G5 iMac - horror stories. A risky purchase?

[Runaway]

I have read countless threads on many Apple discussion boards about G5 iMacs breaking down, going weird, screwing up and all needing various repairs from midplane (logic board) replacements, to shoddy RAM needing replacing and various noise and display issues due to failing capacitors.

I was going to buy one, but I've been frightened off like you wouldn't believe.

Is there anyone here who can put my mind at rest, or is it common knowledge now to steer clear of the G5 iMac until Apple addresses the problem?

[iGary]

Seems like those problems have disappeared with the REV B machines.

I wouldn't hesitate a minute.

I love mine.

[aldo]

The quality of Apple's goods in the last 3-5 years is exceptionally shoddy. I know of no other computer manufacturer that has _4_ legal settlements/recalls on the ir homepage.

Don't bother buying an iMac yet. Wait until the intel switchover -- you'll regret spending $1000s on a obselete machine otherwise.

[Josh]

I don't know about the majority of them, or if the problem is common knowledge or anything, but I did indeed have a horrible experience with mine.

I had to personally replace the power supply twice, and the midplane once (each with about 1 week wait for parts, and lots of busy work (aka wasted time).

That never did anything. It was insanely loud (apple engineer on the phone asked if there was an air conditioner running).

They refused to replace it no matter how polite, angry, or the number of times I called.

3 months into owning it, the screen went out, and Apple themselves replaced the midpane and LCD. Fixed the screen, but this time it was even louder.

I took it to the store, and showed them first hand the noise - they even took me into the back to a quieter room, and the mac was buzzing like mad. They said "Well, it's within spec, so there is nothing we can do."

I have a thread about it somewhere that got really big and shocked a lot of people.

I'd never buy an iMac G5 again, but that's just me. I'm sure my problem was not the norm at all, but that seriously made me madder than anything in the world.

I want a new iBook soon, but after dealing with Apple from the iMac, I'm scared to buy another apple product again :(

[Runaway]

I thought I might be safe with a REV B machine, but how do I tell if the shop is selling me a REV B and not a REV A they couldn't shift earlier? :)

Also, I have still read about a few logic board problems on new REV Bs on the Apple discussion board which is weird.

[Runaway]

I don't know about the majority of them, or if the problem is common knowledge or anything, but I did indeed have a horrible experience with mine.

I had to personally replace the power supply twice, and the midplane once (each with about 1 week wait for parts, and lots of busy work (aka wasted time).

That never did anything. It was insanely loud (apple engineer on the phone asked if there was an air conditioner running).

They refused to replace it no matter how polite, angry, or the number of times I called.

3 months into owning it, the screen went out, and Apple themselves replaced the midpane and LCD. Fixed the screen, but this time it was even louder.

I took it to the store, and showed them first hand the noise - they even took me into the back to a quieter room, and the mac was buzzing like mad. They said "Well, it's within spec, so there is nothing we can do."

I have a thread about it somewhere that got really big and shocked a lot of people.

I'd never buy an iMac G5 again, but that's just me. I'm sure my problem was not the norm at all, but that seriously made me madder than anything in the world.

I want a new iBook soon, but after dealing with Apple from the iMac, I'm scared to buy another apple product again :(

Yeah, I'm reading LOTS of these stories... it seems very common, and I don't understand why Apple haven't done a product recall!

[Savage Henry]

Buy the Rev B. It's the best machine my fingers have ever graced.

As for wait until Intel?? PAH !!! iMacs won't see the chips for a long while. Obsolescence is relative to the your own requirements.

I can understand reluctance based on faulty units being quoted, but threads tend to be based on that .... how many times do you see a thread saying "My iMac is Lovely"?

[slu]

Meh. This again.

If you need/want it buy it. What types of posts do you think would be on a support message board?

There are such things as a warranty and Apple Care to put your mind at ease.

[wordmunger]

Yeah, I'm reading LOTS of these stories... it seems very common, and I don't understand why Apple haven't done a product recall!

That's because no one is going to post to MR saying "My IMAC is working FINE! NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO ASAP!!!!!!!!!

[topgunn]

On a related note, I was over at barefeats.com and noticed this (http://www.barefeats.com/quick.html).
June 13th, 2005 -- Hot Running iMac G5 Drives -- One of my remote mad scientists is reporting temperatures of 189F on his 400G internal hard drive. He measuring the surface near the spindle. By comparison, using our new infrared temperature gun, we measured 116F on our G5/2.5 Power Mac's boot drive spindle during operation.

