New Core Duo iMac: First Impressions
So,
yesterday, I decided to be conservative, save some money, and purchase the 17-inch Dual Core iMac, which was in stock
at the Palisades Apple Store, rather than wait for the more expensive 20-inch to arrive. After all, I've already
ordered a fully-loaded, top of the line MacBook Pro, so I may as well be conservative with the iMac. Also, someone at
the Apple Store screwed up, because when I got the iMac home and unpacked it, I had a free upgrade to a wireless
keyboard and mouse. Nice! I need to order more RAM and the monitor adapter (wish they'd included it...), so I can plug
in another monitor and try the monitor spanning trick.As soon as I opened the box, I lost the iMac remote. It turned back up about 25 minutes later, and now I am keeping it stuck to the side of the iMac.
So far, I have to say, this machine is very fast. Even with only the default 512MBs of RAM, this baby launches programs fast. Safari and iTunes are instantaneous in nearly everything (with only a slight load screen when visiting the iTMS). Universal binary programs are all super fast, and most of the programs running in Rosetta still function very well, as long as they aren't graphics intensive. Unfortunately, World of Warcraft is quite laggy with frame-rates fluctuating from 7-20 per second. I hope the universal binary version comes out soon. iPhoto is fast and cool, but would seem to need some more RAM to really zip through my 12K photos. I'll report more details later today, and hopefully have a nice video podcast of the new machine for you sometime today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.
I was disappointed to find that GraphicConverter is no longer bundled with the new Macs, but there is a universal binary version of the application already available. For a full list of apps included with the new iMac, check after the break.
List of included software:
- Safari
- System Preferences
- iWeb
- Stickies
- Sherlock
- Photo Booth
- OmniOutliner
- Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive
- iSync
- iPhoto
- iTunes
- TextEdit
- Internet Connect
- iMovie HD
- DVD Player
- iDVD
- Dashboard
- Chess
- Image Capture
- GarageBand
- Quicken 2006
- Dictionary
- Font Book
- Automator
- Address Book
- QuickTime Player
- iCal
- Big Bang Board
Games
- Big Bang Mancala
- Big Bang 4-In-A-Row
- Big Bang Checkers
- Big Bang Backgammon
- Big Bang Chess
- Big Bang Tic-Tac-Toe
- Big Bang Reversi
- iChat
- AppleScript
- Calculator
- Comic Life
- Utilities
- Installer
- ODBC Administrator
- Directory Access
- Migration Assistant
- Network Utility
- NetInfo Manager
- Terminal
- Console
- VoiceOver Utility
- Grapher
- Activity Monitor
- System Profiler
- Keychain Access
- DigitalColor Meter
- Disk Utility
- AirPort Admin Utility
- Printer Setup Utility
- Audio MIDI Setup
- ColorSync Utility
- Java
- Bluetooth File Exchange
- AirPort Setup Assistant
- Grab
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Michael E said 12:45AM on 2-11-2006
OK answered my own question with my new iMac: yes, the Core Duo does great 4 way conferencing. I didn't even realize that I'd be able to on my cable connection, but it works great!
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Me said 11:39AM on 1-18-2006
Is it possible that WoW just sucks with only 512MB of RAM?
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jimmi geddes said 11:44AM on 1-18-2006
I just linked to your article at my site. I read Walt Mossberg's review, and he said that AOL for Mac OS X wouldn't run at all. Is there any way you could confirm this? I am thinking about getting the 17-inch imac next week, but I use aol on my powerbook now, and want to know if it doesn't work at all. Great review, looking forward to hearing more.
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C.K. Sample, III said 11:45AM on 1-18-2006
I'm running AOL on the iMac right now. No problems whatsoever.
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iFelix said 12:02PM on 1-18-2006
All I think now when I read these kind of reviews is...
When is the Mac Pro coming out (the new Intel PowerMac)?
When will universal binaries of the applications I use be available?
Sorry I can't wait...
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Steven said 12:07PM on 1-18-2006
What kind of audio does System Profiler say it has?
