New i7 2.93Ghz Owners Thread

[usi]

when i get my i7 i want to test it out for this yellow tint and other issues people are having.

is there like a test page to check the yellow tints and also for dead pixels? or do you just open up a blank safari window or something?

@bartelby - are you having hd clunky noises all the time? do you have the ssd option?

I used this site to test for Dead pixels or any Yellow tint:
http://imac.squeaked.com/test.php

Thankfully I had none of those problems but the Seagate HDD,tapping like a heart in a tin can, is really getting to me.
Not to sure what to do. Could return it but then run the risk of a crap screen on the replacement.

 

[MaxBeagleton]

Another flawless 27" i7 delivered today...

• Display: Absolutely nothing I can find wrong, no banding, no yellowing no leaking, no crack, no dust and no noise.
• HD (1TB WDC): Can't hear it.

Before I even turned it on, I swapped out my stock 2x2G memory stick with 4x4G (G.Skill F3-10600CL9D from NewEgg).

Just two minor points with which I'm not totally happy:

1. I have big hands, I wish the magic mouse was bigger. I like it so much though there is no way I'm going to shelve it! In fact, I may have wasted my money on the Magic Trackpad.
2. The were some very minor problems with the migration tool used in setup, I'll explain later in another post.

 

[imisplacedmine]

Got my i7 a few days ago and outfitted it with 16Gb of ram and just ran geekbench 64bit. Loving it so far!

 

[famarm]

i7 8Gb SSD only...

My i7 arrived today, that's all ok for now. No vibration, slight yellow on the bottom and no screen sound (present but very very low) no dead pixel only a little grey stain under the lcd panel (no under the glass) but very difficult to see.
Coming from China but with serial start to CK (Cork, Ireland)

 

[glxyjones]

My 2nd 27" iMac (1st replacement) is coming tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone's SECOND computer was the one that they ended up keeping because it was flawless/near flawless? It seems to me a lot of people get the perfect iMac on either their 1st (lucky), 3rd, or 4th one. I'm really hoping I don't have to return this one again but I have a bad feeling.

 

[aliensporebomb]

Ah...

I'm very seriously considering the i7 over a Mac Pro at the moment, and it would be exclusively for running Logic. I've been really encouraged by the couple of posts from people using it for Logic and having good results! Please can I ask for more information?

At the moment I'm trying to run sessions on my MBP, which isn't working out so well. The MBP is my "everything" machine, so it's cluttered with other software to the gills. Its 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo gets flustered pretty quickly with the sessions I'm throwing at it. These are usually pretty light on audio tracks but heavy on virtual instrument tracks – I'm using the Rhodes and Hammond emulations a lot, plus Kontakt, plus occasional EXS24, plus other 3rd-party stuff... plus of course nice modelled EQs and other processors. The MBP starts to stutter at the point where my track is about 70% done, and even freezing and altering buffers only buys me so much grunt.

I've been saving for a "music only" machine for a year now, and waiting for the new Mac Pros avidly. But the news on that front seems pretty mixed (take a look at their forums – they're not happy bunnies over there). The bottom line seems to be bad price/performance ratio in the lower-end machines, which is all I can afford in any case. So the top-end iMac suddenly starts to look very tempting.

Please, anyone who's using Logic, could you give me an idea of what kinds of
sessions the i7 is able to handle? What kind of virtual instruments (and in what quantities) you're throwing at it? EG, I'd love to know what AlienSporeBomb's "most intense logic session" looked like. Then maybe I can get a good idea of what to expect. I would dearly, dearly love to be able to make music without constantly having to micro-manage the computer to hold things together...

Finally, also on the musical front, how intrusive are you finding any hard drive noise? Quiet is important: it's going to be sitting 3 feet from the microphone, more or less. And finally finally, any thoughts on how worth-it the SSD option is – and what would you use it for? System drive, or sample storage for Kontakt / EXS24?

Many thanks (for reading all this, if nothing else... )!

Oh gods. That one is a bunch of virtual instruments and dozens and dozens of different guitar tracks and most of the individuals tracks are effected in some way. Let me create a quick MP3 mix to give you an idea how thick I mix things at times... I haven't done much in the way of mic'ed recordings since the vast
majority of my stuff goes direct but I've got some acoustic guitar I'd like to get set-up. I think the electric fan to keep me cooler would be noisier than any
fan inside the imac.

 

[xraydoc]

I'm very seriously considering the i7 over a Mac Pro at the moment, and it would be exclusively for running Logic. I've been really encouraged by the couple of posts from people using it for Logic and having good results! Please can I ask for more information?

