt yet powered up? what happens if you leave the screen "flickering" for a number of minutes? dies it fix itself up?

I never had enough time this morning to fully test the problem. I think it does go away but only after 2-3 minutes.

If I put the computer to sleep at half brightness, or full brightness the problem is not there.

I have PM'ed The Samurai as he bought the same machine as me, from the same store to see if he can recreate the problem.

 

[DoFoT9]

I never had enough time this morning to fully test the problem. I think it does go away but only after 2-3 minutes.

If I put the computer to sleep at half brightness, or full brightness the problem is not there.

do you know if the problem still persists when the display just turns off, but the computer is still on?

I have PM'ed The Samurai as he bought the same machine as me, from the same store to see if he can recreate the problem.

great, hopefully he can shed some light on the problem.

a quick google of "imac screen flicker after sleep" reveals a number of threads - most people are reporting the issue as a SL based problem. it doesnt seem to be restricted to imacs either.

here
here
here

 

[Peewee-k9]

iMac 27 " running hot?

I read on maybe another thread where it was mentioned the iMac 27 seemed to be running hot to the touch. Someone posted that were at the Apple Store and they found them hot. So, of course I felt mine and indeed it does seem hot. But, compared to what? I'm new to Mac and this forum (love this place) and can anyone offer their expertise? Not really worried, just want your feedback on this issue.

To describe the temperature is; I can leave my hand on it, but it is quite hot, beyond warm actually. Feels hotter on top, a little less on the sides. Hottest if you place your hand in center of display fingers wrapped around the back. Appreciate comments.

 

[lapino]

Would like to know this too, especially since I'm still not sure about the core2duo or i5. I can imagine the i5 being even hotter since it's a desktop cpu and has a faster (thus hotter) gpu.

 

[Peewee-k9]

Mouse

Wondered if I would like the mouse because it felt awkward in the store. After getting it home where I was at a 'normal' sitting angle, it felt quite good once I was in the right position. Someone here mentioned that your hand does not have to hover over the mouse, although that is what my initial natural feeling was to do (knowing the mouse is sensitive to touch). I read where the mouse knows your hand is just resting on it and therefore won't throw in some movements that aren't wanted.

Wish I had read that 5 hours before I started playing with my new toy because now my hand is cramped .

Using it for a bit the mouse feels natural and not having to use ones index finger to scroll is freedom! I suppose it will be a personal thing...I wanted it to work.

Tip: I did buy a very thin large black mouse pad today because the kid at the Apple Store mentioned it. I am glad I did. My desk is a very hard painted wood surface and without it, the mouse would not feel as smooth (and it makes a scratching noise w/o it). Just sayin.....

 

[DoFoT9]

I read on maybe another thread where it was mentioned the iMac 27 seemed to be running hot to the touch. Someone posted that were at the Apple Store and they found them hot. So, of course I felt mine and indeed it does seem hot. But, compared to what? I'm new to Mac and this forum (love this place) and can anyone offer their expertise? Not really worried, just want your feedback on this issue.

To describe the temperature is; I can leave my hand on it, but it is quite hot, beyond warm actually. Feels hotter on top, a little less on the sides. Hottest if you place your hand in center of display fingers wrapped around the back. Appreciate comments.

the imacs have been hot for all eternity. my 2.8GHz iMac is very hot to the touch, i can only leave my hand on it for a few seconds. nothing new, so dont stress too much. i guess thats what happens when you put the PSU inside of the case eh?

Tip: I did buy a very thin large black mouse pad today because the kid at the Apple Store mentioned it. I am glad I did. My desk is a very hard painted wood surface and without it, the mouse would not feel as smooth (and it makes a scratching noise w/o it). Just sayin.....

great tip. thanks

 

[dog299]

Has anyone been able to connect one of these things to a PC which has a displayport graphics card such as the 58xx series? Really need to know

 

[Shaun.P]

do you know if the problem still persists when the display just turns off, but the computer is still on?


great, hopefully he can shed some light on the problem.

a quick google of "imac screen flicker after sleep" reveals a number of threads - most people are reporting the issue as a SL based problem. it doesnt seem to be restricted to imacs either.

here
here
here

The Samurai got back to me - he can also replicate this fault if you can call it that. It's such a minor bug I'm just going to live with it .

