Do you like your iMac?

[currahee2100]

Do you like your iMac? For those who have the 21" screen, do you wish you had gotten the 27"? How does it hold up with regards to video editing and gaming? Any quirks I should know of that I should think about before I decide to get one?

My gaming computer had its 3rd motherboard just die... me and my buddies think it needs a new power supply even though the one I have in it now is supposed to be a high end brand. I'm about to plow down another $500 soon and honestly I want this to stop. Gaming PCs are nothing but money pits. I would like something stable, hopefully maybe an iMac will give me that stability?

 

[MeatRocket]

I'm in a similar situation in that I want a nice, stable machine that has a lot of power. I've traditionally built my own computers from the ground up & loaded Windows on them. I've had a circa 1999 iMac and a Mac G4 in the past just so I had some Macs to play with, but now I want one to replace my Windows rig with altogether.

I've been specing out a 27" iMac with i7, 680MX gpu, 1 or 3TB Fusion drive and 8GB RAM (I'll install another 16GB on my own). I plan on running Parallels 8 to host Windows 8 as it has some simply amazing integration features on it. I'll also be running VirualBox on it to have some Windows 2012 server VMs and such. I'm a MS systems engineer so I have to be able to run server products too.

I was going to order in the next few weeks but I'm thinking I'm going to wait it out until the iMac gets the Haswell refresh. I'm hoping that the refresh will also include the 802.11ac card AND (biggest hope) an even more powerful GPU. Truth be told, it's the GPU I'm holding out for the most simply because it's soldered onto the board and can't be upgraded so I'm getting the best one I can.

 

[currahee2100]

Thanks for your insight. I'm glad I'm not the only one facing this type of frustration with build your own systems. Don't get me wrong, it's fun as heck but when something breaks... or that new gpu comes out you want the latest and greatest... so you end up spending more money. It makes you wonder if comparatively, macs are really that much more expensive.

I think I'll go for it like you I'm definitely gonna wait for the Haswell refresh. I may get it this fall.. I have a 480GB SSD I'm sure I can just pop into the Mac. As for the 3 hard drives that I have, I suppose I can always tie them into my retired Core 2 system as networked drives..

I can see it having AC support because the new Time Capsules have it. I would like a system that lasts me 5+ years.. hopefully this will do the trick!

 

[MeatRocket]

I have a 480GB SSD I'm sure I can just pop into the Mac.

Just "popping" it in isn't as simple as you think. Unlike a regular PC, there is no user serviceable drives in the iMac. You can order an iMac with the base 1TB drive and replace it with your SSD, but you're going to have to cut it open to do it. There's a good article on it here...

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1507713/

 

[Bear]

...
I think I'll go for it like you I'm definitely gonna wait for the Haswell refresh. I may get it this fall.. I have a 480GB SSD I'm sure I can just pop into the Mac. As for the 3 hard drives that I have, I suppose I can always tie them into my retired Core 2 system as networked drives..
...

Instead of putting the drive in the iMac (and voiding the warranty) you could put it in an external case - either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt. And then you can boot from the external drive if you want to.

 

[Interstella5555]

Buy a PS3/4, Xbox 360/One or a Wii/U and a cheap PC desktop if you want stable gaming.

 

[currahee2100]

Instead of putting the drive in the iMac (and voiding the warranty) you could put it in an external case - either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt. And then you can boot from the external drive if you want to.

I was thinking about doing that.

And Interstella, I play games on the PC that can't possibly played on consoles. Namely, RTS games like the Total War series and Starcraft II. Thanks for your suggestion though.

 

[jmhart]

It makes you wonder if comparatively, macs are really that much more expensive.

Macs hold their value MUCH better than PCs do, so in the end it really isn't any more expensive IMO...and honestly, how do you place a dollar value on your sanity?

America needs to get back to being willing to pay more for better service and a better experience all around--all of which you get with an Apple product...usually. You hear a horror story once in awhile, but far less than with PCs.

 

[TType85]

I have had my pretty much maxed (i7, 680MX, etc) out 27" iMac for a few weeks now. I LOVE it. I have been building my own PC's since 1993. Gaming PC's are fun to have but like boats & race cars they are money pits that you do for the love of it.

