iMac Review
November 12, 2009
iMac Product Information – Review & Buyer’s Guide
Overview
Entry level Mac aimed at personal or home use but very suitable for work/business use for all but the most demanding applications. Very stylish all-in-one design looks stunning and takes up the minimum space – the whole thing is contained in the display so there are no nasty boxes under the desk! The display has LED backlighting and a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio making the picture exceptionally sharp and bright and perfect for HD video. It’s available up to 27″ which is ideal for organising your workspace and having lots of windows open at once, or alternatively it’s great for watching TV or video. That’s not to trivialise it’s considerable abilities as a professional machine for business use but this is also a great machine to have at home for digital movies, photographs, iTunes, internet and all the applications that make up Apple’s ‘Digital Hub’ concept with the Mac as the centre of home entertainment and communication.
Features
- LED-backlit widescreen display in two sizes: 21.5″ and 27″
- Dual-core processor up to 3.33GHz or Quad-core processor up to 2.8GHz
- Slim all-in-one design – everything is built into the display
- Comes with iLife: iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iDVD, and iWeb
- Build-in iSight video camera (webcam)
- BlueTooth, Airport Extreme (802.11n) wireless networking
- Wireless Magic Mouse using Multi-Touch technology
Opinion
Unless you use very demanding applications (e.g. video editing, photo retouching, 3D modeling), or you need to work on the move and hence need a laptop, this is probably the best Mac for most of us. Although it is positioned as being an entry-level machine, it’s extremely powerful and it’s pretty expandable too with up to 16GB RAM and up to 2TB hard drive. More than powerful enough for most people’s needs (even for business & professional users to work on all day), super smart and gorgeous to look at, and really very cheap for what you get, this Mac is the Editor’s Choice of the current lineup. In fact it is the Mac I use myself and I have two – one at work and one at home!
Buying an iMac
The best place to buy a new iMac is the online Apple Store. Not only do you have the comfort and security of buying directly from the manufacturer, you also get free delivery and 90 days free support from Apple.
The online Apple Store allows you to configure your Mac to your own requirements: you can choose processor, display, memory, hard drive capacity and other options and build your own Mac. For the latest iMac prices, configuration options and specifications visit the online Apple Store.
Secondhand iMac
If you’re interested in a secondhand iMac instead of a new one check out the secondhand iMacs on MacBooty. This site finds the best deals on iMacs on eBay and saves you from having to sort through all the eBay listings yourself.