I've had a G5 iMac for three years and it has been trouble for much of that time. I am now faced with replacing the logic board or throwing it away and buying a new Intel iMac. Judging by the Discussion boards, the G5 iMac seems to have had many problems in its life: is the Intel iMac any better?
And if so, what spec should I go for? I like the look of the 24inch, but which one and what upgrades would anyone suggest?
Thanks
G5 iMac 1.8GHz; iBook G4 1.42GHz,
Mac OS X (10.5.2)
I had a really dodgy G5 PPC iMac; literally, the most buggy Mac I've dealt with in my 18 years of using and supporting Macs-after 3 logic boards and the hard drive were replaced, the SuperDrive failed, and at that point, Apple gave me a new machine- an Intel iMac, to be exact.
So far, it's been fine; it was easier than I thought to switch from Tiger/PPC to Leopard/Intel- I got a 20" to replace a 20", so I can't comment on the 24" screen.
Apple's extended warranties have always been a good value, IMHO-replacement parts alone can cost more than the warranty, and Apple's never balked at fixing a problem for me...
If I knew then what I know now about the "millions of colours" issue, I probably would have bought the 24". Apparently the 20" doesn't truly have millions of colours, but my screen looks fine to me. I have the 17" white intel too and it's been a lovely machine, no problems except for vertical lines appearing on the screen. My new aluminum model(with Applecare this time) has been great! But it really depends on what you want to use your machine for. Good luck.
I understand that the iMac Intel 24" 2.8GHz Extreme that I've had on order since 25 March 2008, is in short supply, no-one seems to have stock in the UK.
The problems with Apple products that people are reporting in this forum is giving me cold feet, I'm having second thoughts about this purchase.
I am heartily sick to my back teeth with Bill Gates rubbish and I had been looking forward to the iMac, now I'm not so sure, maybe as an old Linux hand, I should just switch back to Linux?
I am new to Imac as well, having the model you are currently waiting for.
I received mine at the beginning of March and too date I can report no problems at all, I also had a touch of the jitters as an Imac is a big purchase. However most people here on the forums will tell you that this is the place for the horror stories, a sort of last chance saloon.
I'm not telling you not to worry, but my own experience remains pain free (after years of Bill & PC's)
the Mac world is a refreshing change, These forums are great, as you can get good info from one place without trawling the internet, like you end up doing with a PC.
I remain hopeful that I don't have to eat my words at some later date, but at the end of the day, these are machines built by man and man can screw things up.
Good luck and enjoy your new toy when it arrives.......I just love mine it's GREAT
The iMac is a costly purchase as you say, it's good to hear that your experience with the same iMac model I have on order, is trouble free.
I suppose it's the waiting that is getting to me, in any event, I will be stuck with the iWork 08 software, AppleCare 3 year protection and extra memory that I have already had delivered, whatever I decide.
I have used Linux from time to time and I'm familiar with the Unix OS.
With Linux, the big problem I always faced was drivers for the soundcard, printers, and the video card, it's encouraging to see that Leopard lists drivers for both my printers, so that's one headache less.
I see your moving up from an AMD Mesh PC, funny that I moved up from an Intel Mesh PC.
I had never used Mac before, through previous jobs I carried out system testing on mainframes and used Linux on a company network as system administrator. I just wanted to escape from the PC world and all the problems that that entails.
My only swop criteria was the transfer of my photo library and software, I use Lightroom and Capture One 4. Lightroom is dual licensed and I had an outstanding free upgrade on Capture One, so I moved over at no real cost in software terms. My printer and scanner come onboard no trouble at all (HP & Epson)
I expected problems connecting to the internet, especially mail (you know POP this and POP that), the Mac picked all the info up and did all the work for me, I was totally gobsmacked, it was so easy I still tell everyone about it (even you now).
I have only purchased 2 pieces of software for the Mac, Office home edition (I was not happy doing that I can tell you) and a new piece of photo software that I found that is Mac specific, Iridient RAW Developer, which I now prefer to my other 2 bits of photo software, funny how things turn out.
