Itching to pull trigger on i7 iMac - but damn that screen is big!

[InfoTime]

My current home / office computer is a 20" 2.4 GHz iMac with 4 GB RAM. I don't do anything that intensive with it. I would like to be able to comfortably run VMWare Fusion VMs. Since I do computer support I'd like to be able to run a bunch of VMs at once without penalty. The i7 with 8 GB of RAM seems like it would be a good fit.

I also play Unreal Tournament 2004, but no other games. Not sure how it'd do with that gigantic screen. I'm not too worried about how well that runs on a new machine as I've got others that can run it OK if needed.

So, I'd really love to order the i7, and do it before the end of the year so it will count against this years taxes. But, I just can't get comfortable with the idea of that gigantic screen!

My desk is 36 x 72 and currently houses the 20" iMac, a 23" Samsung monitor / HDTV, and (temporarily) a 15" LCD for service work on other computers.

I may be able to eliminate the other two and just have the new 27" on there. But, I'm not sure I could get used to the giant screen. Also, don't think the wife will react positively to it (at first).

I guess what I'm asking is "sell me on why you love your gigantic 27" or 30" screen"!

 

[Brien]

I'd been planning on upgrading my aging PowerMac for a few years now.

I had eventually settled on a server (Xserve or Mac mini, depending on funds) and a Mac Pro, to handle different duties - the Mac Pro for work, and the server for media distribution to the TV and other computers in the house.

However, with the 27" iMac, I no longer need to buy TWO machines. Instead, I'm getting the 27" with the i7, and will be wall-mounting it in the hallway above a sofa table (I'll stick the keyboard/mouse in the drawer for when they're needed).

So, my story is a bit long, but the point is: who cares if it's a big screen? It's a beautiful machine and if you don't mind spending the extra $200 to wall-mount it, even better.

 

[Makosuke]

I was in a similar situation to you; I recently upgraded from a 20" ACD to the massive i7 iMac (on a roughly 24x48" desk). I was a little uncomfortable with the idea of a monitor over 24", because of the worry that I'd end up having to move my head/eyes around a lot resulting in added eye/neck strain, but there wasn't any other option on the i7, so I figured I'd just go for it and hope for the best.

Having used it for a week, a few notes that might soothe you:

It is certainly massive. (It's also heavy enough that I double-checked the weight rating on my glass-top desk to make sure it wasn't going to break it--thankfully, it turned out to have plenty of leeway.)

That said, It's not at all uncomfortable to use; I ended up pushing it a little farther back on the desk, but I haven't noticed any unnecessary eye/head movement to keep up with it. Honestly, it doesn't "feel" nearly as big as I was expecting.

On the flip side, it may not feel bigger from an eye standpoint, but man is that extra resolution nice. Among other things the ability to view the full vertical height of some comics I read online has practically made it worthwhile, and having lots of free space for palettes and peripheral windows in Photoshop is nice, too. Heck, this thing has almost as much vertical resolution as my old monitor did horizontally. Also nice to be able to display 1080p at native resolution with plenty of room around the edges.

The only thing resembling a complaint I have is that Apple hasn't yet gotten resolution independence going in the OS; due to the position of my chair and screen, the default text sizes are a tad small, but at this point cranking them up isn't as seamless as I feel it should be (c'mon, Apple, it's been hiding in the dev tools for years, get it polished already!).

It also takes a little more mouse movement to get the pointer across the screen, but of course if that bothers you you can always adjust the speed (in my case, I didn't, because I prefer the fine-grained control).

(On a peripherally related note, another thing I've been pleasantly surprised with was the glossy screen; I'd still probably prefer matte, but glare hasn't been a problem at all thus far. I don't have any bright light sources directly behind the computer, though. The color is certainly fantastic--hard to beat an IPS screen.)

 

[Badger^2]

theres probably no need for you to get the i7, if that would make your wife and wallet feel better.

Even the standard C2D or i5 would be more than enough of a bump.

And installing your own ram could save a bunch too.

Have you been to an Apple store or Best Buy to see one in person?

 

[InfoTime]

Have you been to an Apple store or Best Buy to see one in person?

Yes. In fact I've made several visits to a client's home setting one up. So I've spent a short amount of time in front of one, while seated and actually using it (vs standing up, leaning over looking at a store display). Short of actually sitting one on my desk, I've had a decent amount of exposure to it.

 

[admanimal]

My current home / office computer is a 20" 2.4 GHz iMac with 4 GB RAM. I don't do anything that intensive with it. I would like to be able to comfortably run VMWare Fusion VMs. Since I do computer support I'd like to be able to run a bunch of VMs at once without penalty. The i7 with 8 GB of RAM seems like it would be a good fit.

I have the i7 with 8GB of RAM connected to a 24" LED cinema display and it is the perfect setup for VMWare fusion. I can have a VM on the 2nd monitor at full screen with 1 CPU and 4GB of RAM allocated to it and it's basically like I'm running 2 really fast computers...except it's all just one iMac. I can move the mouse/files from one monitor to the other and Fusion handles switching/copying seamlessly. It's really like a dream compared to when I either had to dual boot or have a 2nd Windows computer.

The 27" doesn't really seem all that big to me, definitely not as shocking as the leap from a 20" to 24" iMac was. I think it's because the 27" is more wide than it is tall, which makes it look less huge.

 

[PuckDaddy]

fwiw, the 27" is close to the same height as the 24"
it's just a little wider
for someone with 24", the 'upgrdade' wouldn't be dizzying

 

[iFirmware]

hmmm, what are your views on an upgraded 21.5 if not any mac at all... to me it seems a little easier on the wallet to save it

 

[toupsz]

Probably not sense in worrying about it. For my order placed November 18th, they're now saying it will ship from China on December 21st.

Good luck with it.
-Z

 

[Lloyd Christmas]

stop acting like such a little girl and just pull the trigger already. Im sure you were saying the same thing when you got the 23'' screen. You know its going to be amazing when you get it. Order it now so it will make it to your home in time for the holidays. Lloyd