Opinion on iMac Huff Post review.

[tom vilsack]

I didn't even know Huff post wrote articles that didn't include how great King Obama is..huh

She does make some interesting points...i would gladly give up the whole thin thing for a Imac that was easy to open and where we could upgrade in both 21/27" models...ram,harddrive,and maybe even cpu.

 

[turtlez]

You bothered reading her other posts? I see this in two lights. A) She has no money thus whines about iMacs for not having everything or B) she is trying to get more hits for her blog.

Having the display integrated into the system doesn't add anything, said people back in 1998. All-in-ones still aren't the norm with people opting for a separate LCD and ATX case.

Do most people open up the ATX to drop in memory, storage or daughter cards? Probably not.

I read something interesting a couple of months back targeting the people who always whine about expandability. It was something along the lines of this -

So you have had your computer for three years and it is time to upgrade? Ok, so new graphics card. Oh wait that card requires a new motherboard. Alright then may as well. Oh crap now my ram is not compatible with it, oh well RAM is cheap anyway may as well upgrade that too. Hmm my storage usage seems to be a lot higher these days, i need to invest in a new hard drive. Holy crap did I just upgrade everything in my computer? I may as well just have bought a whole new one, oh wait that would go against my motto of upgrade instead of buying a whole new system. Hmm those iMacs look nice.. I heard they run very cool, very quiet and look better than anything else on the market.

 

[AndiS.]

I think it's what many of us have been saying right from the start - form over function. Apple has ruined the 21.5" version of the iMac. Viewed from the front (which is the view most of us have when using the iMac) it is identical to my mid 2011 model and I know which of the two I am pleased I own. I appreciate you are trying to put a brave face on it and justify your purchase but IMO the new iMac is a pile of pants.

I don't know much about the 21.5 inch version, but the 27 inch iMac with 680MX and Fusion Drive offers VAST improvements over the previous one, at least to me. The "review" on Huffingtonpost is far from comprehensive, well researched and fair. Like Oldgeezer said, it's completely unsubstantiated. A review, in my opinion, looks like this http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/03/apple-imac-review-2012/

An indicator for a good review is, that somebody is actually testing and using the product they're writing about, as opposed to randomly picking data from the product's spec sheet ; )

 

[turtlez]

I didn't even know Huff post wrote articles that didn't include how great King Obama is..huh

She does make some interesting points...i would gladly give up the whole thin thing for a Imac that was easy to open and where we could upgrade in both 21/27" models...ram,harddrive,and maybe even cpu.

long shot here but the new iMac design runs very cool and with no added fan noise. Perhaps making it fat somehow would affect the temperature for the worse.

If I had to guess, heat rises yah? On the old iMac you had much more surface area on the top plane where all the heat condensed to. On this new design with the curved back you get more heat distribution to the whole back plane of the computer therefore dispensing heat a lot faster. Just my thought anyway. I always always told not to whine about something until I have used it and seen for myself. After all Apple have some of the best engineers on the planet, I trust them to get it right and it looks like they have.

On the upgrade bit. People are saying it is easier to work with than the previous generation for CPU, hard drive etc. I am one of those guys that will buy a new machine, max it out, keep it for 6 years then buy a whole new one again. I care not for tinkering around, I am not a 600fps gamer, i just do painting and graphic design with the occasional gopro surfing video edit lol

 

[AndiS.]

I read something interesting a couple of months back targeting the people who always whine about expandability. It was something along the lines of this -

So you have had your computer for three years and it is time to upgrade? Ok, so new graphics card. Oh wait that card requires a new motherboard. Alright then may as well. Oh crap now my ram is not compatible with it, oh well RAM is cheap anyway may as well upgrade that too. Hmm my storage usage seems to be a lot higher these days, i need to invest in a new hard drive. Holy crap did I just upgrade everything in my computer? I may as well just have bought a whole new one, oh wait that would go against my motto of upgrade instead of buying a whole new system. Hmm those iMacs look nice.. I heard they run very cool, very quiet and look better than anything else on the market.

That's exactly how I see it

 

[turtlez]

That's exactly how I see it

If people gave things a chance we would see a lot more of our opinions go around. The sad part is complaining and negative is always louder. Like at a store, one unsatisfied customer will tell 5 people not to go there and 1 happy customer will only tell 1 other person to go there.

It is also human instinct to try and bring down the leader. If only the average person had more of an open mind and listened to both sides of the story, weighed up all the pros and cons from listening to several sources and researching themselves. Virtually mapping out how things would be in there head etc.

