20" Refurb'ed White or New Alu?

[HLdan]

How about asking the OP (me) if I know the diff rather then ranting on someone for providing some opinion?

NOW...

Back to my OP.

I went to the Apple Store and verified that the new 20" iMac does wash out the colors. It was awful and matched my iBook. I will stick to my order for refurb.

Thanks for the input folks.

Cheers,
mike

Well, at least I offered you (the OP) a fair opinion but now I am sorry I did with that attitude.

 

[Channard]

I'm in a similar boat. I can get a 20" previous gen iMac for £780 or a current gen Alu for £950. The iMac, like the refurb you're presumably getting, has been running for a couple of months, but given the guarantee and Applecare, I'm tempted to get it. But then again, maybe they'll put a matte screen on the new iMac.

It boggles the mind as to why they don't offer a choice of screens and finishes, like they do on the MacBook Pro. I wouldn't pay extra for a matte finish but I would pay extra for a higher quality screen a la the MacBook Pro options. I know the 2600HD is a better card than the 1600 but still, I'm tempted.

EDIT: In fact, what would I be better doing if I do decide to go for a refurb? Getting an ex-display one from my local store or getting one direct from Apple's refurb store?

 

[FatSweatyBlldog]

Well, at least I offered you (the OP) a fair opinion but now I am sorry I did with that attitude.

Actually, I'm not sure you offered a fair opinion, so much as proudly displayed your ignorance (while name-calling), and made the point that the discussion in this thread was too technical for you (lol). You also proceeded to pull %'s out of your ass, and called yourself a "power-user" several times.

All the while the point you said you were trying to make was moot, because you missed the fact that the OP GOT IT! As a "power-user" you should work on your "power-reading" skills...

Finally, for a "power-user" you sure seem ill-aquainted with something called GOOGLE
It's a good resource when you need to look something up on the net...

 

[mrgreen4242]

For all of you trying to make up your mind whether to buy an old model or the new one, one thing to consider is the screen quality.

The new 20" iMac comes with a TN panel, which is absolute rubbish. The colours are washed out towards the bottom of the screen and the viewing angle is appalling. While you can see the picture from 80 degrees either side, the colours get completely distorted when you change the angle even as little as 20 degrees.

If I knew this I would have gone for either refurbished white iMac or 24" aluminium one. They both use IPS panels, and they're perfectly fine.

I have written an article about the new iMac screen, including pictures and video, see it here http://www.silvermac.com/2007/imac-colours-washed-out/

The new screens aren't rubbish. Yes, they are technically inferior to the old panels, but calling them rubbish is just asinine. There's hundreds of people on this forum alone who love the new screen. I took the time to do a side by side comparison with the new iMacs and the old at a local CompUSA and the new ones look fantasic, even if they aren't "as good" as the old.

Really??? So you think the 2400Xt could run WoW well???

Yes, it'll run it fine. Barefeats.com has benchmarks indicating as much. It'll only get better as the drivers improve.

 

[suneohair]

The new screens aren't rubbish. Yes, they are technically inferior to the old panels, but calling them rubbish is just asinine. There's hundreds of people on this forum alone who love the new screen. I took the time to do a side by side comparison with the new iMacs and the old at a local CompUSA and the new ones look fantasic, even if they aren't "as good" as the old.

A screen is a screen until you know it is not just a screen.

 

[AnalyzeThis]

Take your time and test it.

I was tempted to buy refurb MBP last winter as it does saves money.

I ordered 15" MBP - waited over a week. When I got it and powered it up - its display panel or video adapter went broke, the color become dithered and in place of white it would show purple vertical stripes. It took 3 hours on the phone, taking pictures, emailing them to the support supervisor to settle DOA case with Apple support.

So 2 week later I got a replacement unit that seem to work ok. Then I went to Boston in the early spring and it was unusually cold so hotel could only maintain 58F in the room. The replacement unit would not boot at this temperature (by spec it should work fine from 45F+). This issue caused a bit of embarrassment for me: when I pulled my shiny MBP and instead of boot, it was making chimes every time i tried to reboot the unit. All other folks with HPs and Dells were laughing. It would start eventually by itself if left powered on for a while (4-5 minutes). Well this one took over 4 hours on the phone and then trip to the genius bar (store), escalating to the supervisor, taking the unit to the back room, using infrared thermometer so they would finally agree to refund the money.

So I went and bought 17" MBP in retail.

My advise, test as much as you can...
Wish you luck.