Rating: 
Summary: A PC user...... make that a former PC user
Review: Wow!!! I love my Mac. It runs fast without a problem.... ever. That's right, no illegal operations, no page faults and no blue screen of death. I don't even reboot, I have installed tons of great software and am thrilled with the whole experience. I am very pleased and will never by another PC again. We are even starting to incorporate Macs into our office.
Rating: 
Summary: great form, mediocre performance
Review: I want to like Apple products more than I do. I've purchased three iMacs as gifts, lust after a 10GB iPod, like the Apple corporate image, admire the design risks Apple takes. Having said this, why can't Apple bring to market a product that computer enthusiasts can respect? A product that performs at or near the performance envelope for a given class? The new iMac is a wonder of modern industrial design but for the same or less you can own a pc that will run circles around the new iMac. The most recent benchmark in an enthusiasts mag of the new iMac (800 MHz proc, 256 MB SDRAM) and a cost equivalent pc (a 1.73GHz Athlon system) showed the pc to be twice as fast running the Inspire 3D benchmark (273 seconds vs 134), three times as fast in Photoshop 6.0.1 benchmark (157 seconds vs 52, Apple's home turf), five times as fast in a Quake III benchmark (37.6 fps vs 199.5 !!) and four times as fast running the Premiere 6.0.1 benchmark (1353 seconds vs 352). So what does this mean in the real world? Not much unless you're a gamer, a demanding user of business apps, value the added speed and so on. For business users, especially Photoshop users, time is money. If you're paying a graphics professional you don't want a machine that builds in non value added cost. You will also want a machine that can be easily and cost effectively be upgraded. You won't be able to do this with the iMac. Disregard the 'blue screen of death' and 'crash prone nature of Windows' comments. Win XP and 2000 are far more stable than OS 9 could ever hope to be. OS 9 was crashier and had antiquated memory management. I know - I serve as the unoffical Apple tech for friends and family. Now that both Windows and Apple have gone with Unix variants the stability issues are more or less moot or at least on par with each other. There's a lot to like about the Apple o/s but it's not the dramatic reliability or user friendly upgrade from Windows that many Apple afficionados would have you believe - at least not since Win 98 se. For email, internet, light duty business app use, light duty photo and music duties the iMac will be fine for most people. More than fine. With fire wire support, a crisp lcd screen, a dvd/cd burner, iTunes, iPhoto and other useful software there's a lot to like. Unfortunately, the pc world is still where the action is.
Rating:
Summary: Be Brave!
Review: I discovered that I was using my old PC for five main uses: (1) surfing the Internet; (2) writing e-mail; (3) word processing; (4) digital music; and (5) digital photography. I decided that my next computer purchase would be the computer that did these five things the best. The iMac won hands-down.I looked at Dell, but I really was not in the mood for a large PC box all over again. I also was unimpressed by the Dimension 8200's inexplicable lack of FireWire ports. I also wanted something new. I am tired of Windows, and WinXP is still a difficult, quirky, obnoxious operating system. By the time all was said and done, the iMac won not only on usability but also on price. I defy anyone to purchase a Dell with this good of a flat-panel display, Superdrive (DVD, CD, DVD-R, CD-R), sheer number of ports (3 USB, 2 FireWire, network, phone, etc.) and ease of use at anywhere close to the same price. And it's a good-looking machine to boot. I can do everything that I did on my PC on the iMac, and I can do it better, faster, and cheaper. Digital photography is a snap. The iTunes software for digital music is easier to use than Windows Media player, and it syncs beautifully with an iPod. OS X is also a wonderful operating system. Not only that, but I'm exchanging files between my PC at work and my iMac flawlessly. Mac users are not isolated from the PC world merely because they use a superior OS. Everyone (meaning PC users) cringes when they hear that someone is contemplating buying a Mac. They think that Mac purchasers buy computers merely because they look cool and sacrifice on usability for sheer aesthetics. That's far from the case. These are not only better-looking machines, but they are better machines, period. Go to a store. Use one. You'll see what I'm talking about, and you'll realize that it's better than a PC. Be brave, and buy the iMac. Your friends will be jealous.
Rating:
Summary: Wouldn't trade it for anything!
Review: I have no idea what on earth Marc from PA (see review below) did to his computer, because it is so easy to get this computer up and running that a 5 year old could do it. I have had nothing but happy times running OS X. Everything is beautiful and smooth, no crashes. The thing about using a Mac, is that they are so asthetically pleasing to look at, you are just HAPPY when you're on one. They look so nice in the room too... not some nasty old clunky machine like most PC's... more like a work of modern art! (My eyes wander over to my machine every once in a while, and I just gotta smile.) Okay, beginning to sound like that lady "in love" with her machine..... but, combine that with its blazing processor speed... Mac has really done a wonderful job in creating the greatest user experience. (Now just wait for all those other companies to start copying it, like they did for the iMacs!)
Rating:
Summary: A recent convert to Macs!
Review: I never owned a Mac before. Then, I started seeing pictures of this new iMac and started feeling incredibly frustrated with my Dell PC. I can't figure out how the guy above me had so much trouble with his iMac.
It literally took longer for me to unhook my Dell PC, than it did for me to get my new iMac out of its box and hooked up to the internet! The operating system (OS X) is slick!
iTunes is the simplest music manager program I have ever encountered. I'm ripping and burning without any problems.
