Apple Computers

The screen.. wow, 24 inches! It's big, probably bigger than many people need but.. boy.. is this a work of art! Watching a movie on this amazing display is an experience I haven't had before. The only con I found here is that you wouldn't want to put this in a very bright place or near a window. It is a glossy screen and while it adds style to the Mac it will turn the computer into a mirror if the environment you are working in is too bright.
Apple remote and Front Row are all the same. Very simple, elegant and just work. I don't use Front Row but for Front Row lovers this iMac is heaven! This IS the place where you'll want to watch your movies and photo slideshows on.

Apple iMac Desktop with 20" Display MA876LL/A
(2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, SuperDrive)

As I mentioned above, all iMacs are DUO. This version (Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz) is FAST. Add an extra gig of RAM and you'll be flying in your iLife. Very good processor, I recommend Core 2 Extreme for advanced users. Don't get me wrong, 1GB is perfectly fine if all you're planning to do is work with iLife and Internet. However for the other applications such as Photoshop you'll need more RAM. Let's remember that the resolution on this thing is 1920x1200 and to run certain applications in full screen you'll need the horsepower.

Just like before an iMac is NOT a gaming machine. The graphics on this computer while are not bad, (256MB Radeon 2600 HD Pro), are still not good enough for "hardcore" gamers, even with Core 2 Extreme processor. There are good news, however! If you install Bootcamp on this Mac and put Vista on it you'll have full DirectX 10 support. Still.. if you're looking for hardcore gaming look somewhere else. For casual gamers like myself this will be more than enough.

Speaking of Bootcamp.. I don't think that the current drivers support the new iMacs as of yet. There will be a coming update for the beta and hopefully the new drivers will be included.

Another problem with Bootcamp is that you cannot install any 64-bit Windows versions, which is a disappointment since Core 2 architecture is 64-bit. Maybe they will fix it later? I don't know. I certainly hope so because when you pay for 4GB of RAM you want to be able to use all of it, not just 3GB.

iLife '08.. Great pack of applications which come with this Mac for free. Honestly.. there are some problems with the suite (minor issues) but I am sure they will be fixed with a future update from Apple. I do, however, believe that this suite was designed for this Mac.. everything is extremely fast.

Overall, I strongly believe that this is an amazing deal. You get a better computer for $200 less than the previous model. If you would like a more advanced iMac with more HD space and faster processor then head over to Apple and pick one there.

Apple Cinema 20" Flat-Panel Display

P/S. This goes to the reviewer who is not happy with the new design. The reason Apple chose aluminum design is because they want their computers to match the operating system visually. For example, the white finder bar and blue Aqua wallpaper in versions of Mac OS X Jaguar, Panther and Tiger look great on the white iMac.