symphonix
Scratch & Sniff Committee
... and I'm very pleased. As promised I'll be posting a review of some of the most critical questions that people have been asking, and that I have been wondering about.
First: the Specs
17" G5 1.8ghz | 512mb RAM | 160GB HDD | Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse | Airport Extreme card | Airport Express base station.
Well, due to a slight problem I didn't get the Airport Extreme card on the day, as I'd ordered it as an afterthought and it was set aside for me, and the manager didn't know where the guy I dealt with had hidden it! He'll have it couriered up to me on Monday morning.
That said, I'll move on to the bad points. Dead pixel count: one. It's on the leftmost edge of display, and is practically invisible, but its there. I'm not going to worry about it.
Point two: noise. Its certainly quieter than my G3 iBook, and my PC at work, and just about ANY computer I've ever used. In fact, its very quiet. But the noise it does make has a habit of changing as the fans are constantly adapting their speed to meet the demands of the processor. Its completely inaudible in the calm of night working on a few docs and web pages and stuff, but if you kick in an intensive task like a complicated Keynote or iDVD task, you'll hear the faint sound of the fans picking up the pace. Its still quieter than any other machine I've used, but the constantly changing sound takes a day to get used to.
Now for the good points. Packaging was smart and well designed. I note that the protective sheet on the stand had tabs clearly designed to be easy to find and pull off. Setup was flaswlessly smart. The first thing that appears on switching on is a graphic showing the user how to put batteries in the mouse and switch it on (batteries ARE included, and they're good ones, which makes the whole experience feel better). Once you've done this, the mac finds the mouse and tells you to "click here to continue", and a similar process follows for the keyboard. Setup, registration and so on is complete in around 3 minutes, and that includes putting in your language and regional settings (the time is set automatically). Very nice.
Bootup time is around 15 seconds. I tried throwing just about everything at it and the only thing that seemed to fall over was issuing a few too many commands at the same time in iDVD. Obviously iDVD still has a way to come for stability.
One major question floating around is the position of the ports. Let me say this: it's perfect. I currently am using only one port ... the modem port, since my AE hasn't arrived yet. I've also plugged in a USB key and a digicam, and the whole unit is so easy to move you can just spin it and plug them in without having to get out of your seat.
The appearance of the machine is something that only works in real life, photos just don't capture the slick transparent shell. Even the power plug has been finished in the same material. Its easy to move around, to push it from side to side and tilt it to your needs.
The 17" display is very nice and big and colourful. I will say this though: it looked AWFUL fresh out of the box, and required a recalibration and tweaking of the font-smoothing settings to get right. The "out-of-the-box" setting is for CRTs and does not look right. Once adjusted though, the display is SWEEEEEET.
The drive is quick and easy to find, even in the dark. I've heard people complain that you have to look for the drive to put CDs in, this is utter nonsense. You can just slam them in there, since the slot is integrated into the shell in such a way that there isn't so much as a single bump or seam that could lead you astray.
Aside from that, the keyboard is small and VERY heavy, quiet to type on, and has the best little rubber feet to keep it solid as a rock on your desk.
I've been using the wireless mouse only, in spite of having a rather nice Logitech one waiting to be plugged in that I thought I'd prefer. The mouse even has a two-level adjustable click pressure (inside the battery cover), and the operating range is well outside the house, which is simply overkill.
Sound is great, though the maximum level might be a little low for the younger generation. It certainly is more than loud enough for comfortable listening.
All in all, the new iMac has surpassed my expectations and is a delight to use. I'd recommend it to anybody looking for a computer. I love it!
First: the Specs
17" G5 1.8ghz | 512mb RAM | 160GB HDD | Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse | Airport Extreme card | Airport Express base station.
Well, due to a slight problem I didn't get the Airport Extreme card on the day, as I'd ordered it as an afterthought and it was set aside for me, and the manager didn't know where the guy I dealt with had hidden it! He'll have it couriered up to me on Monday morning.
That said, I'll move on to the bad points. Dead pixel count: one. It's on the leftmost edge of display, and is practically invisible, but its there. I'm not going to worry about it.
Point two: noise. Its certainly quieter than my G3 iBook, and my PC at work, and just about ANY computer I've ever used. In fact, its very quiet. But the noise it does make has a habit of changing as the fans are constantly adapting their speed to meet the demands of the processor. Its completely inaudible in the calm of night working on a few docs and web pages and stuff, but if you kick in an intensive task like a complicated Keynote or iDVD task, you'll hear the faint sound of the fans picking up the pace. Its still quieter than any other machine I've used, but the constantly changing sound takes a day to get used to.
Now for the good points. Packaging was smart and well designed. I note that the protective sheet on the stand had tabs clearly designed to be easy to find and pull off. Setup was flaswlessly smart. The first thing that appears on switching on is a graphic showing the user how to put batteries in the mouse and switch it on (batteries ARE included, and they're good ones, which makes the whole experience feel better). Once you've done this, the mac finds the mouse and tells you to "click here to continue", and a similar process follows for the keyboard. Setup, registration and so on is complete in around 3 minutes, and that includes putting in your language and regional settings (the time is set automatically). Very nice.
Bootup time is around 15 seconds. I tried throwing just about everything at it and the only thing that seemed to fall over was issuing a few too many commands at the same time in iDVD. Obviously iDVD still has a way to come for stability.
One major question floating around is the position of the ports. Let me say this: it's perfect. I currently am using only one port ... the modem port, since my AE hasn't arrived yet. I've also plugged in a USB key and a digicam, and the whole unit is so easy to move you can just spin it and plug them in without having to get out of your seat.
The appearance of the machine is something that only works in real life, photos just don't capture the slick transparent shell. Even the power plug has been finished in the same material. Its easy to move around, to push it from side to side and tilt it to your needs.
The 17" display is very nice and big and colourful. I will say this though: it looked AWFUL fresh out of the box, and required a recalibration and tweaking of the font-smoothing settings to get right. The "out-of-the-box" setting is for CRTs and does not look right. Once adjusted though, the display is SWEEEEEET.
The drive is quick and easy to find, even in the dark. I've heard people complain that you have to look for the drive to put CDs in, this is utter nonsense. You can just slam them in there, since the slot is integrated into the shell in such a way that there isn't so much as a single bump or seam that could lead you astray.
Aside from that, the keyboard is small and VERY heavy, quiet to type on, and has the best little rubber feet to keep it solid as a rock on your desk.
I've been using the wireless mouse only, in spite of having a rather nice Logitech one waiting to be plugged in that I thought I'd prefer. The mouse even has a two-level adjustable click pressure (inside the battery cover), and the operating range is well outside the house, which is simply overkill.
Sound is great, though the maximum level might be a little low for the younger generation. It certainly is more than loud enough for comfortable listening.
All in all, the new iMac has surpassed my expectations and is a delight to use. I'd recommend it to anybody looking for a computer. I love it!