I would be interested to know if this is just a small minority experiencing this problem. To see if your new iMac is doing it, do the following:

• Put your brightness down to 1 notch,
• Put the computer to sleep,
• Leave the computer in sleep for 20-30 seconds,
• Wake the computer up, and look at the screen. Is it flickering (even slighty?). You may have to get reasonable close to the screen to notice,
• Does the flickering go away when you pop your brightness up to 3-4 notches and above?

If you put the brightness down to 1 notch and shut the computer down, leave it for 20-30 seconds and start it up, the problem is also apparent on the startup screen.

To the people talking about heat - I have the 21.5" model and I am very surprised at how cool the back of the Mac is. It is warm but not so warm that you couldn't put your hand comfortable on the back for a prolonged period of time. I may have to run some more intensive apps to see how hot it gets .

 

[macchiato2009]

hi Shaun

any heat or particular noise from your imac ?

 

[Shaun.P]

hi Shaun

any heat or particular noise from your imac ?

Noisier than my MacBook Pro 13" was. But it's still very very quiet. Not a "drone" or anything like that. My machine appears to run quite cool. I haven't heard the fans on once, and I've watched some DVDs and downloaded 1080P content.

 

[macchiato2009]

Noisier than my MacBook Pro 13" was. But it's still very very quiet. Not a "drone" or anything like that. My machine appears to run quite cool. I haven't heard the fans on once, and I've watched some DVDs and downloaded 1080P content.

which is quite normal considering that the MBP 13 has a laptop processor, a very slow video chipset

compared to imac

but still, it's good news


thanks again for your feedback

 

[Bonstrick]

My new IMAC 27"

Wednesday morning at 3AM I received the Apple e-mail announcing the new releases and Wed afternoon I walked out of the Apple store at Palisades with a 27" IMAC sight unseen. The store didn't even have them on display yet. They still had the older versions and said they couldn't put the new ones out until Thursday.

So opening up the box was a complete surprise experience. The 27" is LARGE. It replaced a 20" IMAC whose hard drive has been sick for awhile now. (about 2 months). I've been impatiently awaiting this release.

I've gone through stages with this 27" IMAC. At first I thought OMG I need sunglasses because it is so bright and even wondered if I'd made a mistake. But now I love it. The screen is fantastic. I am in love and have have found it difficult to walk away from it long enough to sleep. My boyfriend said he can't believe I care more about my computer than him and can't understand why I stayed up for the past two nights playing.

I think I am going to enjoy Leopard especially in IPHOTO. The face recognition is amazing.

I thought I would miss the numeric section of the keyboard but I really like the compactness of the new one and the Magic Mouse is great. Much better than the previous wireless version.

I had planned to also run Windows on it because I have an Embroidery Machine whose software is only compatible with Windows but after reading so many threads here I'm concerned about the safety. If using Windows, V Fusion and using a virus protector am I still at great risk for viruses?

After switching to Apple 4 years ago, I don't ever want to go back to PC's. They are nothing but headaches! But the embroidery machine software was quite expensive as was the machine so I need a Windows application.

I wish all of you many happy IMAC days.

 

[DoFoT9]

The Samurai got back to me - he can also replicate this fault if you can call it that. It's such a minor bug I'm just going to live with it .

I would be interested to know if this is just a small minority experiencing this problem. To see if your new iMac is doing it, do the following:

*steps*

If you put the brightness down to 1 notch and shut the computer down, leave it for 20-30 seconds and start it up, the problem is also apparent on the startup screen.

