First time Mac buyer, convince me!

[Mollemand]

Last time I looked at the iMac it had a ridiculous gfx-board - the 'only' reason I didn't buy it back then. The 8800GS takes care of that.

Now I want two things before I press send on my iMac 3.06GHz order:
1) A surround sound option
2) Blu-ray video support

Can I get that?
Where?
And how much?

BTW: What's the noise level with the 8800GS compared to the 2600HD?

Thanks,
Mollemand
computer owner since '83

 

[Tallest Skil]

Not... really?

You can buy a slot-loading Blu-ray drive and install it yourself, but you won't be able to play movies from within OS X. You'd need to install Windows in one way or another to do that.

 

[surferfromuk]

My 2.8Ghz 8800 iMac is as good as noiseless...if you stick your head right next to it in a silent room you can hear a faint whisper, but with your head at 2.5ft away (24" you see!) - just nothing!

As far as blu-ray/SS - You could always buy an Apple TV and buy HD movies from the Apple TV store and just have that end of things directly in your TV/AV setups - just 'skip' the whole disk media thing ? Apple TV is like an iPod for your telly - streams all your media from iTunes on your mac as well - so 'wireless' music through your hi-fi controlled via the TV is achievable...

Plus you can use 'handbrake' on your existing DVD movies - a 3 hour movie is about 1.2 Gig without any loss in quality...it'll stream perfectly from your mac to the Apple TV (or live on it!).

 

[Mollemand]

Not... really?

You can buy a slot-loading Blu-ray drive and install it yourself, but you won't be able to play movies from within OS X. You'd need to install Windows in one way or another to do that.

So what you are suggesting is that I buy a FastMac $999 BD/R-drive and install XP in boot-camp and smile? (OMG, what happened to 2nd to none video Apple?)

Surround sound then? (OMG, what happened to 2nd to none sound Apple?)

 

[earnjam]

Plus you can use 'handbrake' on your existing DVD movies - a 3 hour movie is about 1.2 Gig without any loss in quality

That is not right.

Commercial DVDs are over 8GB. Some of the disc is alternate languages, menus and extras, but most of it is the movie itself. So if your 3 hour movie is only 1.2GB after the import, then there is absolutely some loss in quality.

Now whether the average person can notice the difference, that is a different story....

 

[scaredpoet]

So what you are suggesting is that I buy a FastMac $999 BD/R-drive and install XP in boot-camp and smile? (OMG, what happened to 2nd to none video Apple?)

Surround sound then? (OMG, what happened to 2nd to none sound Apple?)

If they don't meet your needs, don't buy one.

For the record, Apple appears to be betting that Blu-ray will be short lived in favor of VOD and downloadable content.

 

[Mollemand]

My 2.8Ghz 8800 iMac is as good as noiseless...if you stick your head right next to it in a silent room you can hear a faint whisper, but with your head at 2.5ft away (24" you see!) - just nothing!

As far as blu-ray/SS - You could always buy an Apple TV and buy HD movies from the Apple TV store and just have that end of things directly in your TV/AV setups - just 'skip' the whole disk media thing ? Apple TV is like an iPod for your telly - streams all your media from iTunes on your mac as well - so 'wireless' music through your hi-fi controlled via the TV is achievable...

Plus you can use 'handbrake' on your existing DVD movies - a 3 hour movie is about 1.2 Gig without any loss in quality...it'll stream perfectly from your mac to the Apple TV (or live on it!).

This is probably a good suggestion, but I'm absolutely not interested in Apple TV, nor in streaming TV as of now. I want a computer that can playback BD disks and this with surround sound. I want it to perform many other tasks too, well within the boundaries of the iMac's capabilities. The whole disk media thing is what I want - not (main)streamed content.

 

[earnjam]

For the record, Apple appears to be betting that Blu-ray will be short lived in favor of VOD and downloadable content.

Probably that combined with the fact that it's just difficult to fit a slot loading blu-ray drive into a computer without having the costs go up significantly.

 

[mr.light]

If you just want to watch movies why would you buy an iMac? Buy a player and plug it into your TV.

