eh from the pictures it looks ok, my jaw didn't drop to the floor. i'll have to see it in real life.
Anyone know when its expected at the apple store?
Anyone know when its expected at the apple store?
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New iMacs Released
- Thread starter yagran
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Please, don't kid yourself or anyone else. The 2600HD Pro is BAD for games by any definition of the term. The 20" iMac pushes 1600x1200 native and the 24" is 1900X1200. With middle-of-the road AA & quality settings, for most any modern 3D game that you can get on a Mac, your probably going to see somewhere between 15 and 25 FPS. The only way to increase that is to run the game at a lower (non native) resolution on your iMac which basically means its going to look like crap.
Laptop Specs
Hmmm, don't know about the "extremely expensive" bit. Just ran over the BestBuy on my lunch hour, and they're selling desktop PC systems with 1.33GHz bus speeds for well under $1,000. Those systems have much faster memory, too.
All in all, I'd say the new iMacs are seriously disappointing. I don't see where they're a massive upgrade from the old iMacs on the hardware side, and the design certainly hasn't improved - if anything, they look less sophisticated and advanced than the machines they're replacing. I can get a decent looking Intel system from HP along with a nice Samsung 24" widescreen monitor for around $1,500. It would have a bigger hard drive, twice the RAM, a much faster bus, faster memory, dual optical drives, an expansion bay for swappable hard drives and room for internal expansion.
Meh.
When the first Intel iMacs came out they were surprisingly cost competitive with desktop PC systems, and they had a unique form factor. Now all they seem to have going for them is the form factor, which you are paying a LOT of money for. I have to think that laptops are a better investment - at least you can carry those wherever you want.
Hmmm, don't know about the "extremely expensive" bit. Just ran over the BestBuy on my lunch hour, and they're selling desktop PC systems with 1.33GHz bus speeds for well under $1,000. Those systems have much faster memory, too.
All in all, I'd say the new iMacs are seriously disappointing. I don't see where they're a massive upgrade from the old iMacs on the hardware side, and the design certainly hasn't improved - if anything, they look less sophisticated and advanced than the machines they're replacing. I can get a decent looking Intel system from HP along with a nice Samsung 24" widescreen monitor for around $1,500. It would have a bigger hard drive, twice the RAM, a much faster bus, faster memory, dual optical drives, an expansion bay for swappable hard drives and room for internal expansion.
Meh.
When the first Intel iMacs came out they were surprisingly cost competitive with desktop PC systems, and they had a unique form factor. Now all they seem to have going for them is the form factor, which you are paying a LOT of money for. I have to think that laptops are a better investment - at least you can carry those wherever you want.
I just bought it!!! I'm typing on a 20-inch right now!!!!!! I would have gotten the 24-inch but they weren't in stock yet!
Any questions?
Any questions?
Another difference from the MBP:
A better hard drive - according Apple's website the iMac takes a standard 3.5" HDD (hence the 1 TB option noted by Steve).
Use of a standad 3.5" drive should really speed up disk I/O compared to the MBP.
Its doable, but it not going to be that easy. Use a usb tv dongle to give the MAC RF input, then you need to get an RF output for your new source, and tune the USB dongle to that RF signal.
The newer the device you want to hook up the harder its going to be, and the quality may be questionable.
Actually... I'll forgive Apple on the 2400xt in the base model. I didn't think to compare prices, but even the higher-spec 20" model with the 2600 pro (which is definitely faster than the old X1600) is cheaper than the old 20", so actually for the same price, you are still getting better performance, especially with the price of the new entry level 20" model nearly matching that of the old high-end 17" model (which admittedly had a better GPU, but a smaller screen and worse specs otherwise; it's a trade off.)
The only real losers I see here are offices and education customers who would have gone for the lower spec 17" model which replaced the eMac, with the GMA950. That said, a mini with a cheap LCD fulfills the same task and performance for about the same money; it's just not as neat.
And everybody ranting and raving about the power consumption of the new GPU, you obviously haven't read a review of anything but the 2900xt! Sure, the new high-end ATI GPU is a power monster, but the other members of the family are not much different to NVidia's equivalents... Also consider the fact that we're most likely talking about the mobility versions of the GPU here (or at least that's what all the other flat iMacs have had so far) so power consumption probably won't be an issue at all.
