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marksk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 23, 2009
4
0
I'd just bought the first gen. intel iMac 17" 1.8Ghz CoreDuo, love the design. But after a few days of use, the iMac start to sudden turn off by itself, and refused to start up for a long time.

Luckly, I was able to return the iMac to the seller and get my refund...

But, I really love to have a white iMac, so I'm now still keep searching, my ideal will be a 20" core2duo intel iMac (white).

However, after read all the post here that I seen many people got problem with their white iMac, some have the shut down/unable start issue, some have the screen defect problem...

My question is, which build / model of the intel iMac should I get for the next purchase, I just hope I wouldn't pick another defected one and need spend extra on repair...

Thanks in advance.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,240
12,388
RE:
"My question is, which build / model of the intel iMac should I get for the next purchase, I just hope I wouldn't pick another defected one and need spend extra on repair..."

I have the white Intel iMac 24", "second revision" (bought it just after the aluminum iMacs were released), and it's been fine.

BTW you should know that Apple uses "TN" type display panels in the 20" iMacs. These aren't as pleasing to the eye as the higher-end panel that is used in the 24" iMac.

I think your best decision would be to buy the 24" model - either a "revision b" white one, or an aluminum one.

- John
 

pilotError

macrumors 68020
Apr 12, 2006
2,237
4
Long Island
I have the original iMac 20". I put a T7600 core 2 duo in it about a year ago as well as a Wireless N airport card. Still runs great. Mine has the x1600 ATI card in it and is on 24x7.

I don't think I've ever had an issue.
 

rjheys

macrumors regular
Aug 9, 2008
121
0
Hi

I have the original iMac 20". I put a T7600 core 2 duo in it about a year ago as well as a Wireless N airport card. Still runs great. Mine has the x1600 ATI card in it and is on 24x7.

I don't think I've ever had an issue.

I have the same original 20" iMac and was looking to upgrade the CPU. Was the upgrade easy to do? did you follow any online instructions, or just open her up and have a look? I have all ready put a 1TB HDD in mine so the CPU is the next thing to do on my list.
 

marksk

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 23, 2009
4
0
Thank you for all inputs.

I'd a moment did though of getting the alum IMac instead, but I'm too possessed by the white iMac. So I really hope that I can get a good one for use in a long while.

@indg, thank you for your informations, I'd followed some of the posts and found many white iMac user having the overheat/auto shutdown/graphic issues..... I hope they are not that commonly happen...

@pilotError, wow, I didn't know that you can Upgrade the iMac CPU! So you are upgraded your iMac from CoreDuo to a Core2Duo? And a wireless N airport card? That's interesting! How you do that? :D

Thanks
 

MrZebra

macrumors regular
Sep 7, 2008
229
2
Oh great. I have the 24" with the nvidia card and the penryn mbp (with the scary 8600gt), so that makes two expensive machines failure-prone.
My next mac could be a whitebook: the case might crack but at least the laptop itself won't die :rolleyes:
 

darrellishere

macrumors 6502
Jul 13, 2007
337
0
Don't get the white imac, their noisy, dated!!!, fat and not supported by grand central.

Mine and hundreds others have accrued graphics/logic board failures.
The plastic housing acts as a green house frying the old inefficient chips to dangerous temperatures!

The best price vs quality is the first generation 20 or 24" Aluminum imac.

The 20" Alu is not much more than a whites on ebay. Ok TNT screen but you might like it. My mums look fine! And its so much more elegant! (A different beast entirely!)
 

Lancetx

macrumors 68000
Aug 11, 2003
1,991
619
Apple didn't start using the cheap TN 20" panels in the iMacs until the aluminum models. The white 20" iMacs used the superior IPS panels in them. I've had one (20" Core 2 Duo, Late 2006 model) for close to 2 years now and have never had any problems with it at all.
 

indg

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2007
459
12
Probably because it isn't widespread. I don't have this problem.

Eleven signatures on an online petition are really meaningless. Wait... an online petition is really meaningless. :p

over 200 signatures here:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/imacrecall

not to mention a topic on apple's discussion forum with over 500 replies:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1467276

and various other postings on the web re the problems with the 2006 intel imacs:
http://getsatisfaction.com/apple/topics/2006_imac_graphics_card_crash_freeze

you might as well take that money you're going to spend on the imac and flush it down the toilet.
 

zmttoxics

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2008
1,020
1
It wasn't a budget issue tho, I just love the white iMac design, and it fits my need.... but guess I will get the new iMac instead.

