Arriving at my house next week

[sourceninja]

I just ordered it, I can't wait to get it.

IMAC 24/SD


Z0FC


$2,220.00


1


$2,220.00

With the following configuration:

* Processor 065-7045 2.8GHZ INTEL CORE 2 EXTREME
* Memory 065-6963 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
* Hard Drive 065-6970 500GB Serial ATA Drive
* Optical Drive 065-6972 SuperDrive 8X(DVD+R DL/DVD+RW)
* Modem 065-6448 NO MODEM
* Apple Software - iWork 065-7553 iWork '08
* Apple Software - Final Cut Exp 065-7674 No Final Cut Exp Preinstalled
* Apple Software - Aperture 065-7673 No Aperture Preinstalled
* Apple Software - Logic Express 065-7675 No Logic Exp Preinstalled
* Mouse from AOS 065-7512 Apple Mighty Mouse
* MAC OS Language 065-7280 WIRED KYBRD & MAC OS X KIT
* Country Kit 065-6981 COUNTRY KIT

Ships by:


Nov 26 - Nov 28

Delivers by:


Nov 28 - Dec 4
Subtotal $2,339.00
Sales Tax $133.20


Total Price
$2,472.20

I'm going to start research this week on what I need to download to be ready for it. I plan to use it mostly for work (programing), garageband (I need to pickup a firewire device for plugging in my guitar/keyboard/mic) and general computer use. I might try some gaming, but I"m keeping my current pc for gaming.

 

[TheStu]

If your work is programming, then once it arrives, reformat the system with the Leopard disk (to ensure that you get BootCamp, as well as get rid of stuff you don't need.... printer drivers anyone?) Then, install XCode off that disk as well.

Perian, VLC, XSlimmer, AppZapper, Coda (for web devs), Inquisitor (Safari plug in), Safari-AdBlock (Safari plugin), Handbrake (if you want to store your DVDs as MP4s on your hard drive), MacTheRipper (for extracting the VOB).... the list goes on.

Check out iUseThis.com, really great resource.

 

[Pabster]

You're gonna love it.

 

[SoundTheSurrender]

Pretty sweet. I really want a MacPro

 

[keeleysam]

Upgrade the RAM.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: keeleysam
Upgrade the RAM.

2GB is plenty for most things. Seriously, unless he is doing exceptionally heavy photoshopping or VMing, OS X will fly on 2GB

 

[sourceninja]

I can't really see a need for 4 gigs of ram based on my research. Time will tell however. I'm making a list of stuff I think I'll need.

I'm going to pick up one of these http://www.m-audio.com/product.../FireWire410-main.html for use with garageband for messin around.
The normal apps listed in Stu's guide like VLC, codecs, etc.
Comparing the merits of CleanApp, Yank, and AppZapper (Leaning to appzapper)
A little bit of nethack, nwn and WoW.
A good text editor or else just using ViM
Trying out XCode, getting my hands wet with Objective C
A good process to backup dvd's to dvd-r so my originals are safe. (Possibly look at just backup up with handbreak and using something like appletv in the future)
Giving Safari + Camino (for pages that don't work with safari and testing for my work) a good try before going to firefox.
Getting good ftp/sftp/scp app (Looking at Cyberduck and fetch, working at a college, I think I can get fetch for free)
Finding the best bittorrent client. (Leaning to transmission)
Install skype
Test iChat and Adium to see which is better for me (I only use google talk and icq anymore, but I'm trying to go 100% google talk)
I ordered it with iWork, so I think that takes care of my document needs as everything at work is posted as PDF so the source format does not matter.
Compare fink, macports, and portage for OSX as an option for any of my missing linux needs.
I think terminal.app and mail.app will suit me just fine for my terminal and mail needs (I use gmail via imap).


Most importantly, Trying to find open source apps where ever possible and if they are not found, add them to my list of possible program projects to get familar with cocco and objective C.