I would not expect much from a spec bump to haswell. I just put together a i5-4670K system for my home theater PC (yeah! 23.976 hz refresh rate works!). Speed wise I couldn't tell a difference from my 2500K setup that was in it before. The 802.11ac sound nice but I stay wired. Playing MKV's ripped from my blu-ray discs over wireless doesn't work the average movie is around 30GB. The 680MX is roughly equivalent to the 660 Ti desktop card. It works for the few games I do play.

You can always wait for the next best thing. There is always an upgrade coming; meanwhile I will enjoy my system

 

[Tikatika]

I truly love my week old 21.5. I was stunned how easy it was to make the switch from years of Windows use to OS X. I'm still in the process of setting it up but it is so fast and responsive. Haven't decided whether to bootcamp Windows.

Am playing WoW native, and have settings at all High except sun shafts at low, and VSync off. Am getting 83fps in the middle of Stormwind, and the game looks gorgeous. This is with the 1TB 5400 hdd, and 650m graphics card.

I didn't have room for the 27 iMac but can honestly say I am so happy with what I got!

 

[currahee2100]

Thanks guys.

I think from my situation I will keep my desktop.... maybe. I don't know at this moment if the graphics card is dead as well . Right now I am looking at replacing the power supply, motherboard, and CPU. If the gpu is dead too I think I will just switch to a Mac...

 

[mentaluproar]

Are you a smoker? I ask because cleaning out smoker ash from PCs is much easier the imac. I'm impossible to get smoker ash out of an iMac without voiding your warrantee.

 

[kathryne_B]

Do you like your iMac? For those who have the 21" screen, do you wish you had gotten the 27"? How does it hold up with regards to video editing and gaming? Any quirks I should know of that I should think about before I decide to get one?

My gaming computer had its 3rd motherboard just die... me and my buddies think it needs a new power supply even though the one I have in it now is supposed to be a high end brand. I'm about to plow down another $500 soon and honestly I want this to stop. Gaming PCs are nothing but money pits. I would like something stable, hopefully maybe an iMac will give me that stability?

Any computer can go bad at any time. It just depends on the luck of the draw. I had a 20" iMac for only four years and the hard drive just up and died. I replaced it with a 2TB hard drive and now it works perfect. I also have a 27" Intel Core i5, which I really love! Graphics are awesome! I Have had other Macs that have lasted years. For the most part Macs are very reliable. I don't play games on mine, but there are many games in the iTunes store that you can buy. I think you'd be very happy with a Mac.

 

[Harry campbell]

I am a very happy new (2 months) iMac 27 user

Do you like your iMac? For those who have the 21" screen, do you wish you had gotten the 27"? How does it hold up with regards to video editing and gaming? Any quirks I should know of that I should think about before I decide to get one?

My gaming computer had its 3rd motherboard just die... me and my buddies think it needs a new power supply even though the one I have in it now is supposed to be a high end brand. I'm about to plow down another $500 soon and honestly I want this to stop. Gaming PCs are nothing but money pits. I would like something stable, hopefully maybe an iMac will give me that stability?

I am using the 27 inch Imac with the full magilla except that I went with the fusion drive. I am using Adobe CS 6 Design & Web plus Lightroom 5 for my photo work. Needless to say I am very satisfied with my choice after a bit of culture shock coming from a PC after 30+ years. I would never go back to MS windozz again.

Ciao.

Harry

P.S. This is my first post on Macrumors.com

 

[Solomani]

Do you like your iMac? For those who have the 21" screen, do you wish you had gotten the 27"? How does it hold up with regards to video editing and gaming? Any quirks I should know of that I should think about before I decide to get one?

My gaming computer had its 3rd motherboard just die... me and my buddies think it needs a new power supply even though the one I have in it now is supposed to be a high end brand. I'm about to plow down another $500 soon and honestly I want this to stop. Gaming PCs are nothing but money pits. I would like something stable, hopefully maybe an iMac will give me that stability?

I absolutely LOVE my late-2012 21" iMac. I'm typing on it at this moment. It was what I was planning to have months before Apple released it (the predicted rumors mostly came out fairly accurate). Realize that I do NOT have the desktop space for some behemoth 27" iMac, hence I do not desire that larger model whatsoever. So let's get back to discussing the 21" iMac.