It's amazing to me that a "simple iMac" is more powerful than a Mac Pro of just a couple years ago. My new 27" i7 is easily twice as fast - maybe closer to 3x - in Osirix (a medical imaging app) than my 2006 Mac Pro is. Way, way faster than the quad 2.66GHz vs. quad 2.93GHz numbers would suggest. The i7 is an amazing processor. And the fact that the RAM is 50% faster doesn't hurt, either.

Hopefully I wont regret the move away from ECC RAM in terms of stability. My Mac Pro only ever needed rebooting to apply OS system updates. Uptimes in the 90+ day neighborhood (likely could have gone longer if the power lines where I am didn't suck so much - too many trees).

 

[Spurk]

So basicly my new iMac is to be delivered today friday the 13th.
Should i leave it powered off until saturday? Im jinxed by nature ;<
Wish me luck!

 

[bolen]

So basicly my new iMac is to be delivered today friday the 13th.
Should i leave it powered off until saturday? Im jinxed by nature ;<
Wish me luck!

Sweet! Cant see why friday the 13th would matter though.. that's just **** ****.

I'm still waiting for my iMac to be delivered, the original delivery date was set for today but yesterday they delayed it to the 25th...

 

[khangster]

Hi, I just ordered an i7 at a department store but I'm a bit worry that they might order the wrong one. Is there a way to easily identify from the box that it is an i7 CTO without open the box and turn it on? Any sticker outside of the box that says i7?? What's the part number that I should look out for?

Thanks

 

[sunnychotai]

Delay on 27 inch i7



Update on delivery.

Order date: Monday 9th Aug
Shipping: 3 days
Estimated delivery: 17th Aug

This has now changed (got an email yesterday) that:

Shipping: 3-5 Days
Estimated delivery: 23rd-25th Aug

Aaaaaaaaah! Apple have great products but awful logistic operations! Why release a product if you are not going to immediately supply it --- muppets.

 

[bolen]

Hi, I just ordered an i7 at a department store but I'm a bit worry that they might order the wrong one. Is there a way to easily identify from the box that it is an i7 CTO without open the box and turn it on? Any sticker outside of the box that says i7?? What's the part number that I should look out for?

Thanks

Should be a sticker on then outside with the specifications on it. There has been one both my Macs.

Update on delivery.

Order date: Monday 9th Aug
Shipping: 3 days
Estimated delivery: 17th Aug

This has now changed (got an email yesterday) that:

Shipping: 3-5 Days
Estimated delivery: 23rd-25th Aug

Aaaaaaaaah! Apple have great products but awful logistic operations! Why release a product if you are not going to immediately supply it --- muppets.

Also got the same delay notification yesterday (25th) only difference is that I ordered it on the 29th.. so frustrating!

 

[dwarnecke11]

I used my student discount and ordered mine last night with the 8 GB iPod touch (which I will immediately sell). I'm very excited, I just hope it's free of defects. A Western Digital HD would be icing on the proverbial cake

iPod prepared for shipment, iMac not yet shipped. Latest arrival estimate is the 21st on the iMac.

 

[MacAndMic]

Just a heads up for anyone watching this thread and contemplating buying an i7. Macmall has these units in stock and available for delivery. What is great about it is that they do not charge tax (except for the states they are in) and you can upgrade the shipping to next day.

In comparison for me on a 2.93 with 4gb ram, it would be $2,149.99 plus $89.99 for next day shipping totaling $2,239.98 at Macmall. Apple would be $2,199.00 plus 6% sales tax of $134.04 and the best shipping they have is 3-5 days for $35.00, totaling $2,368.04.

Macmall would be a savings of $128.06 and I would literally have it the next day vs Apple would arrive who knows when.

I did call Macmall and they verified stock as well as guaranteed shipment the same day if ordered by 4pm pst.

I do not have any experience with Macmall but just wanted to give a heads up. Who knows where their units came from and if they are problematic or the process it would take to get a replacement if you received one with the many issues being posted.

troutspinner

 

[dalvin200]

I used my student discount and ordered mine last night with the 8 GB iPod touch (which I will immediately sell). I'm very excited, I just hope it's free of defects. A Western Digital HD would be icing on the proverbial cake

iPod prepared for shipment, iMac not yet shipped. Latest arrival estimate is the 21st on the iMac.

I logged int to Apple UK Order stats and it says "not yet shipped", bt logging into the US Store for online status gives "Prepared for Shipment"..

My estimated delivery date is 18-19th August.

