I've recently had the chance to spend an extended amount of time with a 2.8 Extreme edition Apple iMac 24". Here are some of my thoughts and experiences with the machine.
The new iMac (aluminium 2007/2008 model) if a thing of beauty to look at. It has a glossy bright high contrast screen and has a very thin profile making it look not unlike an expensive highend flat screen TV. There is no tower unit or any other processing hardware, it is in effect an all in one computer with screen.
Before I continue, I should say that all-in-one computers have been steadily growing in popularity in the last decade or so. It was infact the original iMac in the late 90's that triggered this resurgence which has only increased with flat screen models. There are a number of inherent advantages and disadvantages to the all-in-one design. In general they are compact and easy to transport and install. On the flip side, they tend not to be greatly upgradable and if your screen fails you generally have to send back the entire computer to be fixed. Because they are totally intergrated they also tend to cost more than a standard desktop/monitor setup.
So given these issues, if you are going to have an all-in-one you should probably look to get one which is going to have a bit of longevity so that its not obsolete a couple of months after you've bought it! For this reason the iMac I was using was absolutely top of the line: 24" screen, 2.8Ghz extreme processor, 4GB of DDR2 RAM. This is pretty much the fastest consumer level Apple Mac you can buy at the moment.
Out of the box
The out-of-box experience is very much what you come to expect from an apple product these days. The cleverly designed packaging is a small treat in itself to see how they got so much kit into such a small box! The computer is well protected with a mass of protective padding and plastic covers protecting delicated areas such as the screen. Everything is easy to remove and there is no opportunity to damage the product through overzelous unpacking.
Setup of the hardware is also pretty painless, simply remove all the packaging, plug the power cable into the back of the computer, plug the keyboard into the back of the computer, plug the mouse into the keyboard and then press the power button on the back of the computer to get going. That really is all there is to it. No hours of reading manuals or working out what cables plug into what holes!
The first boot comprises of a rather nifty looking welcome video which fades seamlessly into the registration and setup processes. Registration and setup is in plain english and you will need very little if any technical knowledge to get through the three or four forms of information. Once done you are presented with the computer desktop screen and the machine is ready to use!
In Use
Anyone who has had long standing experience of Apple's OS X will know that on less than manly hardware OS X can be a little 'laggy'. This machine is definitely an exception handling all tasks (including photoshop and office) with very fast load times and no lag whatsoever.
In fact, the machine never seems to run out of legs no matter how many programs you have running concurrently. The system always seems snappy using and switching between apps and software is always fast to load with the standard Apple apps usually loading with one or less 'bounces'.
Virtualisation
Ironically, one increasingly important aspect of running a Mac these days is running Windows. I decided to run Windows through the excellent Parallels Desktop software which on this machine seems to run Windows XP like its running on native hardware.
MS Office, Internet Explorer and other common Windows apps run well and have little lag. In fact, in full screen mode, you'd be hard pressed to know that you are not running windows natively in boot camp. Switching back and fourth between Windows and OS X is seemless and free of the sort of memory paging delays you get when using less RAM.
Screen
Of course one of the two main reasons for chosing this specific model and spec is the glorious 24 inch screen. This is a glossy glass covered screen which is very bright and seems to have a high degree of contrast. I also regularly use a previous generation white iMac 20 inch and I can conclusively say that the screen on the newer models is a vast improvement. In fact the only downside I can find for this screen is the amount of reflective glare you get in brightly lit situations, however, I never found this to be an issue at all!
Keyboard
This particular model comes with Apple's new aluminium keyboard which has had somewhat mixed reviews. It is essentially a desktop keyboard with laptop like keys and key action. I for one have absolutely no problem with the feel and response of the keyboard and have found it very easy to use and significantly less wearing on my hands than the old white Apple keyboards. The keyboard itself feels very sturdy and much harder wearing than its size would suggest. It has two powered USB2 ports recessed into the bottom of the unit, one on each side. There is no flex what-so-ever in the keyboard which is surprising giving its apparent slimness.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a nicer working desktop computer. I wouldn't recommend this to a hardcore gamer because of its in-built graphics card, but for everyone else this machine packs enough punch to be of good use for virtually any requirement. Its sleek compact appearance, bright colourful screen and high level of performance make it an incredible buy for the money and as such I have no trouble giving it:
