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199 of 204 found the following review helpful:
 Fast, Loaded, but Check Your Display for Yellow Sep 11, 2010
By Steve H
"books911"
I anxiously awaited this summer 2010 update to the iMac line.
iMacs offer a better value than one might think, and the space saving they offer compared to having many components spread out on a desk, make them an attractive offering from Apple.
My current iMac was an aging model, summer 2007. The first iMac with aluminum enclosure. Honestly, however, it is not far off the machines of today particularly notebook models. The iMacs are aging nicely, and I'm sure this new model will too. iMacs tend to offer a better value than notebooks and because they aren't carried around, can have better reliability / longevity too.
When I opened this new computer, I loved the widescreen display. This display is 16x9 similar to a television, whereas conventional widescreen computer monitors were 16x10 (including my old iMac). The extra width gives you more room to fit documents across your desktop (screen) while working. I like that.
Furthermore, don't let anyone suggest that this is not a fast computer. Its 3.06 GHZ i3 processor includes hyper threading to give you up to four "virtual," cores. Some argue that this feature isn't useful, or that not enough applications utilize hyper threading. However, I was able to look at CPU usage and see video encoding software on my computer using the multiple threads. It was fast.
I chose the 21.5 inch model because my desk is simply too small to house the 27-inch model. The 27 is absolutely staggering in size. I would choose it, if I had the room, but the 21.5 is far from being a slouch and is somewhat more sensible looking.
It features standard 4GB of memory, which can be easily upgraded to 8GB by buying two additional 2GB sticks. A 500 GB hard drive being standard on this model will be plenty for all but the hard drive pack rats out there. While optical media is less popular today, do not forget this iMac can play DVDs and burn DVDs. Burning DVDs can also be useful to backup important data such as your family photographs. The speed of the drive is satisfactory, and it is the cool slot loading variety.
A SD card slot is located under the DVD drive, to easily load pictures onto your computer direct from your camera's SD card.
Why choose this 1199 model over the 1499 21.5 inch? Both are actually competent machines. The 1499 model gives you a larger hard drive (1 TB over 500 GB, so twice the size), and it has a faster graphics processor, which is useful when gaming and in other graphic intensive applications. While I chose the 1499 model, the 1199 doesn't lack much, if that final ten tenths of graphic performance and extra hard drive space is not something you believe you will need.
The $1199 model is the RIGHT choice, unless you "know," you need the specific benefits of the 1499 model (larger hard drive and faster graphics processor). Truly, this $1199 model is one of the best values of any Mac right now.
The iMacs are great values over notebooks, if you don't need portability. You get more performance, more storage, and a massive display by comparison of a MacBook Pro. All at an attractive price.
One of my favorite features? iMacs have included for the past year bluetooth keyboards and mice standard! That means when you take the iMac out of the box, if you have wireless internet, you can be up and running by simply plugging in the power cord. The Magic Mouse and keyboard are both wireless and work flawlessly. They are easier on batteries than you might think too, though they take easy to acquire AAs.
Included software? The latest operating system Mac OS X Snow Leopard is included, plus iLife 09. iLife includes great and useful applications such as iPhoto, iMovie, and Garage Band.
Someone new to Mac might consider picking up the Student/Teacher/Home edition of Microsoft Office for Mac. It runs beautifully and has a Mac feel to it, despite being a Microsoft product.
My final verdict? I absolutely adored the machine. It was the fastest Mac I had ever used and a solid upgrade over my previous iMac. However, a week into ownership I discovered that the bottom and right side of my screen had a yellow tinge/appearance to it. A white background window, such as Amazon.com page, looked beautiful and white in the top left, but on the rest of the display, it turned yellowish. I had invested so much time transferring my data from my old iMac to my new one. I had to transfer everything back and securely erase the new one before returning it. I didn't want to go through that entire process again, during my busy time of the year, so I just returned it for a refund. Once I have some spare time to go through all the trouble, I will try again. Just be sure to check your display when it arrives because I have read some others having a similar display issue on the Mac Rumors forums.
Overall, this iMac was an impressive update. It features the latest processors, plenty of storage, and offers one of the best Mac values. The display is a great size and aspect ratio, but be sure to check it for the yellowish color when it arrives.
68 of 72 found the following review helpful:
 Sick of fighting your Windows PC? Nov 14, 2010
By B. Rhynes
First of all, I'm not a gamer, and this is not a gamers rig. Don't get me wrong, it has very capable graphics, but there aren't many good games available for the Mac OSX.
