New iMac

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Daniel Cohen - 11 Sep 2007 15:29 GMT

I am thinking of getting a new iMac. there's a general principle that it
is best to wait until the first revision, so that any hardware problems
can be ironed out.

I am wondering if this applies to the new iMacs, or whether they can be
regarded as a small enough change that they should be ok.

I am also thinking about what size hard drive to get. One can get a much
bigger drive for the extra money by getting an external drive. But an
internal drive should be faster. On the other hand, it seems to be a
common opinion that one should not stress the internal drive too much,
esspecially as for this model it can't be changed easily by a user.

I am expecting to do a fair bit of video conversion, mpeg to DVD or avi.
In fact that's the main reason that my current PowerBook is not adequate
(and, besides, I have promised it to a friend once I get a new machine).

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Alice Faber - 12 Sep 2007 00:15 GMT

> I am thinking of getting a new iMac. there's a general principle that it
> is best to wait until the first revision, so that any hardware problems
> can be ironed out.
>
> I am wondering if this applies to the new iMacs, or whether they can be
> regarded as a small enough change that they should be ok.

It really depends how you feel about the screen. Instead of the LCD
screen they've had for the past few years, the latest models have a
glossy screen. Looking at the comments on sites such as Macfixit.com,
this screen has been a real hot-button item. Go look at one in an Apple
store, and see what you think. Then decide.

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Maury Markowitz - 17 Sep 2007 17:47 GMT

Definitely *not* a new machine. This is essentially a cosmetic
upgrade, everything inside's a bump of existing tech.

The default drive is a 250 IIRC, whereas external is essentially
unlimited (buy more). Although the interface can have an effect, for
media processing it tends to be faster than the drive -- ie, for lots
of small files the internal drives can indeed be faster, but for
smaller numbers of larger files the effect is likely to be washed away
by the RPM of the drive, as opposed to any limitation of the drive
itself.

Maury

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Daniel Cohen - 18 Sep 2007 07:03 GMT

> > I am thinking of getting a new iMac. there's a general principle that it
> > is best to wait until the first revision, so that any hardware problems
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Definitely *not* a new machine. This is essentially a cosmetic
> upgrade, everything inside's a bump of existing tech.

Pretty much what I reckoned, though there do seem to be some small
issues (colour gradient across the screen, for instance).

> The default drive is a 250 IIRC, whereas external is essentially
> unlimited (buy more). Although the interface can have an effect, for
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> by the RPM of the drive, as opposed to any limitation of the drive
> itself.

This is really useful information, as I had assumed the internal drive
would be faster even for media processing. If that's not true, then
external drive is definitely preferable,

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Clever Monkey - 19 Sep 2007 16:40 GMT

>>> I am thinking of getting a new iMac. there's a general principle that it
>>> is best to wait until the first revision, so that any hardware problems
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
> would be faster even for media processing. If that's not true, then
> external drive is definitely preferable,

Try before you buy. The glossy screen is a real turn-off for some,
including me.

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Herbert Viola - 14 Oct 2007 03:54 GMT

> I am thinking of getting a new iMac. there's a general principle that it
> is best to wait until the first revision, so that any hardware problems
> can be ironed out.

The new iMac uses the Santa Rosa motherboard from Intel that is meant
for laptops. Its been out for a while. There is nothing inside the
machine that is newish.

Of course, some people who use 3D heavy apps claim the new iMacs have a
freezing problem related to the drivers used for the graphics card. I
have a new iMac, never use 3D apps and have had zero problems.

> I am also thinking about what size hard drive to get. One can get a much
> bigger drive for the extra money by getting an external drive. But an
> internal drive should be faster. On the other hand, it seems to be a
> common opinion that one should not stress the internal drive too much,
> esspecially as for this model it can't be changed easily by a user.

The Firewire 800 connection on the new iMacs has a top speed of over
80MB/sec. I have the 250(232)GB HDD on my iMac and the XBench figures
for the drive are well below the limit for FW800. Using Quickbench I got
drive figures high enough to approach the FW800 limit. Most 7200RPM
drives will have max speeds that will be under or close to the FW800
limit. If you buy an external drive you should remember that you have to
spend extra to get a bridge chip good enough to approach the maximum
speed of the connection.

> I am expecting to do a fair bit of video conversion, mpeg to DVD or avi.
> In fact that's the main reason that my current PowerBook is not adequate
> (and, besides, I have promised it to a friend once I get a new machine).

I can't imagine that even a top of the line iMac will convert video so
fast that the HDD will be a limiting factor.

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Mac Forum / General / Hardware / October 2007

New iMac