 

[Hexley]

It is a selling point amongst HDTVs to emphasize the thinness of the screen and the bezzle.

If a 2012 iMac is your 1st Mac then congrats. It's a beauty of a visual and I can see someone in that position wanting to defend it like it's their kid. But to someone like myself who has owned multiple iterations of Macs, I expected more. When the dimensions of the iMac make a bigger splash than what's inside of the Mac itself, to me it's not a good sign.

The only thing that impresses me about the new Mac is that it's 11 pounds lighter than before. That's way more significant than a thinner edge especially when you need to move it around for whatever reason. I'm surprised they haven't marketed a real positive like its weight reduction like they have the all too important thinner edge.

With that said, the 2012 Mac is an easy Steve Nash no look pass for me. Can't wait to see what Apple surprises us with down the line whether good or bad.

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Exactly! Last month I was thinking of upgrading this iMac7,1 that I bought over 5 years ago.

First I wanted to upgrade the CPU ($150), RAM ($100) and finally SSD ($200). Once I added that all up it was the cost of my iMac, used.

Now if I sold my iMac and added the cost of the upgrades I get $900-1000, the price of a new 2011 iMac. Add a bit more and I get the 2012 model with the newest I/O that you can never buy via upgradeable parts.

Going PC is ok if you upgrade biannually like how most gamers do. But if you're an economic gamer you'd rather buy all three video consoles and stick to them for a decade. No need to upgrade except for perhaps the HDTV.

Now when I get my iMac I plan to use it for at least 3 years before contemplating opening it up to upgrade the SSD so I can max its 600MB/s write/read speed.

I read something interesting a couple of months back targeting the people who always whine about expandability. It was something along the lines of this -

So you have had your computer for three years and it is time to upgrade? Ok, so new graphics card. Oh wait that card requires a new motherboard. Alright then may as well. Oh crap now my ram is not compatible with it, oh well RAM is cheap anyway may as well upgrade that too. Hmm my storage usage seems to be a lot higher these days, i need to invest in a new hard drive. Holy crap did I just upgrade everything in my computer? I may as well just have bought a whole new one, oh wait that would go against my motto of upgrade instead of buying a whole new system. Hmm those iMacs look nice.. I heard they run very cool, very quiet and look better than anything else on the market.

 

[Fatboy71]

She claims to speak for all of us about the lack of an optical drive, but there are many of us who use it so seldom it's not missed at all.

I will and still use/need an optical drive, but I'm glad Apple chose to remove it with the new iMac. The reason I say this is because it was a part that often failed, and you then had to go to the trouble of taking the iMac apart to install a new one. Whereas now you use an external cd/dvd drive and if that fails its a simple job of unplugging it from the USB port and connecting a new one.

 

[turtlez]

I will and still use/need an optical drive, but I'm glad Apple chose to remove it with the new iMac. The reason I say this is because it was a part that often failed, and you then had to go to the trouble of taking the iMac apart to install a new one. Whereas now you use an external cd/dvd drive and if that fails its a simple job of unplugging it from the USB port and connecting a new one.

I am glad to see it go for two reasons. One I don't use it anymore and two, it is good to push toward non moving part computer. Less risk for damage.

One other reason I might add is it will push the tech industry to go to a more digital distribution. I mean we are there already with things like steam and pretty much all movies and music are available digitally. Just some old codgers are still bashing the idea of moving forward and ruin it a bit. Apple pushed to get rid of floppy and that lead to only good things. I only have one dvd which I would actively use for my current day to day (5 days a week) activities and that was copied to my hard drive about 4 years ago. lol

 

[Fatboy71]

I mean we are there already with things like steam and pretty much all movies and music are available digitally.

The thing with streaming, well in this country at least (UK). There are areas of the country that have either no broadband connection or a broadband connection so slow that streaming video is a no no as it buffers over and over again and makes watching a video un-watchable. Until speeds improve in these areas, these people will want to have a DVD.

There are people who for whatever reason prefer to buy/have a physical disk for their films/movies, that is there choice

 

[FreemanW]

Calla Carter obviously cares not one lick about accuracy or her credibility.

Her writing leaves one to conclude that she's a blithering idiot of a hack.

If she said the sun rose in the east, I would have to wake up prior to sunrise just to confirm.

Calla Carter is here to prove that anyone can indeed write anything on the Internets.

Fortunately, it would appear that she is young and therefore, has the potential to obtain knowledge, find out just how stupid she appears.

 

[smoking monkey]

But to someone like myself who has owned multiple iterations of Macs, I expected more.

