Hello,
So, I've had the 24" iMac for one day, and after a sort of rough start (reformatting...) everything is working great. I really cannot believe how good this machine actually is compared to every other PC I have ever tried. It puts my Pentium 4 and my 20" LCD to shame - seriously. Everything is so nicely organized and well thought out - all the way from the packaging, to the tinniest details in OS X. Let me start right from the beginning...
1) Delivery
The Apple packaging is as beautiful as it is said to be. No one is exaggerating when they say Apple takes great care in the way they present their products. Everything was wrapped up very nicely, and all smelled really really good (no joke!)
2) Set up
The easiest part. One wire. Literally. Back of iMac --> Wall outlet. Well, there's the mouse and keyboard...more on that later. When you get a new Apple computer, it's better right from the start - I was very surprised when it offered to take my picture for my user account. It sets itself up so nicely, and was particularly impressed with how easily it found my home network. 10 minutes after the unboxing, everything was up and running. None of the usual "crap I need to donwload norton, adaware, spybot, etc...". It all just worked right away. Even though I had a serious problem with t he iMac a few hours later, the overall experience was still better. More on the tech support later...
3) Stuff that is included
This is what impressed me. When you buy a new PC, you get a cheap plastic ball mouse and keyboard usually - and some other cheapo gadgets. the Mac keyboard is quite simply the best keyboard I've ever used - I really really regret not getting the wireless one. For one thing, it looks incredible, but the keys feel so responsive and have such a nice cling to them. I've used tons of keyboards, even some really high end logitech one, yet the Apple one feels better. It does not have as many shortcut buttons, but it has volume control which is in the perfect place, and an eject button for the cd drive. Some extra keys would have been nice...but the fact that it has USB ports makes up for it. In one word, the keyboard looks really really COOL! The mouse is pretty good...,I don't know what all teh fuss is about...it's perfectly normal to have to raise your left finger before rightclicking...maybe thats just how I've always used a mouse. The mighty mouse right clicks perfectly well, and I haven't once missed a right click. The side buttons are perfect also. I do wish, however, that tehre were two extra buttons for forward/back for websites. The scroll ball is good, also. But I don't htink its any better than a scroll wheel, imo, besides the aesthetics.
The Apple remote is also included, and it clamps onto the iMac magnetically. Very well done- it feels very iPodesque and has an incredible feel to it. Moreover, all the CDs and manuals are well done.
3) Included Software
I've been a serious user of Yahoo widgets. the problem is that they're always there on your desktop and in the way. With Dashboard, it only appears when you want it to. I remapped it to F3 because F9 or whatever felt weird. I love how you can just add widgets so easily. Very well done. Expose is an incredible implementation. A few hours after using my Mac I went to use my old windows box to get some stuff off there and I kept pressing F1 (the button I remapped show all windows to) but nothing happened! Expose is really great, and I wish I had it long ago. The show desktop feature is superb also. Spotlight beats windows search anyday, but Google Desktop works just as well, although that's an "add-on" and it slows down the computer a lot.
Safari is a great browser, though for some reason (familiarity?) I use firefox. I still haven't quite figured out the best and quickest way to install new stuff, but im learning. Mail works great - simpler and more efficient than outlook. Adress book I haven't tried yet, but it randomly pops up sometimes - not sure why. I tunes...well I dont need to explain that...that's pretty obvious! iPhoto is way better than Media Center in that it shows you all the pictures at once, and its really easy to set up a slideshow. None of the usual "where is the slideshow button..." it's right there. the rest of iLife I have yet to explored, except the instruments in Garageband
Photobooth gave me about a solid hour of fun...the effects are really cool.
Oh yeah, I also forgot about Front Row. Works really well, and it's very intuitive. It also has a real slick interface...just makes lsitening to music/watching videos (the online trailer addition is great!) more fun. Overall, much mroe stable than media center, although it does take some time to load up all my songs (around 15 GB worth). Playlists load way quicker.
Preview is just like Adobe Reader (I think). Nothing to say about it. It works.That's all I feel like typing about the software now. To summarize, compared to Windows software that comes preinstalled, well, mac puts it to same!
