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T3 reviews Apple’s new iMacs: Another win for Apple; a welcome new release
Monday, October 26, 2009 - 04:28 PM EST

Apple Store"Apple's latest iMac upgrade isn't a radical overhaul, but it's more than an upgrade," T3 reports.

"The iMac range now boasts four standard configurations, with custom options available if you order through Apple’s online store. The two smaller machines boast 21.5-inch screens and 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, with the more expensive of the two offering a bigger hard drive and faster graphics card," T3 reports. "A couple of 27-inch behemoths are also available, with the top-of-the-range model giving you a quad-core 2.66GHz Intel Core i5 processor and a ATI Radeon HD 4850 GPU with 512MB of dedicated memory. We tested the cheaper of the 27-inch models, which costs £1,349 and is based on a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, with graphics powered by a ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256MB of memory. For storage, there’s a 1TB hard drive... All machines in the new iMac range give you four RAM slots, allowing for up to 16GB of onboard memory, and come supplied with a Bluetooth keyboard and new Magic Mouse as standard."

"The late 2009 iMac’s most obvious update is its screen. The new models offer an edge-to-edge glass design, with no aluminium bezel on the left, right or top edges... The new iMac offers incredible viewing angles, with colours remaining constant even when viewed from almost side-on," T3 reports. "The gradient ramps are smooth, and the colours accurate."

T3 reports, "Overall, the new iMacs are a win for Apple. Useful incremental component upgrades combine with solid enhancements to make for a welcome new release... It seems the iMac is still going from strength to strength."

Full review here.

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Oct 26, 09 - 03:35 pm Comment from: Macintosher

Nice! And written with £s too, so buyers in the UK understand better. How considerate.

Oct 26, 09 - 03:43 pm Comment from: iPhoner

Dear MDN,

I am enclosing code so that you can insert my new Paypal button:

Click here to donate $1.00 to the "Buy iPhoner a new 27 inch iMac Drive".

I'll let you know when I have enough.

Thanks.

Oct 26, 09 - 03:44 pm Comment from: Digits McGee

Saw it today. The color fidelity from extreme angles is very nice.

Oct 26, 09 - 03:44 pm Comment from: drz

I miss the 24" model. The 27" model is too big for a home PC replacement.

Oct 26, 09 - 04:05 pm Comment from: Ludor

drz: Just get rid of your tv set.

Oct 26, 09 - 04:15 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ drz

I'll sell you my 24" when I upgrade to the 27".

Oct 26, 09 - 04:34 pm Comment from: aka Christian

C1 - I was just about to tell drz the same thing. I haven't seen these in the store yet, but I'm jonesin'.

Oct 26, 09 - 04:35 pm Comment from: Jeff

I have 27" lust, just need to win the Loto or find a rich wife.

Really this looks good I will have to wait till early next yaer for my tax refund.

Oct 26, 09 - 04:37 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

I need to wait and see if my new job is going to give me a laptop... if they are, I'm buying a 27". If not, I'm going to have to buy a laptop in stead, so we'll see. I intend to stop by the Apple store some time next week and check out the new models first hand, but from what I've seen already I'm totally sold.

Oct 26, 09 - 04:46 pm Comment from: Cowboy

Yeah, I wonder when screens will get too big to be ideal for normal use. I have a 27" and would like to have more...

We need a poll: Your ideal screen size is:

Oct 26, 09 - 04:50 pm Comment from: Cascadians

I played with the new iMac 27" yesterday at Apple Bridgeport.

Awesome. The sound is very good, deep bass, full. Plugged my iPhone into the iMac so I could hear with songs I am familiar with.

Magic Mouse worked well, although I've been using a laptop for so long that I almost forgot how to mouse around with a mouse. Love the fast touch response.

Screen is perfect for having 2 long pages up, different programs, drag and drop so easy, can see everything. And you could put everything you ever open in that Dock, linear real estate nirvana.

Very tempted to buy i7. Store said they will have it in November. Reading lots of threads with howlers screaming that it's so close, if it just had BD or HDMI or better GPU or this or that or the other it would be perfect.

So much screaming. Wonder if I should wait until March for bump? But I really need it now. *** sigh ***

Oct 26, 09 - 04:54 pm Comment from: Mike

@ DRZ

If a 24" fits on your desk, then most likely a 27" iMac will just as well. It's only about an inch wider in overall size. The new 27" model doesn't have the bezel around the sides and top of the screen, so the screen is larger without increasing the external dimensions too much.

Besides, you can always find more things to put on your increased Mac desktop space.

Oct 26, 09 - 05:01 pm Comment from: Lava_Head

It truely is beauitful when's the 30 inch going to be available grin

Oct 26, 09 - 05:04 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Cascadians

If I do get one, I'm definitely waiting for the i7. Also, be sure to check Other World Computing for your RAM. 16GB is about 600 bucks cheaper than Apple.

