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My 27" iMac with 680mx first impressions

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WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
atteligibility said:
You're right that if the iMac I ordered (and should be receiving in the next 5 hours if UPS doesn't lie this time) has the same issue, I will not be able to stand it. I think I said that already, nothing new...
I am repeating myself, but out of my dozen LCD screens in the house, one has that issue and it drives me crazy, so no more....
I have got all generation iPhones and iMacs, a 2009 macbook pro and a 2008 iMac, I noticed bleeding on my iPad 2 when I first bought it and got it replaced right away, but other than that none of my devices has any bleeding.
You might be right that all new iMacs have that issue, I don't know, but if that's the case I have no problems admitting that it is a huge letdown.

I don't understand why you would even test the light bleeding in the first place to be honest. If you don't take it back after that amount of bleeding, I am not sure what was the point, it can't really get any worse than that... can it?


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I don't see the humor in it. It's sad that people are willing to accept any defect, just because they love the brand...
I love the brand, but I plan to work on these things 12 hours a day, so yes I will be extremely disappointed if that 2012 screen (which is supposed to be fabulous based on all the reviews) can't even match the quality of my 2009 Macbook Pro!
Click to expand...

Let me address this:

First, the 2008 iMac, if it was a 20", was not IPS. So you probably wouldn't see any light bleed/bright patches. Second, your 2009 MacBook Pro wasn't IPS, so no bleed issue there. None of my iPhones have had light bleed that I can recall. My iPad 3 did, for sure, but my iPad 4 doesn't. Again, these are smaller panels which are easier to manage bleed on. I can absolutely promise you that your new iMac is going to have some sort of bleed. Take heed when I say a LOT of it is just poor black-level viewing angles, which washes out the sides of the screen (again, only noticeable on blacks).


Do you work on these things 12 hours a day in the dark? No? Then you'll be fine.

And are you seriously saying the 27" IPS panel can't even match the quality of your 2009 MacBook Pro? You do understand how utterly crap the MacBook Pro (non-retina) panels are, right? The 1440x900 15" display, and the 1280x800 13.3" displays are absolutely horrible, low-res, crappy TN panels. Period. The end.

But you've obviously decided what you need, so I really do suggest you prepare yourself for YOUR disappointment.
 
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atteligibility

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2012
223
2
WilliamG said:
Let me address this:

First, the 2008 iMac, if it was a 20", was not IPS. So you probably wouldn't see any light bleed/bright patches. Second, your 2009 MacBook Pro wasn't IPS, so no bleed issue there. None of my iPhones have had light bleed that I can recall. My iPad 3 did, for sure, but my iPad 4 doesn't. Again, these are smaller panels which are easier to manage bleed on. I can absolutely promise you that your new iMac is going to have some sort of bleed. Take heed when I say a LOT of it is just poor black-level viewing angles, which washes out the sides of the screen (again, only noticeable on blacks).


Do you work on these things 12 hours a day in the dark? No? Then you'll be fine.

And are you seriously saying the 27" IPS panel can't even match the quality of your 2009 MacBook Pro? You do understand how utterly crap the MacBook Pro (non-retina) panels are, right? The 1440x900 15" display, and the 1280x800 13.3" displays are absolutely horrible, low-res, crappy TN panels. Period. The end.

But you've obviously decided what you need, so I really do suggest you prepare yourself for YOUR disappointment.
Click to expand...

Listen, I a a Mac user, I should not care whether that thing is IPS, ABC, XYZ or whatever. It should be a flat screen that gets better and better with each generation.

As I already mentioned previously, we're not all looking in the same improvements in screen quality, I was ready to buy the macbook retina, thought the better resolution would be easier on the eye, but when I saw it in person next to my existing 2009 matte screen, I just preferred my matte screen. It's got no reflection whatsoever, no bleeding...

You can tell me about great view angles and everything, I don't care, I'll be seating straight in front of my screen 12 hours a day, I don't care about viewing angles, but I do care about glare and bleeding.

Based on you guys comments, I am indeed preparing myself for a huge disappointment, I'll report on what my impressions are
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
atteligibility said:
Listen, I a a Mac user, I should not care whether that thing is IPS, ABC, XYZ or whatever. It should be a flat screen that gets better and better with each generation.

As I already mentioned previously, we're not all looking in the same improvements in screen quality, I was ready to buy the macbook retina, thought the better resolution would be easier on the eye, but when I saw it in person next to my existing 2009 matte screen, I just preferred my matte screen. It's got no reflection whatsoever, no bleeding...