No biggie for me, I produce music, and Mac is well known for fitting the bill in this area. Paired with Logic, making music couldn't be easier.
Windows was another story.
I don't have a lot of cash to burn, but I hear a lot of criticism from Windows users about how "overpriced" Mac is. Well as somebody who has been through Windows '95,'98, XP and Vista and Windows 7, I have spent SO MUCH freaking time repairing Windows-related issues as opposed to just enjoying Windows applications.
I don't want to spend all day trying to figure one more cryptic, Windows error code.
I bought my Imac almost one year ago, and everything JUST WORKS, the way it is supposed to. No viruses, no BLUE SCREENS, no crashes... I HAVE had a couple of issues that were directly my own fault (screwing with settings and such). When I contacted Macintosh support, they were polite, friendly, knowledgeable and eager to assist me. And they got me up and running in a matter of minutes. Something, sadly, I am NEVER able to find with ANY other product or service I use.
Bottom line, you get what you pay for. If you work in I.T., and you absolutely LOVE diagnosing operating system errors, missing DLL files, registry and security issues while battling trojan after trojan, by all means, stick with your Windows products. I just want a machine that works.
I would rather spend my valuable time using a product, NOT fixing it.
I, for one, will NEVER go back.
66 of 70 found the following review helpful:
Best entry level mac EVER! Aug 04, 2010
By superhans
*** This model has only been out for TWO weeks so the guy saying he has "owned it for 18 months" has a different model****
The NEW I3 intel processor is ridiculously fast compared to my older dual core imac (2.0ghz 3gb ) The value of the machine really speaks for itself. LED SCREEN!! The ram is upgradeable to 8gig and the new ATI video card is supposed to rock ;although, I have not really tested it out yet. Spend the extra 160$ to get the apple protection plan, especially on this newly updated one.
35 of 36 found the following review helpful:
No other desktop offers so much Aug 20, 2010
By Rafael R C
"rafaelrc"
This review is intended for the 21.5 iMac mid-2010 model which came out recently. Apple made a significant improvement for the iMac line and it shows: 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB level 3 cache; 4 GB of RAM upgradable to 8 GB; and also an ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory. Look at last year's iMacs and you'll see that this is a very tempting offer despite the $1200 price tag.
Having said that, I don't think last year's iMac owners should rush to buy these new ones. However, if you haven't upgraded your desktop Mac in over a few years or you're looking to buy your first Mac desktop, this is one unbeatable deal you should not miss.
34 of 35 found the following review helpful:
Incredible deal for a Mac. Oct 18, 2010
By Par
Mac's are notorious for being outrageously priced for the hardware you get. This machine is no exception. But it's a Mac and if you're going to pay for one, you're going to pay for the name. Is it worth it? You'll have to decide.
It's incredibly fast. Now, in fairness I don't have a new PC to compare it to. However, comparing it to the 2007 top of the line MacBook Pro, it's blazing fast. Compiling apps on this machine takes approximately 75% less time than my MacBook Pro. Seriously, 20 seconds to 5 seconds.
The keyboard is great. It's a small keyboard, which normally I would hate but it just feels nice. The arrow keys are oddly shaped so gamers who like arrow keys over WASD may find it annoying. But the keys have the perfect amount of pop to them.
The magic mouse... wow. This thing seems odd at first but thank you Apple for finally recognizing RIGHT CLICK. Even though you have to turn it on yourself it's a great addition to a mac mouse. The mouse will occasionally scroll by accident when I don't want it to but it's not frustrating (The middle of the mouse serves as a scroll wheel). Using finger gestures to navigate in Safari is genius and quick.
Construction of the whole machine is incredible. It's clean, simple, and very attractive. It's also very sturdy and heavy. It does not feel like junk. And it isn't junk.
Now to the one problem. The Yellow Color at the bottom of the screen. I don't think everyone will have this issue, but I'm sure a majority of purchasers will. Simply because the stories I've heard lead me to believe this isn't a rare issue but rather very common. The bottom of the screen has a yellow bar across it. It's a gradient so it blends into the rest of the screen. Also it's only visible on a solid light (most visible on white) background. When you load up the Mac for the first time, you can look for it at the solid gray loading screen. For me it was obvious. Heart sunk a little when I saw it. But honestly, while I think Apple should fix this issue (it's been happening over multiple years and models), I'm willing to live with it. It's just too great of a machine otherwise.
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