# Now that G5 iMacs have been received...



## Ripcord (Sep 29, 2004)

Now that folks on this board have received G5 iMacs, any reviews/raves/rants?  I'm planning this week to sell off the 1.25Ghz G4 Powermac (oh how I love the styling of that machine, though) and throw in some extra money for the 20" G5 iMac.  Can anyone recommend/ward me off?

If all goes well I'm also going to be getting rid of an old worn-out 20" Silicon Graphics CRT (somewhere in the range of 100 kg, I swear they built these things out of raw blocks of steel with plastic on the outsides).  I'd been saving up for a 20" Cinema Display, and would still prefer an external monitor, but the iMac just seems like too good of a system/price to pass up =)


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 29, 2004)

Here's my annoyance...

I ordered mine very close to launch.  The only reason I didn't order at 5am local was so that my rep at Apple could be in charge of the order and get credit for the sale.  He promptly put in my order and put it in the priority listings, since I had projects dependent on this machine and since people at my company wanted to see the new iMacs.  Its still not here.  I'm usually not surprised by these things, but all mine is configured with is 20", 160GB, 512MB on one stick, Bluetooth module and accessories, and AirPort.  I mean, nothing seems that outrageous.

Before you sell, find out an good estimate for delivery of the exact machine you want.  I've been told they're having trouble keeping up with the demand, despite what they thought.  Can't picture Apple having trouble keeping products on the shelves though!  

The trials and tribulations of using the coolest stuff on the market!


----------



## lnoelstorr (Sep 29, 2004)

Well, I've ordered one.  

My G3 iBook (one of the white ones) is getting very old now, and not really designed to be the desktop machine I've been using it as, so I've been waiting for a new Apple for a while.

I was just about to buy a PowerMac when the iMac G5 was leaked, and as I was going to be on holiday for most of the time in between, I thought I'd wait.

Now I just have to wait until the 25th of October (estimated) for it to ship 


Ah well - it'll give me time to tidy my study ready for it.


----------



## j2603 (Sep 29, 2004)

I got mine the same day they started shipping them to their stores. WEll, I am lucky being in the SF Bay Area since we have 5 stores within 25 mile radius area. I actually called the store in the morning and they placed one 20" iMac on hold for me and I just picked it up in the evening. 
I also bought 1Gb of  memory and an airport opened box - this was very easy to install. 
To me, this machine is super fast since I am used to 1ghz single PowerMac G4. My 3D renders take no time to finish; and macromedia Flash works faster too. I did not get a bluetooth module since I use USB tablet. Speakers suck but I have external ones that I connected to it so it's not a problem for me at all. Love it.


----------



## Oscar Castillo (Sep 29, 2004)

> Now that folks on this board have received G5 iMacs,



Is anyone not so impressed with the speed as they thought they'd be?


----------



## Ricky (Sep 29, 2004)

Still waiting on that slow FedEx truck...


----------



## WeeZer51402 (Sep 30, 2004)

I just got mine a couple days ago and let me tell you the speed I feel...well at least coming from a 500Mhz G3 iMac.  It seems like a great machine co far and it has a really small footprint. A design flaw that I have noticed and isnt really that big of a flaw is it lacks an audio-out on the side, rather its on the back which makes it a bit more of a hassle to plug in headphones...but hey ya can't have everything you way I guess, even if you do pay $1,600


----------



## Viro (Sep 30, 2004)

You still haven't added it to your sig


----------



## soulseek (Sep 30, 2004)

WeeZer51402 said:
			
		

> A design flaw that I have noticed and isnt really that big of a flaw is it lacks an audio-out on the side, rather its on the back which makes it a bit more of a hassle to plug in headphones...



what u should realise is that this is not a design flaw, its ur knowledge in the design department thats flawed !!!!
the audio out(plus every other input output) is placed together at the back making the iMac so beautifully simple that any average person doesnt even realize its a computer.. until he sees the mac logo at the back


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

This is such an emotional time...

I wake up to see a shipment notice for my iMac!  YAY!  A week early! 

Knowing that the tracking info would probably not be up on FedEx.com yet, I decided to track it anyway (really says something about me, huh? lol).  To my surprise, FedEx has tracking info!  My machine shipped today, with its estimated delivery to be...... October 20th!??!

I've heard of overnight, second day, ground, but what's 20 day shipping?  Three legged mule?  Is my iMac taking a year off after graduating high school to travel the world?  Is my iMac the one that Apple's using in the products shots and is busy with a three week, whirlwind, global tour to meet and greet its fans?


----------



## soulseek (Sep 30, 2004)

hahah.. if theyve taken ur money from ur bank account i suggest u ringe up apple and complain strictly bout this


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

I'm gonna give him a call today.  I did a FedEx shipping time thing on their site.  According to this, if I shipped something from Shanghai right now, it could arrive in Chicago by tomorrow.  I'm assuming that's expensive to do, but there's a large amount of time for them to play with between overnight and sometime towards the end of next month!


----------



## WeeZer51402 (Sep 30, 2004)

Soulseek - Shouldn't a good design also be a practical one, while the new iMac does look nice and is relatively functional it could be improved upon. if there was an additional audio out on the side or perhaps even the bottom I think it could be more functional though I could be wrong.


----------



## soulseek (Sep 30, 2004)

it is practical, if u buy wireless keyboard and mouse u only have to deal with one cable... 
u have any friends with pcs ? go check out how many cables they have and what a mess it becomes behind the tower....

u have to sacrifice some things for the greater cause


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that they had wanted to keep the front "clean", meaning without connections, ports, buttons, etc.  I guess the next question is what type of engineering issues migh come up trying to place a headphone jack on the side of the unit.  I guess we should go back and look at the iMac rip apart pictures to see where the mobo ends in comparison to the sides of the casing.  That would atleast get us an idea of alignment constraints.


