Any iMac owners here?

[luckyo]

My wife and I were considering getting an iMac (the $1199 base model) as a family machine (watching DVDs, managing family photos on iPhoto with a Time Machine backup, surfing the internet) to complement my Vaio F (which I mainly use for work and gaming) and her hand-me-down 2008 MacBook Pro (which she uses for all-around use). My wife insists on an OSX machine, and there's no large-screened inexpensive Apple laptops. Then I remembered that not all computers have to be laptops

So for owners: how good is the screen? The speakers? The keyboard and mouse that it's bundled with? Anything else you like or don't like about it?

 

[dsuraci]

I have a 27" iMac with i7, 16gb, 2 TB HD and LOVE it! I have been a PC user for 25+ years and with Parallels, I can run all of my needed Windows "stuff" within the OSX environment. This is my first experience with Parallels (been using VMware) and I am really impressed. There is definitely a learning curve with OSX, but the more you use, the easier it becomes. Going back to your iMac questions. The display is awesome! (LOVE the 2560x1440 resolution) Keyboard is small but feels good (nice feedback). The Magic mouse takes a little getting used to, but I do like it. The speakers are decent, but I hooked up some external Creative lab speakers that I already had. You definitely pay a premium for Macs but you do get what you pay for. It is a very high quality, well made piece of hardware.

Hope this helps...
Dean

 

[ronmarcusps]

I also own a 27" Core i7, late 2009 iMac with 1 TB hard drive and 12 GB RAM and love it! The 27" display is terrific for having multiple windows open side by side and the resolution is very good. The keyboard is small, and my only beef with it is there is no "adding machine" number keyboard on the side. The magic mouse is OK, but I have added a magic trackpad, which, IMHO, is much easier for working with Snow Leopard (I think this is now an option with the new iMacs). Highly recommended if you want a large desktop machine.

 

[Tetz95]

I have the low end iMac. It's 1920x1080 resolution is nice and the speakers are decent. I don't really like not having a number pad, but there are plenty of aftermarket options, or you can go with the optional usb keyboard. I have both the magic mouse and the trackpad and I use both equally. I don't know if it's my RF situation or if it's the mouse but it likes to disconnect itself often enough to be annoying. Don't buy it with the extra RAM option because you can get it aftermarket for much cheaper. I bought 8GB off of amazon for $40.

My only issue with the iMac is the hard drive. The base model has only 500GB and you're going to want more if you store movies. You can probably get away with an external thunderbolt drive but they're really too expensive for now. You CANNOT upgrade the internal drive with an aftermarket one without having the hard drive fan staying at full speed. It seems that apple drives have special firmware on them. You can send your computer to the guys at Other World Computing and have them install their kit but it's expensive. And to add to the problem, you can't get a bigger hard drive as a factory option on the base model iMac.