This is the personal blog of internet web monkey Kevin Muldoon.
It provides a release for his tiny overworked little brain and stops him from getting an aneurysm!
Yesterday I mentioned my intention of getting a new computer. I really wanted to get the Apple iMac 27″ with i7 processor but was put off by reports of flickering and my the 3-4 weeks to ship the machine.
I looked at lots of different setups in the meantime including purchasing a 30″ monitor or two 24″ monitors and getting either a windows 7 pc or a macbook or a mac mini. In the end I decided that I wanted the imac (thanks for convincing me Chris!). So I called the apple store in Glasgow this morning and asked if they had i7s in stock. To my joy they had some in stock.
I drove into Glasgow and went to the Apple shop but was disappointed to hear that they only sell i5 powered iMacs, not the first time I have been duped recently by misinformation. The salesman apologised but I wasn’t too mad, after all, it wasn’t his fault. By this time I was already playing with the new 27″ and realised immediately why it was top of my shopping list.
I then had to make a decision, do I purchase the i5 today or wait a month and get the i7. I asked the sales rep for some time and read several articles which compared the benchmarks between the two processors. There’s no doubt that the i7 is a faster processor, the main reason is due to it’s hyper threading capabilities which allows 8 cores instead of the i5s four.
Many people were of the opinion that you should get the i7 simply because it’s future proofing your machine whilst others thought that it was a waste of money if you didn’t need to do heavy video editing. In the end I decided to just get the i5 machine. Mainly because I won’t need much processing power anyways as I will only be using it for work, which means browsing, word editing and basic photoshopping. Though I will also be watching videos from time to time. The i7 was about £135 more expensive too so I think I made the right decision, particularly as I mostly game on my PS3.
I’ve only had it a few hours but I have to say I’m very impressed. I took the 4gb model (2×2GB) but it can be upgraded to 16gb so I may decide to upgrade in the future, though I don’t think I need to soon as it seems awfully quick.
I installed skype and spoke to my mate Johnny, who has used macs for a few years. He has already helped me out with some basic tips to help me going (apart from using macs at nightschool about 8 years ago, I’ve always used windows or linux). So far I’m loving it. I wasn’t sure about the small wireless keypad as I like to have a number pad but it’s really easy to type on. The magic mouse seems quite cool too.
The iMac really is a beautiful machine and I’m enjoying the extra workspace already. I’m operating a little slower than I usually do with my windows machine but I’m sure I will be much quicker once I get used to how everything works.
I have my 15.4″ windows vista laptop next to my new imac with an 1.5 terabye external hard drive in between. I don’t think I’ll be turning into a complete fanboy but i must admit my first impressions are positive. Though I’m sure I will still use my windows laptop from time to time for some things.
Any other mac fans out there? 
Kev
Great that you got your new toy
I went with the wide wired keyboard on our iMacs for the same reason (it’s nice to have the numeric pad even if hardly use it), I only use the small wireless keyboard and mouse on my mac mini so we can sit far away from the TV
Macs rock, but I have parrallels for the odd times where need Windows
I was pretty much swayed by the price. The wireless keyboard is £56 whilst the wired one is £29. I’ll see how long the batteries last on this one. Wireless keyboards and mice are handy though when I bought them years ago I used to have to change the batteries every few months, which is a pain.
Have you bought the apple remote? Not sure if I need it since the mouse and keyboard are wireless anyway.
Freakin sweet mate. I am very tempted by this too although think th 27″ might be a but if overkill in my spare room. Do u know if the i7 is available on the smaller models?
Might see if the MacBook pro gets a long overdue upgrade and then make my mind up
/no the 21.5″ models only come with core 2 duos. To be honest mate, it is big, but you will soon get used to it. If it’s overkill you can always drop the resolution. Movies etc are a joy to watch.
You could always upgrade your macbook pro and hook it to a 24″ cinema display.
p.s. has this made up for me getting a blackberry!