iMac anyone any advice

Hi chaps, I’m thinking about getting one of the new iMacs to replace my excellent (but aging) G4 with 24” display, I love it but it’s starting to show signs that worry me a little - anyway - anyone any experience of these newer machines please ? I live in Southampton (UK) and we have an Apple Store so I guess I’ll buy from there - Regards Roger

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I have two 24” iMacs, one I bought about a year ago and one I bought about 6 months ago. The only problem I’ve had is with the extra RAM I installed myself that I bought from Kingston. I can’t bring myself to pay Apple’s price for extra RAM and I have always bought RAM from third parties. This is the first time I’ve bought from Kingston, and turns out that the two chips I bought were “warring” with one another, and it was bogging everything down. It was a nightmare for a while, but it had nothing to do with the iMac. Once I took out one of the chips, everything worked fine. I’m working with 3GB of RAM on each computer.

The older one has a 250MB hard drive and the newer one has a 320MB hard drive. Slightly different process speeds also. I do mostly graphics work and I never think I have a problem with the machine dragging.

I don’t know why Apple computers have gone to the glossy screen instead of the anti-glare, but my newer iMac is glossy, and it sometimes bothers me. I think you may still have a choice, but I bought my computer through Amazon.com and there wasn’t a choice in screen type. I might have gotten a choice if I had bought it from my local Apple store, but then I would have had to pay sales tax, and when I order from Amazon, I don’t have to pay tax.

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 7:35 AM, Roger Burton <email@hidden> wrote:

Hi chaps, I’m thinking about getting one of the new iMacs to replace my excellent (but aging) G4 with 24” display, I love it but it’s starting to show signs that worry me a little - anyway - anyone any experience of these newer machines please ? I live in Southampton (UK) and we have an Apple Store so I guess I’ll buy from there - Regards Roger

Robin Stark Web Flunky www.webflunky.com

Instant Messaging: GoogleTalk: email@hidden iChat: email@hidden

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On 24 Jul 2008, at 13:35, Roger Burton wrote:

anyone any experience of these newer machines please

Me again!

The company I’m currently freelancing with has just installed a pair of the 24in 3.06GHz iMacs with 500GB hard drives.

All I can say is they are awesome. More than adequate for most graphics use. Perhaps the only thing I’d think about is upping the stock RAM to the maximum 4GB - but since Apple charge stupid money for this, it’s probably worth just getting the standard 2GB, then buying a pair of 2GB sticks cheaper from Crucial or similar at a later stage.

Heather

http://www.softpress.com

“Freeway - Web Design for All”

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Yes Crucial (UK) is good for memory,

The Machine, I’m typing this in is a 20” G5 2.1GHz iMac was upped to
2.5gb for only £40 earlier this year from Crucial, same 2gb memory
when the machine was new was some £830!! (thought i’d wait till any
Intel chip issues were well and truly sorted.)

I’m soon changing, soon, possibly to a new iMac, but I must admit I’m
really not sure about the gloss screen.

David

On 24 Jul 2008, at 14:35, Heather Kavanagh wrote:

then buying a pair of 2GB sticks cheaper from Crucial or similar at a later stage.

David Owen Freeway Friendly Web hosting and Domains :: (Test Drive a web hosting account for Free) http://www.ineedwebhosting.co.uk http://www.printlineadvertising.co.uk/freeway

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Yes the gloss screen is the only choice (I’m sure that’s what the guy in the apple store said, I’ll check) and it is something that concerns me, don’t they ever ask the end users what they’d prefer, I’ve not known anyone that likes it, - and Heather even the same guy in the apple store said go to crucial for ram ! It’s all sounding good, yes I’m mainly into general graphics work these days (I used to do more Broadcast graphics stuff and needed a bigger box to put video boards and stuff in but don’t really need that nowadays) - thanks for taking the time Regards Roger

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Travelers in the “graphics” circle certainly understand the reason for non-glare screens, but line up a row of displays at the Costco or similar, and ask passers-by which looks “richer” or “sharper”, and they’ll pick the glossy one every time.

It’s simple — except for at the precise angle where a reflection wipes out the entire screen, a glossy screen can show darker blacks than a non-glare screen in a normally-lit room. This increases the apparent contrast and richness of the image, even though the underlying LCD and backlight might be the very same in both cases.

