Apple 4G iMac: first unboxing, impressions

Filed under: , ,

Our spankin’ new fully-loaded 24-inch fourth gen iMac just arrived via FedEx, so for those that can’t get enough of the most aluminum and glass clad Apple PC to date, we’ve got a ton of pics for you to pore over. Some first impressions on the device:

  • The friendly, white packaging betrays the slick sense of style of the machine inside. (MacBook Pros and Mac Pros have much more appealing matte black boxes.)
  • Its 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo and full-size drive is way snappy — the machine boots from cold to desktop in 26 seconds (granted, it’s a clean install without any third party software installed).
  • Upon closer inspection we weren’t too stoked about the screen. The colors are rich, but compared to our Dell 24-incher (at 400 cd/m2, 1000:1 contrast ratio), the iMac was still dissatisfying. Despite its very decent 380cd/m2, 750:1 CR display, contrast was still very low, and working with objects and icons white window space was even at times strenuous on our eyes.
  • The Apple Remote no longer magnetically clips on to the side! Pssh!
  • We love — really love — thin keyboards, and the new Apple keyboard is as thin and aesthetically pleasing as they come. Unfortunately, it’s just not too usable since, like the MacBook keyboard, the keys aren’t shaped with ridges to help your fingers find their way. (And what can we say? We really dislike the Mighty Mouse, always have.)
  • We also suspect Mac laptop and Apple Pro Keyboard users will be irritated by the function-key shortcuts having been moved around; or example, laptop volume keys went from F3-5 to F10-12, Exposé went from F7 to F3, etc. Also, what’s up with F16-19?
  • The RAM bay is super easy to get to with the machine on its face. As usual, you get two slots. We really wish the hard drive was this easy to get at.
  • Despite our niggles, it’s straight up the thinnest, sexiest Mac desktop machine Apple’s produced to date; Cupertino really needed to drop the white, plastic overgrown iPod look, and we’re grateful Jobs & co did.

So, is there anything about this thing you want to know?

 

Permalink | Email this | Comments


Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!