[Review] iMac 17" G5 Rev.C

By saxondale.
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Grand Master

saxondale.

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Posted (edited)

Last Update: 4/6/06 - The RAM Installation

Previous Update: 2/5/06 - Software - Aperture & iMovie

Previous Update: 7/4/06 - iKlear Apple Polish

Previous Update: 4/4/06 - iLugger II

This is my first ever Mac, i wanted something which had performance but didnt overkill my budget. The iMac 17" was the perfect Mac for a little boy called Michael. Here is my review (mainly pictures) of my first experience of a mac and what this model is like.

Ordering

I went through the Apple sales on the phone and it was easy as it was to dial the number. Very friendly chap, and sorted out my iMac in minutes. Delivery was about 14 days, since i upgraded the ram, but the wait was totally worth it.

Specification

17-inch widescreen LCD

1.9GHz PowerPC G5

1GB memory (533MHz DDR2 SDRAM)

160GB Serial ATA hard drive

Slot-load 8x double-layer SuperDrive

ATI Radeon X600 Pro with 128MB DDR video memory

3Yr Apple Care

Packaging

We all know Apple make nice packaging for their products and this is no exception. Its a nice simple design, which i like :)

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In The Box

We are greated with the lovely MightMouse, which is such a good mouse compared to the previous version. Having the 360 scroll wheel is a big help, since it makes everything that little bit faster :) We also have a manual which contains the Tiger DVDs. A kettle lead (hey something has to power this baby up) and the lovely, simple Apple keyboard. I opted for the standard (none-wireless) since i wasnt prepared to pay ?35 more for something which wasnt going to make a difference to me. Now the Remote:woot:: I love this thing, it reminds me of the shuffle in a way. Its a simple 6 button design, light weight and attractive.

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Set Up>

For a first time Mac user, i couldnt believe how easy it was to set up and get it up and running. It required a kettle lead, mouse and keyboard and thats it. All i had to do was hit the start button and i was in Tiger configering my account.

Tiger: Well my biggest concern was getting my wireless internet to work, and set up my network so i could transfer files between my PC and iMac. I was literally like this:huh:: I couldnt believe how damn easy that was, it required hardly any user input. This is a very attractive OS X, it has everything in the right places, no need to go through files after files to find stuff, due to its simple layout and spotlight feature. I cant really comment on it since im still learning, but stuff like Dashboard is really handy, i mainly use it for notes, at the moment just short notes to remind me of short cuts. To simply put it, if you want to find something, it will only take a few seconds, just like how Vista is going to be, very user friendly.

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Built-In iSight + Photobooth>

I love this thing, its just so cool, no need for webcams hanging ontop of monitors or at the side of your desk, its built into the monitor! Iv seen a few people commenting on how annoying it would be to work on your iMac with that just above the screen, but its really not, i hardly notice it unless i want to use it.

Photobooth goes great with this, its a neat little software to take pictures of yourself or others, and you are given numerous of different effects to play about on. Its good if you want a display picture of yourself or you with a friend:))

Saddly Mac MSN does not support webcam functions so i havnt really been able to use it, plus i dont know anyone with iChat, but for the moment its a great thing to create movies on, or take photos of your mates.

Remote + Front Row>

Such a great combination. The Remote is nicely put onto the right hand side of the iMac, held by a magnet. The light weight control makes it feel confortable, with all the buttons at your finger tips. It is used for Front Row, which is basically a mini media centre for DVD's, Photos, Music. Its great for a family photo slide show (which i did the other night for my family) and nice to see your music in a nicely designed format.

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iMac Design>

Its such a beutifull design, i cant say much, apart from it being right, its something i enjoy looking at, and completes the whole iMac experience. Its slim design offers nothing but style, but everything positioned in the correct place (usb, firewire, isight, remote etc)

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Upgrading RAM>

After getting a good price on a 2GB DDR2 stick, i decided to take out my 512mb stick (with 512mb on board) and replaced it with the 2GB stick. Installing it was pretty easy, i have to say, a PC was easier for me to do it, since you get to see exactly where to put it in, but it still wasn't a problem. This is the only part of the iMac which is user upgradable.

The iMac didnt have any problems, it read the RAM straight away, which was a big help since i wouldnt of known what to do if it didnt.

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The RAM Installation>

Here are some pictures of my changing the RAM:

That is all you need to open up the area to place the RAM in (3 screws)

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You can see the RAM and two hooks, pulling these two hooks up will take out the old RAM

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The RAM is out.