Apple is catering for the masses with this line of computers.

Years ago, I had a 500-pound Barco display (not really, but YOU try and move it) that came with a suction-cup dingus to calibrate it, a hood to keep stray light off, and came with a black bib to put on when you didn’t want the reflection of your shirt to influence your color choices. Naturally, it also had an anti-glare coating to go with.

Walter

On Jul 24, 2008, at 10:04 AM, Roger Burton wrote:

don’t they ever ask the end users what they’d prefer, I’ve not known anyone that likes it

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Yup - Crucial

Price: £23.99 (EX. VAT) Description: 2GB, 240-pin DIMM Upgrade for a Apple iMac (G5-2.1GHz, 20-inch) DDR2 System

That was in March - not sure what the price is today.

David

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Thanks David - crucial it is.

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Slightly more now but still very cheap:

http://crucial.com/uk/store/listparts.aspx?model=iMac%203.06GHz%20Intel%20Core%202%20Duo%20%2824-inch%29

Joe

On 25 Jul 2008, at 07:16, Roger Burton wrote:

Thanks David - crucial it is.

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On 25 Jul 2008, at 08:52, Joe Billings wrote:

Slightly more now but still very cheap:

True.

One thing to bear in mind is that Apple install two 1GB dimms, so if you do upgrade to 4GB (2 x 2GB), you’ll have to effectively chuck out the two that came in the box. Or stick ‘em on eBay or whatever.

That said, the 2GB is adequate for me right now. I’ve got 2GB in my MacBook Pro as well as the iMac, and I’ve not hit the buffers yet.

Heather

http://www.softpress.com

“Freeway - Web Design for All”

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Another vote for Crucial - only used them twice but never any problems. First time was to up the memory in a then-new G3 DV-SE iMac so that shows how long ago it was!

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Yeah, another vote for Crucial here. My lower-ram slot Powerbook G4 troubles were appeased half-hearted-ly with a 1GB stick at an affordable price.

I like the iMac’s. I’m hoping for a big 30 inch one so I can drop working on two screens for a while.

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Hi Dan don’t know what size your twin screens are but when I moved from a real job to working from home I had to leave a two screen set up and started using one 23” cinema display and I must say I don’t often miss the extra real estate, I thought I’d hate it … but 30” that would be interesting is there one on the cards ?

Roger

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Roger, good luck with your purchase.

I’ve has excellent service with the Applecare 3-year warranty plan (in the US) on my iMac G5. This provides unlimited phone support and repairs. I’ve had a technician come to the house to replace a fried modem, and towards the end of the 3 years, replace the hard disc. There was no charge for this and no paperwork. Highly recommended.

Jim

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Thanks for the comment Jim, yes I’m in two minds about the extended warranty as I’m stretching my budget buying a new machine anyway. I’m fortunate enough to have an Apple Store nearby so will sit and have a chat with them and let them ‘sell it’ to me (I’m afraid I’m a sucker for a good sales pitch).

Best Roger

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On 8 Aug 2008, at 07:35, Roger Burton wrote:

I’m fortunate enough to have an Apple Store nearby so will sit and have a chat with them and let them ‘sell it’ to me (I’m afraid I’m a sucker for a good sales pitch).

AppleCare can be taken out any time in the first 12 months of ownership, so don’t feel pressured to take it out right away.

=o)

Heather

http://www.softpress.com

“Freeway - Web Design for All”

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Excellent tip, as ever Heather … very good point.

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I didn’t think I was going to like my glossy 24” screen on my new iMac either but I love it. Great depth of colour. I work at home so have total control of any possible reflecting light. Good luck. Vic

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Thanks Vic for the encouragement, yes I figure that I can, as I also work from home, get the positioning correct to reduce any reflections and take advantage of the depth of colour … best Roger

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Is there any particular (speed) benefit for buying the iMac with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS video card over buying the standard iMac 24” 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

Bearing in mind I’m working on Web and print work rather than 3D stuff - and no 3D games - just work :-(

Anyone bought a 24” 2.8 or 3.06 iMac and can give any advice?

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Is there any particular (speed) benefit for buying the iMac with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS video card over buying the standard iMac 24” 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.

