On Tuesday, February 18, 2003, at 01:42 AM, Stephen M Lavelle wrote: > I'm thinking about buying a 17" Flat Panel imac G4. > Could any list members give me their opinions (pros and cons)
Stephen, I've had the iMac G4/800 17" flat panel since Christmas and these are my impressions: Compared to my previous Mac, a B&W G3/450, it is significant but not tremendous increase in general computing speed. I'm not exactly a power user, just doing internet surfing and playing my favorite golf game online (Links CE). Screen of course is beautiful and quite handy with both it's size and flexability. A lot of the pleasure I've had in using it is due to advantages of OSX and it's great built-in apps like iTunes and iPhoto. It really didnt take long to get to like X, and now I don't boot this computer into OS9 at all. There were some problems with these machines that have been reported by a number of users, and I have experienced some myself. The screen had a slight tilt to the right, about 1/4 inch or so, which I noticed as soon as I set it up. I was looking closely though, since I had read that this problem existed in the review of the 17" machine in MacAddict. In addition, the flex arm is not tight enough and wont maintain it's position too well. The Superdrive can be very noisy at times. Certain CDs seems to bring out the worst in it. Not sure if it's really the fault of the drive or the CDs, but I've never had this problem with other drives. You can read other peoples' comments about the above problems by going to Apple Support pages, iMac discussion board. Keep in mind, there will always be a certain percentage of any product that turns out to have defects. That's what warranties are for. Another concern I have is the lack of upgradeability. I'm used to opening my Macs and mucking around, upgrading this that and the other. With the iMac, the only thing you are going to do is RAM or Airport. So, in a year or two I may wish I could upgrade the video card or something. But I knew this was the case going in, and decided the features/specs were good enough to last a while. And I still have my old Macs around to upgrade. Last, I'll mention the real reason I got this machine. The coolness factor. I don't know how to measure it's value, especially to you, but this Mac definitely has it. Feel free to write me if you have any specific questions. tafkar We're here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is. --Mark Vonnegut -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> --------------------------------------------------------------- >The Think Different Store http://www.ThinkDifferentStore.com ---------------------------------------------------------------
