Deep thoughts - on new 21.5" 3.06 with 4670!

[MJD Dawg]

Well, I just took the plunge and picked this up last night at my local Apple store. I've used pc's since Jesus was a boy so this is a huge change for me, but I think I'm ready. It's still in the box, to be opened by my two young boys on Christmas day, so can't comment on any usage experience yet, but I did want to share a few thoughts:


this forum has been a wonderful resource and has helped me feel comfortable with my purchase.
this forum has been a wonderful resource but has me freaked me out as well in that my new baby could have one of the many issues.
I have a little buyers remorse with all the coin I just dropped thinking that for a few hundred less I could have bought a nice system at Best Buy.
looking at all those systems at Best Buy made me realize what a quality machine I'm getting (plastic vs a brick of aluminum; AIO vs box & cables).
when pricing out a windows pc, once I factored in the additional software I would have to purchase, the iMac premium wasn't that much more (couple hundred dollars), even with Applecare.
the purchase experience at the Apple store was quick and efficient, even though it was extremely busy.
cleaning off my desk the other day made me realize how many cables I really had hanging back there, not to mention all the dust.
I still can't believe I'll be able to just plunk this baby down, plug it in, and go.
Apple has to be making a fortune; for the half hour I was in the store, one lady walked out with a MB Pro in one hand and a 30" cinema display in the other. Another guy came in and bought 5 15" MB Pro's, one for each member of his family for Christmas.


Anyhoot, enough rambling. I'm pretty excited about the purchase and am looking forward to Christmas day.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous new year!

Cheers from the Great White North.

[sparkie1984]

hi mate, i too am looking forward to using my imac on xmas day!!
although i did briefly fire mine up as i wanted to check the screen out etc! (glad i did as i did have a minor problem)

i was almost put off buying one due to issues, but thought id risk it for a biscuit plus i have faith in apple and im sure theyll put anything right thats wrong!

[MJD Dawg]

hi mate, i too am looking forward to using my imac on xmas day!!
although i did briefly fire mine up as i wanted to check the screen out etc! (glad i did as i did have a minor problem)

i was almost put off buying one due to issues, but thought id risk it for a biscuit plus i have faith in apple and im sure theyll put anything right thats wrong!

Hey Sparkie, only 3 more sleeps to go! What was the minor problem you found?

Sitting at home last night, that box was just sitting there begging me to open it up. I seriously thought about it to check for issues, then thought that even if I found something, I didn't want to be scrambling to the Apple store 2 days before Christmas.

Like you, even though this is my first Apple product of any kind, I've gotten the impression from these forums that Apple will try to make it right. Aside from having the quality control in the first place, that's all I can ask for really.

Cheers, and enjoy your Christmas gift.

[crackbookpro]

It is a really nice machine! Has worked pretty well as I expect from good ol' Apple.

I would comment more, but I don't exactly know what you are looking for.

...it just seems you are just as excited to open this up as your kids will be on xMas day!

Good luck and have a great holiday!

[MJD Dawg]

It is a really nice machine! Has worked pretty well as I expect from good ol' Apple.

I would comment more, but I don't exactly know what you are looking for.

...it just seems you are just as excited to open this up as your kids will be on xMas day!

Good luck and have a great holiday!

Thanks, I am pretty pumped and I think it'll be a great machine also. The base model would have probably more than met my needs (Surfing, mail, word processing, family photo/video work..etc) and those of the kids (online games like WOW, Counter Strike Source...etc), but I thought the extra umph of the dedicated video card might come in handy in the next couple of years.

Cheers and happy holidays as well.

[sparkie1984]

Hi mate!

I had no operating system installed! Bit worrying they missed that actually!

Haven't used it properly so unsure for certain about flickering so fingers crossed!

Happy Christmas to you all too

[MJD Dawg]

Hi mate!

I had no operating system installed! Bit worrying they missed that actually!

Haven't used it properly so unsure for certain about flickering so fingers crossed!

Happy Christmas to you all too


No operating system? How can that be? It's stories like this that have me a bit concerned.

Where's the quality control?

I picture the quality control guy on the assembly line in Shanghai being like the QC guy in that Simpsons episode who works at the Duff brewery, who as he's talking to Homer misses the bottles of Duff going by that contain syringes, rats, and Hitler's head in them. :eek:

[powerbook911]

I think you got a great computer. You'll really be impressed and enjoy it. I'm sure you'll be sticking with Mac a long time now.

It is amazing what some people buy at the Apple stores.

[sparkie1984]

i know what your saying mate!

but someone mentioned in the thread i had about it that maybe its a good thing and it was the one picked out of the batch for testing, although quite how they forgot to install an os on it i dont know!!!

[ipure]

i read deep throat...

[sparkie1984]

i read deep throat...


???

