Desktops And Servers

Watch out if you or someone in your home smokes. Apple has refused to honor the warranty if used in home with a smoker!
Rating: 1 / 5

I was hoping to give this product a much higher rating than this, but after using it almost a week, I cannot.

For years we have heard how much better a Mac was than a PC. There have been tons of commercials over the benefits of owning a Mac when compared to a PC. While many are true, I cannot see giving this product a better score than this from what I have seen.

So why am I typing this review on the same iMac I just purchased and not a new PC? Well the answer is simple, Bill Gates screwed up Windows 7 so much, that I find that product completely useless for any of the older programs I enjoy. To give you an idea of how bad Windows 7 is, I purchased a printer 6 months ago that would work with either Windows XP or Vista. However, to my surprise I could not get it to install on a Windows 7 computer. Solution from the manufacturer — Buy a new printer. To make things worse, windows 7 would not support any of my older programs without spending an additional $90 for a Windows 7 expansion pack. So the computer was quickly returned to Best Buy and I called Apple to get an iMac. In the end I paid a little more than the one listed here at Amazon, but I was given a few bonuses for purchasing directly through apple.

When I first set up the iMac I tested to make sure my printer would work with it. Without any trouble the printer installed and is working great. Next I tested the Garage Band that the salesman was bragging so much about. Well he can brag all he wants but that program is a pile of garbage. I have used Acid Pro before and thought it was 15 times the program that this one is. So that is where my first negative begins. Secondly I was promised I could use many of my downloaded video games on this system, well we will find out when I use boot camp to partially convert this Mac into a PC.

Another bad thing about this unit is I was promised iMovie could handle any video reproduction I did. Well I did not believe that the salesman ever took a good look at my previous video work. Even if he had looked at the worst web film i ever did (The Great Dope Hunt), he would have seen that iMovie could not possibly do any of the things I work with on a daily basis. To do this I would need a copy of Final Cut. Which is way out of my price range considering I can spend $100 on a copy of either Ulead or Corel Videostudio for Windows and get the same results as I would on Final Cut. Also iDVD is about as good of a program as myDVD. To be honest you have no control over the compression of your movie files and it is impossible to place more than one film per disc. I remember when I went to film school how much they bragged about the speed of doing video on an Apple, but I have had the same amount of speed from a Windows based operating system.

Another gripe about this iMac is if it did not have internet capabilities, it would be a very dreary computer. The only game I found installed was chess. So now I have to find a whole new set of games for this computer.

Finally, I also noticed one other problem with using Mac programs. They are much larger than most of windows programs. Many of the normal stuff I would download for windows was around 100mb, but so far I have not seen an update for mac that was under 400 mb.

Now that you have heard my gripes I cannot tell anyone where to go to get a newer computer. The NEW windows 7 is pure garbage to start off with. And Although this Mac appears to be working fine, I have tons of gripes after being lied to by the salesman. So in the end I guess the real question is would you rather push a Chevrolet than drive a Ford or vice versa, because there is very little difference between the two. Next time I will just build my own computer and not worry about all the B.S. I have heard from both sides.
Rating: 3 / 5

I mean look, literally. I was circling an iMac for months and was just about to pull the trigger, when an internet search turned up forums full of users railing against the iMac display. Apple is proud of its glossiness and touts it as a feature; many users complain that it’s more effective as a mirror than a monitor. And sure enough, I went to the Apple store several times at lunch and darned if it doesn’t reflect everything in the room. So check it out in person, and see if it’s an issue for you. And think about the room you’re going to use it in. I was going to pop for an aftermarket antiglare film, but that seemed like putting mudflaps on a new Ferrari so I came up with a better solution – got a Mac Mini and bought the monitor of my choice, since almost every computer monitor sold has antiglare coating as standard equipment. Plus, you’re not stuck with the AIO design that makes future upgrades difficult – if you decide in a year or two you want a 24, or 26 or 32 inch monitor, you’ve got to buy it, plug it into your iMac and keep that big machine around. It’s OK to go Mac, just look (and look again) before you iMac.
Rating: 2 / 5