Looking to buy the 20 inch iMac...

[SychoBC]

I want to get a new computer and I'm getting sick of windows. I've been looking at the iMac recently and I love the 20 inch display. Anyone have any opinions on the iMac?

[Toeknee]

The only thing that I would do if i were getting an iMac is replace the stick of 256 thats inside the dome with a stick of 512.. that way you dont have to crack open the computer at all. You can do this via the apple store online.

[wrldwzrd89]

I ordered my iMac 17" with 1 512 MB DIMM in the factory slot. I highly recommend doing this if you plan to upgrade the memory later, especially if you're considering upgrading the memory to 1GB. Also, doubling the RAM from 256 MB to 512 MB will make Mac OS X 'zippier'.

[512ke]

I've been very satisfied with my 17" 1.25 imac. I also upgraded the RAM. Big difference. I notice there are still great deals on the slightly older 17" 1 GHZ model to be had. That might be worth investigating to save you about $400. Just a thought.

[Lincoln]

The other thing(s) that you may wish to consider are Bluetooth and the larger hard disk. These can only be added when the iMac is being built.

The same features can be added externally later, but will use up some of the valuable USB and FireWire ports, it's also nice to have everything self contained.

While not everyone needs a 160GB hard disk, it's only a few $'s to add bluetooth at the start.

I have bluetooth on my powerbook and it works very well with my Nokia 3650 and Palm Tungsten T3.

P.S. I second (or is it fourth now) everyone else about getting 512MB of Ram initially as one stick.

Whatever spec you go for, I wish you all the best with your iMac.

[mwjd299]

I bought the 20" iMac the day after Thanksgiving. I'm very happy with it so far. Have not had any problems. I really like the screen size, it seemed large at first, now I can't go back to a 17".
As far as the specs go, I have the standard 256mb stick. It's adequate for my purposes, but I am thinking of upgrading with another 256mb.

[Chomolungma]

FYI and anyone in here too....that is if you're a federal employee

special promotion @ apple online store for Federal employee. Additional $250 off of discounted price
...this come to $1773

-Chomo


Originally posted by mwjd299
I bought the 20" iMac the day after Thanksgiving. I'm very happy with it so far. Have not had any problems. I really like the screen size, it seemed large at first, now I can't go back to a 17".
As far as the specs go, I have the standard 256mb stick. It's adequate for my purposes, but I am thinking of upgrading with another 256mb.

[aswitcher]

Originally posted by SychoBC
I want to get a new computer and I'm getting sick of windows. I've been looking at the iMac recently and I love the 20 inch display. Anyone have any opinions on the iMac?

Well beware the "rumor" that iMac is long over due for a revisio, and likely to a G5. Different people have different ideas about dates ranging from next week to September, with a form factor change etc...

20" is very nice. Get the 512 and I would also say the Bluetooth so you can get the wireless keyboard and mouse. Hard disk upgrade is also nice.

[Opteron]

Originally posted by SychoBC
Anyone have any opinions on the iMac?

I have many. Though only a few shall I share.

Don't buy an iMac, you would be many times better off buyiing a PM g4, They still make those machines in Dual Proc configuration. A much better and viable option.

Since when you one day decide that the computer your thinking of buying is slow and has outlived it's usefulness, You WONT HAVE TO THROW THE SCREEN OUT with a power mac, however you will need to do this if you WASTE YOUR MONEY AND BUY A 20" IMAC.

buy a tower G4, and a high quality CRT monitor, and you'll never look back. Save that buy a G5.

[Counterfit]

The 20" iMac would cost you $500 less than a single 1.25GHz tower plus 20" display. It would also take up less room, give you Bluetooth, and you'd get that nifty arm. And if flickering bothers you, the LCD takes care of that, plus you get that nifty arm!

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by Opteron
Since when you one day decide that the computer your thinking of buying is slow and has outlived it's usefulness, You WONT HAVE TO THROW THE SCREEN OUT with a power mac, however you will need to do this if you WASTE YOUR MONEY AND BUY A 20" IMAC.
This is the problem I have with the 20" iMac. You are paying a large portion of that price for the screen, a screen which is completely useless when it comes time to upgrade (which will be sooner rather than later, seeing as the tech in the iMac at the moment is so ridiculously out of date already! :eek: :rolleyes: )

Personally, I'd never get a 20" iMac.

