Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop Reviews
Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop
- Ships in Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging
- 3.06GHz Intel Dual Core Processor
- 500GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperDrive, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
- 21.5″ LED-backlit display with a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, 1920×1080 HD resolution, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
- Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard, includes new wireless Magic Mouse
Featuring brilliant LED-backlit 21.5 widescreen display in a edge-to-edge glass design and seamless all aluminum enclosure. The iMac, is the fastest ever with Intel Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06 GHz. Storage is never an issue with the iMac, this unit features a 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA hard drive. The iMac ships with a wireless keyboard and the wireless Magic Mouse, the worlds first mouse with Multi-Touch technology. 21.5 iMac – 3.06GHz/500GB HD Apple Wireless Keyboard Magic Mouse Cle
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(out of 96 reviews)
List Price: $ 1,199.00
Price: Too low to display
Dell 3.0 Ghz. Super Fast GX Computer, Big 250GB Hard Drive, 2GB RAM, DVD Burner (DVD-RW), and New Licensed Windows XP with Genuine Microsoft Authorized CD
- Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz With Hyper Threading (very fast), 2 Gigabytes (GB) DDR RAM Memory, Giant 250GB Hard Drive
- DVD/RW Optical Drive (Plays and Records CDs and DVDs), 10/100 LAN Networking and Internet (Cable-DSL Internet Ready), 8 x 2.0 USB Ports
- Original Sealed Microsoft XP, Office Suite CDs included (Open Office is Microsoft Office compatible), Anti-Spyware and Anti-Virus Programs
- High Speed Internet Ready, Audio In & Out, Headphone In, Microphone In, Windows XP CD, Application, Driver, Manual CD
- Also Includes: Power cables, Keyboard, Mouse, New Speakers
This computer has been refurbished by a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher. It includes an Original Genuine Licensed Windows XP Operating System with a new sealed Official Microsoft CD from a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher. Beware of Software Piracy. Many other sellers offer a non-original copy of Windows XP. A non-original or counterfeit copy may leave your computer at risk and inhibit your right to critical security updates and is also illegal. SUPER FAST DELL Optiplex Pentium 4 3.0 GHz comput
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(out of 51 reviews)
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Review by James Peterson for Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop
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I’ve been a PC users since the PCXT days. Now I have a mac. I really have been suprised at how easy it is to learn the mac way of doing things.
I’m a programmer by trade (not a desktop coder, but mainframe/database) and I actually decided to buy the iMac because of my desire to create apps for my iPhone. I was shocked to learn that I could keep my windows environment. I could have both worlds.
So far, everything has been very easy to install and use. I had the windows/vmware setup and the iPhone SDK install the first day. Coming from a PC, I’m delighted at how elegant the interface is, even the mouse and keyboard are elegant. The screen is very nice. Colors seem very good, but I haven’t done any photo editing and color correction/matching (so you’ll have to get the pros opinion on that one).
Windows runs very well on it and I’ve had no problems with it.
I can’t see changing back to a PC for my uses (not a gamer). This iMac was the best value IMO, compared to the other mac’s and macbooks. Even compared to the new mac mini (if you add in the additional cost of a good monitor, bluetooth keyboard and magic mouse, the mini was closing in on the iMac price). I’d recommend this iMac for any deveoper to use as a base system. Power seems more than sufficient add to that the capability to run windows as well and you have one of the best values in a development system I’ve seen.
All this and lets face it the mac experience is very pleasant, and it doesn’t hurt to expand your development into the mac arena.
After one week, I’m already a satified mac user.
I’ll update after a year or so of use and abuse.
Review by S. geddamuri for Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop
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This version of imac is amazing.
Pros:
1 This computer is fast and sleek.Looks beautiful.
2 No noise of fan or so.If one close there eyes,they can hardly tell if it sunning.This is not the case with any other ALLINONE desktops i owned.Ex dell studio 15 makes more noise then my kitchen fan.
3 The hardware is just enough for any thing.500GB hd is PLUS.The ram 4gb is hardly used.
4 Screen is beautiful.For some people the screen is like mirror and gets lots of reflection.But for me i love the screen.The screen can be moved easily if you getting any reflection.The glossy screen makes the view more enjoyable.
5 THE LEOPORD SNOW is very good.No issues so far.For PC users it will take little while to learn the shortcuts.But once they are used to it it will be very fast to access any thing.
6 The MOUSE was never a problem for me.I am so used to use forward and backward on the web pages using this mouse,When i use other mouse my fingers automatically slide.One can really admire the mouse once they get used to it in couple days.
7 Keyboard is small.i would love to have wireless keyboard with the numeric pad.
8 The sound is good on this computer.for a medium room i think this is more then enough.
CONS
1 The keyboard could be little better.i mean with numeric pad and more F buttons.
2 there should have a hard button for ejecting the DVD.When i was installing Windows 7 i was stuck with the DVD.Couldnt find a way to eject without loading OS.
