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Who is really satisfied of purchasing Aluminum iMac?
- Thread starter mifka
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I have tested over 30 24" iMacs. I have been to 3 apple stores and a couple of other computer stores with 1 or 2 24" ers. All but 2 of them had the problem, those 2 i would have been 'happy' with, but they still we not *perfect*.
So 28/30 having the problem - sounds like a serious product recall to me.
My First Mac
My first Apple product was an Apple II way back when...I'm talking before disk drives, saving programs on cassette tape...
Been a DOS/Windows guy since then, until last month. Bought a new 20" iMac and absolutely love it. The design of Apple products is amazing, and I think the best thing I can say is "it just works". Not to mention that Leopard blows away XP/Vista.
The iPhone started me on my journey back to Apple when I bought it on launch day. The more I became aware of the world of Apple the more I was drawn back....
Now have an iPhone, iMac, Apple TV, Airport Extreme, and soon another Apple TV and a Macbook Air.
My first Apple product was an Apple II way back when...I'm talking before disk drives, saving programs on cassette tape...
Been a DOS/Windows guy since then, until last month. Bought a new 20" iMac and absolutely love it. The design of Apple products is amazing, and I think the best thing I can say is "it just works". Not to mention that Leopard blows away XP/Vista.
The iPhone started me on my journey back to Apple when I bought it on launch day. The more I became aware of the world of Apple the more I was drawn back....
Now have an iPhone, iMac, Apple TV, Airport Extreme, and soon another Apple TV and a Macbook Air.
Mine is fine, and so were the 15 or 20 I have done the same thing with at various stores. I have yet to see one 24" in in person with the gradient issue. I know they exist, because some of the photos posted by a very rare few here have shown an amazingly ugly 2.5x brightness gradient from left to right. Clearly, those are defective and should be returned.
BTW - did you try this same test on the Apple Cinema Display or any other brand monitors? You may have discovered a process to uncover the uniformity limitations of the LCD panel technology itself, as opposed to a specific problem with all Apple iMacs. Check into Occhams razor, and tell me which is simpler.
I've been waiting for a while to post here, as I got a 24" iMac via work almost two months ago.
Zero problems. I love it. No gradient issues, no condensation, no loud odd noises, no weird smell, no emanating evil spirits. Nothing but good.
Zero problems. I love it. No gradient issues, no condensation, no loud odd noises, no weird smell, no emanating evil spirits. Nothing but good.
I bought my first mac 2 weeks ago, a 24" imac. I ended up exchanging it 3 times (making a total of 4 imacs). They all have the issue to one degree or another.
I thought the third was the worst, and took it back, but under the bright lights of the apple store, even I could barely see it. The store manager pushed back this time, instead of just giving me another. I talked to employees for nearly an hour, and they tried to convince me this is inherent to the technology, and that all LCD displays have ths issue. The manager finally agreed to give me the fourth, but made it clear this was the last one. After this it was refund city.
Though I wasn't really angry at this, they DID exchange it 3 times, and the first two were with little or no argument, so I felt they went the distance.
The fourth one BARELY has the gradient issue. In fact, I have to put it in the worst conditions (dark room, brightness all the way down, the perfect shade of gray background) before I can see it, under "normal" conditions I can't see it.
So this one I consider acceptable, and am very pleased with it. I should probably send the apple store a muffin basket for putting up with me.
I thought the third was the worst, and took it back, but under the bright lights of the apple store, even I could barely see it. The store manager pushed back this time, instead of just giving me another. I talked to employees for nearly an hour, and they tried to convince me this is inherent to the technology, and that all LCD displays have ths issue. The manager finally agreed to give me the fourth, but made it clear this was the last one. After this it was refund city.
Though I wasn't really angry at this, they DID exchange it 3 times, and the first two were with little or no argument, so I felt they went the distance.
The fourth one BARELY has the gradient issue. In fact, I have to put it in the worst conditions (dark room, brightness all the way down, the perfect shade of gray background) before I can see it, under "normal" conditions I can't see it.
So this one I consider acceptable, and am very pleased with it. I should probably send the apple store a muffin basket for putting up with me.
If the bright lights of the store mask the issue, we obviously have to rule out any observations made in the store of screens not having this issue. It would be best to rely on home tests where the environment can be controlled or manipulated to best highlight the issue.
