Apple iMac Review Date: 8.18.98 Reviewed by: Brian Paloski Manufacturer: Apple Computer List Price: US $1299.00* • 233MHz PowerPC G3 processor • 32MB SDRAM • 4GB hard disk drive • 24x CD-ROM drive, • Built-in 56K modem • 4 Mbps IrDA • 10/100Base-Tx Ethernet • Built-in 12Mbps USB ports • Mac OS 8.1 * Price set by manufacturer at time of review. Price subject to change On August 15, Apple introduced its most impressive piece of new hardware in recent memory; the iMac. Mac fans have been waiting for this computer since May of this year, putting up with rumor after rumor and the hope that this computer was as "insanely great ….again" as Steve Jobs had said. Apple had the perfect stage to unveil and show off the iMac at MacWorld Expo in July, where thousands of Mac users packed the information booths and displays to catch a glimpse of the newest Apple computer. Out of Box Experience When the first iMac arrived here at IGM, we were eager to open up the box to see for ourselves what this new machine was all about. Upon opening the box, we were greeted by the poppy orange accessories box that held the mouse, keyboard, power cord, and documentation. While everyone else looked in awe at the translucent mouse and keyboard, I, the PC user, went straight for the documentation. What I didn’t tell everyone, was that's where they packed the new Apple stickers. After digging through some of the software licensing forms (FAXstf, Kai’s Photo Soap, MDK, Nanosaur, Quicken Deluxe 98, TotalAccess, and Williams-Sonoma Guide to Good Cooking) I came across a few advertisements, and even a bookmark for BYTEmark CPU FPU       iMac 233 G3 7.80 5.02       8500 120 604e 256K 3.54 2.52 8500 180 604e 256K 5.56 3.88 8500 250/125 G3 512K 8.37 5.38 8500 300/300 G3 1 MB 9.38 5.40       Pentium II 300 512K 4.21 4.02 Source: Insanely Great Mac EdView, a company which offers customizable software to block out unwanted Internet material for younger students, and also encourages parental support in web surfing with their children. For the rest of us, some ISP software came already loaded onto the computer and was readily available on the desktop, but more on that later. The actual installation instructions consisted of a six-picture pamphlet that had simple instructions that consisted of something like, "Plug in the power cord. Plug in the mouse. Turn on the computer." The other three instructions were along the same lines. The iMac can be that simple to hook up, by pictures alone. Users can quickly and easily put together a powerful computer in six or less steps and not have to worry about anything like, say, a dongle, or which PS/2 port to plug the mouse into. That leads us right into the hardware that makes the iMac somewhat unique, the USB port. Long time Mac users would have no problem figuring out the keyboard/mouse relationship on the computer. Instead of having an ADB port on the keyboard, you have two USB ports; one on either side for both the left and right handed users. The keyboard plugs into one of the two USB ports on the side of the iMac. Here you will also find the housing for the network cable, telephone line, and the mystery slot covered with ever so secret blue plastic. Just a few inches back from the panel is the power cord connector, which is also placed at a convenient angle as to avoid any cords being tangled up. That leaves a total of two USB ports available for optional external hardware devices such as floppy drives, printers, scanners, etc. For the more advanced user, a USB hub from companies such as Peracom , Belkin, or Entrega, can be added which will increase the number of available ports. While using the iMac we experienced one significant problem with USB. Since the USB works off of system extensions in the OS, if the system gets hung up, you can't use the keyboard to apply the "three finger salute" (reboot). Your only way out is to use the hidden resent button or yank the power cord. Nether of which is exactly an ideal situation. When it first happened, we had to hit the Emergency Handbook to find the manual reset button that resides by the network and modem port. This made for a real hassle, since it required moving the machine around and required the use of foreign metal objects in a somewhat delicate area of the machine. For the most part, installation was quick and painless, a far cry from what I have been used to with my PC, 8500, or even our Twentieth Anniversary Mac. The iMac was on the desk, plugged in, and waiting for us to bring it to life. It’s not easy being Bondi Mike got the honor of sitting down with the iMac first, but that didn’t mean that we weren't watching over his shoulder. As he pushed the power button on the monitor, the light on the CD-ROM drive came alive, then the power switch lit up a kind of orange-red color until thedisk check was completed, then as the monitor kicked in, it turned green as the iMac continued to boot up. PC users have flashing lights too, but they usually don't change colors while the system is starting up. Once again, we're easily amused. On the desktop, there were plenty of aliases for the ISPs, and software registration. We quickly deleted the unwanted icons, and were eager to pop in a CD (The Wall) and test out the SRS Surround Sound. When we pushed the shiny green button, the 24x CD drive popped out to reveal that it was more