To put the new RAM in, you just place in back in like a PC, making sure the hooks are up before you put it in.

iLugger II>

What!? A case for an iMac?? No! Yes :laugh:: I purchased an iLugger II for my iMac, since i couldnt afford a portable notebook and wanted something to do my work on when im at college (Photo, Video, Music editing) and being able to have my work on me at all times made me get this. The price was ?85, but when comparing to top laptop bags, its a pretty good price.

About:

? Same bag fits both 17 & 20 inch iMacs and the Apple Cinema Display 20"

? 1000 Denier Cordura Fabric

? Heavy foam padding

? Removable Shoulder strap

? Colors: Black, Gray, Blue & Orange

? Plastic shield between foam and fabric to protect the monitor

? Extra handle to help support bag when on your shoulders

? Extra pockets on both sides of bag

? Backpack straps for easier carrying (pack away when not in use)

? Spacious inner pockets for keyboard and mouse

? Within normal size regulations to take on a flight as hand luggage

? When used for carrying the Apple Cinema Display iLugger can also fit a Mac Mini and keyboard for extra presentation portability

As you can see, its a very well protected case and uses the right materials to keep your iMac in top condition. Its not something you want to carry around for a long time, because it is heavy, but for what i do (lock it up at college, use it when i need to) then its fine.

I do recommend this bag if some of you were in the same position.

http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/3iKlear Apple Polish:b>iKlear Apple Polish:

My iMac became dirty all over, the screen and panel. The screen was full of dust and we all know that dust over time can naturally scratch screens. Well i picked up some iKlear for a very good price (?4.49 Delivered) to use on my iMac.

You can also use it on:

iPods

iBooks

Powerbooks/MacBooks

Cinema & Studio Displays

DVD's & CD's

You can pretty much use any cloth with it, as long as its not toilet role or something stupid like that which will actually mark your screen. So in my case, im using one of those all purpose TV/Screen cleaners.

This works really well, it clears away all that grime on the pannels and any type of smears/dust on the screen. Im pretty sure most products like this are pretty much the same, but this is endorsed by Apple, so you can definitely trust it, and for the price i got it for, i couldnt say no. Finally i feel confident in cleaning my screen without thinking im doing something wrong to it.

Just like my last purchase, the iLugger, :)recommend this to anyone :)

http://img316.imageshack.us/img316Software - Aperture & iMovie- ApertureiMovie

Aperture - This is a great piece of software, in terms of organisation, its like iPhoto, but in a lot more depth, for those photography lovers. Its been designed to handle RAW images, work along side Photoshop (Version 1.1 offers much more stability/features in these areas). It has all the tweaking options such as:

Exposure

Contrast/Brightness

Saturation

Tints Etc...

To touch up your photos.

Aperture is a high demanding program and can lag, it even lags a bit on my system, but not much, apart from that, it runs wonderfully.

I recently purchased a Canon 350D, and Aperture was already programmed into recognizing the best options to handle my RAW images, well done Apple!

The new 1.1 Update lets you use Aperture of PPC and Intel-Macs

Overall i love this product, its a lot more professional than iPhoto and does everything you want for post editing. Since it works so well with Photoshop, its great to have them both open and being able to edit between them. If you are interested in this, i do recommend having a high spec system with at least 1.5GB RAM, toiMovie5 processor.

iMovie - iMovie is part of the iLife software you get free with your Mac. It is a beginners movie editing program, and is fairly advanced for the targeted audience, so there is plenty of things it can offer when you get better. I used this on my Media coursework, we had to film a thriller and edit it on iMovie, i have to admit, it did a great job on it, the preset transitions, effects are great and come across pretty professional.

This is also a universal binary program. Same will all the iLife software.

Most Macs are able to run this; i recommend any G4, 512MB RAM will run it pretty well.

I loved this program, it had everything i wanted and expected, and it was free with my Mac, i would even purchase this if i didn?t get it for free.

These were something?s i just wanted to comment on, there are other programs i use just as much, and will write a bit about them some other time.

Edited by saxondale.
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Grand Master

saxondale.

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  gogosama said:
nice to see it in the silicon its amazin isnt it glad you finally got it i know you deserve it :beer:

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Thanks :) Im really happy with it, and im really greatfull my mum helped me out with the costs :)

Grand Master

saxondale.

Posted
  • Author
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  GHL said:
great buy, i oneday hope to have either one of these or a powerbook :p

btw i love your band's music.

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Oh thank you :) I guess you saw my other thread :)

Powerbooks are really nice, my mate just picked up the new 15" model, really nice stuff.