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big dog said 12:12PM on 1-18-2006
No monitor spanning hack needed! They support up to 23-inch Cinema displays out of the box. Apple states it's a mini-dvi port on the new iMac, maybe the one for 12 inch powerbook works? This new feature has me sold, I'm getting one in the next month or so.
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Alex Crouzen said 12:17PM on 1-18-2006
WoW runs OK-ish on a mac mini with 512k, so its probably not the memory. Unless Rosetta takes up a heap (heh) of memory and adding mem relieves that bottleneck.
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jimmie geddes said 12:28PM on 1-18-2006
Thanks C.K. for answering my aol question. In Mossberg's review he said it didn't run. I am gonna go for the 17-inch with 1gb of ram. I am upgrading from a powerbook g4 12-inch, so I'm looking forward to the speed increase. Can't wait to hear more of your review and video podcast would be awesome!!!
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rbarbera said 12:29PM on 1-18-2006
If you have a copy of Photoshop CS2 and the needed time, once you get 1Gb of RAM it will be very informative to run the test sugested in this thread from the forums of MacRumors...
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=136593
Photoshop is one of this "profesional used by amateurs" application that I need to run TODAY suported by Rosetta, so this kind of test will be wellcommed.
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Ryan said 12:35PM on 1-18-2006
Hey C.K, why'd you choose the 5,400 120 gb over the 7,200 100 gb hard drive in your MacBook Pro? Just for extra space over extra speed? What is better anyways, 20 more gigs or 1,800 more rpm's or whatnot... This is a question to both C.K. and all you lovely comment-ers out there / in here.
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J.J. said 12:46PM on 1-18-2006
C.K.,
Do you have any version of MS Office running on your new iMac ? And, if so, how's that running under Rosetta ?
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rbarbera said 12:49PM on 1-18-2006
5.400 rpm vs. 7.200 rps is not only a speed question is a power consumption one. As fast the HD spins more and more power eats from this little batteries. I think that 5.400 rpm is a good compromise between speed and power needs.
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phlavor said 1:00PM on 1-18-2006
Are the RAM and Hard Drive still "User Upgradable"? It saw the take apart posted a few days ago and it looked like you have to go in from the front of the unit. I hope that's not the case.
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Kris Jensen said 1:02PM on 1-18-2006
I saw WoW (universal binary) running on the new iMac at Macworld Expo. It was awesome: up to 90!!! fps with excellent graphic rendering. I don't know how much RAM the machine had. The universal binary is coming in patch 1.9.4, according to the WoW Mac support forum. Enjoy your new iMac!
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andy said 1:07PM on 1-18-2006
This is the exact machine I plan on getting in a couple months (except with 1 gig of memory and the 250 HD). Glad to hear it's working out so well for you.
I hate to admit this, but the most exciting thing, to me, about the included software is the Big Bang Board Games :)
Ryan: For me, the 20 gigs would be the priority. I'd rather wait the .00002 seconds for a disk write than spend 20 minutes looking for stuff to throw away to make extra room when there's something crucial I need to put on my machine.
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Kenny said 1:12PM on 1-18-2006
I want one! But until I can replace my current Powermac I am going to sit on my hands. I'll be interested to hear how the RAM upgrade goes, since I don't know what it takes to open an iMac up to get at the RAM -- post a couple photos if it's something more than an access panel, please.
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Jason said 1:24PM on 1-18-2006
Thanks for the review. I've been looking at getting the 20" iMac for some time now, but I've been uncertain as to whether I should go with the Intel or the G5. So far, most of the Intel reviews I've read have been very positive, and yours continues with that trend. Looks like I might be getting an Intel machine before too soon...
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Veronica said 1:41PM on 1-18-2006
Finally... all my WoW questions answered in one post. You are braver than I to purchase a new MacBook Pro right off the bat. Can't wait to see the review on that puppy!
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Zach Forrester said 1:56PM on 1-18-2006
I'm running a review of my IntelMac on my blog
http://web.mac.com/zrforrester/iWeb/Site/Blog/Blog.html
feel free to check it out, and tell me what you think
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