blockhead's Blog

Customer Reviews:
Buy the newer model
What no one has stated is that this is an older model with a price that doesn't match. Go with the newer model for the same price.

Mac is Mac, and it's elegant, beauty and great as a computer
We have four at home, not counting two iPods, and we don't have to forget that anyhow Windows is necessary, so I also have had a PC till the moment I've got the Mac Core Due and could work with both systems: Mac & PC in the same Apple Tree. To have more space and less big things and cords on my desk is great, and even better when you place a beautiful and decorative white Apple on it which works so good having the things you need from Windows, but with the 'easy to drive' from Mac, not counting it's better colors and sound, specially for me who work recording and playing music and video profesionaly, and Mac always did it far better with sound, video and graphics.

Maybe I Got a Bad Apple...
I've been a PC user for years and got fed up with the constant problems, so I made the jump to the iMac. After 4 weeks, I awoke to what some call The White Screen of Death and called Apple support. After an hour of button-pushing to no avail, the tech told me I would need to take the computer to an authorized service center. The nearest was 50 miles away. They couldn't really explain what happened, but they reformatted my hard drive, erased my data and billed me $77, even though I purchased a 3 year warranty, since 'it wasn't a hardware problem.' 3 weeks later, the hard drive has crashed again. Maybe it's bad luck or a bad Apple, but don't expect a panacea. If you live in a major metropolitan area, it might not be too much of a hassle, but make sure to back everything up. The visual design of this machine is truly beautiful. I just wish the computer would work.

I'm writing this review on an HP Pavilion laptop that I've have for 7 months without problem.

Customer Reviews:
Great Machine
I purchased my I mac g5 back in October. It has been working way better than my HP. I have upgraded mine to a GB of ram. It is really fast. No problams. My only complaint is how loud it is. I don't know if that goes for just me or everyone. But overall this is a great computer. The all in one feature is nice, because i don't have to have all of the extra cords. I am switching over to mac now. Way better then windows. I never have to worry about viruses or firewalls.

iMac Wonder
This is probably the best computer for Apple users who want a low priced all-in-one package. This computer is a wonder! I have no idea how I would have managed all my documents, games, and images on something else. Some of the things that I would highlight about this computer:

- DVD player standard
- AppleWorks standard
- Nice sized LCD
- Great graphics (NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200) standard
- Great sound system

I really like these features and you would too if you owned this wonderous machine.

The one thing that I downrated the amount of stars was the loud whirring of the fan. When you play a DVD or a game with a lot graphics, the fan will make loud noises. Although the start up time and shut down time take about 10 seconds, I found that it takes a lot of time to open big documents.

Note to buyers: If you do a lot of word processing, do not think of using AppleWorks. You should do the whole she-bang and get Microsoft Office for the iMac.

Almost No Problems
I bought this computer last summer to replace a windows PC, and am very happy with this purchase. It boots quickly, processes quickly, and I've only had one crash, which was solved by simply pressing the power button.

Two programs refused to respond under certain circumstances, but it is a simple matter to force quit and restart the program (this has happened maybe a dozen times since I bought the computer in july.) Also I've had a couple of programs quit, but infrequently and always under a predictable set of circumstances, and all you have to do is restart the program (also Apple provides a dialog box that allows you to send info about the problem to Apple, to alert them about the matter.)

The fan is (rarely) a little loud, but if you are playing music on iTunes its hard to notice. It does run a bit hot, but I've never seen any temperture over 168 degrees (F), and that was when I was pushing the machine to see how hot it would get. The last complaint is the keyboard, which gets dirty easily and is hard to clean, and sometimes doesn't respond when you hit a key, unless you type fairly forcefully; however, the keys have a springy or spongy feel, and are very comfortable to use, unless you type all day, in which case your fingertips will get sore. I solved both problems very well with a [[ASIN:B0002TECF8 ProTouch XT, Sonic]] keyboard protector, which is made by the same people who make iSkins, and is attractive enough that people have remarked about it (the ProTouch is available on Amazon.)

So much for complaints. I bought this computer because when I compaired features and attributes (everything from memory to speed to graphics and everything in between) I found that dollar for dollar it was very closely matched with its PC competition, if fact the differences were negligible -- a comparible PC costs the same as the Apple. At that point the criteria shifted to security, where Apple enjoys a considerable advantage. Viruses and trojans are rare, spyware and adware virtually unknown, and rootkits -- so far -- have been handicapped by the need to ask the computer's administrator (that's you) to allow the install.