You can tell me about great view angles and everything, I don't care, I'll be seating straight in front of my screen 12 hours a day, I don't care about viewing angles, but I do care about glare and bleeding.

Based on you guys comments, I am indeed preparing myself for a huge disappointment, I'll report on what my impressions are
Click to expand...

I can almost, almost understand preferring the 2009 matte screen to the MacBook Pro retina display. And by almost, I mean... not really. That resolution is just too good to pass up, for me.

Again, the light bleed is really only visible in a DARK room, and ONLY on black screens. For normal use it won't bother you one bit. You've yet to tell me what your usage pattern is. If you're usage is watching 2:35:1 movies in the dark with the backlight to max, send the iMac back without using it.

If your usage is daytime with the lights on at medium->max brightness doing "normal" computer-related stuff like web-pages and photos/editing, enjoy your iMac.
 
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AndiS.

macrumors regular
Dec 16, 2012
181
0
torana355 said:
Ok so my iMac arrived today and here are my initial impressions.

1.This iMac is a thing of beauty, the bulge at the back is not big and i think Apple have done a terrific job here, the iMac also runs cooler then my 2008 iMac so once again Apple have done very well with cooling.

2. The screens anti glare is very good, its a MASSIVE improvement over the previous models. My panel does not have any yellowing or dead pixels but it does have some backlight bleeding issues, however i think this is normal for any LCD/LED panel.

View attachment 384047

3. I have the 3TB fusion model and it boots up very quick, 12 secs to be exact. I also get around 330MB/s write and 430MB read in blackmagic. I am currently filling up the drive of my external and i can confirm the platter HDD is whisper quiet.(currently up to 500GB used and growing.)

4. I had an issue with my existing external USB3 enclosure (its a Stardom iTank) It locks up the finder when i try and use it though the USB3 ports on the back of the iMac, when i plugged it into my wired keyboard port it works fine but at USB2 speed :( I ended up getting a WD My Essentials 3TB USB3 and it works perfectly.

5. I cant comment on gaming as i have the 3TB fusion, so until i replace the 3TB HDD with my 512GB SSD i am not able to bootcamp.

If you have any other questions let us know and here another pic of it setup :)

View attachment 384048
Click to expand...

Nice setup, glad to hear you're enjoying your new iMac!
 
S

Shane1905

macrumors regular
May 21, 2012
204
1
UK
torana355 said:
Ok so my iMac arrived today and here are my initial impressions.

1.This iMac is a thing of beauty, the bulge at the back is not big and i think Apple have done a terrific job here, the iMac also runs cooler then my 2008 iMac so once again Apple have done very well with cooling.

2. The screens anti glare is very good, its a MASSIVE improvement over the previous models. My panel does not have any yellowing or dead pixels but it does have some backlight bleeding issues, however i think this is normal for any LCD/LED panel.

View attachment 384047

3. I have the 3TB fusion model and it boots up very quick, 12 secs to be exact. I also get around 330MB/s write and 430MB read in blackmagic. I am currently filling up the drive of my external and i can confirm the platter HDD is whisper quiet.(currently up to 500GB used and growing.)

4. I had an issue with my existing external USB3 enclosure (its a Stardom iTank) It locks up the finder when i try and use it though the USB3 ports on the back of the iMac, when i plugged it into my wired keyboard port it works fine but at USB2 speed :( I ended up getting a WD My Essentials 3TB USB3 and it works perfectly.

5. I cant comment on gaming as i have the 3TB fusion, so until i replace the 3TB HDD with my 512GB SSD i am not able to bootcamp.

If you have any other questions let us know and here another pic of it setup :)

View attachment 384048
Click to expand...

This may be a stupid question, but why did you BTO a 3TB HDD drive if your going to rip it out an replace with a 512 SSD? Surely you'd go for the base 1TB?
 
A

atteligibility

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2012
223
2
WilliamG said:
I can almost, almost understand preferring the 2009 matte screen to the MacBook Pro retina display. And by almost, I mean... not really. That resolution is just too good to pass up, for me.

Again, the light bleed is really only visible in a DARK room, and ONLY on black screens. For normal use it won't bother you one bit. You've yet to tell me what your usage pattern is. If you're usage is watching 2:35:1 movies in the dark with the backlight to max, send the iMac back without using it.

