On Apple’s 20 inch iMac
Like a lot of Apple watchers, I couldn’t figure out what the market might be for an iMac with a 20 inch flat panel screen. But after seeing one this weekend, I have to answer that I’m one of the folks who is interested in the machine.
My wife and I both initially thought the machine would look out of proportion, but it doesn’t. The screen glides with the same smooth feel of its smaller brethren, just with a little more resistance due to the larger screen’s mass. Just like the smaller versions, the screen stays put once you stop moving it. And, like the 20 inch Cinema Display, the brightness and clarity of its screen surpasses those that have come before it. It makes you want to look at it.
I’ve told lots of folks that if you’re a writer there isn’t a better computer for you than a flat panel iMac. The 15 incher provides a writer with an almost intimate experience where the written word is indeed the object of your affection; the iMac all but disappears. It is a little less so with the 17 inch flat panel iMac and even more so with the 20 inch. The 20 inch is less of a writer’s machine as it is a good, general all-purpose machine capable of graphics work, desktop publishing, and movie editing, if you can stand having only a single processor G4 as your CPU. That’s not to say that a 1.25Gz G4 isn’t snappy. It is for most everyday tasks. It’s when you wander into creative graphics or publishing territory that one wants more.
As a compromise between the power of a dual G4 PowerMac and the intimacy and good looks of a flat panel iMac, the new 20 inch iMac fits the bill. With a $2195 price tag and a lot of screen territory, the machine is probably a bit much for the average college student. However, if you like the iMac’s form, need a larger screen than what has been offered in the past, can live with single CPU power, and can afford it, then by all means swing by your nearest Apple store or retailer and take a look. I’d love to have one myself, but I can’t figure out how to pay for it and am not willing to give up the intimacy of an iMac with a smaller screen.
My wife and I both initially thought the machine would look out of proportion, but it doesn’t. The screen glides with the same smooth feel of its smaller brethren, just with a little more resistance due to the larger screen’s mass. Just like the smaller versions, the screen stays put once you stop moving it. And, like the 20 inch Cinema Display, the brightness and clarity of its screen surpasses those that have come before it. It makes you want to look at it.
I’ve told lots of folks that if you’re a writer there isn’t a better computer for you than a flat panel iMac. The 15 incher provides a writer with an almost intimate experience where the written word is indeed the object of your affection; the iMac all but disappears. It is a little less so with the 17 inch flat panel iMac and even more so with the 20 inch. The 20 inch is less of a writer’s machine as it is a good, general all-purpose machine capable of graphics work, desktop publishing, and movie editing, if you can stand having only a single processor G4 as your CPU. That’s not to say that a 1.25Gz G4 isn’t snappy. It is for most everyday tasks. It’s when you wander into creative graphics or publishing territory that one wants more.
As a compromise between the power of a dual G4 PowerMac and the intimacy and good looks of a flat panel iMac, the new 20 inch iMac fits the bill. With a $2195 price tag and a lot of screen territory, the machine is probably a bit much for the average college student. However, if you like the iMac’s form, need a larger screen than what has been offered in the past, can live with single CPU power, and can afford it, then by all means swing by your nearest Apple store or retailer and take a look. I’d love to have one myself, but I can’t figure out how to pay for it and am not willing to give up the intimacy of an iMac with a smaller screen.
posted by Andy Foster at
9:08 AM
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