Bearing in mind I’m working on Web and print work rather than 3D stuff - and no 3D games - just work :-(

Well, in the past I would have said that if your not doing 3D it would not matter….however….

Apple has stated that the next version of OSX will be primarily about speed and the way they intend on speeding up graphics issues is by passing off that to the graphics card processor. So…..more graphics processing power = longer usable lifespan of iMac.

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Hi roger I have just bought (5 days ago) a new 24” 2.8 Imac with the big 320gig plus hard drive direct from apple refurb department (Though its in Absolutely perfect condition) it cost 824.00 +vat and with no extra delivery which is cheaper than people are selling them second hand on ebay. I ordered it at 3 in the afternoon and it arrived about 11 the next day.

I too added crucial ram and whacked it up to the maximum for around £50 region. needless to say its a bit nippy compared to my beige G3 tower which has now been pushed aside…. so I can recommend the apple refurb. http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore?family=Certified

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Thanks for that Max, excellent idea, I’ll start watching that site. Regards Roger

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Thanks for the tip Max, I have one of the same on it way to us today,
to replace my well used, last of line, 20” G5 iMac. I too can
finally step into the Intel world (and I hope any nasty surprises
have been ironed out by earlier, more braver adventurers than me)

Nearly bought from CanCom being £32 cheaper then the apple store,
but this has saved £121 even on their price :-)

On 24 Sep 2008, at 07:31, max wrote:

Hi roger I have just bought (5 days ago) a new 24” 2.8 Imac with
the big 320gig plus hard drive direct from apple refurb department (Though its in Absolutely
perfect condition) it cost 824.00 +vat and with no extra delivery which is cheaper
than people are selling them second hand on ebay. I ordered it at
3 in the afternoon and it arrived about 11 the next day.

I too added crucial ram and whacked it up to the maximum for around
£50 region. needless to say its a bit nippy compared to my beige G3 tower which
has now been pushed aside…. so I can recommend the apple refurb.

David Owen http://www.ineedwebhosting.co.uk

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Well I also did it today after faffing around (how do you spell faffing)? for some months … but Max’s suggestion prompted me to look at the apple refurb list and there was a nice high spec imac at £200 off list, had a chat with a chap on the Apple site who explained refurb. really meant getting a shirt that had been unwrapped but not really worn …. let’s hope he’s right, I also (‘cause these days I’ll try and get any money off I can) went through Quidco, maybe it will work, and bought it on an Amex card so might get some airmiles, jeez isn’t life complicated these days ? Best Roger

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OK the new iMac has arrived.

Before I rush to use Migration Assistant, has anyone got any advice about installing Windows for viewing PC sites?

e.g. what’s best, is it going to be BootCamp? Parallels? VMWare?

or not bother and get a cheap PC laptop?

Anyone been here before?

David

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David

I went with VMWare Fusion…works great. Of course you’ll also need a licensed version of windows…I went with XP rather than Vista.

Bill

——-Original Message——- From: David Owen <email@hidden> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 6:51 AM To: email@hidden Subject: Re: iMac anyone any advice

OK the new iMac has arrived.

Before I rush to use Migration Assistant, has anyone got any advice about installing Windows for viewing PC sites?

e.g. what’s best, is it going to be BootCamp? Parallels? VMWare?

or not bother and get a cheap PC laptop?

Anyone been here before?

David

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+2 for VMWare. The lovely Dr. Davis and I both run it, she uses it to run an esoteric bit of practice-management-ware, I use it to look at sites and weep. Both with XP Pro.

Also resist the urge to upgrade to IE7, as 6 fails in interesting and useful ways and still has enormous ill-gotten market share. Of course, you could always clone your virtual machine (given enough disk space) and install IE7 on a separate VM.

Walter

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Walter

Could I find a downloadable versio of IE6 to run on a fusion machine?

——-Original Message——- From: waltd <email@hidden> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 7:11 AM To: email@hidden Subject: Re: RE: iMac anyone any advice

+2 for VMWare. The lovely Dr. Davis and I both run it, she uses it to run an esoteric bit of practice-management-ware, I use it to look at sites and weep. Both with XP Pro.