like a PowerBook CD-ROM, and not like the typical CD mechanism. The verdict is still out on the CD-ROM mechanism, however we don't anticipate any problems. As for previous concern about the quality and feel for the CD drive, since we are used to our PowerBook’s CD-ROM, it was nothing unusual. In fact, the CD-ROM has a tighter, more secure catch than the laptop. Even with the lightest touch, the drive caught, and we were unable to open the drive door, even with some force. Above all, since you have to press the CD onto the drive spindle, there is no worry about scratching the media because of a poorly inserted disk. I wanted to try some of the packaged software, so we decided to install MDK. The CD-ROM, to us anyway, did not seem noisy at all. The only noise that seemed to come from the drive was the disk itself spinning. It is by far not the noisiest CD-ROM we have heard. Getting back to business, we played around with the control panels, and found that the iMac has its very own Monitors & Sound panel, in which you could change the monitor’s positioning, or its geometry. They even included a "dummy" switch that allows you to reset the monitor to its original factory defaults in case of any careless repositioning. We also noticed that under the ColorSync window, you were given the choice of selecting a default iMac monitor configuration. This can be changed to accommodate your individual room settings to give you the best color view in a multitude of light settings. The monitor was clear and crisp, and boasted a high refresh rate. Under the sound settings, we were able to toggle the SRS Surround Sound, which Apple suggests turning off when listening to music on headphones. Apple conveniently placed not one, but two audio jacks in the front of the iMac. We're assuming two jacks would be ideal for a lab setting. For those who like noise, the built in speakers can give off some impressive sound. The only problem is when the volume is at its full level, we found distortion with SRS. Unexpected noises coming from the speakers made us wish for a front volume control. We grew accustomed to this on the Twentieth Anniv. Mac. When almost all of the settings were complete, the iMac decided that it wasn't going to take any more, and froze solid. As I had stated earlier, rebooting the iMac from the reset button is a pain, and I would not recommend having a young child perform this procedure. At the end of the customization ritual, we headed for the mouse control panel, where we paused and reconsidered the new mouse. There was no doubt that it is a cool new design. Any mouse that you can see a multi colored ball through when you move it, ranks high on our personal amusement chart. The word going around MacWorld, was that other mouse manufacturers were going to be making a vast array of multi-colored balls that were compatible with the iMac’s mouse. All of this aside, we couldn't decide whether or not we were in complete agreement on the feel of the new mouse. In comparison to Apple's other mice, which conform to the contour of your hand, the iMac’s mouse requires more of a three fingered approach, and takes a little bit of work to get used to it. With larger hands the round puck like mouse can be a little awkward to hold — especially for extended periods of time. The keyboard felt very "soft", and even for a space saving keyboard, it felt comfortable under my hands. Apple designed it with specific key use in mind. How many of us actually use the function keys (F1-F12) on the top of the keyboard? And how about the arrow keys? To navigate around a written document, we use the mouse primarily, and the arrow keys mostly for small cursor movement, such as moving up or down a few lines in a document. The function, arrow, and page scrolling keys were the casualties of war here, being downsized. But, with the full sized keys everywhere else on the keyboard, this combination saves space, and gives you a comfortable feel. We concluded our playing, and were ready to jump right in and see how the iMac handled its applications. We wanted to run the biggest and the baddest program that we had available to us on the iMac drive, Netscape. i is for Internet and that's good enough for me For Internet access, we use the RoadRunner cable modem from Time Warner. With this service, you have to install proprietary software on your computer that performs a kerberos authentication to the login server. I dug in my desk drawer, grabbed the install disk, and then stopped. There was no way that I was going to get this software on the iMac with a floppy disk. I know what you're thinking, other companies like I mation and Iomega are putting together external peripherals for the iMac to aid in data transfer via removable storage. I'm not trying to whine about the lack of the floppy drive, but until floppies are obsolete, it would be a nice addition, not to mention an easy way to transfer small files to other computers without digging through LocalTalk zones to find Joe-Bob’s Computer. So, we had to go through the task of starting up file sharing, gathering computer names, and finding the correct folder location. Now if it weren't for our stash of Macs over here, we wouldn't have been able to install the software on the iMac. As I stated earlier, the iMac comes with ISP software installed (AOL, etc.) but if the user