It is sad and it hurts, but the new iMacs generally are better and have better support for newer software. I love my 20" iMac, I would never trade it for a white one. :)
 

zmttoxics

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2008
1,020
1
over 200 signatures here:

not to mention a topic on apple's discussion forum with over 500 replies:

and various other postings on the web re the problems with the 2006 intel imacs:

you might as well take that money you're going to spend on the imac and flush it down the toilet.

So according to you and your petitions / data collection, 700 people have GPU issues with the white iMac. How many of those were made? This is electronics we are talking about, its not ever 100%. There is an expected failure rate and on top of that - things break. You should have bought applecare. :)
 

indg

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2007
459
12
So according to you and your petitions / data collection, 700 people have GPU issues with the white iMac. How many of those were made? This is electronics we are talking about, its not ever 100%. There is an expected failure rate and on top of that - things break. You should have bought applecare. :)

there's a difference between an expected failure rate due to usage and a manufacturer's defect. the glitches and freezes/shutdowns symptomatic of this particular issue is not something that should be occuring on a system less than 2 years old under normal use. and considering hundreds (possibly thousands) of people are having the same exact problems, means something definitely went wrong during the manufacturing of the system.

to say we should've bought applecare is nonsense. applecare covers things that are common to breakage, e.g. hard drive, lcd's, hinges, keyboards, etc. logic boards generally do not fail. and video cards, unless really abused without proper cooling for a prolonged period of time, also generally do not fail.

the g3 ibook had logic board issues. the g5 imac had logic board issues. the g5 powermac has power supply issues. the macbook pro has nvidia geforce 8600m issues. the g4 powerbook had battery issues. all these defects were confirmed by apple who subsequently issued a recall (or what they call an exchange and repair extension program).

so save your apple fanboy rhetoric for those who give a sh*t.
 

zmttoxics

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2008
1,020
1
there's a difference between an expected failure rate due to usage and a manufacturer's defect. the glitches and freezes/shutdowns symptomatic of this particular issue is not something that should be occuring on a system less than 2 years old under normal use. and considering hundreds (possibly thousands) of people are having the same exact problems, means something definitely went wrong during the manufacturing of the system.

to say we should've bought applecare is nonsense. applecare covers things that are common to breakage, e.g. hard drive, lcd's, hinges, keyboards, etc. logic boards generally do not fail. and video cards, unless really abused without proper cooling for a prolonged period of time, also generally do not fail.

the g3 ibook had logic board issues. the g5 imac had logic board issues. the g5 powermac has power supply issues. the macbook pro has nvidia geforce 8600m issues. the g4 powerbook had battery issues. all these defects were confirmed by apple who subsequently issued a recall (or what they call an exchange and repair extension program).

so save your apple fanboy rhetoric for those who give a sh*t.

No fanboyism required. Logic boards or circuit boards of any kind really, fail all of the time. Electronics are more sensitive then you would think. The fail demographic you refer to isn't large enough to claim the product line a failure.
 

indg

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2007
459
12
No fanboyism required. Logic boards or circuit boards of any kind really, fail all of the time. Electronics are more sensitive then you would think. The fail demographic you refer to isn't large enough to claim the product line a failure.

really, they fail all the time? that's interesting, because in addition to the 2 year old defective imac, i have a 7 year old titanium powerbook, a 3.5 year old macbook pro, a 2 year old macbook air, and a 4 year old dell laptop and none of them have logic board failures or graphics glitches like the imac. not to mention the half dozen other windows desktops and laptops i've owned prior from 1992 to 2002, of which none have had logic board or graphics card issues.

my laptops get moved/bumped around a lot and get used way harder than my imac. yet it's the imac that exhibits all the problems. it's defective, plain and simple. just because your aluminum imac is not exhibiting any problems described in this thread doesn't negate the fact that the 2006 white imacs are defective.

and who knows, maybe the logic board or gpu in your imac will fail a couple years from now, right after your applecare coverage ends. i hope you'll be as satisfied with your imac then as you are now. :p
 

zmttoxics

macrumors 65816
May 20, 2008
1,020
1
really, they fail all the time? that's interesting, because in addition to the 2 year old defective imac, i have a 7 year old titanium powerbook, a 3.5 year old macbook pro, a 2 year old macbook air, and a 4 year old dell laptop and none of them have logic board failures or graphics glitches like the imac. not to mention the half dozen other windows desktops and laptops i've owned prior from 1992 to 2002, of which none have had logic board or graphics card issues.

