I have to come clean and state this fact: I'm having an affair at my job.
I never thought it would be like this but I've noticed it happens all the time whenever I've gone to a new job. My significant other at home is not too pleased with my galavanting ways but it can't be helped. It has become a necessity for me to do my work and in the most efficient way possible.
Yes, my 15.4"
MacBook Pro is not happy that I'm spending more time with the 24" Apple
iMac Desktop at work. I don't want to say that it's love at first sight but it definitely keeps me coming back for more almost every day of week
(Mondays to Fridays for at least eight hours a day; sometimes a few Saturdays and Sundays if necessary). But my
MacBook Pro cannot complain at all. It has been out of commission ever since it was inflicted with a little water damage. With that said, I have had no choice but to devote more time with the computer I have at work.
I'm also lucky that I received a new computer as well considering that I've been making a big stink that I'm behind in my applications. Everyone else was upgraded to
Adobe Creative Suite 3 while I was still on
version 2. Over a year later, not only did I get an upgrade but also received a new computer to boot.
The first thing noticeable about the
Apple iMac (MB325LL/A) Desktop is its 24" monitor. I cannot tell how much I enjoy this feature. It makes opening multiple windows on my desktop much more enjoyable and it doesn't frustrate me to no ends like it used to before I received this upgrade. My desktop isn't as cluttered as before as I feel I know have some more breathing room. In the graphic design business, it's common to have multiple applications running at the same time with many windows opened all at once. What really helps me in this case is seeing two windows side-by-side without having to go back-and-forth between the two
(or three or however many I need at the moment).
Keep in mind, too, that because of the larger screen size, it's easy to forget that it will occupy more desk space. I also quickly found out that I needed to push my monitor back even further just so I have field of vision to the entire screen and that I don't experience a tremendous amount of eye strain for having the screen that close to my face. Yes, I will still have eye strain regardless just by constantly staring at the computer screen but at least I don't have to expedite the experience. I do have to say that watching movies on this computer is a joy especially with the widescreen format on this crisp, high-resolution LCD screen. It makes a great extra television, which is both a blessing and a curse, especially if you are trying to do work and are watching movies instead.
I remember when the rainbow-coloured, teardrop iMacs hit the market and became a novelty as it didn't need a tower; everything was built in the monitor. Then it graduated to a white-encased, flat-screen, desktop computer. This latest version of the iMac sports a very sleek, professional-looking aluminum finish, styling back to its MacBook look. It is powered by a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor which provides improved multitasking, video and gaming performance.
The iMac also features an ultra-thin aluminum Apple keyboard. This keyboard is similar to the ones used on its latest laptops. In fact, it almost feels like someone removed a laptop keyboard and decided to bundle it with this version of the iMac. I have to say that I absolutely detested it when I first used it because of it's very small stature. I felt that my fingers were cramped and that the keys were too low to the desk in order for me to use it properly. But as with everything, I adapted and started to feel more comfortable with how I use it so all I needed was to give it some time to get used to the feeling. A wired
Mighty Mouse is also included to complete the necessary tools needed to do all tasks on this computer
(for the record, I do love my Mighty Mouse).
The machine is pre-loaded with
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple's operating system. This latest version features Time Machine allowing easy backup of your very important files and eliminate clutter on the desktop. Also included is the
iLife '08 bevy of applications, featuring
iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and
Garageband, as well as the newest and faster version of the
Safari web browser.
The hardware includes a 320 GB hard drive with 2 GB of RAM. I added an extra 1 GB of RAM for better performance when handing all these applications at once. The maximum I can put is 4 GB so I still have room for an upgrade if needed, which will most likely happen down the road, especially for those that want to utilize
Boot Camp, the application that lets the Mac split the hard drive into a Mac and Windows partition, and lets you start your Mac in either Windows or Mac OS. Personally, I haven't used it yet considering I have everything I need so far. The computer has both CD and DVD capabilities with a 8x SuperDrive and ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO video card with 256 MB dedicated memory. All this means is that the photos and graphics I'll be rendering will be crisp and sharp on the screen. The CD/DVD drive is a thin slot inserted on the side of the monitor.
The downside is the number of ports available on the computer. There are only four USB ports and one firewire along with an ethernet jack. I almost hoped that Apple would have included a few more ports considering how many devices I find myself connecting the computer, but I'm used to it. Maybe it's almost better this way as I can see too many wires becoming an eyesore.
I have always consider an iMac to be a lower version of the Apple G3, G4, G5 and now
Mac Pro towers. I usually steered away from it because I know I need something more powerful. To my surprise, when I started my new job a few years ago, the graphic design department was loaded with iMacs. I was actually surprised by that considering every other place I have worked usually have an Apple tower of some sort. I do have to admit that having a sea of iMacs makes the workplace look sleek and clean. But my problem was performance. Would it be able to handle to workload? On a typical day, I have
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign or QuarkXpress (or sometimes both), Adobe Acrobat Professional, Lotus Notes and
Safari opened all at the same time. Obviously, this becomes a strain on the computer as the day wanes on, but this newer machine makes it easier to get the necessary jobs done, especially the last minute ones that come at the end of the day. With this latest upgrade to this version of the iMac, I'm more comfortable and confident about the projects I can create on this machine.
The
iMac is an interesting option as a desktop computer as it combines the monitor with a computer and sells it as one; it's really more of a "lifestyle" machine that I can see used more in the home, thanks to its modern and stylish design. But using it at work as made me rethink my opinion on the
iMacs and realize that its job performance is better than expected. Yes, I know having a
Mac Pro tower would be ideal but beggers can't be choosy especially if your company is giving you an upgrade where you don't have to shell out your own money. It's the best of both worlds where I can really experiment the machine at work and see if it is the right one I need for home as well. All signs are pointing to yes.
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Related ReviewsApple MacBook Pro (MA601LLA) Notebook, 15.4"Apple (MA357LLA) AC Adapter for MacBook ProApple Mighty Mouse (MA086LL/A)
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