iMac Intel Core Duo experiences

[Dave_D]

I can't believe after all this time nobody started a thread on the iMac core duo.

I bit the bullet and got a unit this afternoon after somebody bought my iMac G5. I picked up the unit this afternoon from my favorite apple reseller and since the iMac uses the same SODIMM RAM on the MacBook Pro, it wasn't readily available at a price I deemed reasonable. I settled on the basic 512Mb model (I'm using it now to enter this post).

Having the 2 side by side. I did the mandatory transfer of my data from my G5 to this unit. I took a precaution of backing most of my stuff on the Iomega Minimax so that the only stuff left to move over via firewire transfer mode was the applications and the stuff in the home directories.

Transfer mode took about 80-90 minutes which seemed similar to the experience transferring my data from my 12" PB to the 15" PB I'm using now. I had a bit of quandry as I didn't know if I should start from scratch, but since I don't have the time I just trusted Apple did it's job and I did what 90% of the non-techies would probably do as well migrating from one mac to the next.

After a couple of hours running it, I can honestly say it feels exactly like my iMac G5 with the only difference being that some apps run faster (some way faster) while some run slower (running under Rosetta).

Running 1080i at full frame rates is amazing.

Also I tried some of my older PPC games like Star Wars Battlefront and I was amazed it ran (and with acceptable frame rates I might add). I can't wait to try some natively ported games on this puppy.

At least I'm now with a mac that is just going to start living up to its potential than the one I just left which showed some serious shortcomings the more I used it.

It's neat that the menu meters I use on the menu bar shows 2 CPUs and both actually show differing load so I guess it's doing it's job.

So far I'm not 100% convinced everybody should run out and chuck your iMac G5s yet, but for what I intend to use it for I'm pretty content on my purchase.

[chairman]

sabi ko na nga ba di ka rin makakatiis dave eh! congrats on your purchase. what model did you get the 17" or 20"?

[Dave_D]

I got the 20" since I use it in the living room.

All I need now is the Aperture crossgrade and I'm gonna get some serious fun going on.

P.S.

The screen on this iMac is definetely a shade brighter than the iMac G5. On the G5, I set my screen brightness around 75%. On this one I had to set it to 50% so it won't blind me.

[tweek]

Is it as bright as Apple's Cinema displays?

[Dave_D]

I wish I knew (don't have an ACD here). But if there's any basis, the ACDs uses the same LCD panel as my previous iMac G5. The MacBook Pro's also claim to have a brighter LCD as well.

[PatrickGaerlan]

Hahaha, 1080p sweetness Nice purchase Dave. Please keep up posted on how other apps run under Rosetta.

[Dave_D]

I slept around 3am yesterday and I still didn't have enough time to test it all.

What I did find out is that not all your apps will work after transfer mode and I had to re-install them.

- Divx & Xvid support is still buggy.
- Flip for Mac WMV not supported in Mactel.

Using the Apple remote is indeed a pleasure, it makes Front row so much better than using the cellphone with salling clicker.

[PatrickGaerlan]

- Divx & Xvid support is still buggy.
- Flip for Mac WMV not supported in Mactel.

You mean playing them, like with VLC?

[Dave_D]

Even VLC is buggy... one out of 3 times, any video file I play crashes.

I'm thinking of downloading the source code and recompiling them natively for intel (that's how Linux geeks do it).

[vicicasas]

My wife's iMac has been running nothing but WoW since the day I bought it for her, so it's hard to make a definitive review with that as the only basis!

But I agree about the screen. It's BLINDING at full brightness ...my wife left hers at 50 percent. I imagine the MacBook Pro must be just as bright.