The iMac has always been a little more about style than function and the latest iteration is testament to this philosophy. The most noticeable thing about the iMac G5 is the massive 20 inch widescreen. It's a Big Mac. Geddit?
The screen/CPU is white plastic and finished with a clear plastic bezel - the effect is incredibly striking. The attached stand is solid metal and very sturdy. The screen itself is very bright and legible, and the large bezel underneath becomes invisible after a while.
Unfortunately, the benchmarks we have used for the rest of the roundup aren't applicable for the Apple products, and so we have tested based on the included applications. Many PC users have wandered to the dark side of media management in the beast that is iTunes. Unfortunately, at the time of writing the iTunes store is still unavailable for Australia. The sound via the included speakers is just okay - anyone interested in high fidelity would already have a set they could connect. The sound via the headphone/line-out, though, is incredibly good.
The iMac also comes with Garage Band which is a plus for budding musicians looking to record their own songs, and the results are easily downloaded into iTunes. Otherwise, the software is a little scarce, no Office applications or the like.
The keyboard is very stylish, but a little flawed. The buttons sit raised and any shed gunk will fall between them and be proudly displayed behind the clear plastic lip at the bottom. The one-button optical mouse is quite pleasant to use however.
Performance-wise, expect the iMac with its 1.8Ghz processor and NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 to sit in the lower section of our round-up. But again, the iMac is also about simplicity, and anyone will be able to get the unit working out of the box within ten minutes flat. Stylishness is a drool-worthy by-product.
This article appeared in the December 2004 issue of PC Authority.
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