If your usage is daytime with the lights on at medium->max brightness doing "normal" computer-related stuff like web-pages and photos/editing, enjoy your iMac.
Click to expand...

Well, the key in your answer is "for me". We are not all attracted by the same properties, what works for you may not work for me.

As I said, I will report back on whether or not I have a similar issue and whether or not it bothers me when using it all day...
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
atteligibility said:
Well, the key in your answer is "for me". We are not all attracted by the same properties, what works for you may not work for me.

As I said, I will report back on whether or not I have a similar issue and whether or not it bothers me when using it all day...
Click to expand...

Absolutely agreed. That's why I asked what your usage conditions are. I wouldn't fault you one bit if the light bleed/black washout bothered you. I'm just trying to give you realistic expectations of an IPS panel.
 
W

WilliamG

macrumors G3
Mar 29, 2008
9,922
3,800
Seattle
iChrist said:
.

Truly sad.

Again, we are burned by Apple's self-made fight with Samsung and we are stuck with inferior LG screens with this amazing bad backlight bleed.

Really disappoint.

:(
Click to expand...

Inferior? All Apple's 27" IPS panels have always been made by LG, haven't they? My 2009 27" iMac has a gorgeous LG screen.
 
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atteligibility

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2012
223
2
As promised, now that I received my 27" iMac, I ran few tests on the backlight bleeding issue.

Beside a slight 'glow' that I could somewhat perceive on the edges when facing the screen in certain positions, I could not really see any backlight bleeding problem as seen in the pictures from the OP.

I took off my iPhone and started shooting pictures to show my beautiful screen, but surprise surprise, the pics ended up as bad as the OP.

So to summarize, pictures don't do justice to the actual quality of the screen. I can't see any backlight bleeding on mine, yet pictures of it turn out as bad as the OP's pictures...
 
T

torana355

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
atteligibility said:
You're right that if the iMac I ordered (and should be receiving in the next 5 hours if UPS doesn't lie this time) has the same issue, I will not be able to stand it. I think I said that already, nothing new...
Click to expand...

Look i wish you luck and i really hope you get one of the rare panels that is near perfect as it is annoying but trust me, i am happy with my purchase and it has nothing to do with being an Apple fan. It has to do with the fact that backlight bleed is not a new issue that only occurs iMacs. It occurs on every IPS panel ive ever seen in my life. Now im not saying some panels wont be near perfect as some will be better, but i guarantee you they will be the exception.

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atteligibility said:
I took off my iPhone and started shooting pictures to show my beautiful screen, but surprise surprise, the pics ended up as bad as the OP.

So to summarize, pictures don't do justice to the actual quality of the screen. I can't see any backlight bleeding on mine, yet pictures of it turn out as bad as the OP's pictures...
Click to expand...

lol, i told you the pictures were not a true representation, but if your photos are coming out the same as mine, your screen has backlight bleed issues. That glow in the corners IS backlight bleed. BTW i took my pictures with an iphone aswell ;) Anyway im glad your happy with your panel :)
 
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atteligibility

macrumors regular
Sep 14, 2012
223
2
torana355 said:
Look i wish you luck and i really hope you get one of the rare panels that is near perfect as it is annoying but trust me, i am happy with my purchase and it has nothing to do with being an Apple fan. It has to do with the fact that backlight bleed is not a new issue that only occurs iMacs. It occurs on every IPS panel ive ever seen in my life. Now im not saying some panels wont be near perfect as some will be better, but i guarantee you they will be the exception.

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lol, i told you the pictures were not a true representation, but if your photos are coming out the same as mine, your screen has backlight bleed issues. That glow in the corners IS backlight bleed. BTW i took my pictures with an iphone aswell ;) Anyway im glad your happy with your panel :)
Click to expand...

Well, if it has backlight issues that is only visible through the camera's eye, then I am fine with it, I was not planning on looking at my screen through my iPhone's camera, haha.

It was just hard to believe that something almost invisible to the naked eye would look that bad on picture..
 
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torana355

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
Shane1905 said:
This may be a stupid question, but why did you BTO a 3TB HDD drive if your going to rip it out an replace with a 512 SSD? Surely you'd go for the base 1TB?
Click to expand...

