iMac Four Months Later

It dawned on me this morning that it's been four months since I got my iMac and I've yet to do any sort of progress reports or updates on how life has been with "The Beast" (my name for it).

Well it's time to fix that!

My experience in using my iMac over the past four months has been a pure pleasure!  This machine is, without a doubt, the best computer I've ever owned or used.  The hardware is gorgeous to look at sitting on my desk and that can be a big deal when you spend as much time on the computer as I do daily.  The display is stunning and I have a hard time going back to using others on other machines at work and at home., they are just to dinky after sitting in front of a 27 incher.

To remind readers I purchased the 27 inch Core i5 2.66Ghz model with a 1TB hard drive, 4GB of RAM, and ATI 4850 video graphics with 512MB of video memory.  I've got a set of Logitech Z-2300 2.1 THX certified speakers connected for audio duties that I've had for a while now and the machine is connected to an APC battery backup.  After trying to warm up to the Apple Magic Mouse I literally shelved it and went back to using my wireless Microsoft Mobile Mouse 6000.  To make up for the lack of USB ports (only 4 on the iMac) I have a couple of Belkin 4 port powered USB hubs hooked up to connect my external hard drives and other devices.

Sure, less than two weeks after I purchased this as a refurbished unit from Apple new models were released that upped the CPU speed and better graphics subset but I've not been disappointed with my model.  Maybe if I was more of a hard core gamer I'd be envious of the better graphics options in the new models but when I consider that I would have had to spend even more to get the newer model than I did for a refurbished previous generation I'm not going to complain.

At the moment I've got the latest version of Mac OSX Snow Leopard running the iMac (10.6.5) along with a 250GB partition set up via Boot Camp running Windows 7 Home Premium.  Initially I used the Windows partition for a few games (Crysis and Civ V) along with some Windows specific software I needed.  On the gaming front the Steam platform has been a welcome addition allowing me to play several Windows games on the Mac partition (except for Crysis) and the Mac version of Civ V is set to launch this coming week and will be available via Steam so that takes that reason to boot into Windows out of the equation.  I've found other Mac software that has taken over for the Windows titles I used for DVD ripping and video editing so the days of the Windows partition are about to come to an end, thus reclaiming some hard drive space.

My primary uses for the iMac are first as a computer (duh!).  This entails web browsing, document editing, photo editing, video editing, calendar and contacts management, and other sort of day-to-day computing needs.  Secondly the computer serves as my entertainment center which includes music listening, movie and TV show viewing, and some game play.  

Computer Duties

As I mentioned above the iMac is first and foremost my primary computer, a job it does with aplomb.  

MacOSX is probably the best OS I have ever used on a computing platform.  It boots much baster than Windows does and is more responsive when multi-tasking on a daily basis.  With Windows you can leave your machine running for day but after some time it gets bogged down and you will eventually have to reboot the machine.  I've been able to leave the iMac running for WEEKS letting it go into sleep mode between uses without any sort of the bog down I used to experience with Windows.  I won't even get into the sleep mode with Windows machines, just trust me when I say it's a nightmare.  Almost 90% of the time I'll just put the iMac to sleep rather than do a whole shut down.  It makes life a little easier and saves me a minute or so a day.

I made the decision when I got the iMac to start using the Safari web browser over Firefox.  Firefox on the Mac leaves a bit to be desired as well as being a bit of a resource hog.  Initially this problematic for me as I much prefer the book mark management of Firefox but after fiddling for a couple of days I have it set up in a way I like and do not even miss Firefox that much.  It's still installed for those "just in case" moments and for comparisons when editing my site.

The computer came with iLife '09 installed but after a month of using iPhoto I realized I would need something a little more powerful for photo editing duties and invested in Aperture 3 and have been very happy with the results.  I prefer Aperture over Photoshop now and enjoy many of its features.  It makes me look like a better photographer!  At the moment I'm still using iMovie for video editing recorded videos but I am starting to look for some other options.