Oct 26, 09 - 05:27 pm Comment from: grognard

I'm using a 27 inch monitor at a temporary job right now, and frankly, My aging eyes get strained on a screen that size, even after bringing down the brightness. OK for an hour or two, more than that your eyes start to feel it.

For home use, the 21.5 is the perfect computer/ itunes/DVD player/Hulu/Netflix watching box - with 1080P and decent sound to boot.

Oct 26, 09 - 06:21 pm Comment from: Cubert

C1,
No more Adobe?!?!?!

Did you film some porn and get fired like me?

Oct 26, 09 - 06:51 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Cubert

No more Adobe. Tech Support in the US is dying (or worse) so I've moved on, at least for now. No pron scandal, sorry to say. ;P
I got a new gig now, but I can't tell you where. I'd never, ever hear the end of it. >.<

Oct 26, 09 - 06:58 pm Comment from: Gabriel

@ ChrissyOne

I got a new gig now, but I can't tell you where. I'd never, ever hear the end of it. >.<

*gasp* Not the new Microsoft Store?!? wink

Oct 26, 09 - 07:03 pm Comment from: dialtone

Saw the new iMacs in the local Apple Store and they're drop-dead beautiful. Love the new mouse too.

Just two things:
* the high number of pixels on the screen makes fonts smaller, and
* the aluminum bezel below the screen is thinner, not as good for lining-up PostIt notes!

Oct 26, 09 - 09:40 pm Comment from: Cubert

@C1,
That's cool. Just glad you're doing well. I hope you're job is what you want. I've learned that what you do on a daily basis may not completely determine whether you enjoy your work or not - whom you do it with and around is just as important.

The non-profit I work for makes my job worth it every day.

And Obama's 2.6 million for us helped, too.
tongue wink

Oct 26, 09 - 09:53 pm Comment from: Mac Daddy

My 24 is running strong after about 2 years... I reallllly want a 27 but it'll have to wait another 2 years. Who knows, by then maybe we'll have a 30" with 8 cores and a terabyte SSD.

Oct 26, 09 - 10:17 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

My white 24" is almost 3 years old, and when I'm running Lightroom, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver things are starting to get sticky. The 3 GB ram limit was always the killer on this machine, so I won't be screwing around on the next one. 16 gigs sounds like heaven.

@ Cubert

In fact, I absolutely love my new job. I can't believe my luck. =)

Oct 26, 09 - 10:50 pm Comment from: AppleJack

@ C1
I see your other posts now. Good luck with the new job. I'm waiting for my i7.

@Cubert
I know all about non-profits. They never pay much, to start with, and the jobs don't have much security. I've been laid-off three times. . . . Both you're usually working with over qualified, very nice people. . . . And you might even like your work!

Oct 27, 09 - 07:46 am Comment from: Marco

Another review that points out that the baclighting is bad. 2/2 reviews says this is an issue! It's alarming.

Oct 27, 09 - 07:57 am Comment from: Marc G

I love my 2 year old 24 incher. Does everything I need although I wish I could increase the RAM past 4 GBs, and swap out the hard drive. Oh well, when I finish my Masters Degree program in another 2 years, I'll get whatever the top line iMac is at that point just like I did with this one. Meanwhile, this one will make a great first computer for my child when they are 4 or 5 years old. Go Apple!

Oct 27, 09 - 08:11 am Comment from: WetFX

You can also customize you Mac at a brick and mortar Apple store, not just the online store. At least in the US.

Oct 27, 09 - 08:17 am Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Marc G

I swapped out the drive in my 24". It's not pretty, but with some major surgery it's possible. There are step-by-step PDFs that show you how.


@ Marco

Link?

Oct 27, 09 - 09:41 am Comment from: Grrrilla

@Marco

The only issue I've seen online regarding backlighting is that it has a mottled, uneven appearance, but only when the screen is showing total blank whiteness. It isn't visible otherwise. When was the last time you had total blank whiteness on your monitor?

However, I checked one out at Best Buy this weekend, and it had even more major issues - the monitor would periodically flicker and flash, like it was trying to go into screen-saver but wasn't able to get there. But it happened frequently, and even when I was using the keyboard.

Finally, I am starting to realize that 27" may be approaching the limits of usability for me, at least until we get resolution independence (as has been promised for years now). The fonts and icons are getting too small, and even though the monitor is larger, you have to sit closer to read it (or constantly mess with changing resolution size or zooming).

I had been waiting for the new 30" displays to show up (expecting them in January/February, with the new Pro updates) but now I'm not so sure I want to go that big.

Oh, and the new Magic Mouse? Sucks in real life. Apple needs to ask me how to do Multi-touch in a mouse that makes sense. I suspect the third-party versions will get it right in a couple months. Until then, I'm a happy Logitech and Microsoft multi-button mouse user.

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