[heimdall]

"Adding your own memory may affect the warranty, so check with the third-party if the warranty is of concern."

I should point out that any non-OEM parts wouldn't be covered by warranty, nor would damage actually caused by them or their installation, but simply using third-party memory cannot legally (in the US) affect your warranty.

[Islandgirl]

Quote

If you do decide to go with a hard drive and SSD, consider installing the OS and applications on the SSD and storing your files to the hard drive.

That's already how the dual hard drive configuration comes from Apple, per the build-to-order page.

Quote

About Solid-State Drives
iMac also offers an optional 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), which has no moving parts and offers up to twice the drive performance for many operations. The 256GB SSD may be purchased in place of the standard hard drive or in addition to it.
If you configure your iMac with both the solid-state drive and a Serial ATA hard drive, it will come preformatted with Mac OS X and all your applications on the solid-state drive. Then you can use the hard drive for videos, photos, and other files.

This post has been edited by Islandgirl: 05 August 2010 - 07:32 AM

[chiefsilverback]

brilor, on 04 August 2010 - 11:04 PM, said:

davebarnes, on 04 August 2010 - 12:12 PM, said:

@Roman,

Why only 4 mice?

What would be needed to cause you to rate them at 5 mice?

I ask, because, for me, 5 mice.

This is just a CPU swap. IMO the machine is not significantly different from the previous generation, plus Apple continues to drag their feet on obvious upgrades that are easy to find on Sony/Dell Windows 7 machines such as:

(1) eSata support - Firewire 800 is slow by comparison. If you have GBs to back up/process, an eSata port would be wonderful

(2) USB 3.0

(3) Blu-Ray

(4) HDMI

Plus they can be had for much less $$ than Macs. Apple is no longer the computer technology leader.

You forget about the LED backlit IPS displays that come with the iMacs. How much do the Dells and Sonys go up to once you add a 27" display with the same spec as the iMac's?

[walueg]

How the old Mighty Mouse can be rated favorably against the Magic Mouse is impossible to guess. The Mighty Mouse was almost universaly regarded as a turkey by the general user population and the Magic Mouse has been seen as a huge improvement. Right clicking on the Mighty was a chore and a half. You had to hold your jaw just right. Scrolling and clicking is MUCH more consistent and pleasurable on the Magic and you never have to clean the scroll pea--an impossible task.

MacWorld has lost their marbles. I miss the old paper magazine when the journalism was much more consistent and professional.

[jazzace]

Can you be more specific regarding which Mac Pro you are listing in the Speedmark comparisons? I'm presuming the Early 2009 model, but of course the original Mac Pro (which still outperforms the current Mac mini in our testing here) was also 4-core 2.66 GHz.

I have someone who deals with huge Photoshop files who is going to purchase a couple of new Macs, but the over-bright, over-saturated iMac glossy displays are unusable for his application. He is still considering the iMac based on performance (he would use the built-in display as a second display), so comparisons to the Mac Pro continue to be valuable.

[brilor]

pcharles, on 05 August 2010 - 05:02 AM, said:

With the exception of eSATA and USB3, I am not concerned about any of the others.

Yes, agreed. They are my top two as well. The list was only to point out what modern items are missing.

[brilor]

pcharles, on 05 August 2010 - 05:02 AM, said:

USB 3.0 is would be nice, but is that even an official standard yet?

USB 3.0 was released November 12, 2008 - see usb.org for more info

[brilor]

chiefsilverback, on 05 August 2010 - 07:37 AM, said:

brilor, on 04 August 2010 - 11:04 PM, said:

davebarnes, on 04 August 2010 - 12:12 PM, said:

@Roman,

Why only 4 mice?

What would be needed to cause you to rate them at 5 mice?

I ask, because, for me, 5 mice.

This is just a CPU swap. IMO the machine is not significantly different from the previous generation, plus Apple continues to drag their feet on obvious upgrades that are easy to find on Sony/Dell Windows 7 machines such as:

(1) eSata support - Firewire 800 is slow by comparison. If you have GBs to back up/process, an eSata port would be wonderful

(2) USB 3.0

(3) Blu-Ray

(4) HDMI

Plus they can be had for much less $$ than Macs. Apple is no longer the computer technology leader.

You forget about the LED backlit IPS displays that come with the iMacs. How much do the Dells and Sonys go up to once you add a 27" display with the same spec as the iMac's?

