New iMacs Released

[rowe4860]

Imac Software

Hey everyone. First off i just wanna say that this thread is getting me really excited to get a new iMac. Ive pretty much decided on it. I already have a macbook pro, and its a very friendly machine. Im new on this site...actually im new to the internet on my this computer. Its a whole new realm of discovery for me, and im kinda hoping i might be able to get some pointers from the pros on this forum.

#1- Im looking into getting Shape Shifter 2.2. What is the word on this program. Is it safe? Will it slow my computer down? Are there any downsides to running different 'themes' on my mac. Also, is there a way i can get the program for free?

#2- Screensavers: There are a number of screensavers that i've downloaded that were supposed to be "for mac" but did not work. I dont understand. Is there a special program i need? I am specifically looking for a Matrix-like screensaver, cuz their pretty sick. Where and how can i get these, and other good screensavers. Please help me!

#3- Finally, im curious about customizing my icons. I have tried to do this for some icons and it hasnt worked. like Finder...and others.

If anyone knows anything about any of this, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank You!

 

[iShak]

Hey everyone. First off i just wanna say that this thread is getting me really excited to get a new iMac. Ive pretty much decided on it. I already have a macbook pro, and its a very friendly machine. Im new on this site...actually im new to the internet on my this computer. Its a whole new realm of discovery for me, and im kinda hoping i might be able to get some pointers from the pros on this forum.

#1- Im looking into getting Shape Shifter 2.2. What is the word on this program. Is it safe? Will it slow my computer down? Are there any downsides to running different 'themes' on my mac. Also, is there a way i can get the program for free?

#2- Screensavers: There are a number of screensavers that i've downloaded that were supposed to be "for mac" but did not work. I dont understand. Is there a special program i need? I am specifically looking for a Matrix-like screensaver, cuz their pretty sick. Where and how can i get these, and other good screensavers. Please help me!

#3- Finally, im curious about customizing my icons. I have tried to do this for some icons and it hasnt worked. like Finder...and others.

If anyone knows anything about any of this, advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank You!

1. In my experience (C2D macbook, 1GB ram) Shapeshifter slowed the mac down and even after a complete uninstall it remained slow (had to do a clean install), but I guess a faster machine might cope well because apparently shapeshifter draws the UI elements on the fly (or so I am told, I may be wrong here), and no it is a shareware so I don't think you can get one for free, you can try asking them really nicely though .. hehe

2. no idea, I don't use any downloaded screensavers, the ones that came bundled with mac serve me just fine.

3. I use a program called candybar it lets you change almost all icons including system icons, it is a shareware as well and I don't know of any freeware substitute.

 

[bobsbarricades]

i have a question about the RAM.

I want to upgrade my ram later - I really don't want to pay 1 grand for it when newegg is a heck of a lot cheaper. But how is the RAM set up for uprade? On the older iMac's they would have one internal slot that was hard as poop to get to and one easily accessible external one.

Basically, do they allow me to take out all the ram and put 4 gigs in by me-lonesome?

 

[Eidorian]

i have a question about the RAM.

I want to upgrade my ram later - I really don't want to pay 1 grand for it when newegg is a heck of a lot cheaper. But how is the RAM set up for uprade? On the older iMac's they would have one internal slot that was hard as poop to get to and one easily accessible external one.

Basically, do they allow me to take out all the ram and put 4 gigs in by me-lonesome?

The internal slot in the iMac G4 is actually rather easy to get too. The Torx screws holding the bottom on were just annoyingly long.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306204

 

[MacinDoc]

i have a question about the RAM.

I want to upgrade my ram later - I really don't want to pay 1 grand for it when newegg is a heck of a lot cheaper. But how is the RAM set up for uprade? On the older iMac's they would have one internal slot that was hard as poop to get to and one easily accessible external one.

Basically, do they allow me to take out all the ram and put 4 gigs in by me-lonesome?

Yes.

 

[happydude]

new imac report

awesome. but of course, we all saw that coming, right?! got it last friday and have been playing with it ever since. there have been 2 main issues people have seemed to raise about it.

1. something about an inconsistency in the screen's color, typically a yellowish tint toward the middle of the screen if you choose an all grey solid color background. have not had any problem with that.

2. glossy screen. this i was a little worried about as the computer is in a well lit by windows room. when the computer is off and i've just entered the room, sure i notice it. but when it is on and i've been looking at the screen for more than 10 seconds, i really have to search hard and refocus my eyes to find the reflections. our brains do a great job at flitering out what we aren't focused on to keep that which we are at front attention (otherwise we'd always notice traffic noise or flourescent bulbs buzzing).

at any rate, this is by far the best computer i've ever owned (on my 8th mac at this point since mid 80's) and highly recommend to anyone considering.

peace to all!!!


EDIT: imac in question is new 24" 2.8 with full TB at the helm.

 

[Vanilla]

I did the exact same thing - almost - only got 3gb memory and the 500gb drive, but had the same G5 as you - this 2.8mhz is lightening compared to that old G5 - you will LOVE IT

Well it arrived today...wow. it's beautiful and yes it's very fast.

