Home  >  Blogtronics  >  First Impressions of the Intel Core Duo iMac

I purchased a new Intel iMac a few weeks ago. It is a 20-inch, 2.0 GHz Intel Core Dual, with 2 GB of RAM, DVD-RW/CD-RW drive (SuperDrive), a 250 GB hard drive, and an ATI Radeon X1600/256 MB VRAM. I wasn't worried about being an early adopter. Apple has been consistently pushing the technology edge for years, so I never worry about jumping on the Apple new product band wagon. I moved up from an 800 MHz G4 iMac I had purchased in 2002. With that jump in mind, the speed difference from my previous production Mac is tremendous. The Mac boots up in less than a minute and runs PPC apps like Microsoft Office X many times faster than the old G4. Photoshop CS (PPC) is fairly quick, but it does drag sometimes.

Transferring to the new Mac was incredibly easy. Apple has a program called Migration Assistant that steps you through the process. I didn't need the program because I wanted to move everything by hand. After about two years on the older Mac, I really didn't want to move everything. I accomplished the move by hooking a FireWire cable between the two computers. I booted my old G4 iMac with the "t" pressed. This causes a Mac to boot into slave mode. The G4 iMac's hard drive mounted to the Intel iMac's desktop. I then dragged everything I wanted to move from the old Mac to the new Mac. I ended up moving about 30 GB.

The monitor is enormous compared to my older 15-inch iMac. It is crisp and bright. It is supported by a metal mount that allows for great cable management. It comes with a remote control that runs Front Row. I doubt I will get much use out of this feature. The remote control can be attached to the chassis via an internal magnet.

The iMac has great cable management

The iMac's remote control (lower right) attaches to the side

I have only had two issues so far. The first one is not Apple's fault. I ordered the computer from the Apple Store. It was shipped labeled with my address but ended up down the street in an apartment complex. I got a call from them and was shocked to find out that FedEx left the computer at the wrong address. Thank goodness for honest people. I wonder how hard it would have been to prove that I never got the package if the receiver would have decided to keep it for himself.

The iMac has a built-in iSight Camera

The second issue is that my iSub does not work with this Mac. I can't figure out if it is an OS X issue or a USB 2.0 issue. Unfortunately, it looks like I will need to get a new subwoofer. That is really a shame. My iSub is still in perfect shape. The internal speakers on the Intel Mac sound about the same as Apple's Pro Speakers did on my G4 iMac.

I am very satisfied so far. This Intel Mac runs like a Mac in every way. I haven't had any issues running PPC apps. Other than the issue with the iSub, I haven't had any problems at all. I would highly recommend this Mac to anyone ready to upgrade from a previous iMac.