Apple iMac DV - The good iMac
Written: May 16 '00 (Updated Nov 27 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use, DVD, 128MB RAM, larger hard drive, Fire wire
Cons: Runs very hot, expensive.
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| Gr8ful's Full Review: Apple iMac Blue Dalmatian 15 in. (M8347LL/A) Mac D... |
I have never been one to like iMacs. The DV is a special edition of the popular computer by Apple. The DV has twice the memory (128MB) and a larger hard drive (13.0GB). Other than that the only real difference is the iMac DV only comes in Graphite color where as the other iMacs come in several different "flavors". They feature the famous G3 processor running at 400MHz. I always wondered, what "flavor" is graphite anyway?
The main reason I don't like the iMac computer is because of the design. If you put your hand over the back of the monitor, you could burn it from the heat coming out of the vents. The iMacs have no fan and run extremely hot. They are convection cooled (like a VW bug), they use massive heat sinks all along the interior to radiate the heat upwards, but I still think they could use a fan or two.
Working in a retail environment I have seen iMacs brought back with heat damage within 1-2 years of purchase. This is a design flaw that is common to all iMacs. If you use your iMac in a room with fairly moderate temperature (68-78 degrees) you shouldn't have much trouble with it but watch out in the summer time if you don't have air-conditioning.
Other than this major complaint, the iMac is a well rounded computer and is a great buy for first time computer users. It's main attractive feature is that it's all in one. The entire computer is encased within the monitor housing. This makes it very portable with a very small footprint. Excellent for people who have very little desk space.
It's operating system is easy to use and with USB, it is completely expandable. It has 2 USB ports on the side of the machine, where the keyboard plugs into one of the USB ports. The keyboard itself, in turn, acts as a 2 port hub and the mouse plugs into the keyboard. So you have one port free on the computer and still one port free on the keyboard. You can use a USB printer and still have room for a USB CDRW or Web Cam.
In addition to the expandability of the USB, you also have 2 fire wire ports. Fire wire was designed originally for video transfer, but is also being used for networking and peripherals. The data transfer rate of USB is 12 megabits per second. The data rate for fire wire is 400 megabits per second! So this feature adds many options with new hardware coming out for fire wire in the near future. They already have external hard drives for the iMac that use fire wire and if you're a video editor this feature is a must have for getting your video into the computer quickly and dependably.
The iMac DV comes with the latest version of the Macintosh operating system, MacOS 9. This new operating system adds features for DVD playback and other enhancements of the previous MacOS 8.6. It also comes with built in 3D graphic acceleration with 8MB (not shared with system) memory for a great gaming experience.
It has built in speakers and you can get additional speakers to enhance the sound. The sound quality is not bad and there is also a built in microphone in the monitor. The built in microphone isn't great but it's nice to have for video conferencing and recording notes.
It is a descent little computer, even though I am a PC man from way back I have a deep respect for Macintosh and their iMac. I recommend the iMac DV for first time computer buyers who want DVD capability in an easy to use computer and children of school age, since most schools use the iMac in their computer labs.
Recommended:
Yes
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