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New Core Duo iMac: First Impressions

by C.K. Sample, III Jan 18th 2006 at 11:30AM

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
  • Mail
  • 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


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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...
 

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Michael E

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!

February 11 2006 at 12:45 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael E

Can you comment on iChat AV performance? Hit me up on AIM at mikee60369. I notice that Apple's page on iChat AV requirements hasn't change.

It still lists all requirements in G4 and G5 equivalents.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/ichat/

Does anyone know if hosting multi-way video works with the Core Duo? I'd assume it does, but you never know. Can you launch iChat AV and confirm that it is a native app, not running under Rosetta?

Michael

January 23 2006 at 11:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kOoLiNuS

on the rpms vs capacity topic:
if the "primary" use is @work, @school & @home you can surely add some rpms to your disk.

if you travel a lot, _and_ you use the pc during that travelling you have to go with slower disk

just my 0.02

January 23 2006 at 6:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Pence

Have been playing with my new intel iMac. Just received it yesterday and so far happy with purchase. However, the speed of running everyday apps outside of itunes, iphoto, email and web surfing is quite slow. Most third party apps run but have found to lag behind my kids' iMac G5. Any photo editing, video editing or just using jam with my music can be very frustrating. My iBook G4 1.2 GHz actually works better than most of these apps with rosetta. I have been an Apple devotee for a very long time but have learned to not believe all the hype. I would not be very happy if I did not have a backup G4 and G5. If you run any third party apps or anything that requires juice do not get the intel iMac yet. Wait!!! Or if you must get and iMac now, then get the G5. Believe you me, there are a few things that make the new iMac better, but you simply cannot do everyday tasks easily. Wait until more apps go native. Otherwise, you will have the fastest web surfing iMac outhere, but little else.

January 20 2006 at 5:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jimmie

I want to see the video podcast!!!!

January 18 2006 at 6:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ian Charles

GraphicConverter was never included with the iMac, or the eMac or iBook.

January 18 2006 at 6:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Charles Miller

As far as I know, GraphicConverter was never included with iMacs, it's only bundled with the Powermac and Powerbook. So we'll have to wait for the MacBook Pro to see if it's still included.

January 18 2006 at 4:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Macuser

Wouldn't it be more efficient to just get a large external separate for your MacBook, instead of an iMac? They are about the same speed, aren't they? Or do you need two computers for something?

January 18 2006 at 4:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Pete

Have you tried installing Windows XP on it?

January 18 2006 at 4:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
totoro

thanks for the review-when you say its "very fast", what are you using as a baseline? I'm on a 1.67 Mini, so I'm hoping its MUCH, MUCH faster, with fewer spinning beachballs!

January 18 2006 at 4:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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