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

This would be another great product to use the fictitious Apple Wireless Speaker idea I had for the PowerBook G5 

Anyway, with optical output, you know what they had in mind for this machine.  For those who have received these units, can you confirm if they include an optical cable?  It appears they used the same type of jack that the AirPort Express uses.


----------



## j2603 (Sep 30, 2004)

nope, no optical cable... you actually need some sort of an adapter if you want to use it with other optical cable devices.


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

Its probably the same cable that comes with the AirPort Express Stereo Connection Kit then.  I wish they had included that, though.


----------



## WeeZer51402 (Sep 30, 2004)

soulseek - I actually have the bluetooth kbd, its very nice might I add and I understand the need for a clutter free desktop but apple has always been good at mixing functionality with design and in all of there prior AIO's the headphone jack has been easily accessed I just feel they could have done a slightly better job.  It also could have been an engineering issue but it still comes as a minor dissappointment to me.


----------



## Ricky (Sep 30, 2004)

My iMac arrived!

Right off the bat, when I started using it I found out that I seriously need more RAM. In some respects, like application launching and application switching, the app runs out of RAM and has to page to the hard drive. This makes the computer take a major performance hit as the hard disk is slower than most. Sometimes it seems slower to respond than my old iMac, which was 1 GHz slower and a G4! So I'll probably go straight to 1 GB of RAM. However, it's a very nice little gaming machine, as I've found out from some of my tests. Also, Photoshop is extremely quick to respond to anything I do now... I actually feel like it's keeping up with me! And Cinema 4D renders much faster now as well.

The iMac is fairly quiet when you're just browsing the web or typing something up or whatever, but you can really hear the fans kick in when you play Battlefield 1942 or play around in Garageband. I don't know why, but it feels unsettling when the fans have to speed up so much. "My processor is going to melt!!" 

I love the extra screen real-estate. Having been used to 1024x768 and suddenly getting a ton more space on screen is wonderful. I transferred all my settings from my old iMac to my new one, and when I opened up Konfabulator I could easily see where the screen boundaries were on my old display from where all my Widgets were lined up. I was very constricted on that old display! Having a wide aspect ratio screen is a blast as well, *especially* in Photoshop.  And I feel pretty lucky, because this iMac shipped with no bad pixels on the LCD. Nice!

The slot loading drive was a bit confusing at first, because I was used to the way the iMac DV drive worked (you would only have to push it in about halfway for the drive to suck the disc in). It turns out that on the iMac G5, you have to push it in almost all the way to get the computer to draw it in. I got the version with the SuperDrive though, so I guess your mileage may vary. Also, I think the drive is a lot slower to respond to inserted media than I'm used to.

The thing feels monstrous on my desk for some reason. I think it's because I'm used to the size and form factor of my old iMac.

The design is extremely clean and simple. My desk felt messier just by switching out the computers. 

The AirPort Extreme card seems to be working a lot better than my old AirPort card... Either the antennas are placed in a better location or the card just transmits stronger signals. Either way, it's doing a great job.

The speakers seriously lack bass response. They're very small speakers crammed into the case with a bunch of other stuff.  Understandable, but slightly annoying.

Anyway, that's it for my mini-review. Overall I'm very pleased with my purchase... Highly recommended.


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

Ricky -

When did you order your iMac?  Just a point of reference for others who are waiting or contemplating a purchase!


----------



## Lycander (Sep 30, 2004)

Call me crazy, but I still have the default 256 MB of RAM my iBook came with. Haven't bothered upgrading and you know what? I don't feel like I need to. Beyond simple surfing and emailing, I run Garage Band, XCode, couple simple games. Most of my RAM usage is used by the OS cache.


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

Yeah, I know the feeling.  I never upgraded the 2GB of ram my Xserve G5 shipped with either.  

I'm pretty sure my mom's computer has 256MB in it and she's perfectly happy.


----------



## Ricky (Sep 30, 2004)

Go3iverson said:
			
		

> Ricky -
> 
> When did you order your iMac?  Just a point of reference for others who are waiting or contemplating a purchase!


 I ordered my iMac on September 18th, it shipped on the 26th, and it got here on the 29th.


----------



## Go3iverson (Sep 30, 2004)

Well, that's irritating! 

I ordered mine back before then (1.8GHz, 20", 512MB on one stick, AirPort, Bluetooth set, 160GB drive, SuperDrive) and it was even placed in the priority batch from my account rep....not only has mine shipped later, but it appears to be going on vacation before it arrives!


----------



## j2603 (Sep 30, 2004)

Ricky said:
			
		

> Also, I think the drive is a lot slower to respond to inserted media than I'm used to.


Yep, I have noticed it too... my old G4 Powermac SuperDrive worked faster.


----------



## WeeZer51402 (Sep 30, 2004)

@ j2603 and Ricky I have also noticed that...anybody have a possible explanation for why?  I'll take a semi-educated guess at it though.  Could it be that perhaps there are two different controllers in the machine...wait I've lost myself, actually I dont know what I'm talking about but if I had to guess I'd point my finger at the presence of the two different types of controllers but take it for what its worth, and thats not very much considering I have no facts to back it up :/


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 1, 2004)

I ordered mine with 1GB ram.

It wasn't a hell of a lot more for the extra ram, so I thought I may as well.

I'd never get a PC again with less than 1GB of ram after seeing the difference it makes, and so I thought I'd apply the same to my mac (even though I know there are great differences between them).


----------



## Viro (Oct 1, 2004)

Yeah, maxing out the RAM does show some signifigant performance gains in certain applications (MATLAB comes to my mind).


----------



## symphonix (Oct 1, 2004)

I'm still waiting on mine.... hopefully it won't be long now.


----------



## Go3iverson (Oct 1, 2004)

I do plan on purchasing an second 512MB stick.  This was a tough call.  I had thought about purchasing a 1GB stick, but according to Apple, though adding the RAM in a single pair isn't required on the iMac, it should increase performance over mismatched RAM.


