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20" imac tn panel quality? worth buying?

A

AluminumMB

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 11, 2009
170
5
couple of questions before I buy an imac...I am leaning towards the 20" because I don't really need the extra screen but it would be nice if it were IPS too

1. Is the TN panel of the 2009 iMac bad? I've used the 24" imac and the display is great but its too big...
2. Hows the mighty mouse? I plan to use it primarily
3. Should I wait for a refresh? I am going to buy the base iMac at 2.66GHz

Thanks
 
"nice" is a relative word. Relative to my 3 year old MacBook screen, it's nice. Relative to my new 24" iMac, it's not. The viewing angles aren't bad, but it's not pushing millions of colours. If you are concerned about display quality, get the 24" one. You'll get used to the size pretty quickly.

IMHO, the Mighty Mouse sucks, but there are several others who quite like it. It comes with the iMac, so you might as well try it out to see if you like it.

The iMacs were refreshed about 2 months ago. They won't be updated for about another 6 months. No point waiting.
 
Totally Agree with the fellow above.
The 20" screen is good, but 24" is way better. Migthy mouse could be improved. And, there won't be any updates until at least October.
It is worth wait 10 days, however, for the back to school promotions.
 
AluminumMB said:
couple of questions before I buy an imac...I am leaning towards the 20" because I don't really need the extra screen but it would be nice if it were IPS too

1. Is the TN panel of the 2009 iMac bad? I've used the 24" imac and the display is great but its too big...
2. Hows the mighty mouse? I plan to use it primarily
3. Should I wait for a refresh? I am going to buy the base iMac at 2.66GHz

Thanks
Click to expand...

1. I don't know about the 2009 model but the display in my 2007 iMac was pretty poor. Very bad viewing angles and it frustrated me so much that I hadn't bought the 24". If you can afford the bigger one definitely go for it, the display is vastly superior.

2. Absolutely the worst mouse I have ever used in my life. I've used mice from all price ranges and even the cheapest I've ever come across are better than this pile of junk. The scroll ball quickly gets clogged up, the buttons on the side are worthless because they are too hard to press and these are just the minor flaws. The worst part is that it is very bad at detecting what you want to do - it often gets confused between left and right clicks and if you have your finger resting on the ball when you want to left click it will think you are trying to middle click. Please show Apple their mistake by not paying extra for the wireless one, it's terrible!

3. They were updated fairly recently. You can wait, but there isn't anything new coming along soon that will be vastly better.
 
LAS.mac said:
Totally Agree with the fellow above.
The 20" screen is good, but 24" is way better. Migthy mouse could be improved. And, there won't be any updates until at least October.
It is worth wait 10 days, however, for the back to school promotions.
Click to expand...

back to school starts in 10 days and applies to imacs? nice
 
AluminumMB said:
couple of questions before I buy an imac...I am leaning towards the 20" because I don't really need the extra screen but it would be nice if it were IPS too

1. Is the TN panel of the 2009 iMac bad? I've used the 24" imac and the display is great but its too big...
2. Hows the mighty mouse? I plan to use it primarily
3. Should I wait for a refresh? I am going to buy the base iMac at 2.66GHz

Thanks
Click to expand...

1) They are fine for most people, unless you are a photographer, do print or other color-critical work.
2) Looks nice, but it ranks among the worst mice I've ever used.
3) Just recently updated, but wait for back-to-school if you can for a free iPod.

AluminumMB said:
I might just get the macbook unibody...
thanks for the reply guys
Click to expand...

MacBook's screen is horrible, much worse and smaller than 20" iMac's.
 
The Hammer said:
The 2009 20" has an improved screen. I'm looking at getting it myself unless they make a 24" that"s height adjustable when I'm ready to buy.
Click to expand...

I had the 24" and I got sore necks lol, it was like I was looking up because its got a big chin
 
I have the 20' 2009 iMac, and the unibody Macbook - I find both screens just fine for general use, watching movies, primary office type work (law student).

The only catch is the glossiness....
 
drewster said:
I have the 20' 2009 iMac, and the unibody Macbook - I find both screens just fine for general use, watching movies, primary office type work (law student).

The only catch is the glossiness....
Click to expand...

lol exactly
all these guys are saying "wtf dont get the macbook the screen sux!!" lol w/e man im an IT guy not a photographer or an editor
 
1) Got a 20" 2009 iMac here at work, looking at it now. The Panel quality is excellent. Not quite like the IPS panel on the 24" iMac's - but very very clear / sharp and colors look great.

2) The Mighty Mouse, is OK. But not great. My only real complaint in the scroll ball - needs cleaning quite often.

3) Hardware refresh only just happened - just under 3 months ago. So right now is a good time to buy!
 
I have the 2007 20" Aluminum iMac and the screen is mostly alright. Color starts to get yellow when you're not looking at it dead on, but aside from that it's colorful. I'm not saying I'd be doing color reproduction on the thing but it gets the job done pretty well.
 
Although most replies above explain most of it, here's my bit:

1. I've got the mid 2007 iMac 20" myself and the display is pretty bad. Besides it's a TN panel, all of the 20" displays then had some kind of brightness shift (bottom lighter than top), really annoying. I've seen the 2008 20" iMacs and i believe nothing had changed at that time. Now, i've heard that the 2009 20" iMacs finally got a better screen, an improved panel and no more brightness leakage / shifting and stuff. So chosing the 20" version is safe now. Still, i wouldn't do it, because the colors on the 24" screen just look SO much better, but that's personal in the end. Don't let the "24 inch is too big" thought influences you so much because after a few days using it, and then comparing it to a 20" screen, you will find the 20" screen being small.

2. Ah, the "mighty" mouse of Apple:D First of all, i really like Apple products, but there is one product Apple has NEVER been capable to develop, a GOOD mouse. With ofcourse the worst mouse ever in mind, the puck mouse, the current mighty mouse is pretty good, but comparing it to even the cheapest mice of Logitech, it's junk. The design and the scrollball are nice, but that's were it stops. The buttons side buttons are worthless, because they're at a place where you normally hold the mouse in your hand, and when you move the mouse, you easily accidentily press one of those buttons. Furthermore, the scrollball gets dirty really fast, and you have to clean it every month or so when using it daily. Another thing is that my hand for some reason gets sweaty relatively fast when using the mighty mouse, a problem that doesn't occur when using Logitech mice. And last, but not least, from an ergonomic point of view the mighty mouse sucks, really. It's flat, but your hand is not. If you like to get RSI, use the mighty mouse.

3. Buy it now. Reasons to be found above. Nothing useful to add from my side.
 
AluminumMB said:
exactly, the 2009 model has a better screen from what I heard
Click to expand...

...when I bought my previous gen model, they had a display of it, the current gen 20" and all 3 current gen 24" models lined up side by side on a display counter...

I spent two weeks looking at all 5 machines making sure they were all set to the default color profile until they were down to the last NIB previous gen 20" and reduced the price to $979.

...you know which one I pulled the trigger on as I didn't see enough of a difference between the 5 machines and put what I saved toward applecare, VMFusion, winXP (OEM) and a family pack of iWork 09... applecare even sent me an iLife 09 drop in disk kit for NC when I called into register my applecare and asked about the iLife 09 upgrade:D
 
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