I'm very excited and I can't wait to get this thing. I"m a little worried about the video card being so slow, but I"m hoping future updates will speed it up a little. But most of my gaming will still be done on old machine. I'm going to remove linux from it and make it a 100% windows machine to be used only for games. It has a lot of life left with an amd64 x2 4400, 2 gigs of ram, and a 8600gts.

 

[Pabster]

4GB isn't a bad idea if you will be running Windows (as in Fusion or Parallels, in VM sessions) or doing high-end video work.

It really depends on how you'll use it. 2GB will be fine for most uses.

 

[sourceninja]

Yea, no windows for me. I hate running windows on my current machine and only do so for games. So I can't see any reason to run windows on the imac which is not really suited for gaming compared to this box. But when the time comes the ram is easy to upgrade on the imac so I'm not at all worried. I'll probably upgrade as prices drop on 4 gig kits.

 

[sourceninja]

Well, sorry to let you all down. I decided to cancel the order.

After doing more research, I don't think I would actually like an imac. I realized a lot of what I do would get pushed off to my current pc. I would be doing dual layer dvd burns on my old pc, gaming on my old pc, etc. What I was really paying for was more of a hardware downgrade then an upgrade mixed with a 24 inch monitor and neat looking UI. I've decided there are better uses for my cash. I'm just going to buy a 24 inch monitor.

The risk of having an ebay item is just too great. If the imac hardware specs were closer to something more modern I would of kept it because I could always put linux/windows on it and use it like my current setup. But the video card choice,lack of dual layer burner, and high price tag are just too much of a risk.

I guess I love the IDEA of owning a mac, but I don't like the reality of how apple makes all my decisions for me. Throw in the bare feets reviews, the reports of random overheating a lock ups, lack of mac games or reviews with benchmarks for mac games, inability to play at native resolution (I can't stand lcd scaling), and the fact that 90% of the tools I would use exist in linux/windows really keep the reality of owning a mac far from me.

So I'm going to pick up a 8800 and a 24 inch monitor and call it even. Saves me a LOT of cash and I think will be much more usable in the long run.

 

[Kmax82]

Well, I own a new aluminum iMac, and they do DL burning. The video card isn't superb, but it works well for most of the games that I've tried. I'm not a hardcore gamer though. Most of my gaming is done via my 360, PS3 and Wii. I use my iMac for video, audio, and graphic work, which is leaps and bounds above the experience I've had on Windows.

It's your money, so I'm not trying to argue with you, just basically saying, it's not OLD hardware, just not customizable, which is what you seem to be the most worried about. You probably wouldn't care as much if you could upgrade the video card, motherboard, CPU, etc... down the road.

Also, I'm not familiar with programming programs, so it's very much possible that they don't have all those available in OS X. But from a graphic/video perspective, they have everything and more in OS X. Plus a lot of the programs I've used are much more intuitive, to me, than the same programs on the Windows side.

 

[sourceninja]

I think the thing really is this. If I don't like OSX or I decide I'm not done with gaming then I have a 2400.00 LCD display that I can't plug into anything. If it came with a 8600 or 8800 video card I wouldn't even bat an eye. I thought I could get past it, but the more I looked into it and the more articles I read, the more I started to get scared. It is just not worth the risk. I guess I read wrong about the dual layer disks, checking now and they do indeed have dual layer burners.

With my current machine, I can play UT2004 at native resolution with high grahpics settings in windows or linux. From the UT3 demo it appears I can do the same. I can also do the same with Team fortress 2 or ET quake wars. Those plus some older games make up the bulk of the games I play and plan to play. The problem is that it appears I will not be able to play with anywhere near the graphic quality that I have on my current 2 year old machine with a very inexpensive midrange video card. I will probably have to play at 800x600 or some other lower resolution. If the imac screen is anything like every other lcd I've used I will not be able to stand non-native resolution.