Can I ask what?

Are you in the 21 camp because in the 27 camp there is simply nothing I can fault. Some might be a bit POed about no internal ODD or the SD card reader on the back, but I think externals are a far better option than very unreliable heating creating internals. And I think most people take photos with their iPhone/cell phone now meaning an SD card reader is not relevant for the majority of users. Do newer D-SLRs come with built in wifi to DL the photos directly onto your computer? If not, it can't be too far from being the norm.

the 27 is a beast of a machine. Even the decked out 21 BTO is a beast of a machine. Are they expensive? Yes. But Mac has never been cheap unfortunately.

Personally, the updates were more than I expected. Apple put a lot more effort into them than I actually expected. But I can understand how some 21ers might be a little peeved at the difficulty to upgrade the Ram.

 

[Hexley]

I wonder why she did not complain abut the lack of FireWire 800!

 

[FFabian]

I think she raises a few valid points. The "Rounds per minute"-thing is a stupid mistake but it doesn't invalidate the other points she made.

I agree with her on three issues:

1. Weight loss and thinness is not as important for a desktop pc than for a laptop. My new iMac looks exactly like my old "fat" 2010 iMac when sitting in front of it. Sacrificing other important features (OMG SD-card-slot on the back) for this minor improvement is a mistake.

2. Removing the ODD was a mistake. I miss the ODD. For many users, including me, the desktop is the "main hub" of their computing needs. Sure I don't need the ODD regularly but I have older software/music/films on CD/DVD I need to access from time to time or I want to burn some music on a CD for friends&family (fair use here in Germany).

3. The 5400 drive in the default configuration is a stupid mistake. It's a downgrade compared to the 2011 iMac. It's a machine thats quite expensive and we can expect better for this price.

I don't agree with her on the GPU options. I think the graphic cards apple choose are a significant upgrade compared to older generations of iMacs. I had a 2009 and 2010 27" iMac before and the top of the line BTO GPU options Apple offered there were mid-range mobile GPUs. Now we have top range GPUs.

 

[turtlez]

The thing with streaming, well in this country at least (UK). There are areas of the country that have either no broadband connection or a broadband connection so slow that streaming video is a no no as it buffers over and over again and makes watching a video un-watchable. Until speeds improve in these areas, these people will want to have a DVD.

There are people who for whatever reason prefer to buy/have a physical disk for their films/movies, that is there choice

I know what you mean and I am one of those people. I am on a 1500k connection and download at 152kb/s. But pushing out optical media will force countries with lacking speeds to upgrade so it is a good thing in that regard too. As Jack Black loves to say "Stick it to the man"

 

[joe-h2o]

iPad on a stick how I describe it.

My new Mac Pro will crush your skinny new iMac....although it has a good chance of outrunning before that happens.


B

Perhaps the rumoured 2013 Mac Pro will, but the current ones won't. Enjoy spending as much on the CPUs alone as I spent on my entire computer (and you still need a display).

 

[iSayuSay]

iPad on a stick how I describe it.

My new Mac Pro will crush your skinny new iMac....although it has a good chance of outrunning before that happens.


B

High end 27" iMac with i7 and GTX680MX upgrades crush a quad MacPro in EVERY way possible. Even high end 2011 iMac started doing so. Unless you can prove otherwise?

Uh huh I don't like iMac being iPad on a stick either. But get your fact straight too.

 

[joe-h2o]

High end 27" iMac with i7 and GTX680MX upgrades crush a quad MacPro in EVERY way possible. Even high end 2011 iMac started doing so. Unless you can prove otherwise?

Uh huh I don't like iMac being iPad on a stick either. But get your fact straight too.

Just curious, but what makes the current iMac "an iPad on a stick" but not the previous generation? The only primary difference between them is the removal of the ODD, and perhaps the switch to built in GPU over the MXM daughterboard layout of the old model.

The rest of the components are direct upgrades of what the iMac has always had.

 

[MagicBoy]

It's "The Huff". Nuff said.

 

[Lankyman]

If people gave things a chance we would see a lot more of our opinions go around. The sad part is complaining and negative is always louder. Like at a store, one unsatisfied customer will tell 5 people not to go there and 1 happy customer will only tell 1 other person to go there.

It is also human instinct to try and bring down the leader. If only the average person had more of an open mind and listened to both sides of the story, weighed up all the pros and cons from listening to several sources and researching themselves. Virtually mapping out how things would be in there head etc.

