The infamous iMac [the 27" variety]
![[Image: imac27_deskshot_ars.JPG]](http://static.arstechnica.com/imac27review/imac27_deskshot_ars.JPG)
Its safe to say that users in general [and this includes Mac users] are rapidly moving to a notebook dominated world, but in the desktop market the iMac remains a good seller.
And good reason, after two years apple rethought the iMac design, and golly they are worth it.
There are three processing flavours you can choose from:
3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo [same as the old iMacs, just tweaked to make it slightly faster]
2.66GHz Intel Core i5 [The first every Quad core to be used on the iMacs :thumbs]
2.8GHz Intel Core i7 [This is a hardcore version, made to order].
There are also two sizes:
21.5" 16:9 Monitor
27" 16:9
For this review, I looked at the 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo 27" iMac model, as we felt it has the most universal appeal to those looking to buy an iMac.
3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2560 x 1440
4GB RAM
1TB hard drive
8x SuperDrive
ATI Radeon 4670 with 256MB
$1,699
and unlike the Mac Mini, you get a keyboard and a 'Magic Mouse'.
The only really new thing to happen is the
new new Keyboard needs two batteries instead of three, how green
.
Now the screen, like its predecessor, is a glass and aluminium combo, the only real change is there is no border to the outside, so all the graphics aren't 'boxed in'.
This is by far the largest screen that Apple has put on one of its machines, the highest resolution it can handle is 2560 x 1440, and the aspect ratio change shows that Apple is aware that people are using these machines more and more as devices to watch HD movies, and not just for your standard computing purposes.
The only important update to the screen is that it is now LED backlit, so you can increase the brightness easily, or for headache prone users like myself, dim the screen. When I first turned it on the brightness was set way too high, and it took me a while [not natively being a Mac user] to find the settings, but after it was stunning, the picture clarity is amazing. The only annoying thing, which most Apple products have, is the screen is very glossy and reflective and if you are running apps or games [I'll get onto gaming in a minute] where it is very dark, you find that you can look at yourself clearer than the game XD. But it is something you learn to live with
With this gigantic screen comes a new, dandy function - it can be used as an external display for "
supported devices which means you can link up your MacBook and view it's screen on the iMac. However the only thought I had about this is, why would you bother doing that?, if you were doing something on your MacBook, couldn't you just simply do it on your iMac with ease?
Now the ports have changed slightly since its earlier models the FireWire 400 is gone in favor of one extra USB 2.0 port (for a total of four instead of three). FireWire 800 remains for video enthusiasts, and the mini-DVI port is now Mini DisplayPort. The extra USB port is a welcome change, though I found myself annoyed that I must purchase yet another adapter so I can use my external monitor with my iMac— something everyone I know has had to do (Luckily, a VGA-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter exists, as well as an HDMI-to-Mini DisplayPort.)
Also at the side, I nearly missed it completely, is a SD card slot - the first ever introduced to an iMac :thumbs and there's a SuperDrive hole [for CDs and stuff].
Oh, a bad point flash movies and such play badly - to the point of them being unwatchable, however there is a safari addon to aid or try to fix that, but it's a work in progress.
If you liked the previous iMac, you'll like the new iMac—especially the 27" version. The single largest improvement is by far the screen, both in its size and its LED backlighting, which gives you tons of space for work and play on a crisp-looking display. And if you've dreamed up some scenario in which you need both an all-in-one computer and an external display for use with a notebook on the same desk, then this is practically your dream machine.
The downsides to the iMac are the same downsides that have almost always been there—while it's possible to perform some upgrades, it's an all-in-one with limitations. Still, the stock offerings are nice, and it's easy for most of us (who are not video professionals, for example) to get work done on this machine. If you still harbor hate for glossy displays, then you have likely already ditched most of Apple's offerings anyway. And if you wanted to use this thing as an external display for your gaming console, you're going to be disappointed (for the time being).
I apologise if this seems jumpy and disjointed but the only time I get to write these review are the very very VERY early hours of the morning [usually after not sleeping].
![[Image: Bulbasaur_by_bigsharn.jpg]](http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/113/9/8/Bulbasaur_by_bigsharn.jpg)