Also resist the urge to upgrade to IE7, as 6 fails in interesting and useful ways and still has enormous ill-gotten market share. Of course, you could always clone your virtual machine (given enough disk space) and install IE7 on a separate VM.

Walter

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On 25 Sep 2008, at 14:51, David Owen wrote:

or not bother and get a cheap PC laptop?

My other half has Parallels on the other MacBook Pro here, and runs Windows XP almost all the time. I don’t think there’s any major penalty associated with the virtual machine over Bootcamp, just less hassle and no need to reboot to use the Mac.

Though the cheap laptop is a viable option, I guess.

Heather

http://www.softpress.com

“Freeway - Web Design for All”

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I run both IE6 and IE7 on my Windows machine here. Take a look at: http://tredosoft.com/IE7_standalone

b8

Op 25 sep 2008, om 16:27 heeft David Owen het volgende geschreven:

That interesting - We’ve already got an IE6 box here, which I’ve used to test sites, so perhaps there is not much benefit for adding essentially just IE7 to a new mac?

On 25 Sep 2008, at 15:11, waltd wrote:

Also resist the urge to upgrade to IE7, as 6 fails in interesting and useful ways and still has enormous ill-gotten market share. Of course, you could always clone your virtual machine (given enough disk space) and install IE7 on a separate VM.

David Owen

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I run both IE6 and IE7 on my Windows machine here. Take a look at: http://tredosoft.com/IE7_standalone

b8

Op 25 sep 2008, om 16:27 heeft David Owen het volgende geschreven:

That interesting - We’ve already got an IE6 box here, which I’ve used to test sites, so perhaps there is not much benefit for adding essentially just IE7 to a new mac?

On 25 Sep 2008, at 15:11, waltd wrote:

Also resist the urge to upgrade to IE7, as 6 fails in interesting and useful ways and still has enormous ill-gotten market share. Of course, you could always clone your virtual machine (given enough disk space) and install IE7 on a separate VM.

David Owen

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Could I find a downloadable versio of IE6 to run on a fusion machine?

I got a copy of XP Pro SP2 on eBay, and upgraded to SP3 on line while resisting the urge to upgrade IE6. There are containerized versions of IE available from a company called something like “Crossover”, and David has posted a link to another approach in one of the many threads this message has spawned (something went boink in this system).

Walter

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thanks Walter

On Thursday, September 25, 2008, at 07:45AM, “waltd” <email@hidden> wrote: >

I got a copy of XP Pro SP2 on eBay, and upgraded to SP3 on line while resisting the urge to upgrade IE6. >

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thanks Walter

On Thursday, September 25, 2008, at 07:45AM, “waltd” <email@hidden> wrote: >

I got a copy of XP Pro SP2 on eBay, and upgraded to SP3 on line while resisting the urge to upgrade IE6. >

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I use VMWare Fusion myself. Does a great job, especially version 2.

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I would personally install a windows system with bootcamp and then add Parallels, but rather than install another operating system I would just point it at the bootcamp volume. (its a setting in the control panel) This way if you need the maximum speed that running a pc in non a emulated format woud give then you can relaunch the the machine as a full blown PC, but if you just require it to view websites you have made in IE then you can launch Parallels.

max

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I would personally install a windows system with bootcamp and then add Parallels….

Exactly what I did, but used Fusion instead.

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Apple documentation said they sent me an iMac with a 320GB disc in it; but it’s actually got a 500MB disc in it :-)

On 25 Sep 2008, at 2:51 pm, David Owen wrote:

OK the new iMac has arrived.

David

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Who’s a lucky boy then, i hope you didn’t make yourself look like an idiot like I did on the Apple discussions forum when I asked what the little ‘velvet’ envelope was for (I thought, as it was a refurb there might be something missing) ! - it seems it’s a little cloth for cleaning the screen dooohh !

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You could use it to shield your eyes from the bright screen; wow - it’s bright.

On 27 Sep 2008, at 11:17 am, Roger Burton wrote:

Who’s a lucky boy then, i hope you didn’t make yourself look like an idiot like I did on the Apple discussions forum when I asked what the little ‘velvet’ envelope was for (I thought, as it was a refurb there might be something missing) ! - it seems it’s a little cloth for cleaning the screen dooohh !

David

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