[trip1ex]

Stephen123 said:

I use an anti glare film for color critical work and it's great. I think you must have tried a bad brand. Mine is from 3M.

Problem is 3M doesn't make 24" anti-glare film or I couldn't find any.

I'm not sure why Apple hasn't made an anti-glare screen accessory and charged $75 for it yet. Or at least a 3rd party should cater to the Macs. Perhaps the market is just too small for it to be worthwhile for a corporation.

[Stephen123]

Hi trip1ex -

Sorry, you're right. I looked for an antiglare film like like the one I have in 24 inch and it does not seem to exist.

What is the brand that doesn't work well?

I wonder if we can get iFixit interested in this.

- Stephen

[Macalways]

Mister_T said:

It's the graphics lineup that has gone downhill.

History re Maya testing of graphcis on Mac.

No imacs were tested with Maya until the intel versions came out, but the cards were.

In August 2004 the imacs included an NVIDIA Geforce FX 5200 Ultra which passed Maya's 3D specs, but no imacs were tested only G4s and G5s.

May 2005 ATI Radeon 9600, passed Maya. No imacs tested.

Sept 2005 ATI Radeon X600 passes Maya testing, no imacs tested.

January 2006 ATI X1600 passes Maya no imacs tested.

Oct 2007 imacs pass Maya test with ATI Radeon X1600XT or Nvidia 7600 GT, cost of 17" with ATI card $1499.

April 08 20" 2.4 ghz imac for $1199 US had Radeon 2400XT which failed Maya testing, $1499 20" 2.6 ghz has Radeon HD 2600 Pro which passed Maya testing. Autodesk never tested a system with Intel shared video its not worth testing.

Autodesk is testing the MacBook Pro with 9400/9600 system now. Even this option is which is available on the MacBook Pro is not offered on the iMac. Too much heat perhaps??

Only mid range or high end 24" imacs have separate graphics cards which are priced on Apple store starting at $1799. No option on 20" model.

Current imacs aren't yet on testing schedule according to department manager.

http://download.auto...s/2009/Maya2009qualifiedgraphicsmac.pdf

http://www.apple.com...tion/southpark/

http://www.apple.com...aft/index2.html

http://www.apple.com...ano/index2.html

[Stephen123]

The only recommendation I've found is:
http://www.photodon....otect-sheet.htm
but I have not tried it myself.

[Mister_T]

Hmmmmm........Don't see any imacs in use at any of those links

[benroethig]

[quote name='BrianM']
>

benroethig said:

>
> You can bluetooth and wifi to a PC without it, you can't add a quad core, the 3/4th DIMM slots or a second internal hard drive bay to an iMac. Back as far as 2005 (the last upgrade cycle for many), Apple had a pretty full while compact lineup. Now you have to buy whatever machine Apple believes you need and if its unsuitable for your uses, you're supposed to either leave the platform or considerably increase your financial investment in this platform.

the lineup in 2005 compared with now is pretty much the same, with the addition of the MacBook Air.

There was the Mac mini, the iMac, the Pro Tower, the iBook, the PowerBook, although there was the cheaper eMac mostly for schools but was popular, all in price ranges right around where they are now. I do think the pro tower might have had a "low-end" starting price of around $2,500 instead of $2,900 canadian though. (it was $1,999 USD, while the starting tower is $2,499 USD now, so price perceptions are different in the US vs Canada because our dollar has had some fluctuations that has made prices seem generally more stable in Canada)
The eMacs base price was $999 USD vs the 20" iMac now being $1,199.
The Mac mini sold now is much more capable than the Mac mini G4 sold in 2005 compared with the other models. although the price is up.
Compared with other years earlier on current prices could be much more in line. While Apple doesn't change prices much, there have been slight fluctuations.

Close, but not quite.

Desktops
Mac Mini, $499, $699
eMacs $799, $999
17" iMac $1299, $1499
20" iMac $1799
PowerMac $1499, $1999, $2499, $2999

Laptops.
12" iBook $999
14" iBook $1299, $1499
12" Powerbook: $1499, $1699
15" Powerbook: $1999, $2299
17" Powerbook: $2699

If you can't find your computer with that lineup, you're not trying. Since the eMac's affordable AIO segment has been canned, the lower and mid-range towers have been canned (or have been given gradual $1000 and $1300 price increases depending on your point of view), and the iBook/12" Powerbook have been combined dropping the big screen iBook line entirely In all that's either six models being dropped or four model dropped with two models being given substantial price increases to where the intended audience may no longer be able to afford them. All these models at one time were very popular.

[RobertLenniks]

I am thinking of purchasing the new iMac (24-inch : 2.93GHz)...
I'm a student, who is minoring in film, and do some Final Cut Pro and Adobe CS3.
Am I better off saving my money and going with the 2.66GHz, or is the graphics card in the 2.93 GHz ($300 more) going to help me in the long run?
Thank you for reading.
P.S. Screw these glossy displays!

