Drawbacks of the iMac 20-inch?

<p>Its when the aluminum 20" unit came out</p>

<p>That's a disappointing turn of events. Hope it doesn't reflect the direction of the company as a whole.</p>

<p>Kelly, will they hold more than 4 in the future? I would say eventually, and I hope sooner than later. Your suggestion is not bad, he actually could get a 3GB version 24" and have a great monitor, probably from a place like Powermax or Macmall. But I think he might want to wait if possible. The next gen may have more cores and more ram, but no one knows except Apple and they don't say. <br>

Don't forget, when you calculate total system purchase price, the inclusion of very good monitor on the iMac is included.</p>

<p>>>> There is such a need for this to be updated as there is a huge void between the iMac and Mac Pro that they could easily fill.</p>

<p>The Mini was never intended to fill a void between the iMac and MacPro. Nor will it in the future.</p>

<p>About 8 years ago I used Macs in school and PCs at home. For photography I never saw a dimes worth of difference. Both did just fine. I have XP on my present home computer, my wife has Vista on hers. Both work just fine with CS3, I don't plan to upgrade to CS4.<br>

Whenever I've asked a Mac person what's so great about Macs I always hear that it has this or that feature or can do this or that thing that PCs don't have and can't do. But those things are never relevant to me for my photography purposes (I don't work in great volume so speed isn't critical to me), they sound more like things that might be important for purposes other than photography or possibly things that would be important to a commercial photographer who works in big volumes.<br>

When I was in school I had no trouble switching back and forth between the school's Macs and my home PC. But last year I tried to help my daughter with a photo problem on her Mac (don't know the model, it wasn't a lap top) and I couldn't figure out how to do the most basic stuff, it was very very different from my PC. So I think you might have a learning curve to master if you go from your PC to a Mac. Maybe it would be easy with a little time or Mac knowledge that I didn't have.<br>

This is just my experience as somebody who's been scanning and printing digitally for about 7 years, who is interested in a computer primarily for photography, and who isn't a computer expert.</p>

 

<p>I just got off the phone with Mac tech. I asked if they had changed the type of 20" since the issues/lawsuit etc..has happened? He told me no that is it the same 20". I also asked what type of screen the 20" and 24" are? He replied that Apple does not like to give out that information. Huh? He then said he would have to look it up? This is a tech, not the rep that answered the phone. He then told me that he almost positive that the 24" is H-IPS. The 20'' is either S-IPS or H-IPS but was not sure. I don't really know what these termrs mean except what I have read here and other forums that it pertains to quality. It worries me that the tech would not or could not give me a quick, easy answer. Someone else want to call and see what answer they get regarding these very important screen issues please feel free to call and post.<br>

<strong>A question regarding uploading images to a website. Besides the internet connection that I have, what would I look for in a Mac or PC (if anything) that would help images upload faster? Example... I use Smugmug for customers to look at their photos. I typically am uploading an average of 4-5 MB files using the slowest high speed available from my cable company. The upload averages 2 minutes per per file. </strong></p>

<p>Try going to an Apple store and asking a "genius"?</p>

<p>There's some info on the Apple iMac displays here: <a href="http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/">http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/</a><br>

The 20" has a TN display, the 24" has an H-IPS display. Both are very glossy.</p>

<p>David, it was odd the the tech at the main Apple toll free number did not know or did not want to give me info about their machines. His answer regarding the 20" was different from your's as you can see. I told him that I already knew about the 20" issues and the lawsuit and I wanted to find out if they ever resolved the problem.<br>

Today I went back to Best Buy and we moved the 20"/24" side by side and compared the same photo on both screens. The 20" screen was lighter but then he went in and made some adjustments to settings of both. I noticed that the 20" only had 2 different adjustments and the 24" had 4. I would recommend checking settings if you compare them side by side. They seemed pretty close (but I am far from the expert) and then I did the other test that Kelly posted a link to a Utube video, where you open a couple of folders and move one farther down the 20" screen and compare the two and the screen get's lighter as you move downwards and sure enough it did get lighter> <a href="http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2007/09/an_imac_display_dilemma_20inch_value_or_24inc.html">http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2007/09/an_imac_display_dilemma_20inch_value_or_24inc.html</a> <br>

I got leery and started looking over the HP and the top of the line from other brands and sure liked the towers with their extras and ability to expand if needed, but mostly because I still have the jitters about making the switch from Windows. But then I went back to the 24" again and asked about something else and the salesperson showed me how you with the new iwork 09 you have templates that you can drag photos to and make ads for your business. This is a great feature for me and the salesperson claimed that Windows does not have yet. I really like that you can drag a photo and put in template and resize it by just draggin the corners. Also, the watermark feature is nice but I imagine CS4 has something similar. There are probably many other features that I don't have a clue about yet. Anyway, I left still leaning towards the 24" Mac. Not 100% yet. I also asked if the new Imac was coming out this week and then all my problems would be solved. Not today/top secret and nobody knows:)<br>

J.W. Wall "Try going to an Apple store and asking a "genius"--I cannot figure out if your comment was a joke or serious. And we don't have an Apple store anywhere near my town.</p>

