Why is Apple the only company that can sell an all-in-one while other vendors try but have their sales killed by their own desktop towers?
What are the options from Apple? The Mac mini and the Mac Pro?
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Apple Releases Updated iMac Models With 21.5- and 27-Inch LED Screens
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What are the options from Apple? The Mac mini and the Mac Pro?
A little help for a newbie
From pc to Mac so happy I made the switch. Love the OS.
I purchased my iMac 24" about 5 days ago knowing hardware updates were a looming possibility. I bought (my pc had crashed and I needed a computer) knowing that I had 2 weeks for an opportunity to exchange. That said, I also purchased because I thought what if I don't like the new models as well as the 24". Ok, so here is where I need some feedback. I did a lot of research and chose the 24" iMac. Now the 20.5 inch is out there seemingly with the same specs as my 24", with the added feature of card reader and more of this and that. Do I need that other stuff? Or should I stay with what I have. I'm a casual user (no graphics or gaming, etc). Sorry for the newbi(ness) of this post, but help me to make my decision.
BTW, my Apple Store does not have the new computers yet, they are still selling the 'old' models. I was going to go to the store do pick their brains, but I would like opinions of these forum members.
Thank you so much in advance.
From pc to Mac so happy I made the switch. Love the OS.
I purchased my iMac 24" about 5 days ago knowing hardware updates were a looming possibility. I bought (my pc had crashed and I needed a computer) knowing that I had 2 weeks for an opportunity to exchange. That said, I also purchased because I thought what if I don't like the new models as well as the 24". Ok, so here is where I need some feedback. I did a lot of research and chose the 24" iMac. Now the 20.5 inch is out there seemingly with the same specs as my 24", with the added feature of card reader and more of this and that. Do I need that other stuff? Or should I stay with what I have. I'm a casual user (no graphics or gaming, etc). Sorry for the newbi(ness) of this post, but help me to make my decision.
BTW, my Apple Store does not have the new computers yet, they are still selling the 'old' models. I was going to go to the store do pick their brains, but I would like opinions of these forum members.
Thank you so much in advance.
Screen resolution remains the same at about 100dpi. So no, your fonts won't appear smaller.
Actually, you're wrong.
Microsoft did support HD DVD but never included the option for HD DVD playback out of the box in Windows Vista.
What Microsoft has is "DXVA". It allows the GPU to do ALL of the work for video playback. Windows has "full bitstream decoding" for video, which means the entire video stream is handed off to the GPU and it does ALL of the work to decode it, process it, clean it up, scale it if needed, and display it. In OS X, the GPU is either not used at all or for only certain aspects of video playback.
Thanks to DXVA, blu-ray and HD DVD playback have been available in Windows since the beginning. Back in 2006 you just needed a blu-ray or HD DVD reader along with a GPU that could do the video work and you were in business.
Are you serious? You really think the Core i7 iMac is that good?
I hate to break it to you, but Core i7 has been available for Windows desktop PCs for about a year now. The Core 2 Quad has been in Windows desktop PCs for a couple of years now and the prices are so low that you can basically walk into Walmart and walk out with a Core 2 Quad system for only a few hundred dollars.
Core i5 on a PC is a $199 chip. Core i7 is $279 and $289.
The ATI Radeon 4850 is more than a year old now. A much faster GeForce GTX can be had for less than $200 these days.
And don't even get me started on the screen on Macs. Apple uses edge-lit LED backlit LCDs. So there is NO visual benefit other than instant-on. Apple's screens are so glossy and have much lower color gamut than significantly lower screens, plus 16x9 displays have been the norm for PCs for, again, more than a year now. And, again, they're so glossy they're useless. I have the original unibody MacBook and in certain lighting conditions I can't even use the built-in screen because its so reflective. Just yesterday I was trying to use it. There was no direct light source behind me, just light bouncing off things the way it normally does. I had the screen brightness all the way up and I could still see myself in the screen more than I could see what was actually on screen.
Apple is basically charging $2,000 for something NOW that would have cost you $1,000 a year ago.
Windows 7 is just one component of a whole PC.
I can go buy a Dell, HP, Gateway, Asus, Sony, Toshiba, MSI, etc. PC with a blu-ray drive built-in. Also, thanks to Windows (XP, Vista, 7) supporting DXVA, I can buy a blu-ray drive and watch movies that way. I can't watch blu-ray at all on a Mac out of the box or even without Windows.
For those who are still asking about the video input on the new 27" iMacs, you can start with these two previous posts:
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8673410/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8673980/
Short answer, unless the device you want to connect has a native DisplayPort output then you'll likely need to spend $150 to $200 to attach any DVI/HDMI device to the iMac. Thus, you won't be able to just plug-in your Wii or Blu-ray player and use the iMac as a display for that device.
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8673410/
https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8673980/
Short answer, unless the device you want to connect has a native DisplayPort output then you'll likely need to spend $150 to $200 to attach any DVI/HDMI device to the iMac. Thus, you won't be able to just plug-in your Wii or Blu-ray player and use the iMac as a display for that device.
Why does Apple have to cater to your needs and the needs of a tiny vocal minority?
Apple obviously knows what they are doing, they are making money hand over fist during a recession.
I would honestly have to say that if you put a poll up on the desktop forum about what feature people would most want NEXT in an Apple computer you would find mini-tower pretty far down the list, and that's at an Apple/Mac enthusiast site.
Number of people in this thread griping about lack of blu-ray support... about 100.
