Quick, quiet and Reliable
Written: May 20 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Quick, quiet, powerful, space-efficient
Cons: A Little pricey
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| auto1903's Full Review: Apple iMac Blue Dalmatian 15 in. (M8347LL/A) Mac D... |
I purchased my iMac DV SE in November and I've never regretted it. The fact that it achieved a 4 star average despite a ferverent and rabid group of Mac-haters ebulliently intent on pulling down the average, speaks volumes of its competence. There are a few legitimate problems that were not covered in their derisive coverage, so I will attempt to elucidate these also.
To set the record straight for those writing reviews with lines like "Macs must die!" or "Macs suck!" I believe they're talking about the previous iMacs when they complain about lack of memory, poor speakers or cheap CD-ROM drives. The iMac DV SE has 128 megs of RAM, a generous amount. The speakers are Harmon-Kardon and they're excellent. The quality is about as clear and crisp as could be expected for their compact size. The CD-ROM/DVD isn't a little push button, it has a slick slot loading system that works flawlessly.
The unit is well-assembled and has a smooth tactile feel. Though it may seem pricey, it includes a sharp monitor built in, a DVD-ROM drive, two firewire ports (for editing digital video), two USB ports, an ethernet port and is upgradeable with an airport card. Many PCs don't include even one firewire port, or ethernet. So these are additional cost options. A firewire upgrade can cost more than 130 dollars.
It includes a great selection of software, including AppleWorks, WorldBook encyclopedia, Quicken 2000, the great iMovie software, several 3D games exclusive to Macs and Mac OS 9. Also included is A Bugs Life on DVD.
The iMac takes up little desk space so I can fit it in my little room. At first a found the mouse a little akward but I got used to it quickly. The keyboard is a wonder of compactness. It includes all 12 function keys, as well as help, home , page up, and page down keys and the 10 key system on the side.
Virtually any new hardware devices, like Microsoft's Intellimouse and the GAMEPad Pro work with iMacs. There are some programs that don't run on Mac, but I haven't missed any. Microsoft Word, Excel, Adobe Pagemaker, Photoshop, Outlook all are available. I just downloaded Internet Explorer 5 for Macintosh and it works great. It works better than on PCs in fact, and has a great quality that is customizable with the iMac.
And as for games, I have more than I can play. The Tomb Raider series are available, as well as Madden 2000, Unreal, Quake III, Star Wars Racer, Rainbow Six, Descent III, Half-Life, Total Anihilation, Heretic II, Sim City 3000 and more. I have the Virtual Game Station software, which allows me to play Playstation games on my Mac. It runs even better than playstation because the CDROM is faster and I can save endless memory cards without spending 20 bucks a pop. If you need more games than that, then quite frankly, you need to diversify your interests more.
But I digress. The Hard Drive is huge. I have all of my CDs on my computer as mp3s (more than 35 hours of music) and it only uses 15% of the 13 GB hard drive. The hard drive, along with 128 megs of RAM, and iMovie, make video editing a snap.
The computer is fast and very stable. With OS9, it crashes not more than once a week at most. That is something you can't say about Windows. Adding peripherals is a breeze–Just plug it in.
I don't miss a floppy drive. That slow, noisy and unreliable piece of 80s technology is ready for obsolescence. It's too small to backup a hard drive and the internet is more convenient for small files.
The only problem was my modem broke and I had it fixed for free locally by an Apple dealer with no hassle and friendly, fast service. I expect it will be reliable, as my Mac LC III went seven years without a single problem until we sold it.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
auto1903
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Member: Andrew G
Location: AK
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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