I love my iMac a lot. Well, it's not sentimental love, yet... but I think it's an AMAZING machine. Sure, I've gotten used to it now and I take it for granted, but when I actually think about it, I'm probably the luckiest person I know, with the best computer... and I look back at my PC and go "Wow. I had to put up with THAT!?" (I still love my PC sentimentally but in all honesty, it was a hunk of junk).
But yes, I am completely satisfied with my iMac. But as a new switcher, I couldn't experience Macs before, so if this is worse than normal Macs, I do not know... but what I do know is that it's miles better than my old PC and that it runs OS X, and that's all I want from it. I love this thing <3
Wow. I remember that!
I bought my iMac at the end of August but it arrived early september (was estimated to arrive on the 11th, dear lord... then it said 12th (which is actually the birthday of a friend of mine who works in an Apple store xD) but it arrived on the 6th, I think
)
I feel like an aging Mac user now, (even though I got my first Mac 5 months ago this week)... reminiscing over old times. xD
However, I think you got the date a little wrong. Various people got cured at different time. I think the problem died down in October with the release of Leopard (Leopard seemed to fix it for some, 10.4.11 fixed it for others). Personally, I remember getting a maximum of 3 freezes after I bought mine (Which was very near the date you mentioned - and I can recall a freeze after that... and the incredibly hot video card, which almost burnt my hand! (which is now as cool as a cucumber))
CHRISTMAS PRESENT!? Someone in your life must be LOADED! haha. These things don't come cheap xD
But yes, I am completely satisfied with my iMac. But as a new switcher, I couldn't experience Macs before, so if this is worse than normal Macs, I do not know... but what I do know is that it's miles better than my old PC and that it runs OS X, and that's all I want from it. I love this thing <3
Wow. I remember that!
I bought my iMac at the end of August but it arrived early september (was estimated to arrive on the 11th, dear lord... then it said 12th (which is actually the birthday of a friend of mine who works in an Apple store xD) but it arrived on the 6th, I think
)I feel like an aging Mac user now, (even though I got my first Mac 5 months ago this week)... reminiscing over old times. xD
However, I think you got the date a little wrong. Various people got cured at different time. I think the problem died down in October with the release of Leopard (Leopard seemed to fix it for some, 10.4.11 fixed it for others). Personally, I remember getting a maximum of 3 freezes after I bought mine (Which was very near the date you mentioned - and I can recall a freeze after that... and the incredibly hot video card, which almost burnt my hand! (which is now as cool as a cucumber))
CHRISTMAS PRESENT!? Someone in your life must be LOADED! haha. These things don't come cheap xD
I bought mine today, actually. Runs smooth like whiskey...
or other intoxicating beverage of the sort.
or other intoxicating beverage of the sort.
Nope, people are still buying them and loving them.
Got mine 5 days ago...didnt realize things could be this easy and enjoyable at the same time. 24 2.8 imac with a ever so slight gradient issue but I doubt its enough that I will exchange it.
Its an experience and worth every penny so far.
One thing regarding the uneven brightness issue that prospective iMac users should consider is that it often improves greatly as the display heats up. I recently sent my 5 month old iMac back because of a faint line I discovered on the screen and they replaced the LCD panel. When I got it back I about keeled over when I powered up and saw a very obvious left to right gradient on the grey boot screen with the Apple logo. I got on the phone and set up a pickup for Apple to take the machine back again. But after first calibrating the display with the expert calibration and seeing a vast improvement I noticed that the longer and longer I was using the machine the less the gradient was. I cancelled the pickup and am absolutely satisfied with this panel now.
In the morning when I power up the gradient is there but as the backlight heats up it dissipates to nothingness.
I have a feeling a lot of folks just get their iMac home, power it up and see a gradient, shut it off and then box it up and send it back to Apple for a replacement. If they would only calibrate it and give the backlight some time to heat up I think they would find that there really is much less of an issue than they thought or none at all.
I had the computer on for about 8 hours and still noticed the effect. I even showed it to some friends and they noticed it too.
Can't see why people wouldn't love their iMacs. They're excellent machines, powerful, and attractive. I've got the 24inch model, I couldn't resist that HUGE screen. Wow.
I didn't say it applied in ALL cases. I was only relating my own experiences and advising others to at least give their displays a fighting chance even if they appear to be bad at first.