----------



## PBG4 Dude (Oct 1, 2004)

I picked up my iMac G5 last week. I'm using the wired keyboard and a 2-button scroll wheel mouse (can't hang with the 1 button thang). After upgrading to 2GB RAM I'm loving this machine! It's quite speedy with everything I've done with it so far (Q3A, Nanosaur 2, Photoshop RAW file editing, XCode development & building, web surfing, etc.), and the humonstrous 20" screen just rules! The new iMac is great for what I need and I'm happy I bought it.


----------



## Go3iverson (Oct 8, 2004)

I got my iMac!  Beautiful machine!  I absolutely love it!  Probably even prefer it over the PowerMac right now, just because its just so nice to look at!

Now, everyone go out and buy them...right now!!

You know why?

I got the lemon!

Video and audio glitches right out of the box and I've already been forwarded through 5 different specialists at Apple, with my findings going to engineering.  They said they may just send out parts, but I kinda don't like that idea on a brand new machine, considering they aren't sure which part it is yet! lol 

With that said, mine is the exception, I haven't heard of others with issues yet and the machine really is just amazing!  I'd still recommend it to anyone, especially after we had a parade of people that just happened to be walking past my office for the first time ever yesterday! 

Buy an iMac, be a local legend!


----------



## Ripcord (Oct 8, 2004)

Why didn't you just take it back to the store?


----------



## Go3iverson (Oct 8, 2004)

Purchased it from my rep over the phone, since i wanted for him to get credit and to get a custom config.

I'm now not sure what to do.  Apple had said they'd be calling back today, but I haven't heard anything from them.


----------



## Viro (Oct 9, 2004)

Call them again and hassle them. I had a friend who had to wait 4 months to get his broken iBook fixed. That's in the UK so perhaps Apple in the US might be better. You really do need to b*tch and moan to them and they'll finally come round to replacing your stuff.


----------



## symphonix (Oct 10, 2004)

Mine's still not here. I've had it on order for a month now. Yes, I know it usually takes a long time for these things to reach Australia, but this is just ridiculous.

Actually, I suspect the government has it in a holding facility and are trying to work out if its a terrorist bomb or an alien artifact. ;-)


----------



## Applal (Oct 10, 2004)

I am thrilled with my new G5 20" iMac! The display is a thing of raw, brilliant beauty....in fact, I've had to use the display control panel to dim the display soas to use it without needing sunscreen! 

The single biggest WoW was the utility Apple included to update from a previous Mac. After booting the iMac and doing the typical what country, what language stuff, it asked me if I had a Mac I would like to upgrade from....I clicked yeah, and connect to my other Mac (using Target Disk Firewire Mode)  and inside of 30 minutes, I was up and running with my new computer, just as if I was on my old computer! Bookmarks, email, address book entries, documents, iTunes, iPhoto, even Browser History! were all there. There aren't enough words to describe how RIGHT this felt to ease of use  ::love:: .

The iMac itself is quiet....virtually as quiet as my G3 iBook 12"
I got the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and the tactile experience of the keyboard is second to none in my experience.

I've been a Mac owner user since 1993, with Macs dating back to the Mac II, and I've never been disapointed with the products Apple produces. And yet, here I am, Blown Away, by a company that never ceases to blow me away. You'd think I'd have jaded a bit to this level of functionality and use, yet, Apple continues to exceed my expectations, again and again.

This iMac was purchased to replace a G4 Dual 1 gig MDD, that had 1.25 gig ram and benchmarked with XBench at 136 overall score. This iMac XBenched a respectable 153, with only 512 mb of ram on 1 dimm, so not even taking advantage of 128 bit addressing.

This is a fine, capable computer. I could recommend it to anyone but the most demanding power user.


----------



## Quietly (Oct 10, 2004)

Mine's due at the end of October, I'm buying an extra 1GB RAM from Crucial (anybody know whether Memory prices are going up or down at the moment??)

What I'm interested in, has anybody opened their's up yet and taken a look inside?

What are the upgrade possibilities like (beyond the obvious like RAM, Airport etc.)


----------



## Ripcord (Oct 10, 2004)

Finally went and got mine yesterday.  Ended up breaking down and buying the 20".  It's *fantastic*!  So far I love this machine, it seems perfect for what I need to do at home.  The screen is unbelievable (I have a 20" Cinema at work, this just seems even better to me for some reason), and the styling's even nicer than I thought it would be.

The only complaint/concern I guess I have so far is that the entire system seems to get REALLY sluggish if the disk's active (even doing things that wouldn't require disk access, and I know no paging is going on that would be slowing the app down that's not doing the disk access), something I haven't noticed with the G5 or G4 towers.  The disk also seems quite a bit slower than I've seen with other systems (I was getting about 15MB/s when writing).

Being serial ATA I expected the drive to be pretty fast, but when I had the case open to put in more memory, I noticed that the drive gets *hot*, maybe just because of the compactness of the case.  Is it possible that they do some limiting on speed or have 5400RPM drives in this thing to try to keep temperature down?  I didn't even think to look while I had the back off.

I'd say though, Apple's put together quite a machine.  It's something that I can imagine having much more success than the previous iMac generation, from the home to the business, just because of the screen, the price, and the styling.


----------



## Ripcord (Oct 10, 2004)

No, looking at the Apple spec site, I guess the only drives they use are 7200rpm.  Still, I wonder what gives?

Oh well, the thing just rocks =)


----------



## Ceroc Addict (Oct 12, 2004)

Actually had a chance to look at the 20" G4 and G5 iMac side by side today.

The G5 is obviously a superior computer, but I think they've taken a significant step backwards in terms of aesthetics. The G5's dreaded "chin" might not be such a big deal when you're actually using the computer, but when you're looking at the G4 and G5 side by side it's just hideous (plus the G4 had that nice clear border around the edge).