Number of people in this thread griping about lack of X-tower Mac.... Eldorian
Hell there are more people complaining about not having a higher GPU in this thing than complaining about Apple not throwing financials to the wind and releasing a low selling, sale cannibalizing mid-tower computer.
Get over it Eldorian. Or, buy a Windows box and enjoy Win 7.
Don't get you started? You get yourself started just fine, thanks.
I would like to see a matte display iMac also, but don't dismiss the cost of a 27" LED backlit screen. It is well over $1000 to buy something inferior right now for a PC.
Maybe you should take the red-rage glasses off for a while and realize that Apple has done a pretty good job of gauging the market.
And, for what it's worth, I get more "work" done on my 24" iMac with a Radeon 4850 than I got done on my previous three Windows workstations, the last of which was pretty pimped out.
I'm still confused about this. Apple making ridiculous margins and profits is a good thing for me? Everyone keeps trying to sell that to me but I don't understand.
What does buying a computer have to do with quarterly profits? If my opinions aren't what Apple is doing someone is going to trot out how much money Apple is making just to get me to be quiet. That alongside how I should just stop crying and buy a Windows machine. How is that a solution again when I want to run OS X?
No offense, but this has been stated about 500 times in the topic already. You can burn Blu-rays with Apple's own software, but you have to play them in some other machine just to watch them. Makes zero sense.
I still wish it had a better GPU, but now that I have seen the last gen iMac playing some games, wow. And with an i7 the games should run better, and they already run perfectly on high from the videos I have seen. Now to get the money to buy one...
One, 'Core i7' is a marketing line of processor, not a specific one. Second, only by Intel's revisionist branding has it been out for a year. They didn't come up with 'Core i7' till this spring. The Turbo/Has builtin memory controller 'Core i7' CPUs have only just come out. That's why Apple isn't shipping these until November.
The older, run WAY hotter, stuff that also has the 'Core i7' branding ... wouldn't work in an iMac.
Same design constraints and part quality (e.g., IPS panels ) ? Really?
Curious as to why "eww, 16:9" when previously they were a near-identical 16:10, except now HD content can be shown natively without letterboxing. It's a bit wider of a ratio, too, which is always nice.
And for anyone saying "holy cow, 27" is gigantic"... the bigger cinema displays are an even bigger 30" and people have been using them for years...
Windows can't play DVDs either, so no news here....
Microsoft doesn't support DVD playback without third party software either - so this is nothing new.
Any aftermarket DVD reader (or BD) includes the software in the package, and it usually has a plugin that enables Windows Media Player to decode the content as well.
When an OEM like HP/Dell/Asus/Lenovo adds a DVD or BD to the config, they'll also bundle the software. Often, they'll bundle CD/DVD burning software as well.
While checking, saw this banner at Dell:
Microsoft doesn't support DVD playback without third party software either - so this is nothing new.
Any aftermarket DVD reader (or BD) includes the software in the package, and it usually has a plugin that enables Windows Media Player to decode the content as well.
When an OEM like HP/Dell/Asus/Lenovo adds a DVD or BD to the config, they'll also bundle the software. Often, they'll bundle CD/DVD burning software as well.
While checking, saw this banner at Dell:
HDTV can be shown without letterboxing, DVD and BD content will still be letter-boxed.
My point being is that this the same situation in Windows without the addition of 3rd party software. Windows does not natively support the play back of of Blu-Ray movies. Why not? Fair question, don't you think?
Jesus! They couldn't throw in the new remote to these new offerings?
Who uses them? I'm sure some do (use iMac as computer/TV/entertainment center), but most folks don't. It is a green issue. Shipping stuff that folks don't use is a waste.
Personally, I would exchange it as the display is several orders of magnitude better and you likely get a bump up in processor power too (though I don't know the specs of the machine you recently purchased). The switch from 24" to 21.5" will be minimal as the newer computer has a wider aspect and will be close in size to the old one.
Home Premium and greater should have the MPEG-2 license for DVD playback.Microsoft doesn't support DVD playback without third party software either - so this is nothing new.
Any aftermarket DVD reader (or BD) includes the software in the package, and it usually has a plugin that enables Windows Media Player to decode the content as well.
When an OEM like HP/Dell/Asus/Lenovo adds a DVD or BD to the config, they'll also bundle the software. Often, they'll bundle CD/DVD burning software as well.
While checking, saw this banner at Dell:
Blu-ray still needs third party software.
Exactly - Apple's other non-laptop offerings are not interesting, so the Imac sells.
Dell/HP/etc offer affordable, expandable mini-towers - so nobody wants an all-in-one.
$399 vs $1199 ....
Letterboxing is a function of the aspect ratio of the film, not the format of the disc.
The aspect ratio of HDTV is 16:9 or 1.78:1. You will still get letterboxing on some films that were shot at other aspect ratios (or if you watch any 4:3 aspect ratio TV or movie program).
Here's a Wikipedia link explaining the different aspect ratios in film production and the effects of view those films on different sets with different aspect ratios.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterbox
For those of you complaining about the glossy screens, Radtech sells anti-glare film for all sizes except for the 27 inch but i'm sure they will soon.
http://www.radtech.us/Products/ClearCal-Displays.aspx
http://www.radtech.us/Products/ClearCal-Displays.aspx
Yes, that changed with Windows 7. So technically I'm correct today.
Windows 7 will do H.264 natively as well, so maybe BD is OK. (Since VC-1 shouldn't be a problem, and MPEG-2 is OK.)
Yes, thank you for clarifying that. I should have said "DVD and BD movies will almost always be letter-boxed", since 16x9 is not a common movie aspect ratio.