my laptops get moved/bumped around a lot and get used way harder than my imac. yet it's the imac that exhibits all the problems. it's defective, plain and simple. just because your aluminum imac is not exhibiting any problems described in this thread doesn't negate the fact that the 2006 white imacs are defective.

and who knows, maybe the logic board or gpu in your imac will fail a couple years from now, right after your applecare coverage ends. i hope you'll be as satisfied with your imac then as you are now. :p

I lost 3 motherboards in the last 2 weeks, different manufacturers, different computers, hell - different locations. In the real world, this stuff happens. I'm sorry your precious iMac died out of warranty (or that you failed to get the extended warranty knowing full well this stuff can happen). I can't speak for anyone else, but you will get no sympathy from me.
 

indg

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2007
459
12
I lost 3 motherboards in the last 2 weeks, different manufacturers, different computers, hell - different locations. In the real world, this stuff happens. I'm sorry your precious iMac died out of warranty (or that you failed to get the extended warranty knowing full well this stuff can happen). I can't speak for anyone else, but you will get no sympathy from me.

you didn't mention any specifics regarding your failed logic boards. how old? what manufacturer? yes, things break. but like i said earlier, there's a difference between a defective part and something that gets damaged due to extreme usage or user abuse.

i never asked for your sympathy, but thanks for continuing to reply to this thread and keeping it bumped to the top. you're making it easier for others having this issue to discover that they're not alone.
 

JBazz

macrumors 6502
Apr 14, 2006
491
2
I found a little white intel core2duo imac in a pawn shop and it has been running like a champ. Paid $200 if memory serves. Cant beat that. And I too prefer the white ones to the aluminum.
 

ppithermo

macrumors newbie
Aug 26, 2009
6
0
I'd just bought the first gen. intel iMac 17" 1.8Ghz CoreDuo, love the design. But after a few days of use, the iMac start to sudden turn off by itself, and refused to start up for a long time.

Luckly, I was able to return the iMac to the seller and get my refund...

But, I really love to have a white iMac, so I'm now still keep searching, my ideal will be a 20" core2duo intel iMac (white).

However, after read all the post here that I seen many people got problem with their white iMac, some have the shut down/unable start issue, some have the screen defect problem...

My question is, which build / model of the intel iMac should I get for the next purchase, I just hope I wouldn't pick another defected one and need spend extra on repair...

Thanks in advance.
Well I have an incredible problem wîth a white imac (2006). Wireless connection works like a charm under 10.4.11. Still works inclusive 10.5.4.
Anything above that and the wireless connection runs extremely slow ( 30k or less) instead of 6Mb.
I attemped 10.6 and I have the same result. Unusable very slow wireless connection.
Note that an ethernet cable connection works just fine, but i canot have that in the room where that mac needs to be!!
I would like to find someone using wireless connection successfully on a white imac with a system above 10.5.4.
I searched and could not find a solution. I tried many helpful hints from various forums, but nothing solved that problem for me.
I am alone!!!
I was not able to find a solution from Apple.
 

juansicos

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2006
8
0
I have one 24 inch white iMac, the 2006 version, and its the best Apple computer ive ever bougt, had no problems at all with it.

If i were you i would buy the Aluminium, it will last longer.
If u dont need the extra power, buy the white one but go with the 24''. The screen is gorgeous, just compare with the new Alumniums...
 

Big-TDI-Guy

macrumors 68030
Jan 11, 2007
2,606
13
I've been thrashing 2 intel white imacs for years - and both are running fine.

My original 20" CD iMac has one of the best screens I've ever seen - ever. Ever.

The 24" has a good screen, but not as good as the old 20" I used (now my sisters).

Anyhow, folding galore, nearly 24x7 use - and both are running just fine. That heat trap bit is drastically misinformed. The G5s did run hot, intel ones do not, and the back of the aluminum imac is plastic too - that smidge of panel on the sides and front isn't going to make it sub-arctic temps inside.

Now - to the original poster - how the hell did you managed to get banned within 4 posts? All of them, from what I could see, didn't seem out of line. :confused: That's gotta be a record for a non-spammer.
 
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