Last time I looked at the PC it had a ridiculous a ridiculous operating system.

Now I want two things before I press send on my PC order:
1) Mac OSX
2) Multi Touch

 

[Mollemand]

If they don't meet your needs, don't buy one.

For the record, Apple appears to be betting that Blu-ray will be short lived in favor of VOD and downloadable content.

I was asking the Mac ppl if it can be made to meet my needs. So far the answer is obviously no. So I will not be buying a Mac - have no fear.

The reason I've heard for Apple not directly supporting BD is that the content protection idea is misaligning with the Rip idea of Jobs. (Not trying to start a flame post - but obviously doing a heck of a job...)

If you just want to watch movies why would you buy an iMac? Buy a player and plug it into your TV.

Last time I looked at the PC it had a ridiculous a ridiculous operating system.

Now I want two things before I press send on my PC order:
1) Mac OSX
2) Multi Touch

I think you are missing the point:
I want a computer that can do most the work I am currently doing on a PC (and have been for 10 years professionally). It is to be a home computer - I do have my workstarion at work, so it would be a PhotoShop/Illustrator/Director/Wings3D/Hexagon computer that also could go as a home entertainment system.

If all I wanted was a BD player - why would I be writing here???

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Im not too sure about surround sound but you could buy and external BD drive and use that.

The suggestion to use Apple TV for HD content doesnt hold much water because the HD content for the ATV is only 720p and is a complete pain in the ass to transcode so it works. As far as i know you cannot 'buy' hd content from iTunes just yet.

I have over 150 movies and loads more TV shows on my ATV and while some of it is HD it is still compressed to a point and falls short of the HD rental quality from the iTunes store (which isnt great either). BD will be 1080p.

I own an ATV but I plan on buying a BD drive/player when they become a bit cheaper and/or are BTO on a Mac. To get BD 'support' you will need Roxio's Toast application and the BD update (I think).

ATV is great but just not for HD, no matter how you spin it.

 

[flopticalcube]

All Macs have digital optical out that can stream AC3/DTS to a surround sound amp. As for Blu-Ray, only if you have an external Blu-Ray drive and run it under Windows.

 

[Mollemand]

All Macs have digital optical out that can stream AC3/DTS to a surround sound amp. As for Blu-Ray, only if you have an external Blu-Ray drive and run it under Windows.

Thank you! That was the sort of info I needed. No more - no less...

Im not too sure about surround sound but you could buy and external BD drive and use that.

The suggestion to use Apple TV for HD content doesnt hold much water because the HD content for the ATV is only 720p and is a complete pain in the ass to transcode so it works. As far as i know you cannot 'buy' hd content from iTunes just yet.

I have over 150 movies and loads more TV shows on my ATV and while some of it is HD it is still compressed to a point and falls short of the HD rental quality from the iTunes store (which isnt great either). BD will be 1080p.

I own an ATV but I plan on buying a BD drive/player when they become a bit cheaper and/or are BTO on a Mac. To get BD 'support' you will need Roxio's Toast application and the BD update (I think).

ATV is great but just not for HD, no matter how you spin it.

Thank you too, MacboobsPro. I was starting to think that the warmhearted helpful Mac crowd had gone psychopaths while reading this thread. Normally you would expect a welcome going PC to Mac after 20+ years, but I guess that I stepped on some frustrated and sore toes with my questions.

I just want to make it plain that I am a first time buyer - Not user:

I have worked professionally on the following Macs:
SE
LC
IIvx
Quadra 610/700/800
PowerMac 6200/7200/8100/8200/9600/G3/G4/G5
iMac G3/intel
And several Powerbooks.

I am quite familiar with Mac.

I understand the Mac loyalty some of you may feel and the apprehension towards an outsider pointing out the obvious.

However I have been sitting with my toes curled on occasions when Mr Jobs announced that the next big thing was a MP3 player, while what my friends desperately needed was a new PowerMac (and had their future and some $50.000 personally invested in software that would be useless on PC). The funny thing was that they always soaked it up, and never bitched (officially) about it. They bitched in forums like this - then they bought the damned MP3 player.