3 DVDs with paper stickers on it stucks some time.So be careful if you are inserting a DVD with sticker labels.
Overall very happy with this purchase.
Review by Paul C. Huang for Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop
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The trouble began when the aluminum-bodied 20″ iMac replaced the white polycarbonate 20″ iMac. Not only does it have a highly-reflective (albeit high-quality, very plane) glass, it has a TN screen that is 6-bit per channel. The TN screen found in the 20″ iMac was inferior to the IPS panel found in the 24″. Those who demand image quality had two choices: buy the 24″ iMac or buy the 20″, turn it toward the wall and make the wallpaper white so it lights up the user environment, and buy a quality IPS screen. This back-to-back solution may seem funny, but it does work. The TN screen displays different colors at different viewing angles (Unless the user moves his/her eyes directly over the pixel, the viewing angle variation relative to the pixel position causes the color to vary greatly.
The 21.5″ is a major leap forward, because the entry-level iMac has the same GHz rating as the old top-of-the-line model, has a new two-AA bluetooth keyboard, and a wireless mouse. These are the added value that used to be extra before, and the Magic Mouse wasn’t even available.
With the new 21.5″, the users no longer have to choose a larger screen simply for better image/color quality. The glass, however, continues to be highly reflective and uncoated (no anti-reflective coating, as you may find on camera lenses, MacBook Air, and even Audi TT’s speedometer/Tachometer).
Those who do not use the numeric keypad would definitely welcome the small-footprint wireless keyboard. It allows the user to bring the mouse closer to the keyboard and reduce wrist, forearm, and shoulder stress.
The Magic Mouse has finally done away with the problem-prone scroll ball found in the Mighty Mouse. I wish the top surface of this mouse were more matte/velvety than the glossy surface it is. The glossy surface is nothing more than cosmetic. Imagine if the trackpad on all the Mac portables turn glossy. I am sure there would be plenty of complaints. The glossy surface on the predecessor was OK because the fingers didn’t have to glide over the glossy surface. Although the glossy surface is not a problem for me, because I don’t use a mouse at all (Kensington Expert Mouse and WACOM, please), those with sweaty fingers would find it problematic.
Those familiar with the round iMac mouse will find this familiar: Its symmetrical shape lets the user easily lose orientation, because there is not a cord attached to it. As a result, the user must look at the logo first to identify which direction is supposed to be pointing up.
The integrated nVidia 9400M is more than good enough for casual users. Those who may need 3D or gaming capabilities should choose the other models with independent video cards.
NOW, THE $500 QUESTION. How does this screen compare to the 24″ in physical dimension? This screen has 1920 pixels across, which is the same as the 24″. The 21.5″ is 18.7″ wide, which is slightly narrower than the 20.25″ width found on the 24″. This means the 21.5″ has higher pixel density. What about the height? 12.75″ for the 24″ iMac and 10.5″ for the 21.5″ iMac.
I forgot to mention that in the past, the power switch has a different shiny surface (while the entire back is matte) and has a concave surface. However, this one is perfectly flush to the back and is very difficult to detect. It takes some poking around. Another thing: they new wireless keyboard is noticeably noisier than the USB or previous three-AA aluminum wireless keyboard. Apparently the mechanism is not the same as the other aluminum keyboards.
Review by V for Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop
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I’ve been strictly a PC guy for as long as I can remember (only used Macs in college writing labs). Since graduating from college over 14 years ago I literally have not used even one Mac. I was pretty much anti Mac because I thought they were over priced, underpowered and Steve Jobs really got on my nerves. I mean, for the money you could get a faster, more feature packed PC for much less. I was also concerned about compatibility with PC files and software.
Well, now that I’ve matured some, gotten over my childish hating of Steve, and had to decide on a new PC for our family to use, and Mac now has PC emulation software, I reconsidered. My first reaction was to get another PC and continue along my merry way as I’ve always done. When I started my shopping I thought what the heck, let me check out the latest Macs on the apple Web site. I was blown away by the new iMacs. I ended up spending about 2-3 hours over a few days looking at the iMacs and reading reviews around the Web.
Long story short I finally got my iMac. It was a tough decision because I was purchasing one of these things I thought was overpriced and underpowered years back. The specs on these new iMacs got me intrigued. I’ll admit, the large screen and all-in-one form sold me. The Core 2 Duo and 4GB ram was decent enough for me to give it a try. In short I am VERY pleased I bought this computer. It’s outstanding. Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Design: This all-in-one design is absolutely better than any other all-in-one out there. Just a stunning screen, keyboard and a mouse (and no large brick connected to the power cord!). When I took the thing out I was looking for the other “components”. Simply refreshing. How can Apple create such a slim, light and usable machine while HP, IBM and the others produce these clumsy all-in-ones?