[kangaroo]

Originally posted by edesignuk
This is the problem I have with the 20" iMac. You are paying a large portion of that price for the screen, a screen which is completely useless when it comes time to upgrade (which will be sooner rather than later, seeing as the tech in the iMac at the moment is so ridiculously out of date already! :eek: :rolleyes: )

Personally, I'd never get a 20" iMac.

So who's upgrading all the time? A new iMac could easily take you out the next 5 years. By that time, if you'd gotten a G4 or G5 w/separate display--you'd probably want to ditch your display and upgrade that too.

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by kangaroo
So who's upgrading all the time? A new iMac could easily take you out the next 5 years. By that time, if you'd gotten a G4 or G5 w/separate display--you'd probably want to ditch your display and upgrade that too.
The current iMac is still slower than a PowerMac I bought over 2 years ago, the tech is ancient! The screen will out live the rest of the machine, and you will want to upgrade. A single 1.25GHz G4 for £1749 (stock, and you'd need more RAM) is an out right rip-off, there's just no denying it, unless of course you one of the I love Apple, they can do no wrong zealots :rolleyes:.

The iMac needs a G5, and it needs it quick, until then it's a waste of money. Keeping on slapping on bigger and bigger screens does not cut it Apple!

[Counterfit]

Originally posted by edesignuk
A single 1.25GHz G4 for £1749 (stock, and you'd need more RAM) is an out right rip-off, you also get the 20" screen, which lowers the "rip-off" factor quite a bit.

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by Counterfit
you also get the 20" screen, which lowers the "rip-off" factor quite a bit.
Yes, which (as has already been said) is bugger all use when that 1.25GHz G4 out lives it's usefullness. :rolleyes:

[Counterfit]

But then you can just run the SETI@Home screensaver on it and it'll be purtee and useful :D

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by Counterfit
But then you can just run the SETI@Home screensaver on it and it'll be purtee and useful :D
I hope you're joking at this point :eek:

[Counterfit]

Somewhat...

[ebow]

Seeing as IBM is about to begin delivering 90nm G5 chips (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60072) it's reasonable to assume that Apple will be working them into other parts of the product line (beyond Xserve) pretty soon. So I'd hold off on just about any purchase right now (except maybe iBooks) until... mid-March (wild guess) if I could wait. Another wild guess: we'll see speed-bumpted PM G5s, G5 iMacs, and faster G4 eMacs.

But basically, if you're interested in an iMac and can wait a month, it might be a good bet to just wait. Stay tuned to the rumor mill, of course.

[kangaroo]

Originally posted by edesignuk
The current iMac is still slower than a PowerMac I bought over 2 years ago, the tech is ancient! The screen will out live the rest of the machine, and you will want to upgrade. A single 1.25GHz G4 for £1749 (stock, and you'd need more RAM) is an out right rip-off, there's just no denying it, unless of course you one of the I love Apple, they can do no wrong zealots :rolleyes:.

The iMac needs a G5, and it needs it quick, until then it's a waste of money. Keeping on slapping on bigger and bigger screens does not cut it Apple!

No, I never drank the Apple Kool-Aid (i.e., I'm not an Apple zealot).;)
I don't really disagree with you--Apple should stick a G5 in there posthaste, and change the form factor a bit. What I take issue with is the argument that some people make that an iMac (or any all-in-one) is a poor choice because of its limited upgrade options. The fact is, most people 'upgrade' by ditching their system and buying a [completely] new one.

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by kangaroo
The fact is, most people 'upgrade' by ditching their system and buying a [completely] new one.
But way pay out again at upgrade time for a monitor (in this case a very good and expensive one) when you already have one? :confused: It just make no sense to me.

[jxyama]

4 or 5 years ago, CRT displays were hailed for holding value better than the CPU/memory/HD, etc. so the convention back then was to buy modest computers frequently but invest more and hold on to the big monitor.

now, with LCDs in town, CRTs suddenly cost next to nothing and no casual users are attracted by them. so much for "holding value."

for casual users, iMac will last 5 years fine. would you be willing to bet that the display technology won't be better then that you'd have wanted to upgrade the display regardless of whether you have an iMac or a PowerMac? who knows what's coming?

if you know what you are getting, i think iMac is a fine buy. it's elegant and functional. plus if you wanted a Mac with a large LCD display, iMac is the cheaper way to go. it may not be the best value for the money for some - sure, i can see that - but to label people in favor of iMacs as "I love Apple, they can do no wrong zealots" is a bit of yourself being... "upgrade zealot"

