The New Intel iMac – 2007

ByMike Moffit

Well it’s been about a week since I first got my iMac and I am absolutely loving it. I purchased the 20” 2.4GHz, 320GB HDD, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO – $1499 version. I also installed an extra gigabyte of RAM for a total of 2GBs. It’s VERY snappy. Now mind you my tasks mostly lay in Coda, iPhoto, Photoshop, Terminal, Safari, Handbrake, and iCal. Most of them are not really CPU or system intensive, that is until you start doing all that at once.

The iMac barely slows down when I had all that going at once. I could be making a copy of a DVD in Handbrake while editing some code for my website and while touching up some photos in iPhoto and Photoshop for my website. It was very smooth work and I noticed no slowdown of the system at all.

While some people dislike the glossy displays I think I actually enjoy them. There were also some complaints about how reflective and how much glare would come from these displays but it’s actually not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I actually only use the iMac display for Terminal and Twitterrific so I am not looking at it that often. I have a Apple Cinema Display 23” connected which I use as my main display. Photos and images do look a lot more colorful and vibrant, but this can be troublesome for professional graphics designers and photographers. It hasn’t bothered me though.

As mentioned previously my iMac has a ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO and although I don’t do to many graphics processor intensive tasks, it sure works wonderfully for World of Warcraft. I cranked up all the graphics settings in the game and it still ran quite fluid. I was also doing my usual multitasking but the iMac handled it fine.

The new keyboard from Apple is probably my favorite. It’s slim, quiet, and works great. I’ve been using a MacBook ever since they came out and I have gotten quite used to the keys. Well this new keyboard is quite similar to that, just in a bigger format. One thing I do not like is how they moved the Expose keys around. I ended up mapping F16-F18 to the Expose commands. Other then that one issue, I do really enjoy using this keyboard. If you’re someone who enjoys tactile feedback I would simply recommend keeping your current tactile keyboard or using one of the Matias keyboards.

While this article isn’t on the new iLife ‘08 (another place, another time) I do want to comment on how pleased I am with the new iPhoto. I haven’t used it much but what I have used, I am happy with. Keywords have been revamped and I feel they’re a lot easier to use. It sure makes categorizing my photos a lot faster.

Overall I am impressed and quite satisfied with the new iMac and am already thinking about purchasing a second one for my girlfriend. The iMac is a great computer for most anyone, so check out our iMac page for more information or to purchase one!

Similar Posts

  • Essential Apps for Your Mac

    My mind is in Spring Cleaning mode right now (maybe because this weather is ridiculously unseasonable?). In between scrubbing the wet paw prints…

  • Kanto SYD 5 – Review

    Many of you may remember when Apple produced their very own iPod speaker system called the iPod Hi-Fi. It was a great device,…

  • M-Audio AV-40 Review

    I’ve put off buying new speakers for months. I just could not justify the expense of them, and did not want to waste money on cheap speakers with poor quality. There had, however, been a set of speakers I’ve listened to and sold extensively in-store that interested me. After moving into my new apartment, I decided my bedroom would not be complete without them.

    I realized that when buying my computer, I put a huge amount of effort into making sure my operation of it went unburdened, but scrutinizing monitors, keyboards, mice and mousepads. But I never considered my ears as important in being one of the senses that uses the computer. Boy was I wrong.

    The Studiophile AV 40s are a set of studio reference monitors sold by M-Audio. As studio monitors, they have a very precise sound that most home computer speakers can’t match, and the clarity is generally botched by cheaper hardware. They also, being more precise, don’t fill a room in the same manner other 2.1 subwoofer/satellite speaker combos do. As M-Audio outlines right in their included comic-book style instructions, there is a very specific way to configure them on your desk based on your room and sitting position. This said, cranking them is certainly capable of filling my entire house with clean, crisp music and decent bass. The AV 40s also sound fabulous on their quietest setting, for listening to podcasts at 7AM when your housemate is asleep.

    Their precision has also led me to turn off my iTunes EQ entirely, I don’t think I’ll ever use it again. Lastly, because they’re so precise, I’m finding that they’re incredibly great for gaming, as they convey the virtual world your mind is struggling to become a part of so well. Sounds like rifle shots are far different than grenades, or a peaceful flowing waterfall, which other speakers can’t put such a space between.

    The packaging is pretty basic, but does the job. I like the minimal, wasteless packaging. M-Audio was also good enough to include rubber pads to adhere to the bottom of them, so they don’t slide on my glass desk. The enclosures are a soft black, with pretty solid mesh protection over the cones. On the front of the left speaker are two jacks, one for aux-in and one for headphones. This way I can conveniently connect a laptop or iPad to them when I want to switch computers. Of course, they’re classy enough to include a blue LED on the volume knob, so they’re a perfect match for my monitor, keyboard and mouse!

    I give these a huge thumbs up.

    $149.99. For more information, “click here”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/73166 to check them out!

  • iPad 2 + Projector

    Since the release of iPad 2, iOS 4 has offered video mirroring support from iPad with either the Apple Digital AV adapter or…