Customer Reviews
Computer Operates Very Well, Substandard Monitor and Ports 
2008-06-12
In terms of getting this iMac going it was as easy as everyone makes it out to be. I was switching over from a PC and even the iTunes transfer went better than I thought (thanks to some help from the iLounge forums. It boots up and operates VERY fast (30 seconds from pressing the power button to being on the web). The integration of the multiple included applications is phenomenal. I find I can have quite a few hefty programs (from anywhere) open and the machine manages to keep itself running very fast and almost completely silent. The new keyboard is slick and is surprisingly pleasant to type on.
I got the iMac to simplify and improve the experience of the main things I use a home computer for. The 2 biggest of those are playing with my music collection and practicing photography. One has been a huge success (the iTunes and Airtunes) the other a major letdown (photos). The things I can't get over in terms of disappointment are the monitor quality and lack of USB ports.
As I've started to work more on my photos on this machine it's honestly been crushing to have to see them look so poor. The colors are washed out and images can be compressed looking. As CAN be the case with LCDs, the screen appearance changes dramatically with your viewing position. I find I have re-tilt the monitor if I shift in my seat at all. My PC is/was on a Sony Trinitron CRT; a good monitor but not something that broke the bank. It's still hooked up waiting for me to pull off the final programs and there is no question I've downgraded in overall image quality. My Dell LCD at work also does not seem to have the color and view direction issues that the iMac has. I wish I'd read Amazon user Fiction Pilot's review of this machine before I ordered mine. I feel pretty burned by this but can't say I'm willing to stomach the restocking fee and the extra $300 for the 24".
The computer comes with 3 USB ports, a firewire 400 port, firewire 800 port. People will point out that there are USB ports on the keyboard as well, but they are fairly impractical. I was concerned about going from 7 USB ports to 2 (the keyboard takes up 1) but hoped I could juggle and prioritize. Turns out the process is as painful as I feared. I've had to suck it up and get a speed-choking hub. Also, there are no memory card slots on any Mac (which is absurd). This just compounds the problem for the USB ports.
(By the way, I'd have gone 2 1/2 stars but that's not an option in the Amazon reviews.)
Excellent product! 
2008-06-11
Excellent machine. Love the glossy display. OS X 10.5 Leopard works wonderfully. Definitely recommend!
My wife has Switched 2008-06-09
It took about two days to copy over all her files from a few-years-old Dell desktop, install the necessary applications, internet bookmarks, and test it all. The iMac has worked perfectly since, and web access in particular is vastly faster than it was on the Dell.
The mouse that Apple ships with these machines is mediocre, and we replaced it with a fancy Microsoft optical mouse. The keyboard is fine. With the Dell, the CPU sat on the floor next to her desk but, even so, the iMac takes less desktop space because the base is better designed and it doesn't need external speakers.
It ships with a variety of Apple-specific applications for word processing, composing music, etc. My wife doesn't use any of that -- Microsoft Office 2008 home edition costs only $120 and she prefers it. We installed a "Time Capsule" backup drive as well, and it seems to be working (we haven't had to rely on it).
Her favorite thing about the computer is the screen saver in which photographs spin onto the screen. Our kids like that too.
Amazing Computer but Poor Screen 
2008-06-04
We originally bought this 20" iMac to replace our two PCs that have recently become paperweights. The computer and OSX are amazing - I agree with every raving review here. We also got the wireless keyboard and mouse which are well worth the upgrade.
I could not live with the low-quality TN screen however. I was not aware of the issue when I bought it. After setting it up, I noticed that the color tone and contrast would shift drastically as I moved my head only a few inches up and down. Granted, most LCD screens will do that to some extent, but I have never seen such poor viewing angles on a screen. For instance, in iTunes, the white and blue horizontal bars in the songlist panel would shift if I went from a slouching position to sitting straight - white bars shifted to blue, blue bars to white. There is also a very noticeable gradient vertically across the screen - the top of the screen is darker, while the icons in the dock appear washed out. There is no amount of calibration that can change this; it's simply the quality of the screen.
After reading up on this issue online, I learned that this is indeed a problem with the new 20" iMac, and that the 24" iMac uses a superior screen. I went the Apple store to take a closer look and sure enough the 24" did not have this problem.
We exchanged the 20" for the 24" and are absolutely thrilled with it. I suggest you take a close look at the two screens in a store before you buy (the Apple stores' evenly lit ceilings can be deceiving though). Look at the screen head-on an bob your head up and down. Do the same with the 24" and notice the difference. If that difference is worth $300 to you, then I highly suggest the larger screen. To me it was worth that and one star.
Love it, of course 2008-05-30
I was a Windows/PC user for 15 years, which is more than half my life. When it was time to buy a new computer recently, I waffled about making the leap to Mac and eventually turned coward. Three weeks ago I bought a new PC. I spent almost three days setting everything up and dealing with Vista. On the fourth day, it wouldn't recognise its monitor any more. I was done. I took it back and bought this beautiful baby.
I'm absolutely in love with it. The screwy secured wireless network my husband set up in our house? It took three hours to get the PC to recognize and accept it. This Mac? One minute. Everything's been like that -- beautifully simplistic and intuitively easy to use. I've cut the clutter on my desk by 2/3rds. And sweet heavens is this baby fast. The screen is gorgeous and my kids keep begging to be allowed to play with it. Not going to happen. The iMac is mine, all mine!
The only drawback I've found is that I haven't found a personal finance program that competes with Microsoft Money. I've tried out three so far, all of which have had issues, and the reviews on Quicken are god awful. But that's okay, because I can use bootcamp and run XP and Money. Beautiful, I'm telling ya!