[edesignuk]

Originally posted by jxyama
but to label people in favor of iMacs as "I love Apple, they can do no wrong zealots" is a bit of yourself being... "upgrade zealot"
Whatever mate, you still will not convince me that paying so much for a computer with such old, out dated, over priced tech, with a screen that is no use in the future is a good idea.
A year ago I would have said the iMacs were good, but now the situation has changed, we are a year on, and what's changed really? Oh, a bigger screen, great :rolleyes:

[Opteron]

Originally posted by edesignuk
Whatever mate, you still will not convince me that paying so much for a computer with such old, out dated, over priced tech, with a screen that is no use in the future is a good idea.
A year ago I would have said the iMacs were good, but now the situation has changed, we are a year on, and what's changed really? Oh, a bigger screen, great :rolleyes:

Totally agree, And I return to my previous statement, why not go with a headless DP 1.25G4 Power mac. They're faster than the G5 1.6GHz model, and have the ablity to take a second optial drive, 4HDD's, 2GB od RAM, and any mac edition AGP graphics card+PCI-X. While they are still a little pricy they're much better buying than an iMac at this point in time.

About my CRT comment. Plan and simple I don't like LCD screens. I'm a gamer, and nothing beats a 21" Flat CRT. Plus they are cheaper and last for donkies years.

However if your one for biding your time I would wait for OLED screen set for release around the turn of the decade (2010)

[Dont Hurt Me]

I agree with both of you, might as well get that stale technology in a 1.25 single G4 Powermac and buy a nice screen to go with it. Then you have the ability to upgrade everything. But i wouldnt choose a dual G4 over a single G5 not when comparing new against new. as G4s have been bumped up they havent really gotten faster because of that FSB. This is why when those G5s came out they started at 800 compared to 167 on single and dual G4s.
Dont get me wrong i love Imacs design just not what is inside them.

[jxyama]

Originally posted by edesignuk
Whatever mate, you still will not convince me that paying so much for a computer with such old, out dated, over priced tech, with a screen that is no use in the future is a good idea.
A year ago I would have said the iMacs were good, but now the situation has changed, we are a year on, and what's changed really? Oh, a bigger screen, great :rolleyes:

i don't care at all about convincing you. you should get what you feel is worth your money.

i just wanted you to not be so crude as to label people liking iMacs (for various reasons you obviously don't agree with) as if they are absolutely insane.

if you wanted a brand new 20" LCD Mac for $2200, then iMac is the choice. it will cost $900 more to get one with a G5 PM. if one had no reasons for upgrades and didn't need the power of G5, would he/she spend close to a grand more NOW just so you can keep the screen in 5 years?

obviously, if those conditions don't apply, like the way you are, then this argument doesn't make much sense. but you have to at least give me that there are some people out there for whom these conditions *do* apply.

[rendezvouscp]

I would suggest waiting of course to see what Apple has up their sleeve (if anything). The 20" iMac is a very nice machine (my mom has one). It's everything she will ever need the next, well, probably 7 years. She doesn't do a lot of intensive stuff (a little PhotoShop and Illustrator here and there), so it fits her best. She added BlueTooth and 512 ram (one stick), and I suggest the same. Good luck, and welcome to Apple.
-Chase

[Opteron]

Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
as G4s have been bumped up they havent really gotten faster because of that FSB. This is why when those G5s came out they started at 800 compared to 167 on single and dual G4s.


This is the real issue at hand isn't it. How fast we can feed data to the processor so that it can be turned into infomation that we can use.

Here is the line up in slowest first
HDD<South Bridge<North Bridge<RAM<FSB<Processor
Well that's how it should read, except in the case of the G4 the RAM is faster than the FSB. Thus the FSB is the crippiling factor in this chips architecture.

Why do you think we saw 2MB of level 3 chache last year? To try and comensate for this huge short fall

[aswitcher]

Originally posted by ebow
SNIP So I'd hold off on just about any purchase right now (except maybe iBooks) until... mid-March (wild guess) if I could wait. Another wild guess: we'll see speed-bumpted PM G5s, G5 iMacs, and faster G4 eMacs.

But basically, if you're interested in an iMac and can wait a month, it might be a good bet to just wait. Stay tuned to the rumor mill, of course.

Yep, hold off else you might find you missed out on a better computer for less...