The tradition of not allowing criticism from the outside is ridicules. I called the gfx-board in the iMac pathetic, and a fan-boy or two are quick to point out that I am free to leave! Good stuff, when I know that there are more lines of complaint on that same gfx-board in here than there are lines of code in OSX. WTF?

The reason I'm here in the first place is obviously that I hate MS - I always did. I desperately want an OS alternative to the horrorVista, and by now OSX supports all the programs I use. If you are so beaten up by Apple that you fail to see me as friendly, I start to fear that OSX is even worse. Is it that bad?

 

[chairguru22]

Blu-Ray movies watched on a 24" screen is a waste IMO. If you are just watching movies and not creating/burning, I would get a BR player for your HDTV, aka PS3. You can play some sweet games too! It's not very practical on the Mac right now and certainly not on the iMac.

As for sound, You can get a nice set of speakers and hook that up and have your surround sound. Whatever the price and brand of speakers you choose. I've seen Bose 5.1 (maybe even 7.1?) surround sound systems compatible for the Mac. They were really impressive for my tastes so I'm not sure what kind of audiophile you may be.

FWIW, I'm boot camping my iMac with XP and playing games and it screams. Runs so smoothly. I would even agree that Windows runs better on my iMac than on any PC I've seen (granted my computer is brand new).

 

[surferfromuk]

I think for the most part people are just trying to work out exactly what you want BD on your mac for as it's not exactly been made clear. I for one was offering ideas based upon the 'idea' your wanting to watch movies - sure ATV is not 1080P but it's pretty darn close. I find watching old fashioned DVD quality still great but that's just me.

Anyway, good luck with your choice - whatever that maybe but I'm sure if you go Mac plenty of people will be glad to help you - if not, then don't worry bout the weirdness of this thread!!

 

[MacHappytjg]

one question why do u want to play bluray movies on a computer and if u already have them why not just watch them on ur tv why even bother with bluray i dont even normal dvds are just fine bluray is a waste of money and ur talking to a person who owns a ps3!

 

[mixel]

FFS PEOPLE.. God forbid someone wants to do something different to you. "why would you want to do that?"

That's the most stupid question I've seen asked here, much more stupid and fanboyish than the OP! What about; because the iMac has (generally) an incredible screen? and sitting inches away from it (like you do with computers, unlike TVs) BD on it would be a very compelling cinema experience.. And yes, you could easily tell the difference in quality, unless your vision is FUBAR, in which case why are you even paying a premium for a nicely designed/looking machine which you can barely see? )

Leave him alone, who wouldn't like BD in Macs? If you have a BD collection of COURSE you'd want to play it on your expensive, giant iMac too! Do you watch DVDs on your Macs sometimes? How is this different? The iMac can display 1080 easily, the video card is there.. I have a dual display iMac.. I'd LOVE bluray support.

If this is what makes a Wintroll to you, it makes me pretty ashamed. Apple can't claim to be ahead of the curve while ignoring "inconvenient" features.

Stop shooting the goddamn messenger, for most people BD is a hell of a lot more logical than ATV. Apple WILL support BD once the prices drop and slot loaded drives begin spreading, it isn't going away. I'm an Apple fan as much as any of you, but sometimes they don't give people what they want or need. They deserve questioning about this. It *must* become a BTO option, and soon. We're the media market, we need to be able to burn and *watch* these goddamn discs.

Surround wont be a problem anyway, even if you dont want to set up a digital optical connection you can always get a USB or firewire 5.1 surround box, which might save a little desk space. There are USb speakers with the surround interface built in too.

I'd be interested to see if Vista in Parallels or VMware would play BD in a virtual machine/from the bootcamp partition - that would be a killer feature. A stupid killer feature, as should support it already anyway, but one nonetheless.

And watch for the jump in iMac sales, I'm pretty sure it'll be largely because of the ridiculous graphics cards in previous models. Look at all the threads here, the Mac community is lapping up the 8800, it should've been an option earlier, or something similar at least!