New iMacs
- Thread starter Scott_Arm
- Start date
They appear to have gotten rid of the smaller models, and upped the cheapest price by $200.
IMHO, the iMacs were always too expensive for what you got. Errr...well, that applies to all macs. Except, maybe the Mac Pro(it actually kits out slightly cheaper than the equivalent Dell), but that's just too expensive.
The MacMinis, also, are almost competitive. Almost, and I say that because they fall into a niche that just doesn't exist--small form factor computer (and I mean really small). The few solutions that were nearly comparable were only 50-ish dollars cheaper. Comparing them to laptops, however, and they fall very short for the price. If form factor isn't an issue, then they're way too expensive, as you can get a dell w/quad core & 2GB for the same price.
I own a mac mini, btw. I like it for what it does. Its small, quiet, and has a remote that is well integrated with iTunes, and some 'ok' music software that comes with it.
IMHO, the iMacs were always too expensive for what you got. Errr...well, that applies to all macs. Except, maybe the Mac Pro(it actually kits out slightly cheaper than the equivalent Dell), but that's just too expensive.
The MacMinis, also, are almost competitive. Almost, and I say that because they fall into a niche that just doesn't exist--small form factor computer (and I mean really small). The few solutions that were nearly comparable were only 50-ish dollars cheaper. Comparing them to laptops, however, and they fall very short for the price. If form factor isn't an issue, then they're way too expensive, as you can get a dell w/quad core & 2GB for the same price.
I own a mac mini, btw. I like it for what it does. Its small, quiet, and has a remote that is well integrated with iTunes, and some 'ok' music software that comes with it.
I just bought my wife a 20" 1650x1080 LG screen and a reasonably decent PC for half the price of the iMac. So they keep being pretty pricey, imho. But hey, that's ok. This iMac thing looks great, and it probably performs pretty decent as well. Some people buy a BMW, others an Opel, so to speak. 
The dell 24" LCD can be gotten for ~$650. The iMac 24" is $1800. That leaves $1200 for the guts. $1200 for a DVD R/W, 1GB ram, and a E6600 is a tad steep.
It surely looks nice, but your definitely paying for the form factor and the brand name, and not what's inside.
Exactly. I went on the apple store site and upgrading from 2GB to 4GB adds $700 when I just bought 4 Gigs for my PC for $270. Yeouch!
The form factor though is amazing. Find me a PC like that for PC prices and I'll take it over the imac.
Can you buy laptop memory from other vendors, or does Apple have it locked so you can only use a certain brand?
Been a while, but isn't OSX just BSD/Mach with a fluffy window manager?
I don't know how similar Darwin is to BSD, but it's basically Darwin with a fluffy window manager. The next version of OSX is getting some kind of Unix certification.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/08/01/mac-os-x-leopard-receives-unix-03-certification
No, you can use OEM memory without problems.
The iMacs, however, might be non-user servicable. I know the mac Mini is a real pain in the ass (as in, "you probably shouldn't try this at home") to open up and upgrade the internals. The MacPro is not a problem.
One of the things on the new iMac is it's supposed to provide easy access to upgrade memory. I guess you just undo a screw and a little panel flips open to access the memory slots, or something like that.
Edit:
http://images.apple.com/imac/images/gallery/detail_3_20070807.jpg
I think the little panel on the bottom of the iMac is where you access the memory slots.
It will likely be very quiet - the previous iMac was outstanding in that respect, and given the side-grade in GPU, it would seem most/all components will draw as little or less power than the predecessor. With the possible exception of the 2.8GHz CPU. The shot Scott_Arm linked to shows that they have been paying attention to ventilation, and they are probably using the Alu-housing for heatsinking purposes. I'm very curious about disassembly. There is something satisfyingly perverse and indecent in putting an iMac on its innocent back, ripping off its covers and shielding, soldering iron held high, reeking of heat! Muahahahah! I've done it to all my iMacs this far, and I doubt this one will be an exception.
Hopefully it won't take too much effort to change the harddrive.
It would be nice if the CPU was socketed. Since it is Santa Rosa, there is a theoretical upgrade path to the 45nm generation, although laptop CPUs rarely go cheap.
LCD-panel seems to be S-IPS from the specs, curse them for the gloss.
Any sane buyer will order 4GB of memory from Crucial or another decent outlet. Apples offer is there to fleece institutional customers.
All things considered, a pretty decent offering with the lowered pricing.
Hopefully it won't take too much effort to change the harddrive.
It would be nice if the CPU was socketed. Since it is Santa Rosa, there is a theoretical upgrade path to the 45nm generation, although laptop CPUs rarely go cheap.
LCD-panel seems to be S-IPS from the specs, curse them for the gloss.
Any sane buyer will order 4GB of memory from Crucial or another decent outlet. Apples offer is there to fleece institutional customers.
All things considered, a pretty decent offering with the lowered pricing.
That is the one good thing about the mac mini--the processors are socketed and easily replaced once you get the thing open and apart.
Of course, the cheapest C2D for socket M is $209.
Of course, the cheapest C2D for socket M is $209.
Clarification - the 24-inch panel seems to be S-IPS (good). The 20-inch may well be TN given the lowered viewing angle specs. And curse them again for the gloss. Hopeless to calibrate for colour critical work.
You seemed interested. iMac autopsy:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/08/09/imac-autopsy-vivisection-photos-posted-online
A bit of a challenge there.
Unfortunately the author chickened out at the warranty void stickers on the CPU/GPU heatpipes, so while it seems reasonable to assume that the CPU is socketed, it is not 100% certain.
The specifications on the 20" LCD lead to this product page:http://www.lgphilips-lcd.com/homeContain/jsp/kor/prd/prd201_j_k.jsp which shows that, while TN, the display uses true 8-bit colour while maintaining the traditional qualities (and viewing angle drawbacks) of its kind. Pretty good, all things considered.
Personally, I'd lean towards the 24" model, but for my intended use, the glossy screen may be a deal breaker. I have to hear photographer reports whether they are at all able to calibrate it. For most people of course, this is not that much of an issue. And I guess i could buy for instance the new Dell 24" screen and attach that to the iMac as well for those purposes, but then I've sort of lost some of what makes the iMac appealing.
Bears thinking about, and patience, I hear, is a virtue.
OTOH, instant gratification is pretty neat too.
Buy the smaller one, plus get the 24" dell. Same price as the 24" Mac, but with two monitors.
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