4) The Screen
The two-footer is replacing a 20" HP LCD...which I previously thought was incredibly bright and sharp. With my iMac set up right next to it now (I'm not unplugging PC yet because I haven't transfered everything), the HP looks old, washed out, and dim. This screen puts it to shame. Not just because it's bigger, but because of hte quality. I do not find the display too bright, its just the right brightness. Watching those 1080p quick time trailers is fun. The screen is enormous, but I like it. I can't even look at the entire thing at once, but it still is great for multiple apps.
5) The OS
I've already spoken about this under "Software", but there is one thing I'd like to say about the OS. I opened up eveyr single program in my dock and apps folder, all at once, and the computer was still completely usable and unlagging. It did not crash once. It still hasnt crashed (with the exception of my screw up...)
6) Tech Support
Ok, so when I messed up the iMac, I called Apple. People were very nice, and they called me back when I accidently hung up while taking a call on another line. I dont like how they tried to sell me Applecare. But they were useful, and they solved the probelm . I also called back when I was havingh boot camp trouble, and they fixed that also. I still havent finished installing bootcamp b ecause I had XP SP1...The wait times are a little long on the phone, but the people speak perfect english (unlike Dell) and they solved the problem. They seem to really know what theyre talking about. I dont know if they actually do because i'm still a noob, but they fixed my problem so I'm happy.
7) The Hardware
Ok, well we all know the design is beautiful. More importantly, this thing is really quiet. The only thing I hear in my room is my power bar making a low humming sound. A quiet machine makes the room so much easier to focus in (it's in a bedroom). The slotloading drive is nice, and all the ports/connections are layed out nicely. I mean, it would havebeen more convenient to have USB on the side, but apple chose to keep it clean - a good choice, as this really adds to the modern look. I wish there were mroe usb ports. Everything is screaming fast - but to give a true verdict, I'll have to try windows on it - I havent tried OS X on a slow computer.
Well that's all for now. Sorry for the long post, but I figured some people contemplating the switch would like to read it!
Edit: Here is what I mean by "it can run a lot of stuff at once!" I had to cut off part of the sides of the image because the file was too large. And I added in those white boxes myself because those apps are photobooth + iPhoto and I dont want to give away personal informaiton on the net
So, I've had the 24" iMac for one day, and after a sort of rough start (reformatting...) everything is working great. I really cannot believe how good this machine actually is compared to every other PC I have ever tried. It puts my Pentium 4 and my 20" LCD to shame - seriously. Everything is so nicely organized and well thought out - all the way from the packaging, to the tinniest details in OS X. Let me start right from the beginning...
1) Delivery
The Apple packaging is as beautiful as it is said to be. No one is exaggerating when they say Apple takes great care in the way they present their products. Everything was wrapped up very nicely, and all smelled really really good (no joke!)
2) Set up
The easiest part. One wire. Literally. Back of iMac --> Wall outlet. Well, there's the mouse and keyboard...more on that later. When you get a new Apple computer, it's better right from the start - I was very surprised when it offered to take my picture for my user account. It sets itself up so nicely, and was particularly impressed with how easily it found my home network. 10 minutes after the unboxing, everything was up and running. None of the usual "crap I need to donwload norton, adaware, spybot, etc...". It all just worked right away. Even though I had a serious problem with t he iMac a few hours later, the overall experience was still better. More on the tech support later...
3) Stuff that is included
This is what impressed me. When you buy a new PC, you get a cheap plastic ball mouse and keyboard usually - and some other cheapo gadgets. the Mac keyboard is quite simply the best keyboard I've ever used - I really really regret not getting the wireless one. For one thing, it looks incredible, but the keys feel so responsive and have such a nice cling to them. I've used tons of keyboards, even some really high end logitech one, yet the Apple one feels better. It does not have as many shortcut buttons, but it has volume control which is in the perfect place, and an eject button for the cd drive. Some extra keys would have been nice...but the fact that it has USB ports makes up for it. In one word, the keyboard looks really really COOL! The mouse is pretty good...,I don't know what all teh fuss is about...it's perfectly normal to have to raise your left finger before rightclicking...maybe thats just how I've always used a mouse. The mighty mouse right clicks perfectly well, and I haven't once missed a right click. The side buttons are perfect also. I do wish, however, that tehre were two extra buttons for forward/back for websites. The scroll ball is good, also. But I don't htink its any better than a scroll wheel, imo, besides the aesthetics.