For office type work I have downloaded trial versions of both the iWork '09 and Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 suites and have settled on iWork.  I do not like how the Microsoft software tries to pull a Windows number with too deep integration to the core software of the MacOS and it's cheaper to go with iWork.  I found a 5 license package of iWork on Amazon.com for cheaper than a single license from Apple.  Also iWork lets you save as a Microsoft Office format so if need be I can share with users of that software with no problems.

One thing I am loving is not having to deal with many of the issues I dealt with when using Windows such as blue screens of death, registry issues, and a whole other host of problems.

Entertainment

Look, when your computer has a built in 27 inch display that looks as good as the one on my iMac it just begs to be used for video watching in high def!

I hate swapping disks.  Loathe it.  I avoid it at all costs whenever possible.  Whenever I buy a DVD the first thing I like to do is rip it to an ISO image (a virtual image of the entire DVD) and store them on an external hard drive which I can then mount and view.  That way I have access to my entire library of DVD movies and TV shows without the hassle of first ejecting one disk and putting the next one in.  It makes life simpler and it protects the originals from potential damage or breakage as well as saving wear and tear on my internal DVD drive.  I found Mac DVDRipper Pro a couple of months ago and I've not looked back to the Windows software I used to use.  MacOSX does a very good job of upscaling standard resolution DVDs to full screen and provides a very enjoyable DVD viewing experience.

Another thing I'm loving is high def content from iTunes.  I swear the picture is much clearer than the one on both of the HDTVs in my home.  Combined with my excellent THX speakers it's a total entertainment experience.  I also like the fact that I am supporting the shows I like to watch regularly while getting a very good quality copy without dealing with commercials and on my schedule.  There are also a few movies which I already own on DVD that I have purchased in high def from iTunes so that I would have better picture quality and a few that I considered buying on DVD but instead opted to go downloaded purchase only.

Netflix streaming is also another entertainment option used several times a week.  Combined with a 10mbs cable internet connection and with more and more titles available in high def it's a win-win.  I cannot state how much I love the streaming service provided by Netflix.

Another thing I love is music playback on the iMac when combined with my Logitech Z-2300 speakers.  This is one area where I can say without a doubt the iMac passes Windows.  Before getting the iMac I had these speakers connected to my old PC using onboard sound and two different sound cards and the sound that comes out of them when connected to the Mac is head and shoulders above the sound quality I got from the PC side of things.  Even when I boot into Windows via Boot Camp they sound better playing the same song when running under MacOSX.

Summing It Up

It was December of last year after using my old Macbook for four months that I made the decision to start saving up for one of the 27 inch iMac quad-core computers.  I worked out a rough budget with the goal of a mid-to-late summer 2010 purchase and I stuck to that budget.  Then as the deadline came closer I admit I did do some hard looking at either purchasing a high end Windows gaming rig or building another high end rig myself.  From a purely hardware component perspective I would have been able to get "better" internal parts for much less money and I could always buy a larger monitor.  However, I kept coming back to how frustrated I had become with Windows over the years.  Granted, Windows 7 is probably the best version of Windows that Microsoft has ever delivered but it still had its moments of frustration.  

I was worried about finding Mac versions of software packages I used regularly but knew I could still install Windows and use those old programs but then I worried that by doing that I'd just buy a pretty looking Windows machine and if I was going to do that I might as well buy another Windows rig.

Instead I stuck to my plan trusting that I would find the software I needed.  Believe it or not, the software question was the biggest sticking point in finally making my decision.

Right now, sitting here in front of "The Beast" I'm very happy I went Mac.

Comments

[nike shoes]

Like other manufacturers, nike shoes is can make savings in the distribution and sales expenses when it used online shop.You should therefore attention to any promotion of main such festival in Thanksgiving and Christmas. nike running shoes discount is available online purchasing customers mens nike free 7.0 iii shoes.