It was my wife who pointed out that basically with my uses I was paying 2400.00 for garageband and iWork (because safari exists on windows). She did not want me to spend 2400.00 on something I 'might' use. She reminded me of my recent complaining about rebooting constantly to play Team fortress 2 and how I was thinking of going 100% windows and ditching linux. I think I would of kept the order if I knew for sure it at least as good as my current machine is when running windows and gaming. Unfortunately, all benchmarks I find show me that it is nowhere close. It is a shame, I think the iMac is the most beautiful piece of hardware I have ever seen. I would love to have one, but it probably would play second fiddle to my 800.00 pc.

 

[Kmax82]

I completely understand. This was one of my problems when I first decided to go with a Mac. And, to be honest, I haven't played a PC game in years, so it's a non issue for me.

It definitely plays above 800x600. I played UT2k4 at 1680x1050 very easily (full graphics settings in XP and OS X), unfortunately I haven't tried anything else, so I can't comment on ET, TF2, or UT3. I did try the demo of Crysis, and that was ATROCIOUS! Of course, I didn't think it'd do that well, but when my MBP plays the game at twice the speed of the desktop part, there is definitely something wrong there.

Either way, I don't see the Mac going anywhere anytime soon, so you'll have a chance to own one in the future, if you so desire. And if you want you can always check out the OS X Homebrew scene and install it on your PC. I think they've made some head way into the AMD camp.

 

[sourceninja]

I've toyed with the idea of giving it a shot. My processor doesn't support sse3 though, and I heard that is a stumbling block. But I might be building a new pc this spring, so if apple hasn't upgraded their video offerings maybe I'll try it out then on a new intel box.

Each year I play less and less video games. I used to spend at least 50.00 a month on games. Now I buy maybe 2 games a year. This year I have bought 3, Orange box, UT3, and ET: Quake wars. I know UT3 will have a mac client soon, as will ET, but valve is very anti-mac at this point, so windows performance is an issue for me I guess. Looking at the pc version of the 2600 pro, I can't see TF2 being very playable above 1280x1024.

I feel stupid for ordering the iMac and getting everyone all excited, then backing out. I was positive I wanted one and was ready to use one all the way up until last night when my wife started asking me the "What about this.." and "How are you going to use it.." questions.

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I've toyed with the idea of giving it a shot. My processor doesn't support sse3 though, and I heard that is a stumbling block. But I might be building a new pc this spring, so if apple hasn't upgraded their video offerings maybe I'll try it out then on a new intel box.

Each year I play less and less video games. I used to spend at least 50.00 a month on games. Now I buy maybe 2 games a year. This year I have bought 3, Orange box, UT3, and ET: Quake wars. I know UT3 will have a mac client soon, as will ET, but valve is very anti-mac at this point, so windows performance is an issue for me I guess. Looking at the pc version of the 2600 pro, I can't see TF2 being very playable above 1280x1024.

I feel stupid for ordering the iMac and getting everyone all excited, then backing out. I was positive I wanted one and was ready to use one all the way up until last night when my wife started asking me the "What about this.." and "How are you going to use it.." questions.

hey thats alright....no problem canceling. if you want to try osx for cheap, pick up a used imac (core duo/core 2 duo ones if you can) or even a mac mini.

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman

hey thats alright....no problem canceling. if you want to try osx for cheap, pick up a used imac (core duo/core 2 duo ones if you can) or even a mac mini.

So true! Pick up a cheap Mac Mini on ebay. You can get one used for around $400-500 easily. Which won't have as much performance and the iMac, but it'll definitely give you a taste of OS X.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Kmax82

Originally posted by: secretanchitman

hey thats alright....no problem canceling. if you want to try osx for cheap, pick up a used imac (core duo/core 2 duo ones if you can) or even a mac mini.

So true! Pick up a cheap Mac Mini on ebay. You can get one used for around $400-500 easily. Which won't have as much performance and the iMac, but it'll definitely give you a taste of OS X.

Drawback to those prices is that if he is just wanting to try out OS X, then why not spend the $599 it costs to get a brand new mini?