[Mister_T]

The 9400M may be good enough for you as it has been tweeked to work well with Photoshop ( ie screen redraws while rotating) and to help with video conversion. If you ever see yourself working with visual special effects such as particle effects(dust or explosions), or other 3D graphics pay for the card

[Biallystock]

[quote name='hillstones']
>

jmincey said:

> Glossy screen and 6-bit dithered display. Premium price. No thanks.
>
> Jeff Mincey

The 24" doesn't have a 6-bit display and the glossy screen is gorgeous. A family member just bought one and the display has no glare, even with a sliding glass door 20 feet behind him. So the complaints against glossy are full of BS. People just think it is fun to complain. Seeing one in a store doesn't mean it will look the same at home. No one seemed to complain about glare on CRT monitors or TV's.

Here we go again with the implied lie that the people who object to the glossy screen have never tried it in a real setting.

Well I have for nearly a year and I have to keep it in the gloom of a back room because surprise, surprise glossy/shiny reflects.

Even in the gloom it causes eyestrain and makes my eyes weep after some usage because it is so bright.

But that doesn't trump you knowing someone who owns one! If that is even true, you have always been an Apple apologist.

To cap it off you connect it with some unsubstantiated rationale that nobody objects to glare on CRTS or TVs as if they were the same. I'll put my hand up for that as well which kills the nobody with the qualifiaction that pro CRTs did have an anti-glare coating, not perfect but helpful, and TVs no-one is doing Photoshop on them or DTP with constant fine text.

No matter how you lie, obfuscate and deny there is no way the bleedin' obvious is going to go away.

[JDW]

Stephen123 said:

The only recommendation I've found is:
http://www.photodon....otect-sheet.htm
but I have not tried it myself.

After seeing those "recommendations" I Googled further to see that most all of them are being made by people who also "have not tried it themselves." I don't see how one can recommend something they have not tried and still retain their integrity. But for the record, some have done reviews on Photodon and found it to be lacking.

NuShield is yet another company, rather well-respected in the film marketplace, who offers iMac film. However, the reviews I have read say their film is worse than the Photodon in that NuShield film is cut into rectangular form, not curved to fit the rounded edges of the iMac screen. Hence, when using NuShield films, you can plainly see something smacked a film on the screen. But even with the Photodon, you apparently can still see this. To me, that takes away from the beauty of the machine. Indeed, this is why Apple only "recommends" the films by word of mouth at their stores. They look so bad they wouldn't dare sell them or promote them on their website! Think about it!

All said, glossy/glass screens need to have anti-glare coatings applied at the factory, just like old CRTS had to cut glare, reduce eyestrain, and make users more happy in general.

[Biallystock]

Stephen123 said:

The only recommendation I've found is:
http://www.photodon....otect-sheet.htm
but I have not tried it myself.

That's an old one and the equivalent of hanging garlic around your neck to fend off vampires. The only people who seem to be recommending it are those selling it or getting commission off their websites.

No pro-user would stick a prophylactic sheet over their screen. Some amateurs might and think they are being shielded from death rays like they used to in the '90s.

These people are just like siding salesmen. Stick something on your Mac to improve it!

[Stephen123]

Antiglare coatings applied by manufacturers and antiglare films applied by users do the exact same thing. The only question is the quality of the film. A commercial antiglare display has an LCD panel, a semi-ridged transparent surface, and an antiglare surface on top of that. It's just a question of finding a good one.

I can't vouch for http://www.photodon.com/ personally, but I've seen users recommend it in forums.

[BrianM]

benroethig said:

Quote

Close, but not quite.

Desktops
Mac Mini, $499, $699
eMacs $799, $999
17" iMac $1299, $1499
20" iMac $1799
PowerMac $1499, $1999, $2499, $2999

Laptops.
12" iBook $999
14" iBook $1299, $1499
12" Powerbook: $1499, $1699
15" Powerbook: $1999, $2299
17" Powerbook: $2699

If you can't find your computer with that lineup, you're not trying. Since the eMac's affordable AIO segment has been canned, the lower and mid-range towers have been canned (or have been given gradual $1000 and $1300 price increases depending on your point of view), and the iBook/12" Powerbook have been combined dropping the big screen iBook line entirely In all that's either six models being dropped or four model dropped with two models being given substantial price increases to where the intended audience may no longer be able to afford them. All these models at one time were very popular.

You are right,
I'm not used to dealing in US prices, being from Canada myself, the cheapest tower in canada was around $2,000, usually the lowest end tower has been $2,500 or more, so the price difference doesn't seem as dramatic as it is in the US it would seem. The changing value of the Canadian dollar has made the price here much more stable.

For the moment we'll ignore reliability issues of the eMacs vs the Mac mini or iMac G5's. And the reliability of the iBooks vs the MacBooks & PowerBooks.

The current Mac mini is other than the laptop speed hard drive a great micro desktop, especially with the dual monitor capabilities now, and the GeForce 9400M.

The laptop line covers about the same price range, although yes, there is a need for a 15" MacBook (non-Pro). I get requests for them almost daily. Although honestly even with the 14" iBooks, I did have people still wanting a 15" or larger consumer priced notebook.

I've always wanted Apple to continue something like the PowerMac 6500 line, with one or two upgrade slots, but otherwise a consumer tower. (the 6400/6500 memory controller was a major issue though) It might sell well enough to survive.

Although really, the place I work sells mostly laptops, and when people do buy a desktop, they specifically want an all-in-one that takes up a relatively small amount of desk space (which was a complaint with the eMacs, size & weight)

[Macalways]

Maybe you should look past page 1.

South Park has 10 iMacs for production.