Just why anyone would want to install Windows on a Mac defeats me, I'm glad to be shot of it, especially with the stories of problems with Vista, but I'm sure there are good reasons for people to have both (not me).
Anyway, you have your iMac to look forward to, I hope that your experience proves to be as good as mine, I'm sure it will turn up soon.
These forums are THE place to find out about things I use them nearly everyday, browsing mainly, surprising what you learn.
Normally, I have always built my own PC's, but I was in the middle of a house move when my PC packed in, and bought the Mesh as a matter of expediency as I needed to control my cash outgoings. I found out afterwards that the power supply had failed, so I had forked out £1300 for a new PC instead of the cost of a PSU!
I have an extensive library of the various Linux flavours, these are installed on removable hard drives, just a case of rebooting into a different Linux. The problem with Linux is drivers, soundcard, videocard and printers. I've played around with Unix and Linux for as long as I can remember.
Even got a prize from SuSE for writing an article describing how to correct a simple code error that SuSE had made in their distribution. At the time, no-one using SuSE, was able to print , the university tkyes were beside themselves with frustration at not being able to print their coursework.
The prize, SuSE sent me a baseball cap! lol. I thought I was on to a good thing!
It seems we're both into photography, my prime software is DxO Optics Pro, I will be upgrading into the latest version, for mac, when it's released. I have used Lightroom and I'm waiting to try the latest version of Aperture, this is one of the reasons I'm so impatient for the delivery of the new iMac.
My internet access is by a Huawei E220 USB Modem, I live too far from a telephone exchange for adequate landline broadband. I've already downloaded mac drivers for the modem and I'm hoping for an easy install.
Leopard supports both my printers, a Lexmark E232 and a Canon iP8500, so that is one headache less.
Like you, I have absolutely no intention of installing any of Bill Gates rubbish, although I have been using Microsoft Office 97 ever since it came out, I'm going to be using iWork 08 with the iMac.
You can't judge the dependability of the iMac from this forum because this is where people go for when they are having problems with their computer.
I bought my iMac 20" about a month ago and I have to tell you I have had not one disappointment in it whatsoever. The screen is flawless, colors amazing and the build quality is perfect.
I am seriously thinking of purchasing a 24" iMac tonight as well, that's how impressed I am with this computer.
No I didn't go for Applecare extended warranty and that was a big mistake, I think. My G5 iMac never worked properly for more than six months at a time. That said, I don't think I could live with a PC so, despite all my problems, I am contemplating a 24 inch 2.8Ghz Intel iMac. Fingers crossed.
ive owned my 20" imac ALu since 2 days after they came out in August last year, and its great, not a single problem.
The whole millions of colours is just something for the nit-pickers, the display is REALLY nice.
To reassure you, the current imac has gone through 3 generations AT LEAST (not counting minor revisions) imac g5, intel white, current silver. So Apple are sure to have ironed out all the problems.
I am planning to switch to Apple iMac also and have some questions regarding the possible isues I might experience with the new computer.
1. I am planning to purchase an iMac in the United States and take it back here, to Riga, Latvia. Shall I have to have some kind of power adapter and/or converter?? What brand or kind would you suggest, please?
The forums have not been very helpful. I still do not know, what additional hardware i should use in order to get the US iMac going in Latvia.
2. My friend, a Mac genius so to speak, told me, that based on his experience models created for the US market are not very good compared to those manufactured for Europe (thus explaining the price gap between these two). How true is this statement, please?
3. We have an official Apple dealer in Riga, but the price for a hardware is by far higher than in the United States (not taking into consideration the income level even )) ). The question is, if i purchase the hardware in the US, will it be possible to get the warranty service in Riga, please?
I bought my first Macintosh, an Intel iMac 24" a year ago, and remain very happy with it.
I had the memory increased to 2 GB, and the hard drive to 500 GB. I think that was a wise decision for me.. I do a lot of digital art, and the stuff I work with consumes massive amounts of hard drive space.
If I had more money, I'd likely buy a MacBook to go along with my iMac.
