Getting a new iMac. Your thoughts?

Some thoughts:

--From both this message board and from my experience with my i7 iMac, I would say the Superdrives in the new iMacs are just incredibly picky about discs. It may be related to the slot-loading mechanism. I have an external drawer-loading LaCie DVD/CD burner that easily reads discs that are rejected by my Superdrive. Unless Apple goes to a different Superdrive mechanism, I think it's unlikely this disc reading issue will be resolved. Having said that, my Superdrive has only had problems with, I would guess, less than 1% of discs so far.

--The online Apple Store is a good way to buy a machine in my experience. I've bought 3 computers and several accessories there over the last decade and haven't had any problems whatsoever. As long as you're not looking for instant gratification, I highly recommend it.

--Have a look at Amazon for some good user reviews of the new iMacs. You might want to consider an i5 or i7, given your intended use. And if you are looking at a stock configuration, buying at Amazon might save you some sales tax.

Disclosure: I have no connections to Apple, Amazon, or LaCie.

i5 and i7 refer to two of the different processor choices you have available to you in an iMac. See:

http://www.apple.com/imac/performance.html

The Core i5 processor is a standard choice in the iMac line. Just look at the right-most option in the Apple Store. If you want the Core i7 processor, select the model with the Core i5 and you'll see the i7 as an option.

Regards.

nemateoz wrote:
About to order a new iMac from the Apple Store on line. Reason: I need more power, speed and space for my primary computer hobby. Home music recording. This machine will have: OS X Snow Leopard; 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; 8 GB RAM; and 2TB Serial ATA Drive. That compares to my present iMac OS X 10.3.9 (Panther); 1 GHz PowerPC G4; 2 GB RAM; and 80 GB (about 75 usable) space. It would seem this new computer will provide a huge difference for me. But, before I place my order, two things:

1) Has that problem with CD/DVDs on the new iMacs been resolved? (Read about that right here in Discussion Forums; seems to have been a problem with the optical drive...not recognizing, or rejecting CDs/DVDs);

2) Has anyone had any problems purchasing stuff directly from the Apple Store on line?

Thanks for your thoughts/advice.

Despite some negative reviews or experiences. My iMac i7 has displayed ZERO issues. It got it back in October.


Good Luck!

Again:

Go to the Apple Store
Select the iMac
Select the right-most option: "Quad-Core 27-inch: 2.66GHz"

That is the Core i5 system. If you want the Core i7 processor, it will be the first option offered, under Processor.

The 27-inch 2.66 system is the only model that has the Core i5 and i7. The 21.5 models and the other 27 model have the Core 2 Duo processor.

And as others have expressed, my iMac has had no problems of any kind with the optical drive (or anything else). Please note that what you are going to see reported here are problems, this being a technical support forum. The thousands of people who are having no problems have little reason to post, so what you see is a skewed perspective on the matter. The chances of your getting a trouble-free system are quite high, though of course no one can say with certainty that you won't have a problem with any product; that's why companies offer warranties.

Regards.

Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

the new iMacs seem to have more limited options regarding screen/monitor movement. As opposed to the old iMac I have, adjusting is limited to just tilt. Not lowering or raising the screen/monitor itself.

The iMac G4 "luxo" was indeed the only iMac to offer any height adjustment on the monitor. It was nice to have, but that sort of design would be totally impractical with the larger screens now available. While height adjustment would be nice, I haven't found it to be an issue with either my 24" iMac (previous generation) or my current 27" iMac. If it's a large factor for you, you could get a mounting arm for the 27" iMac; that would allow all sorts of adjustments. Such an arm won't be particularly inexpensive, but there are a number of them available from various manufacturers.

Importantly, it would seem the CD/DVD thing is not evident in the bigger computer model. Correct?

I haven't seen any evidence to indicate that there are any chronic problems with the optical drives in any of the current iMac models, none that affect more than a small percentage of all iMacs shipped, anyway. Regardless of which iMac model you choose, your chances of a trouble-free experience are, as I said, quite high, though again no one here can promise that you might not have a problem (which could be said of any computer you might consider).

Regards.

Message was edited by: Dave Sawyer

Nobody wants to buy an expensive new machine and find they've got problems. As others have said you're chances are VERY high that you'll get a trouble-free computer, but if you are unlucky enough to get one with a problem you'll know pretty much straight away and you can rely on Apple to fix it - their after-sales service is excellent. For peace of mind, and if you can stretch to it, the money spent on the extra 2 years warranty for extended AppleCare pretty much takes all the worry out of it for the next three years.

I do not have an answer to your first question.

I purchased this iMac from the Apple Store on-line back in November, 2009 because I wanted the numeric keypad keyboard. I had originally ordered one of the old 24" models. The day they announced the new ones, I called the Apple Store on-line 800 number and was able to change the order to this one. There was no additional charge because the old one hadn't shipped yet. The order switch was done completely over the phone and worked like a charm. I was, at first, somewhat hesitant to order on-line. However, I would probably do it again.

Just to answer your point No.2, I've bought from the AppleStore online several times, including my latest iMac and the whole process is very easy. You'll be kept informed as to progress of your order - when it shipped, when to expect it, etc. and I think they take your money when they ship it rather than when you place the order.

What’s the difference between:

8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB http://Add $200.00...

( from 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB)

and
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB http://Add $600.00

4GB DIMMs are at present significantly more expensive than 2GB DIMMs. It's your choice whether to pay the extra money and have empty slots available for additional future memory expansion (without removing any existing memory).

I presume 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel i7 is bigger, or more powerful than the 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo of the 21.5” iMac model. Correct?

Generally yes. You can see benchmarks on places like Barefeats if you want to see comparison numbers.

it appears the CD/DVD problem thing is not evident in the 27” model as it at least was in the 21.5” model. Right?

I can't add anything to what I said on the subject previously.

cracked screens upon opening the box of the new computer, were much more of a problem for the bigger, 27” models that the 21.5” models. Hopefully, Apple has taken care of that by packaging them more carefully.

I haven't seen a report of any cracked screens in several weeks now. But with the gorillas the shipping companies tend to use, there are no guarantees. I once received a pallet-load of computers that the trucking company had driven a forklift blade through. So you never know how your computer might arrive. The prevalence of problems seems to have been alleviated, though.

Regards.

I've got a "perfect" 27" i7 iMac bought last November from the online store. I would have bought a refurbished one had they been available back then (they are just popping up occasionally now).

The only problem I've heard of and have to be careful about with the Superdrive is the sharp edges of the aluminum frame can scratch (and thereby destroy) CDs. You just need to be careful. If you will be burning lots of CDs/DVDs you might want to consider an external drive because the "Superdrive" isn't very super as far as speed is concerned. I have to burn 20 to 40 CDs or DVDs in batches each college term for my students and I do it on an 8 year old PC because its burner is over twice as fast as my brand new iMac's.

With all that disk capacity you are intending to fill you should consider external hard drives for backups, as well as for TimeMachine. DVDs have no where near the capacity or speed to be reasonable backup media these days.