Kap


----------



## Go3iverson (Oct 13, 2004)

I wasn't thrilled with the iMac at first, but after seeing it in person and actually using it, I much prefer it to the last revision.  True, I can't really adjust the height without a book now, and I did really like being able to achieve any viewing angle with the older version, but this one is just so cool, so small and light, easy to move and takes up so little desk space...

What's there not to love?!


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 14, 2004)

Still more than 10 days until mine ships.

aaaagagggagagagghhhhhghhghhh!!!!


----------



## senne (Oct 14, 2004)

I've got my iMac G5 1.8Ghz 17" for about 2 weeks now. Since i've installed it, it constantly (read: *never stops*) makes a crunching spinning hard-drive sound! You can hear it very clearly when the sound is off, or even when it's at a low volume. It's that loud that it really annoys me. Anyone having this crunching sound too ?


senne


----------



## fryke (Oct 14, 2004)

It's a power supply issue that Apple has already acknowledged afaik. You can get a replacement.


----------



## ApeintheShell (Oct 15, 2004)

Is it possible to transfer data from a firewire drive instead of from the older machine to the new iMac?


----------



## Quietly (Oct 25, 2004)

Yey! I'm the first person I've heard of who's nice new spangly iMac has actually missed its shipping date! Marvelous. And after they cut the delivery times by a week in the intervening period too. 

Is it only Apple Store UK, or is it Apple in general that's crap at keeping to delivery dates? And did they bother to actually tell me? No, I had to phone up and was told I'd receive a new delivery date soon, but no news as to why it's going to be late, or where it might have got to, or if they actually ever processed the order, oh no...

They did this when I ordered my G3 as well, that took an extra 2 months on top of estimated delivery. I thought they were supposed to be on top of orders for this one.

Sorry, I'm really annoyed.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 25, 2004)

Was yours supposed to ship on or before today (25/10/2004) from the UK store?

I only ask as mine was too, and hasn't as of yet, and I'd also had the delivery date cut in the intervening period.

I've been hitting refresh on my orders page all day in the hope it would have changed.


I am also really annoyed :grumpy-faced-emoticon:


----------



## senne (Oct 25, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> Is it only Apple Store UK, or is it Apple in general that's crap at keeping to delivery dates?



A friend of mine has now 2-3 weeks of extra waiting-time, he lives in Belgium.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 25, 2004)

It'll probably be the same in the UK then, as they always seem to all ship from somewhere in Luxembourg anyway (well, from Luxembourg, I'm not really sure there is such a thing as "_somewhere in_ Luxembourg").


----------



## Quietly (Oct 25, 2004)

Yeah, mine was supposed to ship on or before 25/10. The units get shipped out from the production factory in Shanghai (I believe) to The Netherlands where they are handed over to TNT for UK delivery. At this point they issue the Delivery Notification so you can track it.

However, the guy at the store didn't even seem to know where it was or what stage of processing it was at, which is just silly.

If they give me a new date of 2-3 weeks then it can only mean one thing - they didn't process the order in the first place. The only reason a 2-3 week extension would be needed was if they had to create the thing from scratch. At which point I might as well re-order it from scratch rather than listen to crap excuses.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 26, 2004)

Well, mine's still listed as shipping on or before yesterday.  

I WANT MY G5 DAMN YOU APPLE!!!!


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 26, 2004)

> Dear Apple Store Customer,
> 
> Thank you for shopping at the Apple Store.
> 
> ...



Ah well, I guess it's nice that demand is high, however it's also sad I have to wait longer (no doubt because some people seen as more important than me have jumped the queue).


----------



## JetwingX (Oct 26, 2004)

New G5 iMac Stats:
17" LCD Screen
1.8 GHz G5
768 RAM
60 GB Hard drive

Pros

Small*
Big Screen*
Out of Sight Ports
5 USB ports (3 on comp, one used by keyboard, 2 on keyboard)
Beveled Power Button (so you can feel where it is)
OMFG faster than a bat out of hell*
Hidden Slot Load CD/DVD drive
Quartz*
Firewire port powered when computer is off** 
Cons:

Internal mic right next to speaker (makes echo when talking on iChat or Skype)
Strong electric (electromagnetic?) discharge when waking up from sleep (it can turn on my touch lamp from a foot away)
Poor Base on speakers (bottoms out really easily)
Weird cha cha sound when volume goes up or down (not just the click to tell you the volume)
Not very powerful speakers (my old iMac was 2-3 times louder)

* in comparison to an iMac DV+
** i don't know if this has been around in G4 macs....


----------



## symphonix (Oct 26, 2004)

Mine has arrived and I'll be picking it up on Saturday! I don't know how I'll sleep, knoiwing it is there at the store, just an hour's drive away, but I can't get a day off work at the moment so it'll need to wait...

I've also managed to secure an original Airport card to chuck into my G3-500 iBook, so it should be sweet. I've also got UT2004 and Halo on the way for gaming.

I'll drop in a full review of my impressions once I've brought it home.


----------



## JetwingX (Oct 27, 2004)

UT2k4 is fun! i'll play you some time


----------



## Quietly (Oct 27, 2004)

lnoelstorr said:
			
		

> Ah well, I guess it's nice that demand is high, however it's also sad I have to wait longer (no doubt because some people seen as more important than me have jumped the queue).



I have received exactly the same notification this morning! I'd like to know which people exactly jumped the queue though, as my order was supposedly a priority (Education Customer). If they miss this shipping date I might seriously consider buying one of those windows machines...


----------



## Quietly (Oct 31, 2004)

Ooh...

Apple have just debited my card. Could it be that I can expect a dispatch note soon???


----------



## fryke (Oct 31, 2004)

Well, do you still want it or do you really think one of 'those Windows machines' would suit your needs the same way only earlier?  ... I hope you'll appreciate the Mac instead!


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 31, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> Ooh...
> 
> Apple have just debited my card. Could it be that I can expect a dispatch note soon???



Oooh exciting.  I can't check if mine's been debited as it's on my girlfriend's card (she's a student  ), when did you order yours?