Or there again manufacturers of all types of products occasionally bring out a bum design, plug it for all its worth then quietly discontinue it. Let's hope Apple do the same with this new iMac iteration (at least for the 21.5" model). Plea to Apple - more Desktop and less Laptop next time around please.

 

[bernuli]

High end 27" iMac with i7 and GTX680MX upgrades crush a quad MacPro in EVERY way possible. Even high end 2011 iMac started doing so. Unless you can prove otherwise?

Mac Pro much heavier. Don't need a scale to prove it.

A quick burst test with geekbench might show better numbers on the iMac. But let that test run for an hour. New iMac may not even finish the race.


B

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Just curious, but what makes the current iMac "an iPad on a stick" but not the previous generation? The only primary difference between them is the removal of the ODD, and perhaps the switch to built in GPU over the MXM daughterboard layout of the old model.

I had a hard drive go bad on the previous generation. I replaced the drive myself with an $80 drive that was twice as big as the original. After putting failed drive in a refrigerator for 3 hours, I was able to extract all the data off it. The new drive is twice as fast as the older drive. The machine runs WAY faster. Parallels boots in half the time, etc. etc. Was back up and running SAME DAY.

Hard drive fails in a new iMac, I don't know what i'd do. But if out of warranty, way more than $80 to fix. I would not want to do that procedure myself, so probably not same day turn around.

If a the drive fails on the new iMac, can you at least use it as a monitor only? That would be a nice feature, and might add to purchase security. Otherwise that thing is disposable.


B

 

[Isengardtom]

She has a point that the 5400 rpm and the non upgradable ram are disadvantages but she forgets to mention that the 27inch doesn't have those restrictions. The lack of an optical drive is not that big of an issue for me

I can say I'm very happy with mine. The fusion drive works great. everything is really fast. I just played some starcraft 2 and the computer stays nice and cool unlike my 2009 24inch which got hot with games

It's a great machine.

 

[sergiobaschi]

She obviously hasn't used the computer, but writes a review based upon the tech specs. I thought highly of Huff, but now...

 

[WilliamDu]

Likewise-almost

If a 2012 iMac is your 1st Mac then congrats. It's a beauty of a visual and I can see someone in that position wanting to defend it like it's their kid. But to someone like myself who has owned multiple iterations of Macs, I expected more. When the dimensions of the iMac make a bigger splash than what's inside of the Mac itself, to me it's not a good sign.

The only thing that impresses me about the new Mac is that it's 11 pounds lighter than before. That's way more significant than a thinner edge especially when you need to move it around for whatever reason. I'm surprised they haven't marketed a real positive like its weight reduction like they have the all too important thinner edge.

With that said, the 2012 Mac is an easy Steve Nash no look pass for me. Can't wait to see what Apple surprises us with down the line whether good or bad.

Amen.

I too would pass except my 7 year old PPC G5 tower is acting weird, Apple Mail quit working, and all my photo files on my HDD went away on 1/1/2013.

Fortunately, I recovered most of them on my external backup and with Time Machine, but I'm holding my breath, hoping the old boat anchor doesn't die totally b4 I can migrate what's left to the new 27" on it's way - slowly

 

[joe-h2o]

Mac Pro much heavier. Don't need a scale to prove it.

A quick burst test with geekbench might show better numbers on the iMac. But let that test run for an hour. New iMac may not even finish the race.


B

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I had a hard drive go bad on the previous generation. I replaced the drive myself with an $80 drive that was twice as big as the original. After putting failed drive in a refrigerator for 3 hours, I was able to extract all the data off it. The new drive is twice as fast as the older drive. The machine runs WAY faster. Parallels boots in half the time, etc. etc. Was back up and running SAME DAY.

Hard drive fails in a new iMac, I don't know what i'd do. But if out of warranty, way more than $80 to fix. I would not want to do that procedure myself, so probably not same day turn around.

If a the drive fails on the new iMac, can you at least use it as a monitor only? That would be a nice feature, and might add to purchase security. Otherwise that thing is disposable.


B

If a drive fails in the new iMac you do exactly what you did in the previous generation except instead of magnets, there's foam tape. The tape slices with any plastic cutting tool with ease. No need for heat guns or any of that nonsense.

The internal layout is actually easier to work on than the old one too.

You then buy a whitebox drive from newegg for $80 and a roll of 3M VHB for a few bucks, install the drive and have it up and running the same day!

Other than the tape, the design and serviceability of the iMac hasn't changed - if anything it has become easier to service the HD since there is no more custom firmware on the drive that affects the fan sensors.