<p>John, I don't think there's any difference in uploading to the internet based on what computer you have. That's more based on your internet connection than the computer. Your ISP etc. Not whether you use mac/pc windows etc. If you are on a modem, then it doesn't make much difference, it will be slow. If you have DSL , or broad band, then they are all good.<br>

As far as the monitors. The 20" al monitors are still the same and I wouldn't reccomend it. They haven't changed it and they probably won't. The 24 isr good. You just have to get an inexpensive, or maybe it's even freeware utility called shades and use that in conjunction with your calibration in order to get the brightness down. They come out of the box too bright and at least on older models like mine, even the lowest brightness setting is too bright to calibrate well. The shades takes care of that. The mac store people often don't say much. The genuises likewise. They also won't tell you when new stuff is coming out and they often won't fess up to known issues, though some will. <br>

To really check out the difference in monitors between the 20" and 24", go to the store, go to system preferences screen saver/desktop. Go to desktop. In the column on the left, choose solid color. Pick a medium gray and make that the desktop color. Now compare the computers. You will see that the 20" will more than likely have a quite noticeable gradient difference between the top of the screen and the bottom. The 24" may on some, have a slight difference between the rt. and lft side, but most of that has been solved.<br>

The 20" TN screen is a 6 bit screen, it does not produce the range of color that the 8 bit 24 panel will. It says it produces millions of colors, but in fact, the 20" uses filtering into tricking the eye to seeing more color. This fact alone makes the current 20" unsuitable for careful color correction, if that's a thing you need to do.<br>

Anyways, I think I've said all I need to say about iMacs in this topic. I think its up to you now as to what you choose to get. If you get a PC, just make sure you get a decent monitor, plenty of HD space and decent amount of Ram. You might choose one with a video card that lets you use two monitors, which comes in very handy. Good luck, have fun.</p>

<p>Barry, thanks for the detailed answer including uploading files to the internet. No one replied today when I aked, but the guys at Best Buy agreed with your answer when I was there this afternoon.<br>

It is a shame that Mac does not correct the problem on the 20." Perhaps they will with a new model coming out. I appreciate everyone that gave feedback to my original post. <br>

Another question for anyone???? Does anyone use any other brand wireless mouse with their Macs? The little teeny wheel bugs me on the Mac mouse when I test the machines out and when I was using them in class. I found out today at Best Buy that other brands will work but not sure if they will do everything that the Mac mouse does.</p>

<p>What does the mac mouse do? It has right click, left click, scrolling, and two assignable buttons. I think there's many other mice and track balls. I think if you just Google it, you'll find several solutions out there. On mine, I deactivated the two lower side clickers because it was just to squirly, and the little track ball thing I like, except it never works as it gets gummed up and cleaning doesn't seem to help it. Maybe I just got a bad one. Even at the Apple store, if you click on mice you will see several choices in both wireless and usb meeses.</p>

<p>Hi Gang it's the O.P. back once again. I am going to start a new thread regarding my questions below since I started this post about the 20" iMac but now I am ready to buy the 24" and wanted advice on suitable options for me and trying to keep the price down if possible. Yeah right:) I will repeat it here just in case anyone that has folowed this thread may want to offer advice. Still nervous about making the switch from PC but ready to make the leap. I am a freelance photographer. Got a pair of Nikon D300's. No Gaming and probably no video. Will be updating to CS4 and probably Lightroom although I see Aperture 2 talked about a lot. I mainly shoot for newspapers, magazines, family portraits and also sporting events/parties averaging 300-500 photos (why I am looking at Lightroom). The iMac is kind of pricy for me but willing to sacrifice for a trouble free machine if it is as many claim. Looking at what I will be using the 24" for will these options be enough for me? Thanks in advance, John<br>

iMac, 24-inch, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo <br />2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo<br />2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB<br />500GB Serial ATA Drive<br />ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/256MB GDDR3<br />Apple wireless Mighty Mouse<br />Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) + User's Guide<br />iWork '09 preinstalled<br />Accessory kit<br>

I was figuring I could add memory later if needed?<br>

Will the ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/256MB GDDR3 be adequate or will the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB GDDR3 make a huge difference for working with photos with the software mentioned?<br>

Any other suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance, John </p>

<p>I would go with the basic 24imac, but will add asap all the ram possible, meaning 4gig.</p>

<p>Its a good idea of getting a bigger drive, but remember; people who normally get a bigger drive tend not to do backup often because they have lots of place! i would suggest you keep the 320interbal hd and get a second external one of 500gig to backup all your new system and file (keeping a copy on your ointernal as well) until you can get enough money to go get another 500gig to backup the first drive : )</p>

<p>I would also save on wireless keyboard and mouse (if you are close to your money) and put this 50$ on a calibration device such as a eye1 pro or spider3 pro (i any case you really need one as soon as you put your imac out of the box.)</p>

<p>I dont see the point of Iwork, i would buy Office 2008 education instead, since everybody have word / excel / powerpoint on this planet.</p>

<p>Oh, and stay with the basic video card, no need to upgrade it, it work perfectly with all you got.</p>