----------



## Quietly (Oct 31, 2004)

My order was placed on 27th Sept through the Higher Education store. When it missed its shipment date (25th Oct) I gave them a call and made a nuisance of myself, resulting in my order being bumped up to Priority 1 (what was it before I wonder? Education orders are supposed to be priority anyway...)

BTW What I'd like is a Mac but with the level of customer service that other companies seem able to provide without (seemingly) too much effort. If I'd been just an ordinary PC user, would I have even placed an order on a product with a build time of 4 weeks? And would I have kept with it when it missed its shipping date? Luckily for them I'm already a Mac user and knew that the wait would (probably) ultimately be worthwhile. Mind you, I seem to remember my current iMac took an extra 2 months to deliver on top of what they said, so I can only imagine what I must have been thinking  back then...

Of course, at present they've only charged me for it, they haven't actually confirmed despatch or anything. So this could still go 'orribly wrong.


----------



## Go3iverson (Oct 31, 2004)

Here's an update on my iMac G5...

So, Apple sent out a tech and all the parts they thought I'd need, being that it was a 6 week wait to get a new one built.

You may ask yourself, what parts did they send out?

Glad you asked! 

They sent:

A new 20" LCD
A new front case
A new Motherboard
A new CPU
A new heatsink

What did I keep from the old one?

Ram, Hard Drive, Optical Drive, Airport Card, Bluetooth.

Now, how couldn't they build one?  Its all the parts that could be backordered are being sent to me!

But wait, there's more.....

Apple sent the wrong motherboard, which wasn't discovered until my machine was ripped apart and re-assembled!  The tech was a really nice guy, so I didn't mind the near three hours he was here, or the fact that I had to take a day off from work to get my new machine fixed.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Oct 31, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> My order was placed on 27th Sept through the Higher Education store.



Well, I ordered mine on September 26th through the Higher Education store will be mighty pissed off if you turn out to be another queue jumper!!   

I don't really mind the customer service, it is annoying that they didn't let me know until after it had missed the estimated ship date, and that some sort of queue jumping must have gone on, but hell, I've had worse, and I will be getting an amazing computer at the end of the day!!


----------



## Quietly (Oct 31, 2004)

Yeah, I asked why some people that I'm hearing about seem to have jumped ahead of me in the queue and got an 'erm, oh, er, not really sure why that would happen...'

Personally, I won't mind so long as it turns up this week and is full working order!

So confident am I that it's on its way that I've just ordered extra memory from Crucial (prices have just dropped btw).


----------



## Quietly (Nov 2, 2004)

It's been dispatched, though they haven't sent me notification yet! But the online store shows it as shipped and in transit.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 2, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> It's been dispatched, though they haven't sent me notification yet! But the online store shows it as shipped and in transit.



Mine hasn't


----------



## Quietly (Nov 2, 2004)

I wouldn't worry about it. I just checked on apecode and mines been booked on a flight for.... Friday. Which is when they told me it would be dispatched. By which time, yours will probably have joined it.


----------



## Ripcord (Nov 2, 2004)

Did I mention that I love this iMac G5?  =)

I just can't get the price for my G4 that I want - once the iMacs came out their resell value went way down!  Darn you Apple!  ;-)


----------



## nojay (Nov 3, 2004)

I'm still a iMac G4 owner, but I did have concerns with the G5's sound after fooling around with one at the local Apple store.  JetwingX earlier post confirmed this.  The speakers seem quite limited after being accustomed to the very clear sound from the standard G4 speakers.  Is there an option to disable the speakers and upgrade to external ones?


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 3, 2004)

Apple web site said:
			
		

> *Stay Connected*
> 
> Of course the iMac G5 offers all the right ports to connect to your universe with ease. Starting with the new headphone jack thats also a mini-optical plug. So you can watch DVDs and listen to them in 5.1 surround sound.



http://www.apple.com/imac/


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 4, 2004)

GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!



> We trust you received our email indicating a revised ship date for the product you ordered. We regret to inform you that we must revise the ship date once again, as demand for the product remains beyond our expectations. We now expect to ship your order by November 9th, 2004.




And Quietly, you're dead you bloody queue jumper!!! 


I will be sending them a pissed off email tonight though, now that I know for sure that people have pushed ahead of me in the queue!!


----------



## Quietly (Nov 4, 2004)

Ahh, dedums!

I just had my official shipment notification. Checked on Apecode and it's still waiting for its plane tomorrow, so I reckon I'll get it middle of next week. I'll be sure to let you know how luvverly it is!

Obviously, I complain better than you do...


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 5, 2004)

There's a party in my pants and you're all invited!!!!!!!!!!!!!



> We are pleased to send you this shipment notification regarding your Apple Store order. Your order has been dispatched and will be delivered to your shipping address. Please keep this email as it contains your reference number W******** and shipping/delivery number. Should you have any queries please quote these reference numbers.




Oh yes!!!


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 10, 2004)

How long do things usually take to get here (the UK) from Shanghai?  Mine departed on a flight about 24 hours ago (probably more) and there's been no details of it's progress since (using apecode to check).


----------



## Viro (Nov 10, 2004)

Mail takes about a week to get to the UK from China. So do packages.


----------



## Quietly (Nov 11, 2004)

Sadly, it's not quite that simple.

Kuehne & Nagel fly it out from Shanghai to Luxembourg, then transport by land to the Netherlands where they hand it over to either TNT for delivery to the UK or to Flextronics Logistics. If the latter happens it's because you made a multiple order that has to be 'merged in transit'. Mine is currently at this stage (because of software ordered) and is waiting for Flextronics to pass it on to TNT. When they do, TNT tell me it will take them 24-48 hrs to ship from Holland to my front door.