- Screen: Just one word: amazing.
- Ease of use/setup: It’s obvious these Apple guys really think about what users go through from the point they open the box, to the point they start using the computer. The process was so simple and easy. This old PC guy was almost looking for warnings or errors to pop up or something. Well done.
- Login process: OS X boots up so quick that sometimes I sit there waiting for the computer to do the hourglass thing like a PC. But it doesn’t. You log in, you see the main screen shortly thereafter and you’re ready to go. It almost seems wrong. Doesn’t this thing need to boot up a bunch of stuff to get going? Apparently not. Also the clean layout of the icons on the bottom of the screen with no other pre-installed craplets or other desktop icons is such a refreshing change vs PCs.
- Software: I will hold off on commenting here until I’ve spent more time with the installed and purchased iWork software. Can’t wait to get my hands on Garage band. My kids and I will have a blast.
- Keyboard and Mouse: Keyboard is so sleek and small you’d think it was a toy. It takes a bit of getting used to because some of the keys you’d find on a PC keyboard are missing (the back space and delete keys are the same key…use the Fn+delete to do forward deleting of characters). All in all though, not a problem. I haven’t gotten used to all the multifunction keys yet, but I’m assuming these other cool stuff I can do with it that I’ll figure out later.
- Magic mouse: One word: Schweet! I’m using it now to easily scroll through this comment I’m writing.
- Speed: So far haven’t done any real heavy lifting with it like movie editing or MP3 encoding/transfers, but my Web browsing and video watching are blazing. And overall system response is excellent. Will report back as I use the system more over the next few weeks/months.
- Integrated with my home Wi-fi without a hitch. Even automatically found the drivers for my HP All-in-One printer. I didn’t even have to download the Mac driver or anything.
- Oh, and it’s real quiet too.
Cons:
- Screen can show a lot of glare. This can be a problem for some folks and in certain room settings
- Could have gotten a unit with more ram and faster processor if I got a PC. But to be honest, given my experience so far with this thing, I really don’t care. Technical specks aint everything. User experience is important as well. I guess a gamer would care though. But they can get the 27″ model with the intel i7 processor.
- PC guys have to learn some things like how to cut, paste, undo, use safari, navigate around the OS, etc.
- That’s all so far, will report back over the next weeks/months with new issues/concerns.
In summary, I am one happy customer. We still have two PCs in the house and I’m still a PC guy; but check back with me in a year or so — that may change.
Hey PC guys/gals out there…you will not regret buying this thing. Go ahead, do it.
Review by M. Dai for Apple iMac MB950LL/A 21.5-Inch Desktop
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After 15 years of using PC, we decided to switch to Mac and so far we are very happy with our iMac. The 21.5-inch screen is bright and sharp. Glare is not an issue to us because our window is on the left hand side, not directly behind. Also, when we were at the apple store, we saw both the 21.5-nch and and old 20-inch on display. The 21.5-inch seems much bigger – not merely 7% judging from the number. So we were really impressed. The 27-inch seems WAYYYY to big. It almost makes you dizzy sitting right in front of it.
When I first set up my iMac on the desk, I immediately noticed a buzzing sound caused by certain vibration. It’s not loud but sufficiently disturbing. I searched the internet and found many people had similar problems with their iMacs too. Some people brought their iMacs back to apple store for service and had some parts (mostly air fans) changed, but not much help. So I decided to have some experiment with my setup. First, I tried my iMac on my kitchen countertop, which is granite. No vibration, no buzzing sound at all. Then I put my laptop PC on my desk, same spot where I put my iMac. LOUD and LOUD buzzing sound. So I knew the problem was caused by the desk, not the iMac. Now I have a photo album with leather cover underneath my iMac. No buzzing sound any more. Very happy with the machine thereafter.
The switch from PC to Mac is easy. We do not need to take any special course or tutorial to get started. Everything is exremely intuitive. From here or there we had some questions, we checked the video clips on apple’s website and at one time called apple hotline. Our questions were solved immediately.
Overall, this machine is wonderful. Starts and shuts down super fast. Launches and closes programs super fast. Extremely quite – once we solved the buzzing sound problem, we could hardly hear anything, even the cooling fan sound that we constantly hear from our PC. The built in speakers produce a wonderful sound that fills the entire room with no difficulty – almost to the same level as my Bose mini system. And finally, we love the magic mouse. It is so fun to scroll up and down, left and right, and rotate everything on your finger tip without the need to drag it all over the screen.
We strongly recommed this machine to anyone who’s tired of PC and wants to have a different experience on what’s a computer can do to you.