doesn't want to use one of the default ISPs, they may be out of luck until they buy an external drive, which is at the top of my Christmas list this year. After we logged on, we looked through the "Internet Software" folder, and found a copy of Netscape 4.05, IE 4.01, and Outlook Express installed. We used our "browser of choice" to download the latest Internet software, and then we were ready. We tried web surfing on the different monitor resolutions to see how it would look, and to trash any comments about only having a 15 inch screen.We had high expectations since the iMac comes with an integrated ATI RAGE IIc, 2D and 3D accelerated video card. At 640x480, web viewing required opening up the window size to fit the entire screen. But, with two other options available to us, we bumped it up to 800x600, where the view became more comfortable, and at millions of colors, the web pages looked great. Michael wanted to see the 1024x768, so we gave in and made him happy. However the iMac was bumped down to thousands of colors. If 1024x768 is how you like to view the world, a video memory upgrade may be needed. However at the largest resolution, the iMac didn’t let us down with its speed, and we weren't expecting it to. All of us here at IGM have G3’s, and we are used to the speed and the power, and we weren't too surprised that the iMac kept up with each one. There is no doubt about it, the iMac is definitely a cool Internet terminal with a big engine under the hood. To give you an idea of its speed, the iMac came in at 7.80 (G3-233) and my beast (G3-250) was only about a half point higher, coming in at 8.37, the speed difference being around 7%. Not that the changes to the iMac’s ROM implementation should give the iMac a slight advantage over existing G3 machines. The iMac also comes out on top with the integration of a 66 MHz system bus, and 512K of backside level 2 cache. There is no doubt that this machine will be a benchmark system in the years to come. Conclusions We have been very pleased with our iMac purchase, and we look forward to using it in our everyday work, and some play. The iMac is not a high-end graphics machine for complex rendering. It’s not meant to be a server of any type, but it does have the power to act like one. At $1299, Apple has marketed the iMac for individuals who wants a powerful computer that is easy to set up and use. It is an Internet Macintosh in every sense of the phrase. While USB products are slim pickings right now, if I take a line from my favorite movie, "If you build it, they will come", the expansion peripherals will be out there. The iMac has jump-started the USB revolution on the Mac side, and now that Windows 98 provides full support, more USB products are due. We will be seeing more USB printers, scanners, drives, and cameras (like the Kodak DC-220, DC-260) very soon. Many companies renewed their commitments to Apple and to USB this summer at MacWorld by announcing many popular devices for USB, and a few new ones too. Kudos to Apple for recognizing the need for a 56k modem, with the V.90 standard, in the iMac instead of the originally planned 33.6. This truly does show that Apple is looking to keep its products fresh and up to date with the latest technology. The built in 10/100BASE-T port also aides in the ease of setup (since there are no additional 3rd party drivers needed) and use of the iMac on a network. Something that we really didn't get to use that much was the 4 Mpbs IrDA, which was located on the front of the iMac. As soon as we do more intensive testing, we'll post the results. Let us not forget about the 4 gig hard drive that comes standard with the iMac. This is plenty of space not only for someone who is new to the computer market, but for veteran users too. With all of the extra drive space, you could increase your hard disk cache in either IE or Netscape, to aid in page loading for those with slower internet connections. The default configuration of 32 MB of RAM is right at the edge of the comfort zone for us. As I write this, another 64 MB is on the way to IGM. We definately like to multi-task here at IGM, with numerous open windows for e-mail, web browsers, news services, and web page editors, we find it easier to switch between open applications rather than starting and quitting them. Even with virtual memory on, the iMac was fighting an uphill battle. For more advanced users, I would recommend an increase of RAM, for the casual user, 32 MB will handle your internet software and desktop publishing software just fine. But do be warned, do your research on the RAM, and also the RAM installation procedure, you might void your warranty. The iMac really does give more bang for the buck. I've been met with criticism about the iMac’s price being over $1000, however the iMac is no match for any Wintel machine in this arena. The iMac does not cut corners where most cheap PCs do. It’s got a current processor under the hood and a great monitor out front. Pros — Small, compact design ideal for small work environments. Simple connections and easy Internet access along with plenty of bells and whistles in a way cool design. Large enough hard drive for all of your favorite games and applications. Cons — Lack of floppy, SCSI, and serial ports a potentially big turn off. USB has yet to be proven in both performance and products.