New iMacs - yay or nay?

December 28, 2005 12:38 PM

I am planning to buy a new entry-level iMac with the built-in iSight and was wondering if anyone else has one already. What do you think about the machine? What kind of motion control do you have with the iSight, if any? (I'm an experienced Mac user, so I'm faimiliar with the OS already)
posted by cajo to technology (9 comments total)

I would wait until after MacWorld. You never know what Apple will release next.
posted by smackfu at 12:47 PM on December 28, 2005

I would wait a bit if you're planning on purchasing soon--MacWorld Expo is January 9th, and while Apple has moved away from doing ALL their product announcements at those big conferences, chances are really good that there will be speed/RAM/feature bumps in various Mac lines.
posted by bcwinters at 12:50 PM on December 28, 2005

Ah, yes - I am waiting until after that. My bank account isn't ready for anything sooner! The goal is to buy around February or so, or at least have a plan of action for after MacWorld presents its next wave of machines.
posted by cajo at 12:50 PM on December 28, 2005

*waves to smackfu*
posted by bcwinters at 12:51 PM on December 28, 2005

I have the 20" new imac that I bought around thanksgiving. I love it, and finally made a mac my primary machine (I still have my PC in the monitor next to it, but most email/web/IM/media is all done on the imac.

I guess the drawback with the built-in isight vs. a firewire one is that you have limited movement with it, pretty much just up and down about 15 degrees. I was trying to show a friend my new office furniture remotely and I had to twist my mac around but it wasn't very effective. With the original isight and a powerbook, I used to be able to walk around my house and give out-of-state relatives a tour of the entire place.

But for straight ahead video chat, you can't beat it, it's in the right place and don't have to remember to connect anything like a standard isight. I upgraded my memory to 1Gb and it's been a quite fast compared to my old powerbook (which was a 867Mhz G4). I love it and would say it's worth the price.
posted by mathowie at 12:54 PM on December 28, 2005

I'm using the earlier iMac with an iSight that sits on top, and I love the fact that i can pull it off and point in different directions. The iMac is the best computer I've ever owned, and I've owned a lot.
posted by gallois at 1:04 PM on December 28, 2005

I had an iMac for about a month before my living situation changed and I had to sell it (dobbs!), but I had it long enough to know it's the only desktop I'd own. Works great, looks good anywhere.

As far as iSight, it seems to be convenience (built in iMac) vs. usability (stand alone).
posted by justgary at 1:19 PM on December 28, 2005

I have the 20-inch model -- bought it because I needed to do a chunk of video transcoding and need to use my PowerBook for other stuff. It's a nice machine and -- with an adaptor (the Plextor ConvertX plus EyeTV software) -- also gives me a 20-inch TV, which is a bonus. The fan is a trifle noisier than I'd expected; not deafening by any means, but you can hear it in a quiet room. As for the iSight: as mathowie says, the downside is that it's pointed straight at you, and can't be re-angled without moving the entire machine. But if all you're using it for is video chat/videoconferencing that shouldn't be an issue.
posted by littleme at 3:08 PM on December 28, 2005

I've had the entry 17" iMac for a few months, and I'm quite happy with it. I seldom use the built-in iSight so really can't comment on it. I just know the iSight is not a Firewire device, and iMovie won't automatically recognize it (without a workaround). Who knows what other program similary fails to see it.

The machine itself is very useable, and has enough of teh snappy to make OS X a pleasure to use (this from someone who's had a 600 Mhz G3 iBook as their previous Mac for a few years). The LCD is nice - very crisp, and bright. It's about as quiet as my iBook is, and my external Firewire disks are noiser. And it doesn't seem to get hot like some previous generation iMacs I've read about.
posted by jaimev at 5:13 PM on December 28, 2005