Review by Teresa Eastlack for Dell 3.0 Ghz. Super Fast GX Computer, Big 250GB Hard Drive, 2GB RAM, DVD Burner (DVD-RW), and New Licensed Windows XP with Genuine Microsoft Authorized CD
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I purchased this PC from this seller, assuming that his description of the PC was accurate. I bought into it because his feedback is always good. However, when I got this machine, it was only 512MB RAM and not 2GB like the description promised. I contacted seller and left him negative feedback, to which he responded to promptly … He apologised profusely and offered to send me two 1GB each sticks of RAM, and if I removed my negative feedback right away, he’d throw in a 4GB flash drive for my troubles. I wouldn’t have removed the FB if I knew that I couldn’t replace it with another. The seller knew this, and that’s why he had me do it. He sent me that flash drive to cover his behind.
Basically, this guy bribed me so he could get more sales and sell his fake PCs. Also, this seller dropped the price, [...] … I wonder why that is … Too many complaints ? Anyone who bought this PC and left good feedback obviously doesn’t know how to check their systems and HDs to make sure they are accurate.
So, I removed the feedback and received the RAM and flash drive in the next business day.
Today, I tried to move files from my other PC (which is 176GB HD storage), and it stopped at 30GB to tell me there isn’t enough space to do so. I checked it out, and what do you know, it was only 40GB !!! So, not only did this seller goof up on the RAM, he also lied about the HD space, as well as the processor. He says it’s 2.8 and it’s only 2.4 … So far, this has been nothing but a nightmare.
I will NOT be removing this review this time, because I think this seller’s potential victims/customers have the right to know what they are purchasing.
I will be more than happy to provide screen shots. As a matter of fact, here they are :
http://i41.tinypic.com/2h55nwj.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/2ljgq9z.jpg
If for some reason, the above links do not show up, feel free to e-mail me : alicyn.eastlack@gmail.com
I wish I didn’t have to leave a 1-5 star review for this product, because the seller doesn’t even deserve one star.
Review by A. Ikeda for Dell 3.0 Ghz. Super Fast GX Computer, Big 250GB Hard Drive, 2GB RAM, DVD Burner (DVD-RW), and New Licensed Windows XP with Genuine Microsoft Authorized CD
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I bought a refurbished Dell from GrupoComp (a.k.a. A Computer for Everybody)in March and the DVD drive didn’t work. They sent another one and it was too large. Then they sent another one that was too small. This was going on during March. I requested a refund and Shawn said ok. Then I sent the computer back on April 7th with all the requested forms. I sent it Confirmation Receipt requested and they said they never got the computer back but I have a receipt from the Post Office saying they got it on April 13 at 11:13 am. So now I’m in the process of getting a refund but they are being total jerks about it. Don’t buy from them! I sure wont. They are about the worst sellers I’ve seen on Amazon.
Review by T. Isaacson for Dell 3.0 Ghz. Super Fast GX Computer, Big 250GB Hard Drive, 2GB RAM, DVD Burner (DVD-RW), and New Licensed Windows XP with Genuine Microsoft Authorized CD
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When I received my computer I took it home and hooked everything up. All that happened is that the fan came on. I sent an e-mail to the company and they sent me a form to send it back for repair. I send it UPS, at my expense, and it shows they sign for it on Tuesday. I contact the company on Thursday to find out what’s happening, and get told that it is scheduled to go to the diagnostic bench on Monday. That’s almost a week from when they get it. I’m waiting to see what’s going to happen next. I will keep you posted and pray it all works out OK.
Review by Killian Muli for Dell 3.0 Ghz. Super Fast GX Computer, Big 250GB Hard Drive, 2GB RAM, DVD Burner (DVD-RW), and New Licensed Windows XP with Genuine Microsoft Authorized CD
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The computer was delivered just on time. After setup, it worked for a few minutes and just quit. I had to turn it off and leave it for some time before it could pick up. Since then, it has never given me any problems and is awesomely working. Not bad for the price. I would recommend other customers to these guys.
Review by Samantha A. Stone for Dell 3.0 Ghz. Super Fast GX Computer, Big 250GB Hard Drive, 2GB RAM, DVD Burner (DVD-RW), and New Licensed Windows XP with Genuine Microsoft Authorized CD
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When I bought this computer I thought it was a great deal, and it is I just didn’t know it would come with “strings”. I had purchased this computer for my 73 year old mother in-law, she was very happy when she got it the only thing was that it doesn’t come with instructions, and she needed help hooking it up…ONLY COMPLAINT. So I went online on Amazon and and wrote my first review. I gave the computer company a three, it was a good price and when it was up and running my mother was happy. Two days later I get a call from the company to take down my review. When I didn’t get around to the next day they called again. So I contacted Amazon and they said there is a strict policy against sellers contacting buyers about their reviews. So Amazon sent me another email to review this product again. It has been a week and the computer comapny is still calling. So heads up buyer the reason they have so many positive reviews is because the ask the other customers to take down the negative reviews. We have not had issues with our computer but it has only been a week or two since we got it. Good luck.