There is a drive temperature sensor built into the iMac G5 that you can sample with software (like ThermographX) but the sensor isn't touching the drive and measures only ambient air temperature -- which gives you a lower reading -- and is therefore misleading.

High operating temperatures can cause permature drive failure. Someone suggested moving the iMac's temp sensor closer to the drive, but warned that fan speeds (and noise levels) would go up. One of our remote mad scientists created his own heatsink for the iMac G5's hard drive which brought the drive surface temperature down to 105F.

[Willy S]

My Rev A is working perfectly after one month usage. So far, no complaints.

[killuminati]

I have a 17" Rev B and it is the best purchase I have ever made. Not a single complaint.

[Josh]

There are such things as a warranty and Apple Care to put your mind at ease.

lol...I had both, and take a look at what good that did:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=95328

Apple support gave me more greif than the actuall iMac did.

[thedude110]

I use a Rev B 20'' iMac at work and have had only two problems (neither of which are hardware problems, as far as I know!):

1. Too much blue screening. Can't tell you how many times the thing hangs on shut down.

2. The (formerly) white keyboard (I know, I know -- my dirty fingers are a topic for another thread).

Otherwise, it's a sweet machine. Buy a Rev B iMac now and wait for the Rev B Intel machines before diving into that water ...

[iGary]

Give me a break with this "obsolete machine" BS.

God, I wish this Intel thing would go away.

[blodwyn]

My Rev A 20" iMac G5 running sweetly since January.

[CanadaRAM]

The quality of Apple's goods in the last 3-5 years is exceptionally shoddy. I know of no other computer manufacturer that has _4_ legal settlements/recalls on the ir homepage.

Your lack of awareness does not constitute fact. Try Googling Packard-Bell, NEC, eMachines, Toshiba, IBM for high standards of quality and lawsuits.

Don't bother buying an iMac yet. Wait until the intel switchover -- you'll regret spending $1000s on a obselete machine otherwise

I disagree almost completely. The iMac G5 is the best bang-for-buck machine out there. Fast, inexpensive, beautiful screen, good software.

The entire premise that the forthcoming Intel based Macs makes all current PPC based Macs obsolete and undesirable is so wrongheaded, and based on a series of flawed assumptions (Apple dropping support for OS10.4 PPC and OS10.5PPC within 2-4 years, Intel based machines being absurdly inexpensive, software companies somehow missing the message and producing x86 only binaries) The primary assumption is that the OP is willing and able to do without their new machine for 1 -2 years while they wait as per your advice.

Get the iMac. It's a great machine now, it will run the software you put on it today INDEFINITELY, and it's entirely your choice whether or not the machine is ever obsoleted -- that only happens (with any computer platform BTW) when YOU decide you have to have a new program that demands more than the computer has to offer.

And what if you decide in 2 years that the intel Mac is the one for you? Then you sell the iMac, buy the new whatever, and you've had the use of a beautiful machine that has cost you net $300 - $500 per year. Good return by any measure.

[lopresmb]

I thought I might be safe with a REV B machine, but how do I tell if the shop is selling me a REV B and not a REV A they couldn't shift earlier? :)

Also, I have still read about a few logic board problems on new REV Bs on the Apple discussion board which is weird.

--the Rev B has a Radeon Graphics card with 128 mb Video RAM most notably, and this is true of all REV B iMacs, regardless of other specs...

[Bozola]

I love my revB.. it's SO gorgeous, SO quiet, SO fast.

It's the best iMac ever...

ok.. I am bit biased...

:D

[killuminati]

Give me a break with this "obsolete machine" BS.

God, I wish this Intel thing would go away.

I know, I kind of wish that Apple didn't even make it public until right before the new Macs were released. They should have just secretly told the developers what to do but not actually made any public announcement. I am so damn sick of people talking about.

[paulypants]

The quality of Apple's goods in the last 3-5 years is exceptionally shoddy. I know of no other computer manufacturer that has _4_ legal settlements/recalls on the ir homepage.

Don't bother buying an iMac yet. Wait until the intel switchover -- you'll regret spending $1000s on a obselete machine otherwise.

A totally irresponsible comment, 3-5 yrs? Are you sure? Define exceptionally shoddy. I know of many issues with PC vendors does that mean they are also exceptionally shoddy? Only a fool would consider it an obsolete machine, in a year or so the G6 could have come out, would that have meant G5 purchases now would have been obsolete purchases is you had known? Nope. It's noy obsolete unless the newer version is out RIGHT NOW. It's not, so disconnect your keyboard so you won't be able to spread anymore of your FUD.

