First Impressions & the Profile

[Apple Corps]

Well, I decided to hop into our local Apple Store and pick up one of the 21" models 2.9 i5 8GB.

This Mac is on our breakfast bar which adjoins our great room. The sides and back are prominently in view. I carefully viewed it next to our 2011 iMac and can say - from this owners eye & perspective - that it is STUNNING. A well executed and aesthetic profile. Some of the photos had me wondering but we think it is great.

5400 rpm drive / quiet, even while indexing. Will be ordering some sort of SSD external shortly for boot and apps.

The screen does "pop" more - colors are vibrant - even illumination - and the reflections are almost all gone - thumbs up.

Very light weight.

All in all - happy camper after setup and limited use.

 

[torana355]

Glad to hear you are happy i cant wait for my "fully worked" 27" to arrive, should be a big jump from my 2008 24" iMac.

 

[rpramanik]

Congrats

Eagerly awaiting my 07' 24" iMac replacement.
Couldn't go smaller than the last 24" so awaiting the 27"
Hoping it will also service me for 5-6 years, though the last year and a half of beach balls have been excruciating.

 

[jmhart]

7200 rpm drive / quiet, even while indexing.

None of the 21-inchers come with a 7200 RPM HD.

 

[Apple Corps]

None of the 21-inchers come with a 7200 RPM HD.

My mistake - you are correct.

So it is quiet & slow lol

As mentioned, I will be adding an external ssd

 

[tom vilsack]

Would a external ssd threw thunderbolt or usb 3 be faster then internal drive?

 

[Ademordna]

Would a external ssd threw thunderbolt or usb 3 be faster then internal drive?

Would also like to know, and any recommendations?

OP, I purchased the same, with 16gb ram. Can't wait to meet it in person

 

[chfilm]

Would also like to know, and any recommendations?

OP, I purchased the same, with 16gb ram. Can't wait to meet it in person

an external thunderbolt ssd will definitely be faster than the internal 5400 rpm drive.

 

[mrmarts]

I remember when the MacBook Pro retina came out I flew to the store and bought one after selling my older MacBook. However I could not say the same with the imac Sure i will have 16gb of ram, 2gb video and 3tb with fusion at the extra cost but what justification would there be for me to give up my mid 2010 iMac as the screen is not retina, does it look retina with the new design, also i have been hearing the speakers aren't as good my 2010 model, in addition to this there is the loss of DVD and the same keyboard and mouse.

I also noticed my iMac is taking its sweet time to load with 8gb of ram however my MacBook retina with 8gb flies does the fusion improve boot up and load up times.

 

[Apple Corps]

Yes, the Fusion drive would speed things up considerably. My thinking is that I would put the $250 toward an external Thunderbolt connected SSD, eject the internal hdd via disk utility, and not have to worry about a slow hdd failing and needing repairs. No vibrations and lower operating temps.

Watching the tear down video convinced that opening up this model is not something I would want to have done.

After a night's sleep I reassessed the profile compared to our earlier model and am even more impressed with the new design - Apple got it right.

 

[xgman]

I agree. Seeing the 21" in person instantly eliminates any concerns over the form, the so called bulge (hardly noticeable) and the screen. This thing is also very light weight. All that said, some will still complain as is always the case.

 

[Ademordna]

an external thunderbolt ssd will definitely be faster than the internal 5400 rpm drive.

Will look into that, thanks!

Yes, the Fusion drive would speed things up considerably. My thinking is that I would put the $250 toward an external Thunderbolt connected SSD, eject the internal hdd via disk utility, and not have to worry about a slow hdd failing and needing repairs. No vibrations and lower operating temps.

Watching the tear down video convinced that opening up this model is not something I would want to have done.

After a night's sleep I reassessed the profile compared to our earlier model and am even more impressed with the new design - Apple got it right.

Is this simple to do? Sounds like something I'd like to try but have no experience of.

 

[Apple Corps]

Yes, very easy once you get past selecting the drive. Basically you connect the new ssd / enclosure to your iMac with a Thunderbolt cable, go into disk utility, format the new drive, install the OS and apps to it, then set it as the boo up drive, eject the internal drive or use it for lesser accessed files.

Also, Western Digital sells a Thunderbolt connector with two Velociraptors hard disk drives that are pretty fast if you need more capacity and not the ssd cost.