[Ecoh]

???

He must of read "deep throat" instead of "deep thoughts" . Kind of funny, I guess.

[sparkie1984]

lol on the mind is it :)

[MJD Dawg]

I think you got a great computer. You'll really be impressed and enjoy it. I'm sure you'll be sticking with Mac a long time now.

It is amazing what some people buy at the Apple stores.


I'm really looking forward to the change. Just hoping my first Apple experience isn't tainted by having to drag the thing back to the Apple store 2 or 3 times!

Cheers.

[Faalkor]

I got mine the week of Thanksgiving and have loved every minute of it. Plays the occasional game and has plenty of storage for all of our media. It's quite, takes up very little space, and looks great!

[MJD Dawg]

I got mine the week of Thanksgiving and have loved every minute of it. Plays the occasional game and has plenty of storage for all of our media. It's quite, takes up very little space, and looks great!


It's great to read positive news about these machines with all the negativity permeating the forums. I can't wait for Christmas morning!!

[sparkie1984]

It's great to read positive news about these machines with all the negativity permeating the forums. I can't wait for Christmas morning!!


you and me both mate!!!!!!! :apple:

[ipure]

you and me both mate!!!!!!! :apple:

i read you want to mate with him

[sparkie1984]

1 more sleep!!!!!!!!!! :apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple:

[ScottFitz]

My wife is pissed. Mine came it a week or two ago, opened it up and am on my third one... It's on my desk at work. No waiting for x-mas for me!!! :)

[sparkie1984]

lol lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ive set me desk up now so its missing one thing.......... :apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::a pple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple

[MJD Dawg]

lol lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


ive set me desk up now so its missing one thing.......... :apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple::a pple::apple::apple::apple::apple::apple

Me too. My kids are starting to ask questions, like why is the desk so clean dad? Thank God there's only 1 more sleep. I can't hold them off much longer!

Merry Christmas!

[sparkie1984]

ive got the macbook on the desk at the moment so its still a state lol

merry christmas everyone!!! il be up in 7 hours im sure 6 am in the uk :eek: (i have younger brothers)

[sparkie1984]

how did it go??

mines on now! fingers crossed so far! im not going to do the yellow tinge test as i know that if i didnt read the thread on it id be none the wiser!

i think i have 1 dead pixel on the isight camera, again never used that in the 3 macs ive had!

just having problems pairing the remote!

[MJD Dawg]

how did it go??

mines on now! fingers crossed so far! im not going to do the yellow tinge test as i know that if i didnt read the thread on it id be none the wiser!

i think i have 1 dead pixel on the isight camera, again never used that in the 3 macs ive had!

just having problems pairing the remote!

Merry Christmas!

It's 10 am here on the west coast. The kids will be opening it up this afternoon so stay tuned.

Cheers.

[WilliamG]

Woot!

By the way, there is nothing that touches either iMac for the price/performance when you factor in the absolutely stunning IPS LED-lit displays. I don't care how fast a computer is. If it doesn't have a good display, it's worthless to me. Enjoy your iMac!!!

[sparkie1984]

aww, your lucky :(

christmas is almost over here in the uk!!! been so busy ive hardly had a chance to play on my imac!!

[MJD Dawg]

Woot!

By the way, there is nothing that touches either iMac for the price/performance when you factor in the absolutely stunning IPS LED-lit displays. I don't care how fast a computer is. If it doesn't have a good display, it's worthless to me. Enjoy your iMac!!!

Now that's what I like to hear. Thanks.

[MJD Dawg]

aww, your lucky :(

christmas is almost over here in the uk!!! been so busy ive hardly had a chance to play on my imac!!

That's what boxing day is for! LOL!

Did you figure out that issue with the operating system?

Cheers.

[sparkie1984]

well i had to install it, and it seems to be ok so far, so fingers crossed!! ive been out and let it do a 80gb backup to time machine over wifi!

didnt take too long actually, few hours maybe!

come home, macs asleep. pressed a button up she woke! im just really hoping i have no flickering!

have you opened yours yet??? im excited for you

p.s. we have 30 mins left of xmas day here :(

[MJD Dawg]

well i had to install it, and it seems to be ok so far, so fingers crossed!! ive been out and let it do a 80gb backup to time machine over wifi!

didnt take too long actually, few hours maybe!

come home, macs asleep. pressed a button up she woke! im just really hoping i have no flickering!

have you opened yours yet??? im excited for you

p.s. we have 30 mins left of xmas day here :(

The fact that your imac woke quickly from sleep is good news. Seems to be an issue for some.

Not opened yet. Still waiting for the kids to get here. Hopefully in about 30 minutes I should be basking in all its glory.

I noticed before I wrapped it that it's a week 44, even though I bought it Dec 21st. I have a bad feeling about that particular batch.

