  | Apple iMac Desktop with 17" M8935LL/A (1.0-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive)
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Average user rating:  | |
| Wonderful machine, excellent bundled applications | |
| Apple's 1 GHz 17-inch iMac may not seem to keep up with the PC big boys, but the reality is that the elegance of the hardware and software really makes up the difference. The screen is beautiful, and you'll never want to go back to a "normal" (i.e. non-widescreen) monitor once you've used it. Otherwise, the hardware is so-so: The speakers aren't great, and the keyboard and mouse are sub-par. On the software side, Mac OS X 10.2 is solid and fast, and the iLife applications are good (iMovie, iPhoto) to excellent (iTunes, iDVD). You'll want a copy of Microsoft Office v.X to round out the software selection, and that's expensive, unfortunately. All in all, an excellent all around computer, especially for those interested in multimedia, though you can spend half as much on a speedier Dell system. But that's not the point, is it? The iMac has the grace, elegance and--dare I say it--innovation to keep fans happy. Worth considering if the price tag doesn't scare you off. | |
| I'd give it 4.5 if I could - it's almost perfect! | |
| I'm writing this review on my brand new iMac 17" and I'm grinning ear to ear. I do wish I'd made the switch long ago. I have to admit that I sat on the fence for almost a year before making the move over to Apple. The iPod is what finally pushed me over (more about that in another review). I won't rehash what other folks have already written. What also makes the iMac worth the money is the software that's packaged (free) with the deal. Off the shelf it's sold as iLife and it includes iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto. Trust me - you won't have to buy additional software for the iMac unless you're computing for a living. The included Appleworks suite is all you need for most publishing applications. And with the included browser, calendar, address book you're set for email and web browsing. Set up was a cinch - I timed it - 10 minutes flat and I was surfing the web and had my email set up. Of course I already had an ISP service and I'm a bit of geek, but it was remarkably easy. The only reason I can't give the iMac a perfect 5 is because of the pitiful mouse and keyboard. I've been spoiled with my ergonomic keyboard from Microsoft and their intellipoint trackball mouse. Once you've used these you can't go back to anything less. I really hoped I could avoid sending more money to Bill, but ... One other note of caution - please note that only one of the memory slots is accessable to the consumer. Therefore if you need 1 GB of RAM you will have to have the 256 MB RAM chip replaced by an authorized service center. Otherwise the most RAM you can install yourself is 512 MB in the user accessible slot bringing the total to 768 MB. Not an issue for most users, but something to consider. The only way around this is to buy direct from the Apple store. The other bonus from buying direct from Apple is that the units from the store have Bluetooth built in! The downside here is delivery time - it took almost 2 weeks to receive my iMac from California to North Carolina. A wait made even more agonizing by the fact that my iPod was delivered in two days from Amazon! | |
 Really Great! | |
| Not only is it great looking... it works great too! Painless switch from Windows... Haven't needed to purchase any addition software becuase the bundled software does everything... And it is super cool looking! |
