Just bought a new iMac (First Mac)

[GTSRguy]

Hi, i recently swapped my desktop out for a 27" iMac. As it says in the title, this is my first mac, and first time using OSX.

Here are specs

27" IPS LED LCD 2560X1440
i5 2400 3.1ghz (32nm) Quad-Core
HD6970M 1GB
12GB (2x2GB, 2x4GB) DDR3 1333
1TB HDD 7200
310 Watt PSU
OSX 10.7 Lion
Magic Trackpad

Since i graduated two months ago, they gave me the student discount, which gave me $100 off, and a $100 iTunes/MacStore gift card. I also opted for 1 year of One to One training, because i am very unfamiliar with OSX. I upgraded the RAM from crucial, 2x4GB cost $60, so i added that to the existing 4GB (2x2GB) it came with.

Here are some pics!

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Congrats

 

[xanis]

Very jealous. I want to get an iMac to replace my aging MBP (since I don't work on the road much these days). The 27'' is a lot nicer than the 21.5'' IMO so good choice.

 

[Ns1]

baller

 

[deanx0r]

Congrats! This iMac is sexy. You even bought the proper trackpad! You gonna love OSX. I've been wanting to pick one up too, but the thunderbolt/minidp compatibility made all my other devices irrelevant.

Get BetterTouchPad, Movist, iWork if you dont have Office already. If you are into photography, check out Aperture and Acorn which are much cheaper alternatives than Adobe's products.

 

[Oyeve]

Whats with all the pics? Its not like YOU built it from scratch! They all look like that!

Congrats tho.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Congrats on your new machine. I'd say it's one of the only Macs that is worth the asking price, even if you're looking just at the specs compared to a normal desktop. The monitor panel itself costs $1000 and the other hardware + peripherals are easily worth another $800. :thumbsup:

 

[GTSRguy]

Some things that i wanted were 1.) upgraded cpu, in my old desktop i had a so-so CPU and a really fast GPU, but i never really used the GPU much other than gaming, but the CPU is something you live with everyday. 2.) upgraded monitor 3.) something much quieter, less power use, less weight/space. My desktop was built on newegg, but i had a 500 pound dell XPS case which was aluminum and a full tower. This HD6970M is very close if not the same speed as my GTX 285, and my CPU performance went way up, which i thought was great based on the fact that its an all in one. Also i get DX11 and DDR5. This computer makes zero noise, the only thing you can hear is the HDD which ticks if your loading something. I can't hear a fan, and can't feel heat anywhere. My old desktop was like a 747 taking off when it was booted up, lol. Also, it boots in 30 seconds which is nice. It also does that Mac noise when you start it up, which i thought only really old macs did.

@Oyeve Yes but you get to see my sweet desk i got from staples and built

 

[Ka0t1x]

I went from a Dual G5 PowerMac to the 27" iMac (first edition) at work and everything became eerily quiet, I could now hear my backup drive spin-up for Time Machine to fire off a backup. If you push it hard enough the fan inside will kick on but even then the ambient noise is so low.

 

[Kadarin]

Congrats! Nice machine, enjoy...

 

[BabaBooey]

Nice,I am saving up now for one next year....enjoy..:thumbsup:

 

[Pliablemoose]

Very nice, congrats, and I love all the pics, thanks.

 

[wantedSpidy]

love your clean setup

 

[Emulex]

very minimalist - how do you add hard drives? thunderbolt?

i like my tank mac pro 5,1

 

[Kadarin]

So now a day into it, how are you liking it?

 

[Ns1]

very minimalist - how do you add hard drives?

simply download less porn

 

[swanysto]

very minimalist - how do you add hard drives? thunderbolt?

i like my tank mac pro 5,1

I looked into this as well. It seems that external is the only way to go.

 

[GTSRguy]

So now a day into it, how are you liking it?

Its great. I really like the trackpad and gestures. The screen is epic. I need to learn more about iMovie, iPhoto, and garage band. This OS is very clean and stable. Sooo much to learn about OSX...

I was considering a used Mac Pro desktop, but decided to go iMac because i wanted to reduce noise, space, power, ect. And these 2011 iMacs are so powerful they are surpassing the Mac Pros in many areas, plus i really wanted a good screen, and didn't want to buy a mac Pro and then a $800 27" display

I think I'm going to plant Portal 2 now....native res, lets see how far i can crank the detail.

 

[lokiju]

I'd love to replace my Mini, dual 19" LCD's and my 27" tube TV in my office all with a new 27" iMac.

Just need to stretch out the life of my Mini for another year or two before I can justify the cost to myself though.

 

[lotust]

enjoy it man. I have had my Eye on a 27" iMac for a few months now. I want one but cant justify the cost right now.

 

[nerp]

got a new 27" iMac last year and can't imagine not using it every day. Love it.

 

[Kadarin]

got a new 27" iMac last year and can't imagine not using it every day. Love it.

Same here And I use one at work with an additional external 27" Apple display.

 

[sportage]

All iMac users understand the feeling and the desire to post photos of your new baby.
Milestones in ones life, graduating from college, marriage, the birth of a baby AND your first iMac. Doesn't get any better.

I'd hold off on updating to Lion, however. It's been a headache for me.
Besides the wi-fi dropping issue, Lion added things not very nice.
Like auto-hiding your system files, drives, and adding new scroll features to the mouse.
All for which you will just end up going onto google and searching as to how to turn off these nice new little headache features in Lion.
And FRONT ROW is "gone" from Lion. Apple removed it.
Yes.. you can add it back in be jumping thru hoops and tricks, but what is the point? Just stick with Leopard. Done.

I HATE when some os manufacturer, apple or whom ever, think they know better as to how you should want to interact with your system.
Auto-hiding the drives and files... PLEASE. What and I, 5 years old?
If the OS isn't broken don't fix it. And Lion was totally unnecessary.
Another thing... some of your apps may not like Lion either and will not work.
One example, if you have an HP printer, their mac os software probably will not install under Lion. I know the HP Envy mac software is thus far NOT supported by Lion.
But it worked great under Leopard.

So why make ones life worse simply because something is called "new" or "an update".
New and update is not always a good thing...

PS.. BTW... The 27" was the right way to go!
Video Real-estate!!!!

 

[swanysto]

I'd love to replace my Mini, dual 19" LCD's and my 27" tube TV in my office all with a new 27" iMac.

Just need to stretch out the life of my Mini for another year or two before I can justify the cost to myself though.

You should do what I did and check craigslist about 10 times a day for a rich kid selling his to get something else. I bought my 27" for $1000. Then I bought the $160 apple care. The guy bought it in May. So I basically saved $700 + tax +apple care. I was actually looking for a 21.5" when I found this.

 

[phillyTIM]

My dad is looking to make the switch from PC to iMac; I had just complimented my PC tower with a MacBook Pro and am totally loving it. It's a great time to switch to Mac, the hardware is gorgeous, the OS is very user-friendly and the Apple Store service is out of this world awesome! You have a gorgeous iMac and am excited to see my dad experience the joys!