[Eidorian]

I'm keeping my iMac G5 until it dies. It does get a little noisy when importing music off of CD's in iTunes but otherwise it's quiet.

[Xenious]

On a related note, I was over at barefeats.com and noticed this (http://www.barefeats.com/quick.html).

My wife's 3 month old 20" G5 1.8GHz iMac (rev A) just lost a drive. I learned the powerful backup lesson that one nasty event teaches us. SMART status said the drive was fine when we powered it off to go on holiday, but when we came back it wouldn't recognize the drive on boot.

[Cooknn]

I have setup and currently support 3 - 20" iMac G5 rev A's for my son, his grandmother (on the ex's side) and my bosses daughter. No problems whatsoever. No support necessary either. It's a beautiful thing :D

[yoda13]

A totally irresponsible comment, 3-5 yrs? Are you sure? Define exceptionally shoddy. I know of many issues with PC vendors does that mean they are also exceptionally shoddy? Only a fool would consider it an obsolete machine, in a year or so the G6 could have come out, would that have meant G5 purchases now would have been obsolete purchases is you had known? Nope. It's noy obsolete unless the newer version is out RIGHT NOW. It's not, so disconnect your keyboard so you won't be able to spread anymore of your FUD.

Thank you
:D

[zim]

My wife has a 20" Rev A iMac G5 at work. No problems on her end either. She loves her computer, says it is the best computer she has ever had (her previous work computer ran windows).

[nickfit]

I'm completely happy with my rev b 20 incher. The fan cranks up when I am doing stuff like ripping or comressing music, but even then it is not that loud. And by no means will the machine be obsolete after the conversion to Intel. Apple will support G5 chips long into the future. So, by the time you want to upgrade, you can comfortably move into an Intel Mac after they have been in service a while.

[wdlove]

At my lawyers office they have two Rev. A G5 iMac's. They switched because of all the virus and spyware problems. No problems incurred so far.

[m-dogg]

I've had a revision a since January and I haven't had any problems. I truly love it!

[Sutekidane]

My revA 20" is flawless in every way ^_^.

[iJaz]

The rev. B I had for a couple of days became very hot inside after normal work load and then the fans then started to run fast and become noisy. And I had a couple of stuck pixels.
But it was really fast and pleasant to use.

[natness]

lol...I had both, and take a look at what good that did:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=95328

Apple support gave me more greif than the actuall iMac did.


Whatever happened, Josh? What was the end to your imac story? Did Ruth help you out? Did you sell it on Ebay? I read that whole thread in disbelief, and then it simply ended.

I am awaiting tomorrow's delivery of a rev b 20" imac, with a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's my first new computer in 8 years. I ordered it with the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, then got nervous and tried to change it from the CTO to the stock. They gave me $80 to keep it like it was-- more than the cost of the upgrade. Except now I don't get to return it within 14 days if its a whiner.

Please don't let it be a whiner!

[SteveC]

I own a Rev B and love it. It's a beautiful machine and runs great. (Specs in my sig.)

[Xtremehkr]

My iMac has been great since I first hit the power button. The G5 iMacs are good right now, the intel Imacs will also be good when they are released. Waiting just means you will go without in the meantime. There are always going to be a few duds, but considering how many have been sold, the percentage is not large.

[iPoster]

I don't own an iMac G5, so I can't speak for that model, but Apple ranks 1st in computer reliability and service support on Consumer Reports every year. So I can only imagine the problems PC owners must have... :rolleyes:


For the best reliability and support:
Apple $1,675
As our survey reports continue to indicate, Apple’s reliability and support are top-notch.

[Lara F]

I got one of the first RevB's shipped to my Apple store, and have no complaints that increasing Ram (I have the base 512) likely wouldn't fix. I certainly wasn't aware of horror stories! IMO it has the best overall value of the current Apple lineup - Power Macs are great but I don't see them being worth the extra $$$, and the laptops are too aged. Definition of "sweet spot" if you ask me. :)

[mad jew]

From first-hand experiences:

1 rev B iMac G5
1 rev A iBook G4
1 4G iPod

No problems thus far. One very happy consumer. :)

[risc]

My wife's 3 month old 20" G5 1.8GHz iMac (rev A) just lost a drive. I learned the powerful backup lesson that one nasty event teaches us. SMART status said the drive was fine when we powered it off to go on holiday, but when we came back it wouldn't recognize the drive on boot.

My GFs iMac was exactly the same from day one it had a chirping noise, when I arranged to get it repaired the guy knew straight away what the problem was - DOA HD - must be pretty common, there were 3 other people in the line getting their iMacs repaired when I took hers in, been fine ever since the repair though...