One thing that I particularly enjoy about this machine is how well it works with other devices: so far I've hooked up to a [[ASIN:B00006OP9C Logitech Freedom 2.4 GHz Cordless Joystick]], an [[ASIN:B00067TMGA ADS Technologies RDX-150-EF Instant Music for Mac and PC]] analog to digital file converter, a modern [[ASIN:B0001EMLZ2 Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Graphing Calculator]], an [[ASIN:B0007KX4VU Apple iSight Video Conferencing Webcam with Autofocus]], a five year old [[ASIN:B000051YGP Hewlett Packard PhotoSmart 315 2MP Digital Camera]], a four year old Apple 20 GB iPod M8741LL/A (2nd Generation), a [[ASIN:B00095W91Y 800VA/450W USwith Avr]] uninterruptable power supply, and a two year old [[ASIN:B0000ACOW0 HP PhotoSmart 7760 Photo Printer]] without installing any driver software (plus a [[ASIN:B000ARD9PG Logitech Z-4I 2.1 Speaker System]].) I had to get a [[ASIN:B0000VYJRY Keyspan High Speed USB Serial Adapter ( USA-19HS )]] and download the free software for it in order to use my six year old PalmOne m100 Handheld, but now all these devices work without a hitch of any kind. I think that's the most accurate description I could give of this machine: it just works. Less than ten minutes out of the box and it was not only working flawlessly, but was already hooked up to the Internet and working fine there as well.

People always tell me there is no software for the Mac, but I've experienced no shortage, most of it is excellent, and most of it has been free. How these people make money I don't know, but I'm certainly grateful. The whole Mac experience is a completely different universe from the PC: People seem to take fanatical pride in their work and in your satisfaction. I can honestly say I've been treated much, much better by the entire Mac community than I ever was in the PC world.

The last consideration is aesthetics and here the iMac wins without question. The iMac is an attractive machine, the styling is typically Mac. Because the entire machine is in the monitor I was able to clear the tower out from under my desk and put my legs down there instead (at last!) The monitor is very nice, suitable for watching DVDs (I hardly use my TV anymore.) The operating system is a work of art, elegant -- a joy to use after Windows. OSX is so far above its competition aesthetically, ergonomically, and in terms of stability and security that Apple really should consider porting it to the PC.

Addendum: Well, Apple hasn't exactly ported OSX to the PC, but is is using an Intel chip now, and what do you know, Apple has a new advertising campaign that says, 'It just works.' Coincidence? =8*]

Customer Reviews:
Better than expected.
I was a little worried about the bottom end imac, but it is an excellent performer. Toss in a matching 1GB stick of RAM and it will have all you need to run parallels and more. This imac has all the standard imac issues such as a louder than expected cdrom and screen gradation (lcd is brighter at the bottom than the top), but is still a great machine.

Phenomenal!
This is my second Macintosh computer. It was purchased because I spilled coffee (I know...I know) on my last revision iBook G4 which I had upgraded to 1.5GB RAM. It was a great little computer and served me well through lots of commuting and travel. Took it to the Genius Bar and heard it would cost anywhere from $700-950 to repair--I was not about to pay that much for a 3 year old computer either! So my mom decided that the new 20' iMac (entry-model) would be my graduation present, and we took my iBook in to the Genius Bar for a data transfer. Although my precious little iBook hadn't turned on in a week when we took it to the Genius Bar, when I returned to pick up my new iMac, both were functioning well! And I wasn't charged for the repair! AWESOME!

The iMac is stunning at 20' on my desk, I could not imagine having a 24' screen--just ridiculously big! The glossy monitor doesn't bother me, although I agree that the keyboard and remote don't particularly match with aluminum and white. I use a Microsoft Intellipoint Laser Wireless 6000 mouse with the computer which matches great in a silver/aluminum color. It also has customizable side buttons which I use to activate Expose. Typing on the keyboard feels good, and I like the buttons specialized for Expose, Dashboard, iTunes control, sound, brightness, etc. Customizing function keys is easy.

Leopard is a beautiful operating system, and I like the dock fan/grid stacks. Front Row is nice for music/movies, although I wish you could easily access the desktop without exiting the entire program and losing your place. New iLife is awesome--I like the upgrades to iCal and iPhoto. Inline Find in Safari 3 is also excellent.

I really like Photobooth and the included iSight. It's fun to play with just to take shots and film short videos for iTube, although I haven't tried it out for videochatting yet.

This truly is the most beautiful and best functioning computer out there for regular users. Power users have many ways to upgrade and customize the machine, or go for the Mac Pro. Really, any of the family of Macintosh computers are terrific. I have seen the light, and I love it! I will never again purchase a Windows computer!!! No need!

The iMac is a great computer
I bought the iMac as a convert from Windows I have 4 computers 1 running Windows XP (old work Horse), a laptop running XP (for work), a Dell workstation running Red Hat (for fun) and now this iMac. I have developed software on the Windows platform for years and I have to tell you the Mac OS X is superior and much more stable. I recently converted to Leopard and it couldn't have gone smoother. I bought an iPhone and was so impressed that I purchased this and I have no regrets. I am waiting for the MacWorld announcements and then I will likely purchase the new MacBook Pro as well. This is such a great option over Vista!