To the people talking about heat - I have the 21.5" model and I am very surprised at how cool the back of the Mac is. It is warm but not so warm that you couldn't put your hand comfortable on the back for a prolonged period of time. I may have to run some more intensive apps to see how hot it gets .

i shall try this on my late 2007 imac tomorrow morning (got assignments to do ). i wonder if it will do it. very odd thing though.

which is quite normal considering that the MBP 13 has a laptop processor, a very slow video chipset

compared to imac

but still, it's good news


thanks again for your feedback

the dual core iMacs use laptop CPUs as well

Wednesday morning at 3AM I received the Apple e-mail announcing the new releases and Wed afternoon I walked out of the Apple store at Palisades with a 27" IMAC sight unseen. The store didn't even have them on display yet. They still had the older versions and said they couldn't put the new ones out until Thursday.

*loving the imac*

nice feedback! im glad you like it! macs are an amazing experience i cant wait to buy another mwahahaha

I had planned to also run Windows on it because I have an Embroidery Machine whose software is only compatible with Windows but after reading so many threads here I'm concerned about the safety. If using Windows, V Fusion and using a virus protector am I still at great risk for viruses?

if you wish, you can disable network/internet access for the virtual machine - meaning that there is zero (ZERO) risk of it getting a virus. its perfectly safe. if your embroidary software needs internet access then anti virus is recommended but not necessary. you can protect the mac side of things by disabling certain virtual machine features (such as file sharing and whatnot). there are always ways to keep it safe

 

[ViViDboarder]

I just bought my first mac since my MacBook Pro (about 3.5 years ago!).

I just got the Second Level 21.5" iMac. I wanted to get the dedicated graphics card.

It's awesome! The 27 just looked way too big and I already don't have anywhere to put the one I have now (5 computers in a 1 bedroom apartment. iMac is on my kitchen counter for now. ).

I just got my iTunes and iPhoto library transfered from my Macbook Pro so I can free up a lot of space on my laptop. With 1TB on the iMac I think I'll be fine for a couple years. (I have a linux computer with 1.5TB in it as well and a slew of external haddrives)

The reason I got the iMac was because I wanted to use it as a server as well, so I have it set up serving, SSH, VNC, HTTP and so on already. The thing is so quiet it's awesome! I'm really liking it.

The one issue I have with the mouse is it seems like they could have done much more with it... I mean, why not add pinch zooming as well/ The entire thing is basically a multi-touch panel. I feel like they've crippled it. Either way I do enjoy the momentum scrolling. Feels like I'm using my iPhone.

 

[AlienSexGod]

But the embroidery machine software was quite expensive as was the machine so I need a Windows application.

Bonnie lass probably parallels or VM Ware would work fine for that ... your pc environment would be isolated in a PC image if it became infected or corrupt and restore to where you were from last backup of the disk image ... easy

 

[littlelarry33]

TO SHAUNPRIEST:
So did you erase the whole HD or just a repair Snow leopard to make it boot faster mine take over a minute to boot

 

[Peewee-k9]

the imacs have been hot for all eternity. my 2.8GHz iMac is very hot to the touch, i can only leave my hand on it for a few seconds. nothing new, so dont stress too much. i guess thats what happens when you put the PSU inside of the case eh?



great tip. thanks

Thanks...that does make me feel better. No worries...ok, just a wee bit that is what I do...I worry

 

[jddar]

Would like to know this too, especially since I'm still not sure about the core2duo or i5. I can imagine the i5 being even hotter since it's a desktop cpu and has a faster (thus hotter) gpu.

Check out the iFixit breakdown. The Core 2 Duo 27's also have a desktop CPU: 3.06 GHz E7600 Core 2 Duo LGA 775 socket T CPU.

 

[cloudmac]

ordered 21.5" yesterday

I ordered yesterday morning and the Apple rep estimated I would get it by Oct. 28th and Nov. 3. That seems a long time if you guys are walking out of the store with new ones. Sometimes they overestimate to keep up the good feelings - I hope so. I ordered the 21.5 due to not having enough headroom below a permanent bookcase in my office. Think I'll be happy with that as I'm now on a 19" Dell. So as not to become outdated too soon I ordered the 3.33 and optional 8 of Ram. I'm also moving over from MS OS to a Mac - can't wait till I get the e-mail that it has shipped. Thanks for the user info and pics!