Apecode currently shows the following on my order:

02 nov 04  Data received from supplier
02 nov 04  Departed from source
02 nov 04  boxes scanned
02 nov 04  Departed from product source
05 nov 04  Flight booked 
05 nov 04  Flight Departed
08 nov 04  Departed direct (this would be from Luxembourg)
09 nov 04  Truck arrived at final destination (this would be in Holland)

Flextronics tracking shows that they have merged the order and printed the manifest, but as yet TNT tracking does not have a record of the order. I'm expecting this to happen today so there is a chance I'll see mine by the weekend. I hope!

To track on Flextronics go to:
https://www.iec-logistics.com/apps/tracktrace/trk_tracking.asp

Their info is not always terribly understandable, but I found it useful. You need to put in 'app' as the customer reference.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 11, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> To track on Flextronics go to:
> https://www.iec-logistics.com/apps/tracktrace/trk_tracking.asp



which doesn't work in FireFox 

and also doesn't say a lot for my order 


It great how to get any decent tracking there's about 4 different websites to go to!


----------



## Quietly (Nov 11, 2004)

At last! TNT have got it! It's on its way. Kind of. It's passed through a checkpoint at Arnhem anyway. Should be the last leg now.

I do hope it works...


----------



## symphonix (Nov 11, 2004)

Don't worry Quietly, it'll be worth the wait.  The specs you have on your sig there look very impressive, and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun.


----------



## Quietly (Nov 11, 2004)

I'm just hoping it compensates for the state of my bank balance  

Phoned TNT and they said they were due to deliver it on Monday. They don't deliver International orders on a Saturday apparently, but he did say as it would be in the UK by then that I could pop to the depot Saturday morning and pick it up!

So long as its somewhere close by, I think I just might.


----------



## MDLarson (Nov 12, 2004)

When we order Dells here at work, they are ALWAYS shipped fast.  Actually, they have always shipped faster than their expected arrival date.

Does Dell make their computers overseas, or in Texas?  Why can't Apple have this kind of quickness?


----------



## Quietly (Nov 12, 2004)

I understand that Apple make all their computers at one of two factories in Shanghai. I might be wrong, and they may have a US based factory as well (at least, I can't think of any good reason why build time for my iMac is 7 days in the States but 3 weeks in the UK!).

Apple have always been dreadful when it comes to delivery times. My G3 iMac was 2 months late, so my new one being 2 weeks late seems a vast improvement. I can only think that this will (and probably continually does) harm sales for them though. I can't think that too many people would switch from PC to Mac if they knew what customer service was like.

My nice new iMac is currently in Northampton. The nice lady at TNT tells me it will ship to my local depot this evening and I can then pick it up in the morning.

I don't know if I'll sleep tonight, it's like Christmas!


----------



## Quietly (Nov 13, 2004)

Mmm, nice...


----------



## Ripcord (Nov 13, 2004)

It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?


----------



## RyanLang (Nov 13, 2004)

I'll be joining this party as of this Monday. It sucks for now because my computer is in my home city but the UPS location is closed on Saturday and Sunday. I'll report back soon.

20", 1.8 Ghz, 512MB RAM, 160 GB HD


----------



## Quietly (Nov 13, 2004)

It's fantastic. I've been playing with it all day, have loaded on the complete Production Suite & transferred everything from G3 iMac (which now looks a bit sad, sitting next to its grandchild) & it's been an absolute dream. Bluetooth keyboard and mouse work fine, extra memory installed OK. The thing that strikes me most is the size is absolutely immense. I'm swamped by the thing.

Hey Inoelstorr, don't want to rub it in but between Northampton & Brum it must have travelled through Coventry! Trust me, when yours (eventually) turns up, you won't be complaining.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 15, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> Hey lnoelstorr, don't want to rub it in but between Northampton & Brum it must have travelled through Coventry! Trust me, when yours (eventually) turns up, you won't be complaining.





Although mine is being delivered to me at work in Leamington - speaking of which, how heavy/easy to carry are they, as I was planning on taking it home on the train.

Mine is currently at 'truck arrived at final destination' at apecode (since Friday), but not showing any activity on any other tracking site.


----------



## Quietly (Nov 15, 2004)

My guess is it'll arrive Thursday.

It's quite heavy, but you should probably get it home on the train (I think). Just don't plan on carrying anything else as well!


----------



## RyanLang (Nov 15, 2004)

According to UPS the 20" clocks in around 36 pounds. Mine is "out for delivery" but I am stuck here at school! I'm hoping it doesn't arrive until I get home. I'm really excited though.


----------



## RyanLang (Nov 16, 2004)

Well, despite it being the best computer I've ever used...my iMac has all the typical problems that you read about on the apple support forums. Fist I noticed a yellow discoloration at the top left hand side of the screen. After running software update and rebooting, the computer would hang for over 3 minutes each and every time I tried (tried 3 times, always hung at the gray apple launch screen). I ran a hardware test and that's when one of the fans went bananas. Thing scared the crap out of me as it not only was louder than my old powermac but it was a bit louder than a dust buster! It sounded like the machine was going to blow up or something. So since I got this machine from powermax.com I emailed them last night and I am waiting to hear about what I need to do to get a new one. Last night was VERY VERY bittersweet! Booting it and the first thing I notice is a problem on the screen was a huge letdown. But it will be worth the wait as this computer seriously kicks ass. - Ryan


----------



## symphonix (Nov 16, 2004)

RyanLang said:
			
		

> I ran a hardware test and that's when one of the fans went bananas. Thing scared the crap out of me as it not only was louder than my old powermac but it was a bit louder than a dust buster!



That's normal. If you read the technotes on the iMac G5, you'll see that the fans are managed by a system that constantly measures the temperature of several internal components and sends signals to a management system that advising on what speed to run the fans at.
This is all handled by Mac OS X. As a failsafe though, if the fan management system does not get a signal from Mac OS X in a certain time (every 10 secs) it will increment the speed of the fans upwards, until they reach maximum speed.
The hardware test CD does NOT provide this signal to the fan management system, and as a result when you boot into the hardware test, the fans will speed up steadily from quiet as a mouse to #@$@ loud. This is, however, nothing to be worried about and you can ignore it. Under Mac OS X, the system will be quieter than almost any other computer you'll ever find.
This also explains why the fans are running flat out whenever you drop into Mac OS 9 software.