It's a small desktop, so I (finally) have room on my desk. The LCD screen produces sharp images and since its adjustabe, I'm never straining my eyes. Best of all, spending time in front of my old bulky CRT monitor used to give me headaches (like migraines) about once a week. Now, I've spent many (probably too many) hours enjoying my iMac and I haven't had a headache since buying it!
I won't deny that it's pricy and moving over to another OS can be scary, but Macs truly are easy, powerful, and stylish. And if you don't want a Mac because of its smaller game library, then check out the online Apple store for some great, well-known games that are ready for Macs that other stores probably aren't carrying.
Rating: 
Summary: I should have stuck with Dell
Review: It's been 6 years since I last used a Mac. For the past six years I've ben using a dell. It usuall only takes me about 20 miutes to set hook up a Dell. The IMAC I thought might even be easier. But alas I was wrong. I've wasted over five hours and and I'm still not done setting it up. Apple sent virtually no ducumentation with the computer. I don't know if it's becuase they believe that the mac is so simple, or if they are just to cheap to print a hard copy of the maunals. In anyevent I couldn't get my cable modem working. And of course all the online ducumentation doens't help if you can't get online. The tech support guy was nice. He wasted an hour of his time helping me. Ultimately after 2 hours i got online. Then I wanted to use outlook express. That was a big mistake. It doesn't work on OS 10. Of course without any real documentation it's hard to know that. Tried to install OS 9. For some reason i kapt getting error messages. Wasted some more of Apple's tech support time. I was told To completely reformat that hard drive and try again. It cost me a few more hours to finally get OS 9 working. Now I'm off to see if I can get outlook to work. Wish me luck. This has become a nightmare. I should have stuck with a dell.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Mac
Review: Bought early thru Amazon; Got [a discount] (not presently offered), free shipping and saved [money] in sales tax. Got here earlier than would have direct from Apple or from Apple Store. This is a great Mac. I left Mac 7 years ago for PC and this is first trip back. Have been using about a month and have had no crashes, and love the included software including AppleWorks, iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, and iDVD. I now burn my home vidios onto DVD (should last about a gazillion yrs. longer). These programs are easy to use and intuitive though I did cheat and read a couple books on subjects. I use iPod and at high quality MP3 get about 680 songs (some long classical or jazz) in unit (uploads that 680 in about 12 minutes total). Sounds great and simple to use and update with iTunes. Programs were immediatly compatible with my Dig. Camera and Camcorder. Could go on but ran out of time.
Rating:
Summary: Who could ask for anything more?
Review: If you are reading this, you are trying to decide if this computer is right for you. Conflicted by the PC world? Why shouldn't you be, they are indeed everywhere. However, to put you at ease, most of us "Mac Users" were once "PC Users." We just needed something more than Windows had to offer. Is it unreasonable to want a PC that does not crash, a PC that does what is asked of it without giving you a headache, a PC that turns off when you want to shut it off, a PC that is more than just a PC, but a personable computer? If you purchase a Macintosh, all of these requests are possible. If you go with a PC, have fun with the struggle of your new system.
As far as software, give me a break (I hate this argument). Logically think of what you do on a computer, surf the web, write documents, play games,... On a Mac, same stuff, done better, loads and loads better. As far as compatability with PC's, files transfer over, back and forth perfectlly. Microsoft writes software for the Macintosh, Internet Explorer, Office v.X, Media Player, all done better than the Windows counterparts.
So, I hope I've helped in some way ease your "transition" into a Macintosh. They really are the better computers. You just need to start, "Think Different."
Rating:
Summary: Thank You Steve!!!
Review: Originally I was shopping for a laptop and watched Macworld live on TechTV to see Steve Jobs unveil the new ibooks. I was impressed with the ibooks(which I still reccomend) but when Jobs brought this out I was blown away. The more I researched and learned about this I knew my plans for a laptop were out the window. First of all there is no product out there that even comes close to this in this price range. When you add up the software package, ease of use, an incredible STABLE UNIX operating system, great company support, superdrive and a brilliant flat panel there is no other choice. This is my first Apple product and after years of dealing with microsoft and pc's where there was little or no customer support I will never switch back. Besides the fact you know you are home when you look at the list of songs that comes loaded in itunes and see tracks from Oakenfold and Digweed and Sasha! I have noticed alot of people saying that they don't like where the power button is located. That is really not an issue with this machine though. This is not a microsoft product, this is OSX. You don't need to completely power down you quietly put it to sleep and it wakes back up with a keyboard stroke in about a second.
Rating:
Summary: Best Computer I have ever owned!
Review: I have never worked on a mac prior to purchasing my new iMac. I bought it primarily for converting home videos to dvd. I have attempted this on my pc and have failed miserably. Constant crashes and lockups. I have taken a chance on the iMac and boy am I impressed. I have, in a 4 days, created two dvd movies that play incredible on my big screen tv. This was just the begining. I receieve e-mail, fax, web browsing, quicken, ms office, mp3, the flat screen, ethernet port, 5 usb ports, 2 firewire ports, etc... The software is incredible and it runs beautifully.
Also I am a web developer and creating java applications is awesome. I have now had my machine on for 3 straight weeks, it has only crashed once, when I put a program I wrote in an endless loop. I will never buy another windows based pc. If you used an iMac for a weekdend, you would never buy a windows pc either.
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