Which iMac? The compelling choice. 2008-07-07
My daughter--a busy MD, mom, photographer-hobbyist--suffered, in the middle of her hectic schedule, the loss of a computer and asked me for a recommendation. After a bit of deliberation and "research" (an overused and abused word these days for "shopping"), I recommended the recently tweaked and revised iMac 20" 2.66 Ghz for the following reasons:
1. Someone with her busy schedule doesn't need to think about dragging a computer on her travels. Her PDA served her well during med school, but now she has to be person-focused at all times. A desktop machine tends to force its owner (like a piano) to make time as well as a work space for the machine, rather than have it constantly serving as a distraction. I would no more allow a notebook computer to replace my desktop machine as an electric piano replace my acoustic model, or a cell phone my regular home phone.
2. The 24" model admittedly has acquired glowing reviews from pros and consumers alike and doesn't cost a whole lot more for the extra screen real estate. But it's a massive screen, not only devouring valuable living room space but threatening to absorb too much of the owner's and the kids' attention, as well as serve as an attractive danger to the prying hands of curious 1 and 3-year-olds. The graphics have a slight advantage over the 20" inch because they display well laterally, but lateral sight lines are the last thing a serious user needs, whether for photography or professional practice. Finally, to make that 24" inch screen work up to its potential, you really need to add costly extras (or pick up the 3Ghz model with more powerful graphics card--being shown at the Apple site but not as yet on Amazon).
3. The CLINCHER. I thought the entry-level 2.4Ghz would be more than adequate (it probably would be) until I read the most recent reviews at Macworldddotcom. The 2.66Ghz comes with double the Ram (easily and cheaply installed by the user, I'll admit) PLUS a speed boost, a slightly bigger hard drive, and slightly better video card--for less than $300 more. It didn't require Macworld's pointing out that the 2.66Ghz represents the better value. Moreover, their tests of the two machines revealed that the marginally more expensive machine was actually a greater improvement in terms of speed than its published stats--a mere .266 Ghz increase--would suggest: their testers registered processing times for the 2.66GHz model that were 13% faster than those recorded for the 2.4Ghz model.
4. Finally, the choice of seller. In the past I've scrutinized the numbers closely, trying to determine if the deal from Apple Store, even with Educators' Rates and various incentives like free printers, was truly better than Amazon's. At best, the numbers were "close," and were never conclusively in favor of Apple Store. And I've never realized any non-monetary advantages by purchasing Apple products from Apple Store, whereas Amazon has shown its customer-centric colors in my favor on a number of occasions. Apple Store, on the other hand, has in the past come up short more than once. (They certainly weren't helpful when they kept calling me about purchasing extended service contracts.) So once again, I'm giving Amazon the opportunity to disappoint me for the first time.
imac 2.66 review 2008-06-24
Was going to get a refurb but bought this before june 1st to miss out on NY taxes. Runs greats, solid machine. A lot faster than my Powermac G5. Runs window xp perfect if you need that. Very quiet.
Gorgeous Mac 2008-06-22
The iMac is an excellent computer. It truly is a gorgeous machine. Reviews in the different Mac magazines can give you much more detail. Buying through Amazon saves money as they offer a rebate. You can have Apple customize it (with greater memory and larger hard drive), but only through their website. However, that option is costly. Memory and larger hard drives are becoming cheaper, so buying the base model as is seemed more financially reasonable. Upgrading the memory from 2GB to 4GB was very easy once you purchase the memory cards. Instructions come with the iMac in the very small setup manual.
I would make sure that someone is home on the day of delivery as UPS will not just drop it off - which is understandable given its value. I could have asked them to come back on another day, but I ended up going to UPS to pick it up later that night, which was a bit inconvenient.
Second time's a charm 2008-06-20
My circa-2004 iMac just took a powder(a defect in the computer,which may or may not be fixable)so I got this.And I am loving.it.
Supposedly, you can take classes at the Mac store to get better acquainted with Leopard(it's a new one on me!)but I don't think that is going to be necessary :) I've already learned the ropes,and I've had it one day.One.Day. y'all.
That's how easy it was for me.But then again,I've had Macs before(not that that matters)even if you're pretty Mac- clueless, it should be pretty easy to learn.But if you don't feel that way, then feel free to take the classes.
The only gripe I have(and it's a minor one)is that it doesn't come loaded with a word processing program.That would have been nice.Other than that,I can't complain.
Thanks Apple!!!! 2008-06-17
I got this iMac at Best Buy about a week ago. I had Geek Squad install a Windows XP partition (boot camp). From the time that I bought it to now, all I can say is WOW!!!!!! I can tell you, Windows XP runs better than most PC's on a mac. Also the Mac side of my iMac is very fun to use. I found Panther to be easy to use and it looks clean. I will tell you though, like everyone said, there is a glare issue and a viewing angle issue. This does not bother me that much. To me the gloss actually helps the picture a little bit.(I suggest you go to an Apple Store or a store with imacs on display to see what you think). It also came with a suite of software called iLife. (Look at product description above) Garbageband is very fun to use, iMovie is also good but I dont really use it, and Iphoto is great. Of course, we all know how iTunes is. The Keyboard is also amazing. Its thin and is ACTUALLY HEAVIER THAN IT LOOKS. The mouse is just as good. In my opinion, its ugly but it depends on the person. The bluetooth included is very good also. Playing around with my imac and my b-tooth phone, i found out you can call people using your imac. (caller id, dialing, recieving, SMS) This is possible using 3rd party software and found very handy. The Built in Speakers are also good. I highly recommend you use it before you buy an external one. It has very good sound but little bass. If you want to get an external speaker, i suggest the Bose Companion speakers (any subwoofer or without)because of its multimedia capabilities. Finally, the webcam.It is like the iMac itself,...AWESOME!!!! Very good quality picture and capture. I havent tried iChat yet but im sure its awesome as well.