As for the discolouration, its most likely due to an LCD panel that was incorrectly fitted at the factory. It may come good once re-seated, or may require the LCD replaced. Either way, it should be completed entirely under warranty.


----------



## RyanLang (Nov 16, 2004)

Thanks for your reply. I found out about the fan thing today so that was nice to know. I also found out that 10.3.6 has been causing some crashing issues on other machines too. So, the only real problem is this slight screen discoloration, otherwise this computer is absolutely fantastic. Powermax gave me the benefit of the doubt and they are going to be sending me another one as soon as I send this one back (tomorrow). So basically I got to test out the iMac G5 20" but it doesn't feel the same since I know I have to send it back. This screen is insane, it's almost TOO clear, you have to get used to it coming from a CRT. Thanks again. - Ryan


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 17, 2004)

Christ, I hope I don't have to send mine back, it's taking about 2 weeks to be delivered as it is!!

I thought with these Apple just sent you new parts so you could fix them yourself.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 18, 2004)

Well it's finally arrived, and at first looks it seems to have cracks in the plastic to the top left and bottom right of the screen, in eac place there seems to be a non-linear crack in the white plastic behind the clear plastic - have there been any other reports of this? I've only managed to find one so for, and it seemed a little trollish so may have been made up.


----------



## Viro (Nov 18, 2004)

symphonix said:
			
		

> Under Mac OS X, the system will be quieter than almost any other computer you'll ever find.
> This also explains why the fans are running flat out whenever you drop into Mac OS 9 software.



This is bad. That means if you put in any other OS like Linux, you'll have a hurricane on your desk. I would have thought letting the OS control something like fans is a silly idea. Why not just let the hardware take care of itself?


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 18, 2004)

lnoelstorr said:
			
		

> Well it's finally arrived, and at first looks it seems to have cracks in the plastic to the top left and bottom right of the screen, in eac place there seems to be a non-linear crack in the white plastic behind the clear plastic - have there been any other reports of this? I've only managed to find one so for, and it seemed a little trollish so may have been made up.



OK, I got another chance to look at it (I'm at work) and it seems it was just all a trick of the light.  Boy am I relieved!!


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 19, 2004)

Well, anyone who thinks that the G5 iMac suggests a G5 laptop isn't too far away should try carrying one of these things any distance.  They way a bloody tonne, I've still got red marks on my hands this morning!


General verdict - lovely!!

I haven't really tried much out yet to comment on it performance wise, although it seemed slower that I expected at scrolling through my photos in iPhoto.


----------



## Viro (Nov 19, 2004)

The red marks or the iMac?


----------



## Quietly (Nov 19, 2004)

Well, I'm having problems with mine!

It's suddenly given up on connecting to the internet, keeps giving me a 'No Carrier Signal' message. My G3 is having NO problems whatsoever, but I've tested my G5 thoroughly (including taking it round to my sister's & trying it there - it was fine) & it just won't do it.

The quality of the phoneline sounds fine, but BT are sending someone round to check it properly. I'm wondering if the modem in my G5 is just a bit more sensitive to noise than the one in my G3.

Hmm.


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 19, 2004)

You use a modem?  Loser!!

I removed the modem from the configuration of machine, but it still seems to have it, and came with a phone cable too.  I guess it's easier just to leave them in - I'll test this tomorrow if it actually works though.


----------



## MDLarson (Nov 19, 2004)

What the heck is a modem?    Can you get broadband access?


----------



## Quietly (Nov 19, 2004)

Funny, that's what BT said.

Me poor Student, no can afford (especially as I just spent over 2k on a new Mac!)


----------



## Quietly (Nov 20, 2004)

Just a thought, but what Broadband ISP's would people recommend (UK only please!)


----------



## markceltic (Nov 21, 2004)

Last night I got to see my friends new iMacG5,17in.512ram,1.6ghz,combo drive.While it's certainly a nice machine I couldn't personally see a HUGE speed increase over my G4 iMac.Well it may have ripped a cd a little quicker into iTunes but not by much.The weirdest thing perspective wise is that the screen looks smaller than mine, maybe because it sits lower I don't know just an observation.                       .      This being their first new Mac I had great fun showing them around the OS,kind of made feel like tech support


----------



## lnoelstorr (Nov 22, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> Just a thought, but what Broadband ISP's would people recommend (UK only please!)



I use Pipex.  They've always been pretty reliable, and are fairly cheap too.  There also a well established company, which I think is good.



In other news, my iMac seems to have trouble ejecting some CD, and I have to give them quite a yank to get them out, are there any other reports of this kind of problem?


----------



## diablojota (Nov 22, 2004)

I have heard this being a problem for some people.  Something to do with labels on discs, etc.  I think there was something posted on the apple knowledge boards.


----------



## Ripcord (Nov 22, 2004)

markceltic said:
			
		

> Last night I got to see my friends new iMacG5,17in.512ram,1.6ghz,combo drive.While it's certainly a nice machine I couldn't personally see a HUGE speed increase over my G4 iMac.



You know, regarding the G5 iMac performance...

The entire system seems to bottleneck a LOT more when paging to disk than I see with my G5 desktop, which seems to mean that having enough memory is even more important.

Also, found that mismatched speeds of memory in the DIMM slots seems to make a big performance difference.  Putting in a PC2700 DIMM is *not* a good idea =)

When I threw two 512MB PC3100 DIMMs I got *excellent* performance out of the box.  Unfortunately it doesn't seem to like those DIMMS and crashes fairly regularly (though all the hardware tests pass no problem).  But it crashes and reboots really FAST!  =)


----------



## Ripcord (Dec 5, 2004)

Have you other folks that have gotten the G5s been paying attention to your temperature in this system?