Mentor

the_snitch

Posted
Posted

Glad your happy with it (Y)

I bet you'll love OS X. Its just so simplistic and elegant compared to windows. I bought my first mac (an ibook) at the beginning of 2004. Since then ive bought an imac g3 (music server), and ive upgraded to a Powerbook g4 15". I dont think i could go back to Windows full time, i just love OS X's features too much :D

Grand Master

John S. Veteran

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  • Veteran
Posted

Interesting, they moved all the jacks horizontally to the bottom of the back of the frame. They're vertical on the edge behind and just below the superdive on the Rev B's.

Is that a slotted air intake above the power connector on the back? That's new for the C's as well.

Veteran

Yvo

Posted
Posted
  adonai said:
Interesting, they moved all the jacks horizontally to the bottom of the back of the frame.  They're vertical on the edge behind and just below the superdive on the Rev B's.

Is that a slotted air intake above the power connector on the back?  That's new for the C's as well.

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My rev B 20" has an intake as well.

However very nice Mac, welcome to the club ;-).

Veteran

ninjamunky

Posted
Posted

We use these in my graphics class at school... and there's no barcodes on them showing that they're property of the district... :ninja:

They're very nice. You can talk to them and they talk back :D Thing is, my keyboard's always disheveled and there's like eraser junk in it cause the desks are used as drawing tables... I feel bad for those computers :(

Explorer

lanvo

Posted
Posted (edited)
  ninjamunky said:
We use these in my graphics class at school... and there's no barcodes on them showing that they're property of the district... :ninja:

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well but that doesn't means that you can borrow it home from a year then bring it back :Ds...

Edited by lanvo
Grand Master

Matt T

Posted
Posted (edited)

I wish people would stop posting reviews of their Mac's... it makes me jealous :p

Congratulations saxondale - I'm sure you'll grow to love OS X very very quickly. You seam to be looking forward to Vista; I am too, but just wait until we all learn more about Leopard - you'll soon leave Vista behind you.

Since you're a first time Mac user, I recommend you check out this websites:

http://guides.macrumors.com/ (open source collection of OS X guides and other general Apple/Mac information)

http://www.macfixit.com/ (if you ever have problems with your Mac, chances are this site will tell you how to fix it)

http://www.maccast.com/ (podcast; Mac news and help from a vast community of other Mac users)

http://www.maccast.com/phpbb/ (Mac user forums)

http://forums.macrumors.com/ (Mac user forums)

http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/ (Mac user forums)

http://www.spymac.com/ (Mac news and forums)

Enjoy your new iMac :)

Edited by Cubiz
Grand Master

saxondale.

Posted
  • Author
Posted
  Cubiz said:
I wish people would stop posting reviews of their Mac's... it makes me jealous :p

Congratulations saxondale - I'm sure you'll grow to love OS X very very quickly. You seam to be looking forward to Vista; I am too, but just wait until we all learn more about Leopard - you'll soon leave Vista behind you.

Since you're a first time Mac user, I recommend you check out this websites:

http://guides.macrumors.com/ (open source collection of OS X guides and other general Apple/Mac information)

http://www.macfixit.com/ (if you ever have problems with your Mac, chances are this site will tell you how to fix it)

http://www.maccast.com/ (podcast; Mac news and help from a vast community of other Mac users)

http://www.maccast.com/phpbb/ (Mac user forums)

http://forums.macrumors.com/ (Mac user forums)

http://www.aqua-soft.org/board/ (Mac user forums)

http://www.spymac.com/ (Mac news and forums)

Enjoy your new iMac :)

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Lepoard :woot: When is that slated to come out?

Thanks for the links, they will come in handy :)

Neowinian

purrulo

Posted
Posted

Saxondale,

I'm getting an iMac myself, I will be reinstalling tiger on it from scratch (I like to do this on every new computer I get). My question is about the Imac's included CD's or DVD's.

Does the Imac include a separate cd or dvd with both front row and photobooth, or do these apps come bundled in the Tiger DVD? :unsure:

Could you please let me know which cd's and dvd's you received with your Imac?

Thanking you in advance.

Grand Master

saxondale.

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@purrulo : Well to be honest i was going to do the same thing, format it, but its actually not needed, you dont get any unwanted stuff on it. The DVDs i got were the Tiger DVDs, and im sure thats all i got. So im guessing photobooth will be on it, but i cant be sure.

@SamNeeds : As im a student, i was able to get it for ?940ish with the upgraded ram and apple care, without that, it would have been ?790. So i saved nearly ?200 i think.

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