The screen is every bit as awesome as the 27" screen, except that it's obviously not as big. Still this is one of the best looking iMac screens (in terms of clarity, color-contrast, glare reduction, etc) that Apple has released.

The internal hardware? I'm mostly satisfied. I purchased the high-end 21" iMac, so I was willing to pay for the Fusion (SSD) drive as well as the fastest CPU possible the quad-core i7. The Fusion drive option makes all the drive-based operations crisp and speedy, and the drive is whisper quiet!

So you might ask, what am I NOT satisfied with? Well, it would have been nice if Apple had given me the BTO option to buy the superior graphics card that they offered on the 27" iMacs.

But since I'm a "moderate gamer" at best, not a serious Mac gamer at all, the NVIDIA 650M video card (512MB VRAM) sufficed for me. Not a great video card, but sufficient for my needs.

Also I was initially peeved about Apple's removal of the internal DVD optical drive. But after reading the pros and cons, I eventually bought into the idea that removing the internal optical drive was for the best. It's a fact that many past iMacs had been serviced/repaired primarily because of stuck or dysfunctional optical drives. So I simply had to accept the fact that I settled for a $79 external DVD/optical drive. Not the most elegant solution, but it's not really an issue to cry about, is it?

 

[CoinOP]

Have the 27 i5 base model for a few weeks now. I've been mostly learning Logic.

Basically you turn on the Mac, do your thing and turn it off. Unlike Windows where there is always a suprise waiting for you everytime you turn it on. No "not responding" messages, blue screen, 100% CPU fail, conflict errors, costant updates, administrator BS! Audio dropouts, audio spikes, audio latency etc. etc. I'm having fun again recording music!

Can't express enough how awesome the Imac is. I will never return to Windows ever!!! I still have a laptop with Windows 7 just for downloading and streaming movies/series. Can't wait to trade it in for a MacBook.

 

[sparklo]

I just have one question for 2012 iMac owners:

Does it get super loud during full load?

I wanted to switch to a desktop because my 2011 MBP gets super hot/loud during my work(compiling/vm). The iMac 2011 at my work runs super quiet and cool, but I am a bit concerned about the form factor of the new iMac in terms of thermal performance.

 

[DerekS]

I have the 2012 27" maxed out. It is quiet and far cooler than its predecessor.

You will hear the fan if you manage to push it hard, but it's not unreasonable.

Overall it's probably quieter than the last one.

 

[CoinOP]

I use SMC fancontrol and Istat menu. Temp. Is always around 50 so I set the fan at the lowest rpm. But even when I set it to max it sounds very relaxing. My Vaio laptop sounded like vacuum! Even on low temps.

 

[itsamacthing]

Do you like your iMac? For those who have the 21" screen, do you wish you had gotten the 27"? How does it hold up with regards to video editing and gaming? Any quirks I should know of that I should think about before I decide to get one?

My gaming computer had its 3rd motherboard just die... me and my buddies think it needs a new power supply even though the one I have in it now is supposed to be a high end brand. I'm about to plow down another $500 soon and honestly I want this to stop. Gaming PCs are nothing but money pits. I would like something stable, hopefully maybe an iMac will give me that stability?

My only gripe is the LG display, it has weak blacks and I don't like LG displays...wish it had a Samsung made screen in it.

 

[CoinOP]

My only gripe is the LG display, it has weak blacks and I don't like LG displays...wish it had a Samsung made screen in it.

How an I tell which one I have?

 

[Hildegerd]

Oh My God I want an iMac.

 

[AppleFan360]

I was in the same boat as you years back. I always built my Windows machines. After over 10 years, I go fed up with throwing money at them. About every year or so, I would need to upgrade hardware in order to accomodate new software. They were a money pit.

Now all I buy are iMacs and they are wonderful. They are stable, fast and handle video like a champ. Right now I have a fully loaded 21.5" iMac with Fusion drive. Well worth the money.

 

[Hildegerd]

So the 21" screen is not too small?

 

[Tikatika]

So the 21" screen is not too small?

Not for me, it is perfect! But, that is purely subjective. Everybody has their own likes, dislikes and needs.