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iMac G5 Survey

Etrain

Etrain

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I am a new member of the forums. I am researching the iMacs because I want to buy an Apple come April. I visited the Cleveland Apple store yesterday where they had 5 iMacs on display. Each one I used (played the games, used Photoshop, etc.) ran perfectly and beautifully. I have heard many stories about people buying iMac G5's which had problems like fan noises, display problems and alike. I searched for a similar topic but I couldn't find anything like what I am asking.

If you own an iMac G5 please reply. In your reply please post your model (1.6 GHz 17", 1.8 GHz 17" or 1.8 GHz 20") and if you had any problems with it and if the problems are ongoing or have been corrected. I am wondering if maybe the noise and heat problems are a result of a smaller 17" body whereas the 20" has more room for heat to escape.

Thank you so much!
 
I can highly recommend the iMac. I have the 1.8 GHz 20" model and have had no major problems. The only issues I have had were (a) the airport reception was not stellar, but improved with reseating the airport card and reconnecting the antenna without the little plastic piece at that interface (b) occasionally upon waking from sleep, the BT mouse will not communicate, but using the keyboard I can quickly navigate to the BT setup assistant and re-pair the mouse.

As for noise, it is hard to know that it is even on most of the time if it wasn't for the beautiful display. The optical drive spinning up does make a little noise, but otherwise, I never hear the computer itself.
 
I have a 20" 1.8GHz iMac G5...I'm on my second one 🙄

First one I had a needed a new midplane (which is basically everything inside the machine apart from the screen and drives) due to noise. Then after that was replaced by myself(!!!) I started having problems with the screen not sleeping, bit dimming with a gradient effect. At this point when they tried to get me to carry on swapping bits over I demanded a new machine and got it. Now I couldn't be happier 🙂
 
I have a 20" and it is great. No problems with it at all. (It has been only 1 week though...). It is quiet and I love the giant screen. I also just upped the RAM and it seems to be much happier with 512 than the stock.
 
I got the 17" 1.8 with 1 GB of RAM and Bluetooth.

I got it refurbished from Apple (saved $325), and I have not had ANY problem whatsoever from it.
 
I have been nothing but pleased with my iMac G5. I have the 20" 1.8GHz model and have had no problems. As others have mentioned, the optical drive is noisy when it spins, but the hard drive and fans are essentially silent most of the time. If you are doing something extremely processor intensive you will notice the fans, but it's still quieter than your average PC box. I did add memory to it so that I have 1GB of RAM. I highly recommend this, as I've used one that only had 256MB, and the difference is amazing. I also have not noticed any dead pixels or any other such display problems. This is my first Mac, and I'd highly recommend it to anybody.
 
I'm an owner of a big 20" 😉 . I've had it all of two weeks. Physically I've not had a problem with it. No screen, heat or noise problems. Look at my signature for the full spec. I have not had a chance to put it through its paces as I've been playing too much with my new PowerBook!

The only thing I can say is that the bluetooth keyboard and mouse take a little time to be found at startup. I have to wait a while before I can log in. I therefore guess that I won't be able to access the boot options via this keyboard and have to use a wired one.

Hopefully going to transfer over all my MP3s, bookmarks and other stuff from my old PC this weekend. After that, it will get a good seeing to, as it were.
 
I have had a 20" iMac G5 for about 5 months now. It has had two replacement logic boards and one replacement LCD panel, both due to video problems. I wish I would have bought the single processor Powermac G5 and a 20" Cinema Display instead. Both of my bad logic boards had video component failures, and it would have been much easier to swap out a video card in the Powermac. Had the machine not been under warranty, the cost of replacing a logic board would have been $1289.06, much more expensive than a replacement video card.

I also like the idea that if your display breaks down (like my iMac's did), you can just plug another one into the Powermac. It is much more difficult (and expensive) to replace the LCD panel in the iMac. A brand new 20" Cinema display costs $999.99, but cost of parts alone for replacing the iMac's LCD panel is $1171.88.

The total cost of my repairs, $3750, has been covered by the warranty. However, it has been very inconvenient. The additional $600 cost for getting a Powermac and 20" display instead of a 20" iMac seems worthwhile to me. You also have the ability to install more RAM and upgrade the video card on the Powermac, and there is room for an additional hard drive. Of course, the iMac is much smaller, and that may be of value to you.
 
