Apple iMac MB201LL/A 24 in. Mac Desktop - with Front Row

Hello All,

I've just started to buy and sell Powermac G5's and Imac's on E-Bay.

I've already reviewed the PowerMac G5's, so now I'll review the IMac. I would have liked to rate the Imac between a 4 and a 5, but there's no position for that.

If you're someone who surfs the Net, and send E-Mails, and occasionally downloads photos, then this is a great item. If you're more sophisticated and work as a photographer, write books, or do both, then this Imac is also for you.

As with the Powermac's that I've already written about, unless you're a gamer, you probably won't notice much difference in speeds whether you purchase a dual 2.4 GHz, 2.66 GHz, 2.93 GHz, 3.06 GHZ, or the latest 3.33 GHZ (special configuration order via Apple.

All of the models are quite fast, so if you can't quite afford the 2.93 or 2.66, then try the 2.4 or even the 2.16.

Now all of the above models are "older" in Apple years. They're only 1-3 years old, but as an Apple Imac that's old for many people. So what? They're still fast, they look just like the newer models, and they're almost as big. I'm describing in this article the 24" models.

The newest models are sized at 21.5" from 20" and 27". When I was in a Mac Store the other day, I was on a 24" and a lady next to me was on a 27". I had trouble telling the difference in size, and some of the other customers in the store probably thought I was "loony" pacing back and forth between the 2 Imacs.

My wife is an interior designer, and I offered her one of these - a 24" 2.16 dual. She liked it, but she's a novice, and just purchased her first laptop. So she declined on my offer. As a novice, she also found this "overwhelming".

One thing she mentioned which is interesting from an interior designer's point of view is that he average table depth is 24" So if you try to put a 27" monitor on a 24" deep table, you might have nearsighted problems.

I asked my brother (an orthodontist) why he went with Mac minis in his office with non-Apple monitors. He said that Apple stopped making those wall attachment brackets for the Imacs, so it was easier to work with the Minis and "other" brands of monitors.

Another thing to think about is that these IMacs are not that "user-friendly" when it comes to adding more memory or changing a hard drive. It's better to bring in the unit to have a certified Mac tech do the work. That will run you between $ 40.00 - $ 80.00 / Hour.

What else? These Imacs seem to have sellers selling them at higher basic prices than the Powermacs. Mind you, the PowerMacs are older, and do not have Intel chips for which you can (dare I say it) run PC programs on the latest Microsoft OS system. You need to buy though, a program called Parallels or Boot Camp.

Many people seem to either be selling these "older" units for the 21.5" or 27". Also there is a whole slew of people selling them for the more portable Mac laptops that come in 3 variations. I haven't even thought about buying and selling these - they're just too expensive!

One other thing that I noticed is that these units are tepid (not not ,but noticeably warm) compared to the PowerMacs. Then again, the PowerMac G5's weigh in at almost 50 pounds, have 9 fans, and vented front and back patterned aluminum walls.

I'm running out of space, but I would just like to mention the mice and keyboards. I've been able to try 4 different keyboards so far, and it's amazing how you develop a preference of 1 over the other.