/me knocks on wood!

[OKComputer]

I have a Rev A 1.8 17 inch and I have had absoloutly no problems with it.
My only crit. is that it's a little loud when Im using photoshop or a processor intense program

I recently replaced the 80 gig with a 300 gig HD and 2gb ram - believe it or not I think its getting quieter.

[rdowns]

That's because no one is going to post to MR saying "My IMAC is working FINE! NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO ASAP!!!!!!!!!


My IMAC is working FINE! NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO ASAP!!!!!!!!!

Not a problem and have had my 20" since the first units shipped.

FWIW, I have never had a problem with any Apple product I have owned - Mac SE, Mac LC, Mac IIsi, Quadra 7 something, a lowly Performa, iMac, iMac G5, iBook G3, iPod 3G.


Oops, I lied. I did have a dog of an Apple 15" CRT which they promptly replaced.

[Mr. Anderson]

I've not had any issues with the Rev B 20" iMac we purchased a month or so ago - works great and I can't see a reason not to get one if you're thinking about it.

D

[sk8erboy]

^^^^^

you are truley a - devil inside. -

[WillR]

I've had my rev A 17" 1.8GHz IMac G5 since early October 2004. No problems.

[guigo]

Hi...
I have an Imac 20" rev B and I have only one complain that I don't know if are a hardware problem or a software problem (running tiger 10.4.1)
Three days after I bought, some pixels start flickering around desktop, in red and green...this lasts 10 seconds.
On the following days it happens again, different behavior. One time this happens only above the DVD window I was playing, other time only in the middle of the screen, last night happens around all the display.
This not affect any application and I xbench my imac, scores 170.
It's just annoying and I'm all time looking for new info. I will not wait until something worst happens.
I run the apple hadware test and everything pass.
I love my imac and will continue with him until a nice PB G5 become real.
If someone can give an inside, I even post a topic for that.
Best Regards
Guilherme

[jsalzer]

Three days after I bought, some pixels start flickering around desktop, in red and green...

Hmmm - I think my machine and yours are other halves of each others' souls. You had the red and green. Mine eventually spent more time being blue than full color!

Finally convinced the (wonderful, btw) phone support people to stop making me try stupid things and let me take it into an authorized repairer. Brought it in to CompUSA April 30. Forty-five days later (yup, 45), they're still waiting to get a midplane from Apple. I guess there are so many issues it's tough to get your hands on them.

And yet, if I had to go buy a computer today, I'd buy an iMac again. As someone said, it's the sweat spot right now for power, price, and semi-portability. And it's just a pleasure to have in front of you (aside from having a fan that close to your ears, of course.).

Whelp - let's see if Day 46 is my lucky day!

;)

[ClarkeB]

I've had a rev A iMac G5 since 2 October 2004 and I have exactly one dead pixel. The only time I've ever experienced lots of noise was when I was using my iPod as a start up drive...but otherwise...nothing.


My grandmother's rev A 17in on the other hand....it squeals and squeaks to no end

[sk8erboy]

wow.. i never new my future imac ( which will be history this weekEND) could have this many problems.. *Gets Nervous*


perhaps an emac?

[Runaway]

Well well well... this is EXACTLY what I'm talking about! Everyone should read this!

iMac G5 - Up in smoke! (http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08080)

[natness]

I am writing this on my brand new imac (2.0, 20") that I took delivery of exactly 27 minutes ago. It is a thing of beauty. The moment I powered it up all my fears vanished.

This computer is very quiet. Not silent, but infinitley quieter than the bf's rev A 17". I haven't taxed it with anything yet, so I'll hold out final judgement. I'm going to be optimistic and expect several years out of this machine.

Now, off to buy the sims 2. :p

[SteveG4Cube]

I'm writing this from my new (refurb) 20" 1.8ghz iMac as well. I was all ready to dime up the $1799 for a new one, but after the Mactel announcement I just couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of cash on something that I might want to replace in 2 years (versus my usual 4-5 years per Mac). I opened the box, went to install my 512mb of ram from crucial.com, and noticed that there was already 512mb in there (supposed to have 256!). So I add te extra anyway, boot it up, and.... Kernel panic! After three more panics within an hour, I pull out the crucial ram and it's been flawless ever since. I've yet to try Tiger, but 10.3.9 is a nice upgrade (I was running 10.2.x on my G4 450). I also noticed that I've got a 250gb HD instead of the 160gb that was supposed to come with it! I couldn't be happier with my $1399 purchase. Now I just have to return my DOA, unnecessary ram to crucial.com. :D