The Apple remote is also included, and it clamps onto the iMac magnetically. Very well done- it feels very iPodesque and has an incredible feel to it. Moreover, all the CDs and manuals are well done.
3) Included Software
I've been a serious user of Yahoo widgets. the problem is that they're always there on your desktop and in the way. With Dashboard, it only appears when you want it to. I remapped it to F3 because F9 or whatever felt weird. I love how you can just add widgets so easily. Very well done. Expose is an incredible implementation. A few hours after using my Mac I went to use my old windows box to get some stuff off there and I kept pressing F1 (the button I remapped show all windows to) but nothing happened! Expose is really great, and I wish I had it long ago. The show desktop feature is superb also. Spotlight beats windows search anyday, but Google Desktop works just as well, although that's an "add-on" and it slows down the computer a lot.
Safari is a great browser, though for some reason (familiarity?) I use firefox. I still haven't quite figured out the best and quickest way to install new stuff, but im learning. Mail works great - simpler and more efficient than outlook. Adress book I haven't tried yet, but it randomly pops up sometimes - not sure why. I tunes...well I dont need to explain that...that's pretty obvious! iPhoto is way better than Media Center in that it shows you all the pictures at once, and its really easy to set up a slideshow. None of the usual "where is the slideshow button..." it's right there. the rest of iLife I have yet to explored, except the instruments in Garageband
Photobooth gave me about a solid hour of fun...the effects are really cool. Oh yeah, I also forgot about Front Row. Works really well, and it's very intuitive. It also has a real slick interface...just makes lsitening to music/watching videos (the online trailer addition is great!) more fun. Overall, much mroe stable than media center, although it does take some time to load up all my songs (around 15 GB worth). Playlists load way quicker.
Preview is just like Adobe Reader (I think). Nothing to say about it. It works.That's all I feel like typing about the software now. To summarize, compared to Windows software that comes preinstalled, well, mac puts it to same!
4) The Screen
The two-footer is replacing a 20" HP LCD...which I previously thought was incredibly bright and sharp. With my iMac set up right next to it now (I'm not unplugging PC yet because I haven't transfered everything), the HP looks old, washed out, and dim. This screen puts it to shame. Not just because it's bigger, but because of hte quality. I do not find the display too bright, its just the right brightness. Watching those 1080p quick time trailers is fun. The screen is enormous, but I like it. I can't even look at the entire thing at once, but it still is great for multiple apps.
5) The OS
I've already spoken about this under "Software", but there is one thing I'd like to say about the OS. I opened up eveyr single program in my dock and apps folder, all at once, and the computer was still completely usable and unlagging. It did not crash once. It still hasnt crashed (with the exception of my screw up...)
6) Tech Support
Ok, so when I messed up the iMac, I called Apple. People were very nice, and they called me back when I accidently hung up while taking a call on another line. I dont like how they tried to sell me Applecare. But they were useful, and they solved the probelm . I also called back when I was havingh boot camp trouble, and they fixed that also. I still havent finished installing bootcamp b ecause I had XP SP1...The wait times are a little long on the phone, but the people speak perfect english (unlike Dell) and they solved the problem. They seem to really know what theyre talking about. I dont know if they actually do because i'm still a noob, but they fixed my problem so I'm happy.
7) The Hardware
Ok, well we all know the design is beautiful. More importantly, this thing is really quiet. The only thing I hear in my room is my power bar making a low humming sound. A quiet machine makes the room so much easier to focus in (it's in a bedroom). The slotloading drive is nice, and all the ports/connections are layed out nicely. I mean, it would havebeen more convenient to have USB on the side, but apple chose to keep it clean - a good choice, as this really adds to the modern look. I wish there were mroe usb ports. Everything is screaming fast - but to give a true verdict, I'll have to try windows on it - I havent tried OS X on a slow computer.
Well that's all for now. Sorry for the long post, but I figured some people contemplating the switch would like to read it!
Edit: Here is what I mean by "it can run a lot of stuff at once!" I had to cut off part of the sides of the image because the file was too large. And I added in those white boxes myself because those apps are photobooth + iPhoto and I dont want to give away personal informaiton on the net