 

[sourceninja]

I've thought about the mac mini route a lot lately. I'd probably buy a macbook first. The mini is in dire need of an upgrade. A good mini costs about as much as a good macbook and the macbook is portable.

 

[dionx]

Originally posted by: TheStu
If your work is programming, then once it arrives, reformat the system with the Leopard disk (to ensure that you get BootCamp, as well as get rid of stuff you don't need.... printer drivers anyone?) Then, install XCode off that disk as well.

Perian, VLC, XSlimmer, AppZapper, Coda (for web devs), Inquisitor (Safari plug in), Safari-AdBlock (Safari plugin), Handbrake (if you want to store your DVDs as MP4s on your hard drive), MacTheRipper (for extracting the VOB).... the list goes on.

Check out iUseThis.com, really great resource.

if he reformats, he might lose the iLife applications. in the past, they came pre-installed on new machines, but the disk that came in the box was only for the OS.

 

[kamper]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I feel stupid for ordering the iMac and getting everyone all excited, then backing out.

If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't all that excited. Like, I'm sure I'll be over it by tomorrow...

 

[Kmax82]

Originally posted by: dionx

if he reformats, he might lose the iLife applications. in the past, they came pre-installed on new machines, but the disk that came in the box was only for the OS.

Nope, they come on the Restore Discs. They're on the 2nd one which is an optional install.

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: keeleysam
Upgrade the RAM.

2GB is plenty for most things. Seriously, unless he is doing exceptionally heavy photoshopping or VMing, OS X will fly on 2GB

My iMac gets choked up on 500MB (on disk) ~900MB (on RAM) photoshop files... which is every day. It has 2GB RAM.... and we're talking at least a few files everyday.

It also is... for some reason... pretty poor about flushing the RAM when you close one of these beast files. I don't know enough to know if Photoshop should be doing this or OS X, but it pretty much requires me to restart every couple of hours. It sucks. I dunno... don't wanna threadjack... just saying it to set the bar for what may be considered "enough RAM".

 

[Injury]

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: Kmax82

Originally posted by: secretanchitman

hey thats alright....no problem canceling. if you want to try osx for cheap, pick up a used imac (core duo/core 2 duo ones if you can) or even a mac mini.

So true! Pick up a cheap Mac Mini on ebay. You can get one used for around $400-500 easily. Which won't have as much performance and the iMac, but it'll definitely give you a taste of OS X.

Drawback to those prices is that if he is just wanting to try out OS X, then why not spend the $599 it costs to get a brand new mini?

Agree. Unless you just want it for browsing the internet and some light work, then maxing out a mini from the start is still cheap and a great way to delve into mac... plus the added bonus of being able to use your existing mouse/monitor/keyboard/speakers.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Injury

Originally posted by: TheStu

Originally posted by: keeleysam
Upgrade the RAM.

2GB is plenty for most things. Seriously, unless he is doing exceptionally heavy photoshopping or VMing, OS X will fly on 2GB

My iMac gets choked up on 500MB (on disk) ~900MB (on RAM) photoshop files... which is every day. It has 2GB RAM.... and we're talking at least a few files everyday.

It also is... for some reason... pretty poor about flushing the RAM when you close one of these beast files. I don't know enough to know if Photoshop should be doing this or OS X, but it pretty much requires me to restart every couple of hours. It sucks. I dunno... don't wanna threadjack... just saying it to set the bar for what may be considered "enough RAM".

Do you have an intel iMac or PPC iMac? Are you using the latest version of photoshop?

If you were, for example, using CS2 on an intel iMac, you will encounter crap. CS2 is an older PPC app.

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: sourceninja
I've thought about the mac mini route a lot lately. I'd probably buy a macbook first. The mini is in dire need of an upgrade. A good mini costs about as much as a good macbook and the macbook is portable.

hmm, but i thought the minis recently got upgraded to core 2 duos...although its not santa rosa, but the older chipset.