Apple has speedbumped the iMacs...

• Quad-core processor in every model
• Thunderbolt
• FaceTime HD camera
• Wireless keyboard and mouse
• 21.5 inch/2.5 or 2.7GHz Quad-core i5 model
• 27 inch/2.7 or 3.1 GHz Quad-core i5 model
• All base configs have 5GB RAM

These are the models for BN. They still will run Snow Leopard so the Roseta feature that runs legacy software is still supported.

They have some nice features. Thunderbolt is really a break through for the iMac. That was the one thing lacking in the iMac a pro connection for serious drive access. The 27" model has 2 Thunderbolt ports.

Rico, on the 24" iMac model (at $2000.00), would it be worth spending the extra $200.00 to move from the 3.1 Ghz i5 to the 3.4 Ghz i7?

I like the idea of the Thunderball (whatever) port. Sounds good.

There is no 24" model you will be getting 27" screen. Unless you might be doing video editing or the such I don't think there is a big need to move to the i7. You can connect 2 extra monitors to these new iMac's.

Yes, I meant 27. I'm still confused by the whole Obama/Osama thing.

And you can connect 2 monitors? Sweet.

Let me just say I have been doing some video editing, and I realized I friggin' LOVE video editing.

I don't think it's ever a mistake to get more processor or more RAM, if you can afford it.

I think I would buy with the base unit of 4 megs of RAM and then buy some from Crucial. I'm thinking I ought to spend $2000 now before inflation steels a good chunk of that.

No kidding. I just felt inflation at the grocery store. I got one red bell pepper for the price I used to get four. And not so long ago, a couple months.

One small chuck roast, for the price I used to get one twice the size.

I'm glad I got my computer when I did.

Apple is offering either the Magic Mouse or the Magic Trackpad as an option. Or both for an extra $69. The magic mouse is nice but the magic trackpad is also very functional. The magic trackpad is perfect for Markle. He could get rid of his trackball

I could probably get used to the Magic Mouse. I've given it several tries at Best Buy. I used the Magic Trackpad as well and was not as impressed with it. But for all I know (and it's not much about it), it could be a great substitute for the Magic Track Ball.

If I buy one of these, the first thing I do though is junk the keyboard. I've tried typing on those things and it doesn't work well for me. Luckily my SE/30 magic keyboard still works via my magic ADB to USB adaptor.

And that's a big effin screen on them things.

Do any of you guys run "Parallels" on your Mac as the software to run Windows concurrently?

First off, magic mouse... best Apple mouse in my estimation. It literally allows me to have multi-button mouse functionality, but with a smooth, one-man-one-button appearance. The only thing that sucks is that you have to change the batteries. AAs. I've been getting about a month (constant use, never turn the mouse off--though it sleeps) out of a pair of batteries. That's 24 AA batteries a year.

Yes, I run Parallels via Boot Camp. Couldn't be easier. My Pentium III based HP PC has been sitting dark since I installed Parallels. It's a door stop. I do everything I need to on one computer now. I am able to either boot directly into Windows, or use Parallels in one of two ways...

They have this thing called "Coherence" which lets you run Windows in the Mac environment as if the Windows and Mac OSs are one, with the Mac dominant. So you'll see your PC software as icons in the dock. They just run in Windows windows individually over top of your Mac Desktop. I don't care for that. But it does feel you have one computer rather than two.

I prefer having the PC, plus the whole Windows OS in its own Mac (Parallels Desktop) Window. Separate and almost equal. You can show that PC Window full screen, or windowed at pretty much any resolution that you want. And that window will have your PC desktop. And you can drag (small numbers) of files to and fro between OSs.

Parallels seems pretty stable. I don't think I've crashed it but once. And I was trying to crash it during the initial shakedown. And I think what actually crashed was the Mac side.

Well, if they're double-AA's, you should be able to get some rechargeable ones. Thanks for the info on Parallels.

I would imagine for web design, running Windows on a Mac has got to be a big time saver.

I might pull the trigger on a 24" (whatever) iMac soon. It looks good, but still deciding. I can get a slightly better price at MacMall, same free shipping, and also avoid the sales tax. They are not certain if they will have the option of the i7, but that's not really a deal-breaker to me. Let's put it this way, the Geekbench 2 number on my single 1.25 GHz G4 is 702. The Geekbench 2 on the Core i5 @ 2.8 GHz is 8053. On the 2.8 GHz i7 it's 10825.

Rico, I don't see anywhere where it says you can hook two external monitors to the 24" (whatever) iMac. It does have two of the Thunderball ports, but I can't see any data on any model of the 24" (whatever) having two monitor-out ports.

The thunderbolt ports are display ports.

Endgadget has a series of photos of the new iMac the last few have a 27" iMac attached to two monitors.

Okay, thanks for clearing that up, Rico.

No problemo BN.

You will have a serious command center going with that set up. Dedicated screens for Twitter, Facebook, and thalo.net. And of course an occasional Netflix movie. Work too. There will be some space left over for work.

quote:

You will have a serious command center going with that set up. Dedicated screens for Twitter, Facebook, and thalo.net. And of course an occasional Netflix movie. Work too. There will be some space left over for work.

I like how you think.

Before I post the rest of this, I just want to know if this officially gets me out the category of being the New Markle?

Anyway, I just pulled the trigger on the 27" iMac. I got the 2.7 GHz model which should be more than enough for my needs now and in the foreseeable future. I'll probably later buy a Thunderball-to-DVI connector in order to add a second monitor. But I think I'll try it as a one-monitor system first and see how I like it. This thing will probably be sitting off to the side for weeks as I integrate it into the system, loading all the software, etc.

And I'll add memory later. The 4 GIGs is double what I have now so I can't imagine that I'll feel any immediate pinch. And I'll probably immediately (thalo, avert your eyes) dump that truly horrible keyboard and use my old SE/30 one or get a new one. But I just can't type on the thing. I've tried. It's an ergonomic nightmare. But I like the Magic Mouse. I do believe I could easily get used to that. In fact, there isn't all that much to get used to. "It just works." And it beats the hell out of the round mouse and that horrid no-button mouse. Whoopee! I can right-click (that's "command-click") with an Apple mouse!

The 21.5" iMac wasn't even an option because, despite the slightly higher res, the screen is smaller than my existing main monitor in terms of just sheer screen area.

You are no longer Markle. It's the end of an era. That is a sweet machine, congratulations! You're the first brother, I believe, to have a thunderball (thunderbolt) port. And a FaceTime HD camera.

Oh, that small keyboard IS horrible. The only one worth a damn is the one with the numeric keypad. That's what I use, and love it. But I wouldn't be caught dead using that small format one (the default wireless option). My dad has it, and it blows.

That magic mouse is the balls. Best mouse Apple has ever made. The only thing that sucks is the battery changing every month.

I was just reading up on Thunderball and it's a bit more than just speed.

quote:

Thunderball is a single port, devices have to be daisy-chained, with a single cable capable of extending up to three meters and piping 10 watts of power along the way.

And...

quote:

Thunderball uses PCI Express x4 for data and DisplayPort for video, allowing a single port to pipe “two data streams simultaneously -- in both directions” at up to 10 gigabits per second.

Sounds like you could have a hard drive and a monitor on the same port.