You might want to check out the prices. A Dell Vostro 430 mini tower( that is with an Intel i7 processor ) on the Dell site today is $789. There are several LED monitors they offer and other manufacturers too. For example, they offer a 21.5 inch LED ( named Dell Professional P2211H ) for $219.00.

[Polybius]

brilor, on 04 August 2010 - 11:04 PM, said:

davebarnes, on 04 August 2010 - 12:12 PM, said:

@Roman,

Why only 4 mice?

What would be needed to cause you to rate them at 5 mice?

I ask, because, for me, 5 mice.

This is just a CPU swap. IMO the machine is not significantly different from the previous generation, plus Apple continues to drag their feet on obvious upgrades that are easy to find on Sony/Dell Windows 7 machines such as:

(1) eSata support - Firewire 800 is slow by comparison. If you have GBs to back up/process, an eSata port would be wonderful

(2) USB 3.0

(3) Blu-Ray

(4) HDMI

Plus they can be had for much less $$ than Macs. Apple is no longer the computer technology leader.

I can agree with the eSATA, but that's about it.

USB 3.0 isn't even supported by Intel processors. http://www.eetimes.c...oad-for-USB-3-0

HDMI is lower quality compared to DisplayPort

Blu-Ray WRITING I can see on the Mac in the future, but not til a LOT later. The Blu-Ray disk was created for HD video , so I do think they should put a BR reader/ DVD writer in the Mac, but that's not a viable option. If they DID put Blu-Ray in the Mac at this time, the price would skyrocket. Look at the prices of external writers.

[bigbrothersteve]

I'm confused.

The review says "We saw the biggest improvement in the new Quad-Core iMac in our Call of Duty 4 framerate tests, where the new model was 35 percent faster."

Then the Call of Duty 4 framerate benchmarks show:

27-inch iMac 2.8GHz Core i5 Quad Core: 88.1
27-inch iMac 2.66GHz Core i5 Quad Core: 86.9

I'm no math genius, but how is a framerate of 86.9 to 88.1 a 35% increase?

This post has been edited by bigbrothersteve: 05 August 2010 - 11:24 AM

[mctavish]

Polybius, on 05 August 2010 - 09:29 AM, said:

USB 3.0 isn't even supported by Intel processors. http://www.eetimes.c...oad-for-USB-3-0

So how does HP do it?

HP USB 3.0

[mctavish]

"The differences between the iMac processors go beyond the number of cores and clock speed, however—and it can be confusing. The 3.06GHz Core i3 processor in the $1199 iMac and the 3.2GHz Core i3 CPU in the $1499 and $1699 iMacs support Hyper Threading, which allows the processor to use virtual cores to better handle heavy workloads, but they don’t support Turbo Boost, where the processor shuts down unused cores and boosts the speed of the active core."

From:

Apple unveils new iMac, including quad-core model
"As with its predecessor, the new iMac comes in two models: 21.5-inch and a 27-inch. The 21.5-inch model has three processor options: a 3.06GHz Intel Core i3, a 3.2GHz Intel Core i3, and a 3.6GHz Intel Core i5. All three processors sport a 4MB level 3 cache and support Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost."

And from the horse's mouth:

Apple iMac Tech Specs

• "21.5-inch models, one of the following:
  • 3.06GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading
  • 3.2GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading
  • 3.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 4MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost
• 27-inch models, one of the following:
  • 3.2GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading
  • 3.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 4MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost
  • 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 with 8MB level 3 cache; supports Turbo Boost
  • 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB level 3 cache; supports Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost"

[chiefsilverback]

brilor, on 05 August 2010 - 08:53 AM, said:

You might want to check out the prices. A Dell Vostro 430 mini tower( that is with an Intel i7 processor ) on the Dell site today is $789. There are several LED monitors they offer and other manufacturers too. For example, they offer a 21.5 inch LED ( named Dell Professional P2211H ) for $219.00.

The P2211H is not an IPS display! Dell do offer a 27" IPS display for $1099 but it's not LED backlit...

[brilor]

mctavish, on 06 August 2010 - 02:37 AM, said:

Polybius, on 05 August 2010 - 09:29 AM, said:

USB 3.0 isn't even supported by Intel processors. http://www.eetimes.c...oad-for-USB-3-0

So how does HP do it?

HP USB 3.0

I believe Intel does not include the USB 3.0 port on their boards. Presumably HP obtains the USB 3.0 from somewhere else and installs it. Apple could do the same thing. Clearly Apple needs to make business decisions. Some people think they are a technology leader and my post was to point out they are not.