Apple iMac Desktop with 20" Display M9290LL/A (1.25-GHz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive) Product Description:
- PC Black silver 1280 x 1024 / 75 Hz 0.294 mm 320 cd/m2 800:1 Up to 16.2 million colorsDisplay TypeFlat panel display
- TFT active matrix Built-in DevicesStereo speakers subwoofer
Product Description
PC Silver carbonite 1920 x 1200 / 60 Hz 0.27 mm 500 cd/m2 1000:1 24-bit (16.7 million colors) 3 years warrantyDesigned for workstation and high-end business users the HP
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful.
Apple is getting it right!
By Joseph Patrick Breda
First, let me provide a bit of background. I have been a computer nut for about 25 years. I started banging out Basic programs on the original Commodor PET in elementary school. Since then, I have suffered the irresitable compulsion to purchase every "next great computer" offered. I have been through TRS-80s, Ataris, Amigas, Apples, and of course, many ubiquitous "PCs."
I had strayed from Apple since owning a Color Classic in 1993 until 2001. At that time, the new Apple Cube caught my eye, as well as the beta version of OS X. I love the FreeBSD operating system, and was very excited about running a Unix distribution on a well-integrated consumer desktop. Alas, I must admit I was disappointed. The original OSX was far to slow for any reasonable work. Worse yet, it lacked the support to allow me to do simple tasks "what do you mean I can't play DVDs and my printer isn't supported?!?!" Nevertheless, I decided to try to stick with it. I sold the Cube and bought a DP 533 and 17 Studio display. Better performance, but still many nagging problems doing things that were a snap on a garden variety PC. I sold the DP 533, and bought two more PCs in the following two years.
My last system was a AMD XP 2800+, DVD-R, 1 GB of ram and a 19" LCD. Performance was satisfactory expect for three things (1) the system was unacceptably loud for my home office, (2) it was nearly impossible to create a decent DVD despite trying a number of software packages (I have a two year-old daughter and new son on the way--lots of video), and (3) I HATE WINDOWS. The system required constant tweaking and chasing down glitches.
Finally, I broke down, sold the PC and bought a 20" iMac. Unlike my experience two years ago, I am happy to report that Apple has got it right. The system works as advertised. The machine is quiet, well designed, and beautiful (had to mention that in any discussion of a mac). As a bonus, the system came with a suite of applications that cover almost every common task, often much more smoothly then their Windows counterparts. (Quicken, AppleWorks,iTunes, iPhoto, iEtc...) Add to that the huge collection of open source unix-based software available for free and you will find you need to buy very little additional software.
While I was concerned about the speed of a 1.25GHZ G4 vs. my PC juggernaut, this was unwarranted. I am sure in pure processing speed, my new mac is not as fast. However, I have no complaints about speed and responsiveness when editing video, developing java applications on Netbeans, or playing the occasional game. The large screen makes it easy to juggle many windows, and Safari offers the best web browsing experience I have seen to date. I would recommend that you order your iMac with the 160GB drive and at least 512MB of memory for best performance.
I find the 20" iMac to provide a very enjoyable overall computing experience. One caveat -- I would make sure your essential applications and peripherals will work with the machine. There are still some voids in hardware support, but not nearly what it was two years ago. Check out Apple's excellent web site for more information. If the 20" iMac fits the bill in that regard, go for it, it is an excellent machine.
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful.Powerful, user-friendly computer with big wide screen.
By D. R. Schryer
Apple is quite simply the best and most innovative computer manufacturer. Their various Macintosh computers are very user-friendly: easy to set up and use and (unlike most PCs) seldom crash or malfunction. Furthermore, the new iMac computers, although full-featured, are very compact and, thus, take up little desk space. The new iMacs all have adjustable flat-panel displays with exceptionally bright, sharp images. Now Apple has increased the processor speeds of these strikingly-attractive new iMacs and reduced their prices. This model has a big 20" wide screen display plus a 1.25 GHz G4 processor. Please don't be put off by the fact that the processor clock-speed is "only" 1.25 GHz. The G4 processor accomplishes more than twice as much per clock cycle as Pentium 4s do and, thus, is faster than a 2.5 GHz Pentium 4. All things considered, this new iMac is a terrific, versatile wide screen computer at a reasonable price. Highly recommended.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful.Not perfect, but still better than any PC
By A. Butterfield
This is my first Mac of any kind. I had high expectations, especially considering the price.So I was a little disappointed to find that the screen was lop sided. Only a little, but very noticeable. There was also a stuck pixel.I decided to live with these (no choice in the case of the stuck pixel) and soon learned to ignore them and concentrate on the good points.Panther is such a pleasure to use after using Windows. I quickly started to wonder why anybody would buy a Windows machine. Panther is so slick, and the iLife programs are everything Apple claim they are. Connecting to broadband was easy through the buillt-in ethernet.The 20 inch screen, lop-sided-ness and stuck pixel aside was worth the extra, just about. All other screens seem small to me now.Three months' use has thrown up a few points. There aren't enough powered USB ports. The supplied mouse is possibly the worst I've ever used and the keyboard isn't much better. That's a shame, because I'm going to have to replace them with ones that work properly and that'll ruin the look of the machine.Unfortunately, my iMac, three months old, had to go into the repair shop with a misbehaving superdrive mechanism that turned out to be a very minor software glitch. Apple Care (I paid extra for the three years) was a HUGE disappointment. They had no idea how to fix the problem (they should have suggested a very simple fix which would've meant I didn't have to pack it off to the service centre), were the epitomy of the helpline pits, and now I appreciate why PC manufacturers offer on-site repairs: apart from the fact that it's a pain in the neck taking your computer to be repaired, do you really want some repair shop having access to your files?At least they fixed the lop-sided screen while they looked at the superdrive, but I think the lack of on-site service is a major drawback to Apple ownership.Oh dear, the shine has been well and truly taken off this machine for me. At this price, I think I have every right to be disappointed.But still, now it's back home, and I've forgiven it. The honeymoon is definitely over, but I think the marriage will be pretty solid.
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