People have had problems with the imacs as with any new computer, do not be afraid to buy them because they are fantastic computers.
Despite a few Airport problems (probs turned out to be my fault) my imac has been flawless, no loud noise or anything and is just stunning.
Although, yes some of the problems the imacs have have been in quite high numbers and i am so surprised at some of Apple's responses but there is a very low chance you will get a faulty machine
 
My friend bought one but and I don't remember what happened to it but it was all messed up so he got it replaced.
 
A friend that lives with us has the 17" 1.6 ghz model, and he has not had a single problem with it. Also this "poll" will be very inaccurate do to the fact that people that have had more problems are much more likely to post. You honestly should just buy it. Out of hundreds made only a few are lemons. Enjoy 🙂
 
Yeah I got a 20" 1.8 with a gig of RAM.. the optical drive is the noisiest part but everything else is beautiful.
 
I have a 1.8 ghz 17" and have had no problems. I highly recommend this machine, I'm very happy with it 🙂


allison.
 
That's what a warranty is for

Bought my wife a 1.8 17" back in October. Works perfect in every way. Powermacs, ibooks, ipods, etc. all are going to have a few bad 'apples' in the lot, but that is what the warranty is for. Pick the machine you like and go for it, you'll love whatever you get...
 
I have a 20" 1.8 Ghz w 512mb ram and BT keyboard and mouse. It's fantastic. I could not recommend it more highly. Far exceeded my expectations.

Get one and enjoy,
rk
 
I bought my 1.8 17" in November. Overall I'm satisfied with it. I really like it. However, my iMac does have a problem with the fan. My fan makes an audible buzzing noise (bad bearing). My aunt purchased the same setup and hers is silent. I'll get a replacement motherboard when Apple fixes the prob.
 
mcmav37 said:
I can highly recommend the iMac. I have the 1.8 GHz 20" model and have had no major problems. The only issues I have had were (a) the airport reception was not stellar, but improved with reseating the airport card and reconnecting the antenna without the little plastic piece at that interface (b) occasionally upon waking from sleep, the BT mouse will not communicate, but using the keyboard I can quickly navigate to the BT setup assistant and re-pair the mouse.

As for noise, it is hard to know that it is even on most of the time if it wasn't for the beautiful display. The optical drive spinning up does make a little noise, but otherwise, I never hear the computer itself.
Click to expand...

Well said... Same here for this 20" iMac owner. just upgrade the RAM to at least 1GB. Quiet as a mouse.
 
I've had my 17" 1.8 GHz iMac for nearly a month now, and I'm happy to report no major issues. My Apple Bluetooth mouse seems to have connection issues occasionally, but other than that the machine is doing great.

With regards to the noise issue, I must say the iMac is one of the quietest computers I've ever been around. I never realized how loud my work PC was until I received my iMac.

With that said, the iMac does make noise. The fans and HDD are audible (especially if you sit close to the computer). Some people have mentioned that you can't hear it running. Personally, I believe such statements to be a bit misleading. One notable exception to the quietness rule is the slot loading optical drive. This baby is loud! It has been my experience that sometimes it's louder than others (depending on the disk I insert). No noticeable pattern so far.

I wholeheartedly recommend the iMac G5. As a recent switcher, I can confidently say that this is the finest computer I've worked on.

One suggestion: if you plan to have several apps open at once (and you should...OS X is awesome at this!), load your machine with at least 768 MB of RAM. I've found that apps like iPhoto and the MS Office Suite can consume loads of RAM. Trust me, your hard drive will thank you.

Good luck!
 
1. You are not likely to get an unbiased (i.e. random sample) of iMac owners. On apple.com I would think you would see more negative reports; here I would think you would get more positive replies

2. While some lines are lemons and others are not (i.e. systematic logic board problems), there are always a few problem machines that get shipped. In this vein, consideration of how the company deals with the problem is important. It sounds like those with significant problems have had components or entire machines replaced.

3. Whisper does not = no noise. Also remember, that you have an entire computer inches in front of your face. This is just speculation, but I suspect that at least a fraction of the complaints are from those who are extremely particular about noise. The iMac is not silent, the fans run all the time at varying speeds depending on the workload, and some may find the pitch of that noise bothersome. Also, as the previous poster notes the slot loading optical drive is noisy.

Saying this, my 20" iMac which I have had for 3 months is outstanding. Not one problem. It is whisper quiet, and while I do hear the noise, it is not bothersome at all. In fact, if it wasn't for all the comments that have led me to be constantly assessing the noise of my iMac, I probably won't notice it at all. Would buy it all over again in a second....
 
Scottyk9 said:
3. Whisper does not = no noise. Also remember, that you have an entire computer inches in front of your face. This is just speculation, but I suspect that at least a fraction of the complaints are from those who are extremely particular about noise. The iMac is not silent, the fans run all the time at varying speeds depending on the workload, and some may find the pitch of that noise bothersome. Also, as the previous poster notes the slot loading optical drive is noisy.
Click to expand...

I have a 20" iMac and it has a moderate model-airplane like buzzing sound that comes from the CPU fan. I have tolerated it for a few months but it is starting to get annoying. I find myself firing up iTunes just to try and drown the noise. If people are finding their new iMacs don't have a droning noise, then perhaps its time I called Apple. That said, the computer is superb! No dead pixels, and the screen is fantastic. I have only been able to burn DVDs at 2x, but I gathered this is likely due to the lower cost discs I bought.
 
Thank you all for the replies! I think I will get the iMac but I am still debating if I want the 17" or 20" . $400 more for double the hard drive and 3" more is pretty steep I think. Are they the same screen, just different sizes? The rep at the Apple store told me the 20" screen is a high quality and then proceeded to push against the 17" screen and it made a wave of color, but when he did it on the 20" it didn't.

I will be upgrading the ram to either 512 or 768 MBs.
 
Etrain said:
Thank you all for the replies! I think I will get the iMac but I am still debating if I want the 17" or 20" . $400 more for double the hard drive and 3" more is pretty steep I think. Are they the same screen, just different sizes? The rep at the Apple store told me the 20" screen is a high quality and then proceeded to push against the 17" screen and it made a wave of color, but when he did it on the 20" it didn't.

I will be upgrading the ram to either 512 or 768 MBs.
Click to expand...
Yes, the 20" is a better screen. 🙂

New updates are supposed to be soon. 😎
 
Bluetooth

In regards to the bluetooth keyboard and mouse. To connect faster upon waking, click mouse or tap a key repeatedly. It will connect much faster.
 
Got a tricked out 1.8 20" (1GB RAM, 250 HD, Airport, Bluetooth, Bluetooth accessories, etc.) in December and love it to death. Super-fantastic machine. Fan noise hasn't bothered me one little bit. Optical drive is a bit noisy sometimes, and when it's doing really heavy-lifting, the fan comes on quite loud, but as it's "idling" now (with Word, Excel, Safari, Mail, Proteus, Pages, iTunes, iPhoto, iCal, Address Book, etc. all running), I can barely hear it over the sound of my typing on the keyboard. And I'm in a dead-silent room as I type. And I don't type very loudly.

Picked it up to "move down" from a first-generation G5 dual-2.0 and a 20" old-generation Cinema Display. Can't say I've regretted the move for a second. Since the only really hard work I do on it is the very occaisional iMovie or iDVD project, it's a superstar. Handles running all the apps I want it to run at the same time with great performance. I don't notice any real performance drop in what I do with this machine, coming from the dual-2.0 with 1.5 GB RAM. Even swiped my extra RAM out of the old G5 and put 'em in here to save a few pennies on RAM. In all, the swap made me a nice profit, and the new machine fits my needs just fine, and my workspace (I have it in a small "den" in my apartment) even better.

The form-factor is amazing. With everything combined in one neat and tidy little box that looks like a million bucks on my desk, it's a dream. Plus, with the built-in speakers (which some don't like, but they're more than good enough for my humble ears, which can't discern between 128kbps AAC and CD quality...) and the Bluetooth accessories, it helps keep the wires on the desktop under control. Also makes it super-easy to just up and move it around... take it out to the living room for a slideshow, take it wherever. I'm planning to pack it up and take it to my wedding in August, where it, along with an iSight, will power our "video guestbook" and will be the DJ for the night.

I can't say enough about this little machine. I guess my only regret is that there's not a mounting option for the iSight that doesn't involve putting adhesive on the back of the display. But I can live with that. For now.
 
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