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New iMacs Released

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?
 
Bobthemonkey said:
The new chip really isn't all that bad.

While Tom's Hardware only lists the 2600 XT, rather than the pro, it does give a good guide to performace. It should be on par or slightly below the the MBP offering, and if it continues to use an MXM style system, a graphics dump in the future would be a distinct possibility.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=858&model2=855&chart=308

Trusted reviews don't seem to think its all doom n' gloom but I'd wait for THG to test the 2600pro for a more conclusive result.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/graph...ATI-Radeon-HD-2600-XT-2600-Pro-and-2400-XT/p7
Click to expand...

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

kungming2 said:
It is laptop hardware - 800MHz and the RAM speed of DDR2 800 is the fastest available for the laptop hardware that the iMac uses. Desktop bus speeds go up to 1GHz and 1.33GHz nowadays, though they're extremely expensive and only Core 2 Quads and Extremes (Desktop versions) can utilize such fast speeds. Also, the memory for the fastest speeds cost quite a bit.
Click to expand...

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?
 
Quila said:
The big difference is the processor/motherboard. Laptop chips/mobos (as in the old iMac) run slower, have a slower system bus and can't take as much memory.
Click to expand...
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.
 
FunkyELF said:
Can I hook up a laptop to it yet and use it as a monitor? If not...WHY THE HELL NOT? If so, ignore what follows.

If I'm buying a 24" iMac I better be able to dock something else there and use the screen.

This is almost as bad as DRM. You can only use this display with only one particular computer (the one inside it).

I do realize that laptops have displays too that you can't hook anything else up to but nobody would want to either. This is a 24" display....come on!!!
Click to expand...

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.
 
FunkyELF said:
Can I hook up a laptop to it yet and use it as a monitor? If not...WHY THE HELL NOT? If so, ignore what follows.

If I'm buying a 24" iMac I better be able to dock something else there and use the screen.

This is almost as bad as DRM. You can only use this display with only one particular computer (the one inside it).

I do realize that laptops have displays too that you can't hook anything else up to but nobody would want to either. This is a 24" display....come on!!!
Click to expand...

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.)
 
tivoboy said:
Man, I was hoping to get a new mac 24", but the GLOSSY ON ALL IMACs is getting me a bit scared. Having NOT been able to asjust to my macbook (sold!) I don't know how the GLOSSY imac is going to look. Maybe glass is better, but WHY would they do this?
Click to expand...

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.

🙁
 
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?
 
Can someone tell me if steve is using a 24/20 in this pic. Contemplating whether getting a 20 or 24 but i have a feeling the 24 would be a tad too big.
 

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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...?

4uks5yw.jpg


6fqgrxw.jpg
 
I agree, it gives the illusion that the actual screen is floating in the frame.

Aldyn said:
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...?

http://i19.tinypic.com/4uks5yw.jpg
Click to expand...
 
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...
 
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.
 
puckhead193 said:
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?
Click to expand...


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.
 
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