The only real losers I see here are offices and education customers who would have gone for the lower spec 17" model which replaced the eMac, with the GMA950. That said, a mini with a cheap LCD fulfills the same task and performance for about the same money; it's just not as neat.
And everybody ranting and raving about the power consumption of the new GPU, you obviously haven't read a review of anything but the 2900xt! Sure, the new high-end ATI GPU is a power monster, but the other members of the family are not much different to NVidia's equivalents... Also consider the fact that we're most likely talking about the mobility versions of the GPU here (or at least that's what all the other flat iMacs have had so far) so power consumption probably won't be an issue at all.
Need not worry, you can, there is a mini DVI port at the very end. The MacBook provides the same mini DVI port as well. You just have to have a converter to regular DVI unless your display has a mini DVI connector at the end (I wasn't sure if displays actually have those or not).
I just walked to the Apple store in Cambridge, MA. They're selling the new iMacs but they don't have them on display. (If you call your local Apple store be sure to specify "for sale" vs. "on display". I just wanted to see the damn thing.)
From what Jobs said, customers apparently really liked it in the focus groups.
To quote "Customers say they love glossy displays."
But then again that is only a select proportion of the population. There will always be differences in opinion, but for graphics pros like me this is not ideal. I can understand glossy for laptops but not desktops.
Im still waiting to buy my first mac, very tempted to get the old iMac just because it looks a lot better in my opinion.
I can't say just how much I was looking forward to this much hyped revision of the iMac, I was hoping for the "missing link" a fantastic all in one, instead I think I'll be looking for a last gen. 24" without the glossy screen and sub standard graphics.
The first time I've been really, really disapponted with an Apple design in years.
The first time I've been really, really disapponted with an Apple design in years.
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo vs 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme
Any one have informed opinions about this choice? Is it worth the $250? Are you going to pay for it in fan noise?
Any one have informed opinions about this choice? Is it worth the $250? Are you going to pay for it in fan noise?
at first i thought "hey its better looking than i expected" but now i'm starting to change my mind.
i love the design of the wired keyboard. the wireless keyboard...um... i don't mind the fact that its missing the keypad/arrows as much as i don't like that gap above the top row of keys.
i also don't like the black matte plastic on the back. i think if they had kept it the aluminum, it would have looked a bit better.
and also, i think it would look a tad better if the black glass covered the whole front...perhaps...?
i love the design of the wired keyboard. the wireless keyboard...um... i don't mind the fact that its missing the keypad/arrows as much as i don't like that gap above the top row of keys.
i also don't like the black matte plastic on the back. i think if they had kept it the aluminum, it would have looked a bit better.
and also, i think it would look a tad better if the black glass covered the whole front...perhaps...?
I got it in Madison, WI. They are not advertising them or even acknowledging that they have them, but they seem to have sold it to me to get out of the store. I'd been in there hounding them for hours, the entire keynote presentation. I was looking at all of the live updates on engadget while customers were walking around and buying the old version. They seemed to want me out of there so that people would keep buying the old models.
But yeah, Madison Wisconsin in the West Towne Mall. No 24" in stock yet...
But yeah, Madison Wisconsin in the West Towne Mall. No 24" in stock yet...
No!!!
What the hell is that black border?!?!!? Get rid of that and it might be better. For some reason, with the black frame it reminds me of a PC.
To me this has definitely been a slip towards the mainstream computer look. Apple is losing in the design stake's with me. And thats one of the things that i just adored about Apple =(
But i love the keyboard. Might finally just end up buying the new mini, keyboard and mighty mouse to accompany my ageing MacBook.
What the hell is that black border?!?!!? Get rid of that and it might be better. For some reason, with the black frame it reminds me of a PC.
To me this has definitely been a slip towards the mainstream computer look. Apple is losing in the design stake's with me. And thats one of the things that i just adored about Apple =(
But i love the keyboard. Might finally just end up buying the new mini, keyboard and mighty mouse to accompany my ageing MacBook.
I went to the Apple Store in Norfolk, VA and the manager said they would be putting them out later, and would not sell any until then. Said he needed to find out what was used for displays first... This I find hard to believe. I decided not to press it, as I am waiting patiently.