About the Western Digital Drive - Being in the UK, I opted for the 1TB, and from what I've been reading, the 1TB drives in the EU are the (noisy) Seagate ones... Is this correct? But the 2TB ones in EU are WD?

I would be very annoyed if it made more noise than my current iMac (very quiet).

 

[dwarnecke11]

I logged int to Apple UK Order stats and it says "not yet shipped", bt logging into the US Store for online status gives "Prepared for Shipment"..

My estimated delivery date is 18-19th August.

About the Western Digital Drive - Being in the UK, I opted for the 1TB, and from what I've been reading, the 1TB drives in the EU are the (noisy) Seagate ones... Is this correct? But the 2TB ones in EU are WD?

I would be very annoyed if it made more noise than my current iMac (very quiet).

The 1 TB drives are either Seagate or Western Digital. I don't think there's any rhyme or reason to which region gets which drive. The 2 TB drives are all Hitachis and are supposedly louder than the Western Digital 1 TB but quieter than the Seagate 1 TB.

 

[texrb]

Hi, I just ordered an i7 at a department store but I'm a bit worry that they might order the wrong one. Is there a way to easily identify from the box that it is an i7 CTO without open the box and turn it on? Any sticker outside of the box that says i7?? What's the part number that I should look out for?

Thanks

If for some reason there isn't a sticker, the top of the box also lists the components.

 

[texrb]

My 2nd 27" iMac (1st replacement) is coming tomorrow and I was wondering if anyone's SECOND computer was the one that they ended up keeping because it was flawless/near flawless? It seems to me a lot of people get the perfect iMac on either their 1st (lucky), 3rd, or 4th one. I'm really hoping I don't have to return this one again but I have a bad feeling.

I returned my first one (i5 made in China) after 4 days, and upgraded to an i7 (made in USA), and have no issues. I have the seagate drive & have no noise problems; no yellow screen, no dead pixels, etc. The first one had none of those issue either - but had severe heat issues & wouldn't boot up properly.

I am very happy & plan to keep it.

 

[NeuroEmp]

Just got my 27" i7 8gb imac.
1t WD drive absolutely silent. The difference to my pc is like night and day.
No fan noises, no drive noise, just perfect silence.

My room is always dark, i don't see any yellow tinge or backlight bleed, seems perfect. No complaints. Not doing any tests, i can't see anything wrong in white screens so i'm happy.

1st Mac ever, so i'm really struggling with os x in my 1st hour. Magic mouse works well, still adjusting to the keyboard as well.

Anyway, thumbs up, screen is fantastic and the resolution

 

[macaximx]

Update on delivery.

Order date: Monday 9th Aug
Shipping: 3 days
Estimated delivery: 17th Aug

This has now changed (got an email yesterday) that:

Shipping: 3-5 Days
Estimated delivery: 23rd-25th Aug

Aaaaaaaaah! Apple have great products but awful logistic operations! Why release a product if you are not going to immediately supply it --- muppets.

Ordered mine on the 8th - Ships: 3 - 5 business days & Delivers:16 Aug - 23 Aug

It left California yesterday and is now in Canada. I suspect a Monday delivery although scheduled for Tuesday. Must be the configuration causing the delay since mine is on time.

 

[dalvin200]

YAY.. got an email just now to say my iMac has shipped!!

Est Delivery on or before 20th!! a week?? wtf?

 

[jmpage2]

I returned my first one (i5 made in China) after 4 days, and upgraded to an i7 (made in USA), and have no issues. I have the seagate drive & have no noise problems; no yellow screen, no dead pixels, etc. The first one had none of those issue either - but had severe heat issues & wouldn't boot up properly.

I am very happy & plan to keep it.

My 24" was 'made in california' but I can't remember if it said that right on the box. I'm wondering if the local stores get them in if I can have them check the boxes for me and get one that was assembled in the US. Seems they might have fewer quality control problems.

 

[Macfr3d]

got my i7, no issues except that my table humms because of the drive. overall an incredibly fast machine even without the ssd. highly recommended!

 

[ccwilli3]

received my 2.93 i7 4Gb 1TB iMac yesterday; what a sweet machine. Stepping up from a 2006 pre-Santa Rosa MBP (2.16GHz C2D, 3GB ram) and what a big step up it is... Aperture screams now, or at least is much much better!

I want to add 8Gb more RAM but I will hold off until the new wears off, then add it!

 

[blomma]

Got my 27" i7 with 8 gigs this monday and i have been loving it ever since.

No yellow issue, no bleed, 1 dead pixel that i can only see when i test it. The WD hardrive is silent as a mouse.

The fact that you can OC the gfx card is just icing on the cake, im happy as a clam