Good question, firstly i need more then 1TB of storage space. I was in a rush to get my order in so i would get my iMac before Xmas so i got the 3TB. After thinking about it the most cost effective way to have an all ssd mac was to pull out the 3TB hdd and put in a 512GB ssd and use the 3TB hdd in my existing Stardom usb3 enclosure for storage. Unfortunately my stardom enclosure don't work so i need to find another compatible USB3 enclosure. Any suggestions?

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atteligibility said:
Well, if it has backlight issues that is only visible through the camera's eye, then I am fine with it, I was not planning on looking at my screen through my iPhone's camera, haha.

It was just hard to believe that something almost invisible to the naked eye would look that bad on picture..
Click to expand...

You sure your eyes don't need to be checked lol? IF the photo is coming out similar to mine then the chances are you cant even see backlight bleed very well? But trust me its there like it is on every IPS panel
 
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torana355

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
Just wanted to comment on fusion again after my second day using it. I am very impressed by how well it works, the system has actually gotten quicker. It now boots in under 10 secs and the system has learned that i use Firefox and my Adobe apps alot and they are running at full SSD speed. Because it works on a block level it seems to get the hard to get bits of info from the SSD and the parts that don't need to be loaded fast off the HDD and sort of acts like a raid 1 setup!

I bet i could tell someone that im running a SSD only and they would believe it by using the machine.
 
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Trinite

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2010
105
0
Hi Torana,

I'm glad you're liking it; it sounds great! Besides the (non)issue of bleeding, though, I wanted to ask how you're finding the 27" display. If I remember (from other threads), you were unsure about that, and thinking the 21.5" might be better for you. Thoughts now?

Thanks!
 
D

dryice589

macrumors member
Dec 10, 2012
81
0
I did not want to start a new thread, but wanted to add a few of my first impressions.

1. This thing is dead silent. Could not hear HD or fan at all during migration assistant.
2. Have not pushed real hard, but I did play WoW for about an hour on ultra settings and full resolution. I could not hear the fan running. Very quiet. And I only had the game volume on the first block. The exhaust port did get slightly warm, but nowhere near even being remotely hot. I could have put my baby's bottom on it and he would not have cared. Much quieter and cooler than my 2011 Mini was. I really do not see where people are saying the fan noise is loud?
3. When this thing was first announced I was deffinately in the pool of people wonding why they made this thing so thin. I still think it is unecessary, but seeing it in person does make a difference. It just oozes with beauty. I guess it really come down to what did Apple really sacrifice to get it that thin? Only the loss of the ODD? This has been Apples trend and should not be a surprise. Any real power user will already have an external Blu-ray drive anyway. They are so cheap that people that truely need it can buy one. In addition, it seems many people on this forum have gotten a free external super drive by just calling Apple.
 
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torana355

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Dec 8, 2009
3,609
2,676
Sydney, Australia
Trinite said:
Hi Torana,

I'm glad you're liking it; it sounds great! Besides the (non)issue of bleeding, though, I wanted to ask how you're finding the 27" display. If I remember (from other threads), you were unsure about that, and thinking the 21.5" might be better for you. Thoughts now?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I absolutely love the 27" display, i will never go back to a 24" display again. The colours are fairy accurate and there is no yellowing or dead pixels. Actually i just checked the backlight bleeding again and it has settled right down to being almost non existent. I was never thinking of getting the 21.5" in another thread, must have me confused with someone else. I downloaded some really cool 2560 x 1440 wallpapers off Wallcase.cc and they look amazing on the 27". :)

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dryice589 said:
I did not want to start a new thread, but wanted to add a few of my first impressions.

1. This thing is dead silent. Could not hear HD or fan at all during migration assistant.
Click to expand...

Its quite amazing how they got it so quiet hey, i saw on a teardown that Apple mount the HDD in a rubber casing to absorb the vibration and it seems to work a treat. I haven't heard a peep out of mine, even while benchmarking it!
 
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Trinite

macrumors regular
Oct 22, 2010
105
0
dryice589 said:
it seems many people on this forum have gotten a free external super drive by just calling Apple.
Click to expand...

Not to highjack the thread, but: WHAT? Really? How???


@Torana: sorry for confusing you with someone else. So not too big - okay....
 
B

bigcat318

macrumors 6502
Dec 25, 2007
377
138
Trinite said:
Not to highjack the thread, but: WHAT? Really? How???
Click to expand...

They were calling and complaining about the shipping of their iMacs.

It was kind of pathetic really. People complaining about their iMac shipping within the stated delivery window. But they felt wronged because people who ordered after them had started receiving shipment notifications.
 
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