An0n0m0us

Firstly no apple haters please (you listening F1 ), i'm just after knowledge from those who know their Apple stuff.

As a Windows Server engineer I like my windows kit and have always bought Windows laptops/desktops/servers.

The Mrs has been looking at 21.5" imacs and when I went to PCWorld earlier she asked me to check the prices for her. So off I went to have a look and as soon as I clapped eyes on the 27" imac and had a play I loved it. That screen is simply stunning.

What interests me is the fact it's quad core (albeit only i5) but can take 16gb ram upgradeable yourself for very little and the fact I can run Windows on it through bootcamp or parallels.

So I can have OSX for home stuff/media etc and still have my Windows setup with my vmware farm all still available to run.

What's the 512mb video card like? Is it pretty cr4p only being 512mb or does it still run latest games OK?

What is the reliability like? Definitely take out the 3 year apple care for £139?

I've just ordered a Dell XPS 17 3d 1080p laptop for under £1k from Dell outlet but now i'm thinking for the extra £400 i'd rather have the brand new imac with that huge screen/resolution allowing me to have so much on the screen at one time.

How easy is it to install Windows 7 through bootcamp and is bootcamp something you have to buy?

Also just to check on the ram, it takes 1333 ddr3 so the same as laptop ram?

Oh and one last question there is no usb3 port so is there an adapter for usb3 to thunderbolt?

kbsub

I bought one about 3 months ago (27 in i5 ), Used Windows for over 15 years and my last PC was over 4 years old on Vista and I never had a problem with either . Although it did get infected with 5 or 6 viruses in the last few months , Despite weekly virus scans with the Microsoft program .

I love my new iMac though , Upgraded the Ram after 3 days of ownership to 12GB , Was really cheap and very easy to do.

Do a lot of video encoding with handbrake to play on Apple TV and it's a lot faster , Plus I have started making movies with iMovie and that process is a lot quicker than my old Vista machine . Although a bit miffed you don't get iDvd with iLife anymore

Havent played any games on mine so can't answer that Q , But the reports on Youtube are very good .

I have had no problems with mine and I am very pleased with it , Installing Windows on it doesn't really interest me so can't answer that either .

I feel I've not really scratched the surface with mine as I bought it to Post Process 18mb RAW files from my 7D and I've hardly been out with the camera since buying the iMac , But the return of spring /summer will see that change .


The new Apple mouse and keyboard take some getting used to , But I wouldn't swap either now , Tried the new trackpad in the Apple store and didnt like , But I suspect I would grow to like it , Just like the keyboard and mouse .

The service in the Apple store was first class , Although one guy didn't even know how to upgrade the RAM , Think Markus on here answerd that for me
All in all Im very pleased with it , Defiantly wouldn't go back to Windows now and I certainly don't miss the constant virus up dates -defrag - ccleaner - reinstall OS sessions I used to have with Windows .

Trout

iTrader: (1)

I can't answer most of your questions - but for Windows I run Parallels 6 with Windows in fully coherent mode - so Windows apps runs as if they are Mac apps. I can also open the Windows desktop if I want - but rarely need to.

In this mode it runs brilliantly.

SinghSuperStud

iTrader: (2)

Would also say that Parallels is best for Windows - especially on a spec'd machine like this. DOn't waste time bootcamp'ing

An0n0m0us

I'm not sure I want to run my virtual farm on a virtual version of Windows 7 hence wanting bootcamp and dual boot of Windows. I need the 16gb ram to be available to Windows so not used up by OSX running a virtual windows 7 wasting ram.

Markus

Bootcamp is free, provided by Apple. Install disks with the machine used to be hybrid disks (Mac and PC format) and you'd use that to install the Bootcamp drivers, probably still the same today.
Installation is a case of running BootCamp Assistant, which will allow you to define how much disk space Windows will use, then reparations the disk (nothing will be lost), and then reboots, at which point you can whack in the windows media to install.

If you want to do more than dual-boot, look at rEFIt, which is an EFI boot manager, I know a few people with OS X, Windows and *nix installed on a machine.

One other advantage of BootCamp is that you can use the real disk with a VM, very handy indeed. If you need a quick check of something in windows, fire up Parallels / Fusion and have a look, if you need the full horsepower, then boot into Windows.

Not sure on spec of the RAM, pop over to Crucial and use their tool to find out what it takes.

Don't EVER buy the upgraded RAM from Apple, either as part of a built-to-order solution or post purchase. It's very overpriced, and it's not exactly difficult to install RAM in an iMac, so got to somewhere like Crucial and buy it, I seem to recall RAM prices are pretty low at present.

You're right, not USB3, but it does have USB2, obviously won't have the same speed as USB3. Not sure about thunderbolt to USB3 adaptors and how much speed difference there would be compared to simply using a USB3 device with a USB2 port.

As for reliability, I had an original 17" Intel iMac (2006 I think) and the only reasons I switched to a new 27" were that the screen was developing a few vertical lines, and replacing the screen wouldn't be cost effective, plus it would not run Lion, so I thought an upgrade was worthwhile. The only other problems I've had with it was when a hard drive died, but I replaced that and it's been great since.
For peace of mind I'd probably get AppleCare.