[sparkie1984]

well mines a 48th week and according to that serial number site number 1,396 built that week!!

oh so waking up from sleep is a good thing then lol! whod of thought, we'd have been so relieved that our mac works as it should!

best of luck with it! i look forward to the updates mate!

[MJD Dawg]

well mines a 48th week and according to that serial number site number 1,396 built that week!!

oh so waking up from sleep is a good thing then lol! whod of thought, we'd have been so relieved that our mac works as it should!

best of luck with it! i look forward to the updates mate!

Thanks. I'll update soon. Btw, do u have a link to that serial number site? I can't seem to find it.

Cheers.

[sparkie1984]

here it is mate:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

post up your specs :)

[MJD Dawg]

here it is mate:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

post up your specs :)

Thanks a bunch sparkie. Hope the quality control guy was awake when mine came off the line.

[sparkie1984]

no worries mate :)

keep the thread updated with how your finding it! although im sure the 21.5" ers dont suffer problems anywhere near as much

[Jayling]

I noticed before I wrapped it that it's a week 44, even though I bought it Dec 21st. I have a bad feeling about that particular batch.

MJD, I have a week 44 iMac 21.5" with the HD 4670, ordered from Amazon on December 15th, received December 16th, and it is gorgeous! There isn't a single problem that I could find. I've had it for 10 days now without any glitches. I'm truly enjoying this beaut. :)

Merry Christmas to ya!

[MJD Dawg]

Well, finally have it set up. Woot!

This baby is gorgeous. Set-up was a snap, the screen is a marvel to look at, boot time is lightening fast, web pages load in no time. There appear to be absolutely none of the issues others are experiencing (knock on wood).

I'm just blown away right now. Buyers remorse is out the window and I'm looking forward to playing with this puppy and learning the nuances of OSX.

I'll continue to post my experiences as I go along.

Hope everyone's had a great Christmas and enjoying their Christmas iMac's. Right now, I'm one happy camper.

Cheers everyone. :)

[sparkie1984]

great news!!!

enjoy it mate and i hope itll be running fine!

[MJD Dawg]

Thanks Sparkie. So far so good, but let's see what happens over the next few days. Don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched.

How's yours doing day 2?

Man, I still can't believe this screen. Everything just jumps off the page.

[MJD Dawg]

MJD, I have a week 44 iMac 21.5" with the HD 4670, ordered from Amazon on December 15th, received December 16th, and it is gorgeous! There isn't a single problem that I could find. I've had it for 10 days now without any glitches. I'm truly enjoying this beaut. :)

Merry Christmas to ya!

Thanks Jayling, so far so good, but it's only been on for about 4 hours. Hopefully the week 44's were a good batch. Nice to hear your having none of the issues after 10 days and enjoying this baby!

Merry Christmas to you as well.

Cheers.

[sparkie1984]

yeah im the same mate! touch wood so far seems to be ok. unfortunately it seems these can work fine for 2 weeks then start playing up big time!

dont worry this site will be first to know :)

how do the kids like it then? or havent they been allowed near it :D
:apple::apple:

[MJD Dawg]

yeah im the same mate! touch wood so far seems to be ok. unfortunately it seems these can work fine for 2 weeks then start playing up big time!

dont worry this site will be first to know :)

how do the kids like it then? or havent they been allowed near it :D
:apple::apple:

Yeah, let's hope no issues pop up.

As for the kids, I had them convinced that there wasn't going to be a new computer as after I picked them up we went straight to a family dinner. Once we got home and they saw the wrapped box, they couldn't rip the wrapping off fast enough. My older boy helped me set it up, the younger one went straight to the PS3 to play his new Modern Warfare 2 game.

Other than some slight complaining about the new mouse, this puppy has their stamp of approval. But I am keeping a close eye on them right now. I even had to tell my kid to stop pounding the keyboard so hard :eek:. I guess this will be like a new car. Once you get that first scratch, you're not so anal anymore.

[sparkie1984]

thats exactly it! same with my iphone, as soon as it gets dropped you kind of lose interest!

pounding the keyboard is illegal and the apple police wont stand for mis-use of their product :p

theyll love it im sure! noone else is allowed near mine! i chase them away if they do

[MJD Dawg]

I haven't spent too much time playing with this puppy yet as the kids have been playing with it, but here's some thoughts:

-Week 44 21.5" 3.06 with 4670 (1TB/4GB)
-No cracks
-No dead pixels
-No yellow tint or flickering
-No fan noise
-Quiet hard drive - (ST31000528ASQ) 1TB Seagate
-Purchased at retail Apple store December 21.

Just a beautiful machine, and so far it's perfect! I find myself just staring at the screen.

Would be interesting to see what everyone else who has the same unit has in terms of week #, hard drive model, and any issues.