Sadly the 4GB of Ram I got from Crucial wouldnt work. I could install one 2GB card together with one of the existing 1GB cards but if I installed both 2GB cards the system refused to fire up. I called Crucial and they say that some iMacs have a problem with a matched pair of 800mhz ram cards (which will only run at 667mhz anyway in the iMac) and so I have to return them and they will swap with 667mhz cards.

In the beginning while I was switching the ram around, shutting down and starting up continuously I got a couple of short spinning balls moments in safari, but once I'd settled back with the original 2gb everything has been fine. I'll monitor this though and may try a full re-install if need be.

The keyboard is also worthy of mention btw, works really well and I'm much more productive on it than the previous keyboard. Finally I was surprised how light this 24" was compared to my previous G5 20", the difference is really noticeable.

So, apart from the Ram and couple of spinning balls this machine is just wonderful; no dead pixels, no yellow tint that I can discern, really fast, truly beautiful, incredibly quiet. I absolutely hated the wait but boy was it worth it.

Vanilla

 

[Dimwhit]

Well it arrived today...wow. it's beautiful and yes it's very fast.

Ditto. My 2.8 finally arrived. It's amazing! The screen is beautiful, they keyboard is better than I thought it would be, and it is screaming fast. I'm not seeing any of the screen issues that people have been talking about.

I'm in love with this machine.

 

[ariza910]

Well it arrived today...wow. it's beautiful and yes it's very fast.

Sadly the 4GB of Ram I got from Crucial wouldnt work. I could install one 2GB card together with one of the existing 1GB cards but if I installed both 2GB cards the system refused to fire up. I called Crucial and they say that some iMacs have a problem with a matched pair of 800mhz ram cards (which will only run at 667mhz anyway in the iMac) and so I have to return them and they will swap with 667mhz cards.

In the beginning while I was switching the ram around, shutting down and starting up continuously I got a couple of short spinning balls moments in safari, but once I'd settled back with the original 2gb everything has been fine. I'll monitor this though and may try a full re-install if need be.

The keyboard is also worthy of mention btw, works really well and I'm much more productive on it than the previous keyboard. Finally I was surprised how light this 24" was compared to my previous G5 20", the difference is really noticeable.

So, apart from the Ram and couple of spinning balls this machine is just wonderful; no dead pixels, no yellow tint that I can discern, really fast, truly beautiful, incredibly quiet. I absolutely hated the wait but boy was it worth it.

Vanilla

How much did you end up paying for the 2x 2GB of RAM through Crucial? - I noticed that they initially offered 2GB sticks for the new iMacs at 667mhz but bumped it up to 800mhz at a price premium. I always like to go with Crucial but lately their prices seem out of whack especially since the iMac cant take advantage of the 800mhz. I felt like they were taking advantage of us since thats what they recommend for our system when you look up the 24" iMac 2.4.

I ended up with 2x 2GB sticks of Transcend ram from Newegg.com - works very well so far (lots of good reviews) and at less than half the price.

 

[Vanilla]

How much did you end up paying for the 2x 2GB of RAM through Crucial? - I noticed that they initially offered 2GB sticks for the new iMacs at 667mhz but bumped it up to 800mhz at a price premium. I always like to go with Crucial but lately their prices seem out of whack especially since the iMac cant take advantage of the 800mhz. I felt like they were taking advantage of us since thats what they recommend for our system when you look up the 24" iMac 2.4.

I ended up with 2x 2GB sticks of Transcend ram from Newegg.com - works very well so far (lots of good reviews) and at less than half the price.

Hi
Well the original order of 2 x2GB running at 800mhz came in at £305.40 inc VAT. The new order of 2 x 2GB running at 667MHZ comes in at £178.59. Key learning for me from this is not to blindly follow website instructions but do a smidgen of research beforehand....

 

[ABM]

What do you think about the date for the next CPU upgrade within the "new" iMac?

6 month after presentation? 12 month? 6 Month would mean end jan / early feb.

 

[Eidorian]

What do you think about the date for the next CPU upgrade within the "new" iMac?

6 month after presentation? 12 month? 6 Month would mean end jan / early feb.

Probably no updates until mobile Penryn processors show up early next year.

 

[jayducharme]

That keyboard, whilst OKish for laptops, sucks for desktop. Personally, I can't stand the MacBook keyboard, and that new iMac keyboard, obviously takes after the MacBook. Whats with the giant spacing between each key anyway?

Yesterday I was in the local Apple Store for a repair to my kids' Mac Mini. While I was there, I went over to one of the new iMacs, sat down, opened MS Word and just began typing random thoughts. I was quite surprised to discover that the keyboard was a joy to type on. It felt very responsive, with just enough click to the keys. Everything seemed to be spaced well because my fingers naturally went where they were supposed to. And the low angle didn't bother my wrists at all (albeit for a brief period). I still don't like how the function keys are bundled with the multimedia keys; I just don't understand why that was necessary--unless with the loss of the numeric keypad for the bluetooth version, Apple wanted to standardize their locations for both models.

At any rate, I'm not averse to getting a new iMac now, and am actually a bit excited about the new keyboard. If the machines had a matte screen, I'd jump on board. (The glare from the lights in the store was pretty bad.)