I started monitoring it after some crashing problems I had when I installed some new memory (though hardware check repeatedly passes this memory fine, naturally, the system is very unstable with the memory in.  Funny that it worked fine in a Dual 2Ghz G5 up until recently, though).

The Hard drive is regularly between 50-55 degrees Celcius, and the CPU goes anywhere from around 53 degrees (idle) to 75+ degrees (heavy workload).

This seems unbelievably hot compared to other systems I've run, where 60 degrees C was the auto-shutoff point.  However, even at 75 degrees Celcius, the fans in my system never really seem to get any more aggressive (though they ARE running as far as I can tell.

Is this a normal temperature for this box?  Mine's a 1.8Ghz, and perhaps the iMacs just run much hotter than any other Mac/PC I've ever seen.  If no one else's runs this hot, it's going back to the shop...


----------



## Satcomer (Dec 5, 2004)

Ripcord - Is your G5 D2.0 first generation? if so, then read this Xlr8yourMac G5 heating article (and look at the pictures).

Plus, are your sure you aren't seeing temperatures in fahrenheit? I ask this because my first gen D1.8  reads (after 7 hours of heavy use) as follows (using ThermographX):

Drive Bay: 80°F (with a max of 90°F)
Backside: 77°F
Heatsink: 138°F
CPU A: 78°
CPU B: 80°


----------



## Ripcord (Dec 5, 2004)

I'm actually talking about the G5 iMac, the 2.0Ghz G5 at work runs great (though I don't remember the CPU temps offhand - seems to me they stayed in the 50s.  This makes me even more worried tho.

The temperatures reported are definitely in Celcius - if I switch to farenheit the temps become 150 or something degrees.  Your CPUtemps, if they're in Farenheit, seem extremely low (especially with the heatsink temp there, which is much higher.  I'm not sure how the CPU cores could be *cooler* than the heatsink) - are you sure that's right?

Can anyone else with a G5 iMac, especially a 1.8, check and see what temps you're seeing?  In my case, I can see the temps rise into the mid-high 60s within about a minute of heavy use, shortly after boot.


----------



## Viro (Dec 5, 2004)

Just for a point of reference, my Powerbook's video adapter pretty much hovers at 60º C. The processor is anywhere between 30º - 50º C. The hard drive is normally at 30ºC. I think the G5s tend to run a lot hotter than other chips, hence all the esoteric cooling solutions for the G5 (9 fans?).


----------



## Quietly (Dec 5, 2004)

Hard Drive around 51 degrees C
CPU around 52 degrees C (idle-ish)


----------



## Satcomer (Dec 6, 2004)

Ripcord said:
			
		

> Your CPUtemps, if they're in Farenheit, seem extremely low (especially with the heatsink temp there, which is much higher.  I'm not sure how the CPU cores could be *cooler* than the heatsink) - are you sure that's right?



Yep, quite sure. When I first got the temperature program, I couldn't believe my eyes. My D1.8 isn't even loud! I must have received a good production model. The only time I heard the fans rev up was when I was messing around in single user mode.


----------



## Satcomer (Dec 6, 2004)

G5 iMac Tech Specs page


*Electrical and environmental requirements*
Meets ENERGY STAR requirements
Line voltage: 100-120V AC or 100-240V AC, depending on country of purchase
Frequency: 47Hz to 63Hz, single phase
Maximum continuous power: 180W
Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
Storage temperature: -40° to 185° F (-40° to 85° C)
Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
Maximum altitude: 10,000 feet


----------



## MDLarson (Dec 6, 2004)

Just an update:  I ordered that 17" iMac G5, customized to include the bluetooth module and (1) 512 MB RAM module... I got it today!  2 days early, actually.

I have it sitting on my 2nd desk behind me, and so far all the people who have seen it so far have asked if "that's the whole computer"... lol  It's pretty sweet.

BTW, how do you determine the temperature of the chip?  Do you have to download a 3rd party app?


----------



## ex2bot (Dec 7, 2004)

For Oscar Castillo and others underwhelmed by the speed:

1. Don't forget to go to System Prefs>Energy Saver>Options and put the processor performance on highest.

2. Wait for more G5 optimizations.

Doug


----------



## Viro (Dec 8, 2004)

MDLarson said:
			
		

> Just an update:  I ordered that 17" iMac G5, customized to include the bluetooth module and (1) 512 MB RAM module... I got it today!  2 days early, actually.
> 
> I have it sitting on my 2nd desk behind me, and so far all the people who have seen it so far have asked if "that's the whole computer"... lol  It's pretty sweet.
> 
> BTW, how do you determine the temperature of the chip?  Do you have to download a 3rd party app?



Just head on over to VersionTracker or MacUpdate and search for temperature. I personally use ThermoInDock.


----------



## MDLarson (Dec 8, 2004)

Quietly said:
			
		

> Hard Drive around 51 degrees C
> CPU around 52 degrees C (idle-ish)



Apparently ThermoInDock was made inoperable by 10.3.5.  I downloaded Temperature Monitor and got the following results (idling):
CPU Temperature: 59.4° C
Hard Drive:  52.5° C
SMART Disk ST380013AS (3JVD0ADC):  58.0° C

This would be the 1.6 GHz 17" version.


----------



## Quietly (Dec 8, 2004)

I'm using Temparture Monitor too. It stays pretty much around what I've posted there (20" version).

Suppose I could render some Final Cut stuff and see what happens to the CPU...


----------



## Ripcord (Jan 14, 2005)

You know, I notice that my G5 iMac seems to be able to read DVDs from all regions (I hadn't been expecting this).  Is a region-free DVD player a feature of the iMacs??  Macs in general for a while and I hadn't realized it?  Is it a fluke?

I'm fairly certain it's not catching the region, I've got 6 DVDs that I can't play in any US player, but they all play great in the iMac...


----------



## ex2bot (Jan 14, 2005)

Um, no. I don't think they're region-free. How many US region dvds have you played so far (region 1, right?)?


Doug


----------