One other thing, have a look at the Apple Refurbished section on their website. You could well find a good deal on a new iMac, saving a couple of hundred over the cost of brand new. It still comes with a years AppleCare. Ok so it's used, but they do fully check over the machines. My 27" came from there and I'd have no hesitation getting more kit from the refurbished store.

An0n0m0us

Thanks Markus.

Yep had a look on the refurb section and the 27" imac is £1199. So with 3 year apple care for £139 and £60 for 16gb of ram it would come out at the same price as a new one but with the extra stuff i'd want.

Just been chatting online with an Apple assistant and was very helpful. I'm still not sure I want to spend the cash though so going to think it over a while, if i'd oredered now I could have had it Monday so had to quickly step away from the keyboard before a rush of blood and hit the purchase button.

boxst

Bootcamp is great and if you use VMWare Fusion on the Mac side it somehow manages to take the dual-boot partition and ALSO run it as a VM. So when you need just windows, you boot into windows and when you want Mac you boot into Mac but have the option of quickly starting windows in a VM should the need arise.

Steve

judgejules

Anon, just dont get sucked in for the sake of it. You can get almost twice the speed & ram with a similar rez but easier on the eye screen for less money if you stay with windows. Buying a laptop and regretting it against a desktop machine seems a bit odd to me, like comparing chalk and cheese.

Just think why you really want one?

• looks
• bundled software
• expandability
• interoperability
• processing power
• "safer" web browsing
• peer pressure from the mrs

Have fun whatever decision you make, it doesn't bother me either way. Just hope that you don't need to use # very often on that keyboard, or that you don't touch type @'s and "'s from a UK layout, or that you can handle the in built mouse acceleration, or ...

But if you still decide to get one, and a 27 incher, get the 3.1ghz version, as the graphics card included is twice as good as the one in the 2.7ghz.

J

Markus

Just curious as to what you're on about? Are you trying to say the iMac's keyboard won't have a UK layout? If it's purchased in the UK, pretty sure it will have a UK layout on the keys.

An0n0m0us

I looked at how much a screen on its own would be that could do the same res and it was £800! I like the res and screen size and the fact I can have windows and osx dual booted and fully supported - i've done hackintosh for years and getting a bit tired of the hassle with it now.

The XPS is far more powerful than the imac which i've got on order but the build quality on Dell is suspect to say the least hence I took the 3 year warranty at checkout. As it's scratch and dent I will see what condition it is in on Tuesday when it gets delivered and then think some more about it. If I go for the imac it will be the 27" 2.7 as it's £1199 on the refurb page from Apple but I wouldn't pay more than that for one.

judgejules

Correct Markus. The UK apple keyboard isn't a "normal" UK layout

http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC184B/B
or
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MB...ode=MTY1NDA1Mg

This is what it should be:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboar...United_Kingdom

You see the problem? Lots of keys out of position, which is a shame as its a really nice keyboard and one I would go back to at the drop of a hat if it were correct.

JackClark

Is it really that big an issue, takes me about a second to work it out when I'm using a Windows machine. # is Alt + £ by the way, # was described as Pound way before Hash.

judgejules

No Jack, its not a problem at all, I just brought it up to waste some bits, here's a few more

...

JackClark

Markus

Ok, I don't want to be taking this OT, and I'm not being argumentative (honest ), but are you basing this on the picture from Apple's site?
I ask as I did also have a look, comparing UK, US, French (French is a giveaway as it should be AZERTY) and Spanish keyboards and it seems Apple is using the same picture for all of them. The picture being of a US English keyboard. Even on the localized websites it's using the US keyboard.

I've found this image: http://www.gearzap.com/apple-bluetooth-keyboard.html which seems to show a proper UK layout on the standard wireless keyboard, and I'm positive my UK macs came with the proper UK layout.

judgejules

http://www.gearzap.com/apple-bluetooth-keyboard.html

is not a "proper UK layout"

neither is the http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MB...ode=MTY1NDA1Mg which I have in my hand.

Neither is the UK layout on the macbook pro I have on my desk.

JackClark

There's no Windows key either.

judgejules

Markus

I stand corrected, my apologies.

An0n0m0us

Having done Hackintosh for so long i'm used to half the keys missing with OSX. Played with the imacs some more yesterday at Bluewater Apple store and the kids then found one with all the games loaded on which had them hooked. My 7 year old went straight on a 27" imac and started googling as soon as we walked in the store, he is worse than I am. If I get one i'll be fighting to actually get a go on it!

jonc

I remember doing that when I was a kid, going straight to the BBC Micro/Acorn Electron, C64/Vic20, Spectrum computers in John Menzies. Back then you had create your own entertainment. eg on the BBC computer

10 PRINT "John Menzies is rubbish!";
20 GOTO 10

and then do a runner!

JackClark

Same applies, you press and hold the only button and tell Siri to call you a ******.

jonc

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/demo...esco-50006526/