<p>And finally i would go with Photoshop CS4 and Ligthroom, or Ligthroom and get a wacom bamboo tablet that come with Element; you save some serious money doing so (photoshop is 800$, a bamboo tablet is 120$..you just save 680$, perfect to put on memory / spider3 pro / external hd) And in need later this years IF you feel the need to upgrade to Photoshop CS4, well you had time to put money aside.</p>

 

<p>Patrick, thanks for taking the time for detalied reply and sending to both threads. I will post here also but probably all follow-ups should be at the thread I started in Computer forum (Need help choosing opitions for 24" iMac) I already have a Western Digital 500GB Ext.H.D that I use with current PC. I thought I could add the other 2GB ram later but from reading the posts that is not possible w/Mac correct? I mean it is sold as 2GB or 4GB if I understand correctly? Also, some say that you just take out a couple of screws and replace 2GB w/ 4GB, others say it is a bit more work then that. Opinions?<br>

Wireless is just something that I figured I would get because my mouse wire always drives me crazy getting snagged on things. Perhaps the wireless keyboard is not needed unless someone can give me a reason for it. I would think that most always I will be at my desk working. Oh..I forgot to mention that I am also looking at a 13" Macbook. This will be used mainly to show customers their photos at their resident or place of business in case they don't have a computer (many customers are tourists on vacation) and also serve as a back-up for the iMac 24" So the mouse would be used with it also. Does his sound like a wise idea?<br>

I already plan on spending the extra for calibration device, so we can pass that by, except how often do Mac's come brand new needing calibration? Is it common? I have never calibrated my Dell in over 4 years because I did not have the device yet (but it does need it now of course).<br>

I am torn about the iWork because I am so used to Windows and not sure how much time it takes to get used to exporting files to correct format. As mentioned earlier a salesperson at Best Buy showed me how you with the new iwork 09 you have templates that you can drag photos to and make ads for your business. This is a great feature for me and the salesperson claimed that Windows does not have yet. I really like that you can drag a photo and put in template and resize it by just draggin the corners. Also, the watermark feature is nice but I imagine CS4 has something similar? There are probably many other features that I don't have a clue about yet. Would like feedback about this template feature in iWork. Does Window or other software offer this template option?<br>

Regarding Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom, I get a college discount which brings CS4 down to $299. if I am correct. I have not gotten price on Lightroom yet, but it looks to be just over $100.00. I'm not sure how the licensing works but I suggest making friends w/a college student:-) So, that is how I saved some money.</p>

<p>it is sold as 2gig or 4gig, but if you just take the 2gig, you will have to trash (or give) the 2x1gig ram and buy a 2x2gig set after. And since ram is really important you should get it rigth away, whatever from who or how.</p>

<p>2 screw, a panel, put the ram, close the panel, put the screw back. a monkey can do it : )</p>

<p>Godfrey seem to like the wireless device, i dotn have ne and dont desire one enither..its a matter of choice.</p>

<p>Yes for the macbook and mouse, but why dont you just buy a macbook pro with a external 24inch monitor and have only 1 computer to look at? im selling my Imac 24inch this week to do just that!</p>

<p>All computer, all screen, pc or mac need to be calibrate out of the box..its not a MAc thing, but a reality across the universe. I calibrate everything every month.</p>

<p>For iwork you would need to ask Godfrey or Brad about that.</p>

<p>Excellent price for CS4 and Lightroom..get both : )</p>

<p>Patrick, I don't see my first reply up yet. Not sure if it came through. But I just did a brief check of the Macbook Pro. It loos like a basic 15" 2.53 GHz Macbook Pro along with support and 24" monitor cost as much as a 24" iMac and the the 13" Macbook combined. I am thinking wouldn't it be better to have 2 computers in case one failed. And just in case other message does not appear, Mac will come to the home and fix desktop whereas with laptop, it has to be sent off for a few days if not weeks for repair.</p>

<p>Well i'll add my two cents, i'm typing this entry on my 20" iMac. It's the early 2008 version. It's a great computer, the intel core 2 duo processor can tackle the CS4 suite (illustrator, photoshop and bridge) all at once. Granted, I upgraded the RAM, so now i've got 2, 2GB sticks of OCZ 6400, so with 4 GB's in it...it's runnning fine.<br>

This is all coming from a guy who use to build his own computers from the motherboard up. I use to run a AMD FX-60 with 4 GB's of ram and Nvidia 8800 GT, but i got tired of Windows XP (it's a great OS, if you do a clean install every so often) I just got tired of upgrading HDD's and thinking of what i could upgrade down the road. So Mac it is...it's simple, fast, easy (plus i use a G5 at work, so i'm use to it) <br>

If you looking for something easy and doesn't need alot of attention, but costs double...Mac is the way to go!</p>

<p>I will make it quick im working : )</p>

<p>I have set my macpro as a raid because after seing a benchmark on macworld, that a 2 x2.4gihz was running like a 2 x 3.0ghz. After doing stuffit, opening image on my un raid disk, then on my raid i can say that all run fatser, or i should say many operation run faster. Other than that, for a regular user, i think indeed a 800 firewire drive should do.</p>