Home > Consumer Reviews > iMac 24" Desktop 2.8GHz/2GB/320GB/SD

After many months of holding off buying myself a new iMac, I finally made the plunge and decided to go for the 24" model. As I work as a designer, I knew a large screen would benefit me. The new iMac is a fantastic machine, a real power house with a lot packed in for your money. It starts up in seconds and runs Adobe Creative Suite 3 with ease, again loading each application in no time at all. I have yet to try any games on it but it goes without saying that they too will run magnificently.

All macs include iLife 08 which includes a range of useful software for everyone, my favorite is iMovie which has been completely redone to provide a rapid way of producing professional movies. I would also recommend purchasing iWork 08, which is compatible with Office, but costs a fraction of the price at just £50 on Amazon. And it looks much better too. Front Row is another fantastic application operated by the tiny remote. This allows you to play music, watch the latest movie trailers full screen and more from a beautiful interface.

This Mac should last most people for many years, the one I bought replaces my 15" G3 iMac which I purchased back in 2000 and lasted me over 8 years of heavy use. In fact it still works fine now if a little slow, so if that is anything to go by then it looks promising for the current range of Macs too.

All parts of the 24" iMac are built to a very high standard, being mainly constructed from aluminium and glass. The keyboard feels top quality too being extremely thin and compliments the aluminium iMac perfectly. It could just do with the mouse updating to match. The glass front of the screen is a huge improvement over the previous LCD model, with returning to a glass screen it is very easy to clean. The screen is fantastic, it is top quality with superb contrast and is also perfectly clear when viewed from the side, unlike a lot of LCD flatscreens.

You really should no look no further than this iMac. With it having an Intel processor it also allows you to run Windows either in its own window or full screen, which gives PC users no excuse not to migrate to a Mac right now. The iMac is also extremely quiet. It is remarkably slim and makes a great fashion item in any home or office.

Every great review you might have read of this machine is true. Bullet-proof reliability, lightning fast processing of even very large files (mine is used for Photoshop files which can easily hit 500 meg) and a large, clear, high contrast screen make this a machine to live and work with all day, every day. Its near-silent running is also a major bonus for those who prefer to work without a blizzard of fan noise as an accompaniment.

One good addition to the basic model 'as ships' is extra ram. It is well worth a few extra pounds for an upgrade to 4GB and while I have no test data to compare with the basic 2GB version, I have never yet made the machine pause for thought even while running Photoshop and Quark, listening to MP3s on iTunes and downloading hefty files on its fantastic wireless internet connection.

Being the new Intel architecture, those running apps on older G4 or G3 machines will have problems porting old software across - and this is worth considering. These machines do not have the facility to dual-boot into OS9 and buying all your favourite apps again can be add considerably to the cost. But as this is the architecture of the future, it is only a matter of time before it will be necessary to make the leap, and the positive aspects of this machine make now a perfect time to make that leap.

True, the cost is high (although most Macs do tend to hold their values very well), but there is nothing else at almost any price that will touch the Imac in terms of speed, reliability and astonishing aesthetics. (Only Mac desktops pack more punch - but they cost more, make more noise and don't look so nice!)

Minor gripe? The slim keyboard took a lot of getting used to - it has the short key-travel of a laptop and feels very odd for the first few weeks. And the mouse wheel, while useful, is not up to Apple's usual build quality. Mine gave up the ghost after only a few weeks, but since most mac users never had one before, it's not really a big deal.

All in all, this is what a computer should be. It's a tool, and one that is more than willing to work very very hard.

I have had a home computer since 1981, and have tried many different makes, models and operating systems. I bought a 24" iMac six months ago and I would NEVER use anything else ever again. After ten years of Windows, this feels like being let out of jail.

Apple are a company at the very top of their game in every single respect right now. They are peerless. They make Microsoft, HP, Dell, Lenovo and all the other laggards out there look PATHETIC!

I bought this machine (actually a 3.06 GHz with 4GB RAM - 2gig upgrade) about 4 months ago and I can promise you that after more than 15 years of using PC, I will NEVER touch the things again. I am a photographer and love it for its big, clear screen to see my work on. I also bought aperture 2.0 which is an apple photo app....NOT as sophisticated as Adobe Photoshop but does 95% of the things I want right now. And does them really really well. I also do freelance work as a business consultant and writing Powerpoint presentations is a complete synch. Vista eat your heart out. The fact that Microsoft and Apple have got together finally and figured out a way of making PPT, XLS & WORD actually work is great. But the thing about Apple's Microsoft Powerpoint? Its sexier. The presentations are more exciting and easier to produce once you get used to it - which takes ZERO time.

I was slightly worried about making the transition after being so used to PC but honestly? It was simply a breeze. Now I go to PC and think.....what the hell was I doing? I mean they lack all the intuitive-ness of Apple's OS. You always hear people say that right. Mac evangelists go on and on and on about how intuitive macs are and the boring thing is not only are they dead right but I am firmly in their camp now. Aesthetically this is ....in a word.... beautiful. Or at least as beautiful as a computer could ever be. Its gorgeous. I have my machine rigged up with a set of Harmon Kardon Soundsticks and they just compliment it perfectly. I find safari (apple's browser) fantastic but also use Mozilla. The "dashboard" function - loads of personalised widgets - is great fun although I do find it a tiny bit of a gimmick (ie; don't use it THAT often - 2/3 times a week). I dunno...i could go on and on about this machine. Surfing the NET? 5 stars Watching DVDs? 5 stars. Speed? 5 stars (get it as fast as you can) Looking at photos? 5 stars. Software? 5 stars. itunes? 5 stars (naturally). And about a hundred other things I could mention. I mean, I've started to worry. Is this machine taking over my life? Is there anything I cannot do on it? Its brilliant brilliant brilliant!

My one gripe is with the mouse rollerball which seems to have a bit of a life of its own. I wish they'd sort it out. The only other worry I have now is how can I afford one of the new macbook pros. Can't wait for that too and then an iphone and having the whole system linked up through mobileMe.

have been using PC's since the year dot...... from windows 3.?? upto Windows Vista (yuck)

we bought the 24" intel imac and we have been blown away... stylish, quiet, RELIABLE, NO CRASHES, great software & easy to learn.

if you are in any doubt about making the plunge (or step) to mac it realy is simple, you can even run windows from a partition on the imacs hard drive, i ran the 'boot camp' application to allow windows to run on the mac and within 12 hours the partition was deleted as it was not needed as apple software downloads on the net (some free) are perfect.

we shall never return to a PC with windows on it not worth the hassle, be scared Microsoft, be very scared apple is after you....