802.11n Wi-Fi (as well as 802.11a/b/g); Gigabit Ethernet; ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO video card (256 MB memory)
Three USB 2.0, one FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, Mini-DVI output, audio line in/optical digital audio input (minijack)
Pre-loaded with Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard and iLife '08; includes wired keyboard and wired mouse
Rating: - Glad I made the switch!
I have been a PC user for over 10 years. I still use one at work but if I could chose I would ask for a mac here too. My 4 year old desk top was showing its age very well, although it got the job done. I thought a new computer would be nice, but I thought about what my needs and use are on the pc to determine if I should spend $1000+ for a new one. After reading about the iMac and its OS I thought it sounded like exactly what I wanted. With my pc I email, browse the web, manage my music collection, and recorded TV with media center.
Why the mac has been a great fit: Native mail app that is very easy to use and set up. I used iTunes on my pc to sync my ipod so that was nothing new, just the quickness of how it launched and displayed my collection in cover flow. It is so smooth.
-iPhoto has been great for editing and organizing my photo collection. This is something I wanted to be able to do on my pc, but my folders were becoming too much to handle. Plus, I would have to spend $100+ for good photo editing software which would have only fixed one of my issues. That is money I would rather put towards a mac and did.
-Safari has been a great browser with little tricks that make it fun to use. I love how I can press command+i and email an entire web page to anyone, or command+shift+i to send a link. doing this will only open a new email window, not the entire email app. very nice and clean. If you are not a fan of safari, firefox works well on the mac as well.
-iMovie: I like to record video here and there but my pc could not handle the video very well. I have a Canon miniDV camcorder and was able to use it and my mac to create a short video of my niece in no time at all. I had the choice to upload to youtube or send the video to iTunes in a format for iPod, small, medium, or large. After doing this I was able to email the video to my sister-in-law who posted it on her blog.
-Time Machine: I pulled a 500gb drive from my pc, put it in an external case, reformatted it with 2 partitions using native mac apps, and set it up as the time machine drive. The second partition I use for extra storage although 320gb is plenty for my uses now. I plugged the drive in and a box popped up asking me if I want to use this drive as the time machine backup drive. Selecting yes will automatically start your first backup in the back ground. It is nice knowing that I don't have to continue burning backup disc of photos and music now.
There are options to allow you to record tv on a mac, but with most tv shows now online I can just go to their sites and watch a show I missed. The speed of this mac can easily display great looking video streamed from the web on a wireless-g network.
The mac has been fun to use and if you have any questions post in the comments.
Rating: - Wish I had made the swith to Mac sooner...
It took me about a week to get used to the differences between the Mac and the PC, but I learned everything fairly quickly without having to bust open some "Dummies" guide or instructions. Now that I am used to the Mac, I don't think I would ever switch back to a PC. Using a PC at work is frustratingly slow and difficult now. LOL The more I use my Mac and learn, the more I believe that the Mac's user interface is much more intuitive and user friendly than the PC's. Also, the setup straight out of the box is easier, the programs it comes with are not just junk or trial versions, and it is "smarter." =)
Rating: - Apple has done it again
I own this mac and I have to say, it is amazing! Once you get one you'll never go back to windows! Everything is so easy to understand and simple. There is no separate PC tower thing, it is all inside the monitor along with the CD drive. You also get everything already installed on your dock like iTunes iMovie iPhoto and Mail. Also, there is a dashboard with handy widgets like language, speed, weight, energy, and length converters. You also get a built in camera for iChat, a program for chatting with other people that own macs. They are the best computers out there.
Rating: - My 88 year old father's first Mac is this 24" iMac
He's had a personal computer since the early 1980's so he is a Switcher rather than a Newbee. I've got a 2 year old iMac, and am writing this after setting up his new system and watching him use it.
Providing the technical support for him, including removing spyware once or twice, should now be much simpler. We've tried out iChat for video conferencing from my home to his, and I've helped him with some questions about Mail with the screensharing capability. It also seems to be a hit with other people in his retirement community. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for parents you do tech support for!
The system is so quiet you can't tell if it is on. This is not particularly good because there no longer is the screensaver/sleep mode light on the front panel. It needs an indicator light.
The unconventional design of the keyboard and mouse were unsettling for him at first. (At 88 you do get set in your ways.) I didn't find it a problem. Some additional USB ports would be welcome, as would a SD memory slot. Why can't Apple put these on their consumer systems when everyone else does?
Bought an external FireWire drive and connected it. Within a minute had it backing up via TimeMachine. Backup worries solved!
His desk is much tidier with the iMac that it was with the Windows box. Should be fewer problems with things getting disconnected.
He's using Mail/AddressBook/Calendar just fine now, and will be using iWork. I visited last weekend and he had iPhoto viewing the 10,000+ images scanned from 6 decades of slides. He never got the hang of looking at them with his old Windows box.
I won't give this review 5 stars because of the need for Parallels for a few of programs (a genealogy program, WordPerfect, and a decent Quicken version) that require Parallels/Fusion that might cause confusion. Also it would be nice if display elements could be resized larger (Windows will do this, most of OS X can but it is a disabled feature -- maybe in January 2009 with the OS 10.6, Snow Leopard?)
Apple iMac Desktop with 24-inch Display MB325LL/A (2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive) Reviews
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