[MCJ]

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The article says the new iMacs are taller and wider than the old iMacs, but then lists larger dimensions for the old iMacs than the new.

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I was wondering about that myself. And although the width and height of the new models are less than the old, I see that they are actually the same thickness.
That's what I get for drinking too much Kool-Aid /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

[bluejay]

Great, I bought a lot of apple stock a couple years ago. Now they introduce one of the UGLIEST lines of computers they ever put out. Gone is the clean white look, replaces by a design done by some middle school students. WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR DESIGN TEAM?!?!?!

[montgomery_burns]

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Although Jobs did say something about one screw and you can add your own Ram. Since I never did a ram upgrade in the old form factor, I don't know if it's easier or not.

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Yah, iMac G5 has 3 screws . . . whew. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

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The 3 screws on the first iMac G5 were for removing the entire back cover and easily accessing all internal components. Does the single screw on this new iMac give you access to more than just the memory cover?

[estumpges]

I doubt they are any easier to service. Apple says the aluminum case is one piece and there are no seams. This makes me wonder if users will even be able to upgrade RAM. If anyone has info on this, please let us know. Thanks.

[Greg_the_Gruesom]

IMHO, somebody who works two jobs, both for minimum wage, shouldn't buy a new Mac but an Apple-certified refurbished one, especially since the latter comes with the same warranty coverage as the former. (The refurbs with Leopard should be out a couple of months after Leopard itself starts shipping, FYI.) I say your wife's aunt should get a refurbished Mac Book for her son (the portability of a laptop often comes in handy for a college student, doesn't it?). That's assuming the price of refurbished Mac Book is less than the student-discount price of a new Mac Book, which I think it is. But if he wants an iMac, they should consider a refurbished model from the previous iteration; prices on those just dropped $200-$250 with the introduction of the new ones: http://dealnews.com/...ped/181417.html

[AtomicPunk]

The RAM is real easy to Upgrade on the new iMac. It is one screw at the bottom. It opens up a small door, then snap the RAM in. Done deal.

[sigma8]

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This is basically adressing all gamers (not high end gamers, they're not listening anyway) and saying "go away, you're uncool, we don't want you here."
Oh, and if someone suggests getting a MacPro, he's just being insane in the brain.

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I would have to agree. Sure, there is onboard HD decoding, it would appear. That's nice. However, even my old Yonah mini plays HD content. Sure, maybe I can't multi-task 5 things while I do it, but I can play it fine. NO iMac will game adequately though, with recent titles. I really wish they'd make the video cards upgradeable. It's a huge sticking point. Plenty of people are able to upgrade their ram and HD...but not the video. I'd be happy even if I had to stick to mac-only, slightly overpriced cards. At least the option would exist.

[jstephe]

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IMHO, somebody who works two jobs, both for minimum wage, shouldn't buy a new Mac but an Apple-certified refurbished one, especially since the latter comes with the same warranty coverage as the former. (The refurbs with Leopard should be out a couple of months after Leopard itself starts shipping, FYI.) I say your wife's aunt should get a refurbished Mac Book for her son (the portability of a laptop often comes in handy for a college student, doesn't it?). That's assuming the price of refurbished Mac Book is less than the student-discount price of a new Mac Book, which I think it is. But if he wants an iMac, they should consider a refurbished model from the previous iteration; prices on those just dropped $200-$250 with the introduction of the new ones: http://dealnews.com/...ped/181417.html

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Normaly I would say you are right but I get a corporate discount and with that the price difference between a 17" referb and a new 20" new is just over $100 I would say $100 well invested, Also as he is a 12 year old the laptop is not what he realy needs, and in case I need to install Windows using boot camp the extra HD space will come in handy.

[montgomery_burns]

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The RAM is real easy to Upgrade on the new iMac. It is one screw at the bottom. It opens up a small door, then snap the RAM in. Done deal.

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How about other internal components like the hard drive, dvd drive, logic board, power supply, speakers, or lcd screen? Has Apple given a moment's thought to the technicians who actually have to repair these computers? When people buy AppleCare and drop off their iMacs for repair, where do they think those computers go? To Steve's magic workshop in the North Pole where an elf waves a magic wand and the iMac is magically rejuvenated?
Macs don't fix themselves. Regardless of Steve's fetish for thin all in one computers, somebody still has to take them apart to repair them. And the harder they are for technicians to service, the longer the customer has to wait for repairs. And the longer other customers have to wait for their computers to even get looked at. Technicians can't afford to spend all day working on a single computer when there are a bunch of other customers waiting in line. Unfortunately, users rarely think about the work that technicians have to do. But when their shiny iMac has to spend a long time in the repair shop, then the user starts calling every 5 minutes asking what's taking so long and demanding that the technician drop everything and work on his iMac first.

[hillstones]

That keyboard is a DISASTER! I don't want to type on a laptop keyboard unless I am actually working on a laptop! Since it is so thin, having a wrist pad in front of the keyboard is now useless.
The wireless keyboard ditched the dedicated number pad??? Are they insane? When I decide to upgrade my iMac G5, I will be sure to keep my current wireless keyboard to use with the new model.
The new iMac is a beauty! I thought it was going to look like an ugly Cinema Display in plain aluminum. Love the back rear panel, black Apple logo, and black border.
The black border is not intended to misrepresent the screen size. It is the same border that is around the previous iMac models, just in black instead of white. As others noted, most HDTV's and movie theater screens have a black border around the screen.
Looking at the design, very similar to the previous version, I would guess it is not user friendly for servicing. That is really too bad too. The 1st Gen iMac G5 was the best Mac made for easy access. Loosen three screws and the entire logic board and parts can be accessed. That is why I bought AppleCare for my iMac G5 iSight. If a component fails, I want Apple to open it up for free.