Cheers.

[MJD Dawg]

Enjoying every minute with this puppy...but I've noticed that when I'm on the net with Safari, occasionally pages I'm trying to load will just hang. The page will go blank and it'll just sit there but I can see it loading on the url line. Even when I close the page and open a new one, it'll do the same thing. I have to restart the system then go back into Safari and voila, the pages load instantaneously again. This seems to be happening regularly.

It's probably something I'm doing (or not doing) but wondering if anyone has any thoughts.

Thanks.

[AlaskaMoose]

how did it go??

mines on now! fingers crossed so far! im not going to do the yellow tinge test as i know that if i didnt read the thread on it id be none the wiser!

i think i have 1 dead pixel on the isight camera, again never used that in the 3 macs ive had!

just having problems pairing the remote!

Problems pairing the remote? The remote should work without having to pair it. However, the keyboard and the mouse should pair automatically once you have properly installed the batteries, which are included. You should see either the keyboard, or the mouse (green light) blinking on the screen. Such an indication means that the mouse (or the keyboard) is not pairing, probably because one or the other is not energized (turned ON). Each has a power switch.

[AlaskaMoose]

Enjoying every minute with this puppy...but I've noticed that when I'm on the net with Safari, occasionally pages I'm trying to load will just hang. The page will go blank and it'll just sit there but I can see it loading on the url line. Even when I close the page and open a new one, it'll do the same thing. I have to restart the system then go back into Safari and voila, the pages load instantaneously again. This seems to be happening regularly.

It's probably something I'm doing (or not doing) but wondering if anyone has any thoughts.

Thanks.

How much RAM was installed on your iMac? You can easily find out as follows:

-Click the mouse's pointer on the Apple icon or logo at the left-top corner of the screen, and then choose "About This Mac." The Processor type and speed, and also the amount of RAM, will show on this window.

-If you need the serial number to talk to an Apple technician, or for any other reason, then "click" on the "Mode Info..." (on the same "About This Mac" window you just opened above).

Try "Reset Safari" or "Empty cache" first, found in the Safari menu at the top of the screen (move the pointer to Safari, then press and hold the mouse's button to open these options under Safari). There are also a few other things you can do, including asking some questions to an Apple technician (found under "Support" at the Apple web site.

[MJD Dawg]

How much RAM was installed on your iMac? You can easily find out as follows:

-Click the mouse's pointer on the Apple icon or logo at the left-top corner of the screen, and then choose "About This Mac." The Processor type and speed, and also the amount of RAM, will show on this window.

-If you need the serial number to talk to an Apple technician, or for any other reason, then "click" on the "Mode Info..." (on the same "About This Mac" window you just opened above).

Try "Reset Safari" or "Empty cache" first, found in the Safari menu at the top of the screen (move the pointer to Safari, then press and hold the mouse's button to open these options under Safari). There are also a few other things you can do, including asking some questions to an Apple technician (found under "Support" at the Apple web site.

I have 4 GB of RAM. I tried resetting Safari and emptying the cache the last time it happened but didn't seem to work. Last time it happened after about a minute an error message came up saying there was a problem with the network, so I clicked on the "perform network diagnostics" link, re-entered my router password, got a "network performing correctly" message, upon which time the web page loaded.

Not sure what's happening, but I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks for the input.

[sparkie1984]

thanks alaska!

ive managed it now anyway :) it was the remote, the keyboard and mouse worked fine out of the box

[excommie]

21.5 is a nice IPS display, a huge upgrade over the 20" iMac (which had a TN display and was in short horrible). 21.5 is a nicely done machine, the display is now on par with 24 & 27 iMacs.

[AlaskaMoose]

thanks alaska!

ive managed it now anyway :) it was the remote, the keyboard and mouse worked fine out of the box

Good news. Glad that you solved that problem.

[sparkie1984]

yes, love the remote!!

thanks for your help

now can you fix my slight yellow tinge................ :cool:

[MJD Dawg]

yes, love the remote!!

thanks for your help

now can you fix my slight yellow tinge................ :cool:


Hey sparkie,

How's the new mac?

I don't know how real this is or not, but I may have some yellow tinge on the bottom half of my screen. Or it could all be psychosomatic with all the talk of yellow tinge. I'm not a professional photo or video guy, so it's not that important to me. Like you've said before, if I hadn't read these forums, I would never have known of the issue.

I figure if the problem get worse over time, Applecare will provide me with a new one till I'm satisfied.

Cheers.

[sparkie1984]

well it got a good caning today, was encoding a few bits running cpu at 98%

got it hot and the fans spun up quite loud but they did work and cooled it right down......

so far everything seems to work as it should!

but that means nothings as some peoples work for 3 weeks then start playing up.

im going to log my yellow tinge with apple so they know.