PC, iMac, Apple

20-inch iMac Core Duo 2.0GHz

I hadn't planned on buying a new desktop computer until the fall, but Apple's iMac update caught me off guard. Suddenly, Apple was selling a computer that seemed to offer the right balance of performance and value to meet the needs of the average "prosumer." By today's standards, I'm not a particularly demanding user. I don't edit videos in Final Cut Pro; I don't even use iMovie. I like the occasional game, but primarily I use my computer for Internet-based work. The applications that run constantly on my machine are Safari, Mail, Adium X, iTunes, NetNewsWire, Photoshop, Transmit, and TextEdit. I hadn't planned on buying a new desktop computer until the fall, but Apple's iMac update caught me off guard. Suddenly, Apple was selling a computer that seemed to offer the right balance of performance and value to meet the needs of the average "prosumer." By today's standards, I'm not a particularly demanding user. I don't edit videos in Final Cut Pro; I don't even use iMovie. I like the occasional game, but primarily I use my computer for Internet-based work. The applications that run constantly on my machine are Safari, Mail, Adium X, iTunes, NetNewsWire, Photoshop, Transmit, and TextEdit -- all of which I use to maintain Leftlane News, my webzine about cars and the auto industry. Given my experience with a dual-2.0GHz Power Mac G5, I had high hopes for the new iMac Core Duo. The original Power Mac G5's level of performance is the gold standard to which all other Macs are judged, even to this day. I had hoped the new iMac would be the $1700 equivalent to the original Power Mac G5 dual-2.0GHz, but unfortunately it's not that simple.

Set up and Initial impressions

Like all recent Apple products, the iMac comes packaged in a deceptively-compact box. Unpacking the computer is simple and tidy, with the only exception being the clear film used to protect the iMac's beautiful aluminum stand (there's still sticky residue all over the base). How very un-Apple, I thought... more>>>