[moose_n_squirrel]

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That keyboard is a DISASTER! I don't want to type on a laptop keyboard unless I am actually working on a laptop!

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There are a lot of people who actually like their laptop keyboard. I'm one of them. I love my PowerBook keyboard. It's got a great feel and the right impact-to-feedback ratio. If the new one is anything like that, I'll attach it to my Mac Pro. The keyboard that actually came with my Mac Pro is clunky and the keys sometimes momentarily stick halfway (corroborated by user reviews on Apple's own site).

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Since it is so thin, having a wrist pad in front of the keyboard is now useless.

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Wrong. A wrist pad now works more ergonomically than it did before. Best typing position is with palms higher than the fingertips, not with wrist bent up. The wrist rest can still fulfill its proper function, which is to rest your wrist when not typing.

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The wireless keyboard ditched the dedicated number pad??? Are they insane?

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No. I understood it right away as soon as Steve said "lap." The wireless keyboard provides a far better balance on one's lap than with a number keypad causing it to be off-balance. I can easily see the wireless keyboard being left next to the remotes on the living room table to control the Mac connected to the big-screen TV, and picked up and put on one's lap because it is a) centered, b) wireless, and c) thin and light, instead of a big, heavy, off-center traditional slab of a keyboard. It all makes sense now, actually.

[polyfade]

Let me start off with this analogy: TN (Twisted Nematic) film is for LCD like WOW! Potato Chips are for the human digestive system. Why are they both still legal? And why do people still buy them?
They're cheap. They're readily available. A typical person is uneducated about them. And the person thinks he/she is getting a better alternative without restrictions, repercussions or regrets.
If you're a graphics professional or photographer, you'll notice the difference instantly between the Apple Cinema Display and a G5 17" iMac's display. Basically any 20" (and above) LCD monitor sold at Circut City, Best Buy, etc., bear TN film. Most average computer users will not be phased when it comes to color consistency, top to bottom. From experience, I can tell you, it's night and day. And I'm talking about straight-on viewing. Forget even viewing the screen off to the side. TN made LCDs are only good for fast motion like gaming. They should not be considered for graphics editing at all. Having owned a 3-year old LG LCD (an S-IPS LCD), I had no idea how good I had it. It wasn't until I recently bought a Samsung 2026BW (a TN LCD), I was in great shock. For more info on LCD types, check this link: http://www.tftcentra.../articles/which[/u]screen_1.htm

[zensunni]

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There are a lot of people who actually like their laptop keyboard. I'm one of them. I love my PowerBook keyboard. It's got a great feel and the right impact-to-feedback ratio. If the new one is anything like that, I'll attach it to my Mac Pro. The keyboard that actually came with my Mac Pro is clunky and the keys sometimes momentarily stick halfway (corroborated by user reviews on Apple's own site).

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I definitely agree with the first sentence. Apple has used some lovely keyboards in past laptops. I loved the one on my old PowerBook, too.
But I really dislike the new flat & square button keyboards on the MacBooks. I find them hard to type on and the keys seem flimsy to me; they actually feel quite cheap. The flat buttons don't do anything to draw your fingers in to the keys, not to mention the placement and/or size of some keys (like Enter).
I'm very disappointed to see that they've carried this over to the iMac. I would've been happy with the aluminum design if they had stuck with sturdy and concave keys with a smooth and substantial movement.

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The keyboard that actually came with my Mac Pro is clunky and the keys sometimes momentarily stick halfway (corroborated by user reviews on Apple's own site).

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Agreed. The movement on the desktop keyboards have been subpar compared to the keyboards they used on their laptops (until the MacBook, of course).

[opus_az]

I stopped by the Apple store on my way home yesterday to look at the iMacs. I own a white 24" iMac so at the store I focused mainly on the new aluminum 24".
The glossy display is definately better in my opinion but I should say that I also prefer the glossy on the MacBooks and MacBook Pros. I'm trying to compare specs between the old and new LCD displays, things like nits and contrast ratios, but I'm suddenly unable to find them for the old iMacs and I'm too tired to keep searching. But subjectively I think maybe perhaps the new iMacs LCD are better. (They had some of the old style iMacs on display near the new ones so I could quickly switch between them.)
The video cards have 256MB of VRAM, up from 128 is a nice upgrade.
One big plus; the new iMacs come with 1GB RAM, that is, one stick of RAM so there's a free memory slot. I was a bit surprised when my white iMac came with two 512 sticks which meant I either had to buy extra RAM at the time of purchase or lose the existing sticks later. Not so with the new iMacs. Thanks, Apple. That was nice.
The brushed aluminum and the black border neither wowed nor bothered me. The now black apple icon on the front is much more noticable and a bit more distracting than the gray one on the old iMacs.
There's no longer the soft white glowing light on the front, to pulsate pleasantly at you when the iMac sleeps. I think I might miss that. Heaven knows why. I wonder how you can tell if the computer is off or if it's sleeping.
I think if they got rid of the 'chin' beneath the LCD the upgrade would have a bit more wow factor. I was secretly hoping the new iMac would look just like a cinema display. That would have made for a more exciting upgrade.
The other obvious upgrades like CPU and harddrive speak for themselves. Between the CPU and the VRAM, the new iMac felt zippier, but that could have the reality field getting all distorted, I'll admit.
Overall, I'm not disappointed to come home to my white iMac. However, next year when the 30" iMacs come out (hint hint) I might just have to get one.