Apple iMac MD095LL/A 27 Review
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| Keep your desk clutter free with Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse |
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| The 27-inch Apple iMac MD095LL/A 27 is just 5mm thin at its edge and features a bright display with 75 percent less reflection |
Been using Windows all my life since XP. I have only owned my 27" iMac for a short time but I am thoroughly impressed with the computing experience Apple has put forth.
performance With the shift from older Intel Core processors to the faster Ivy Bridge chips—and the upgrade to the 3.4GHz Intel Core i7 quad-core processor found in our review unit—this iMac positively screams, offering the most powerful Mac this side of the workstation-grade Mac Pro. In Cinebench R11.5, our processor speed benchmark test, the iMac scored 7.36 points, rocketing past the under-powered Acer 7600U (2.88 points), easily surpassing the previous iMac (5.10), and leading both the Dell XPS One 27 and Asus ET2701INKI-B046C (7.04 and 7.08, respectively) by a healthy margin.
Visually stunning and powerful,
I ordered my 27 inch iMac, BTO 2.9 i5 w/ 1tb Fusion Drive, directly from Apple on 11/30/12 and received it on 12/17/12. Although I have only had the iMac for a short amount of time I am extremely impressed. It opens up photoshop CS6 so fast that I cannot read the credits and boots up in about 16 seconds, thanks to the Fusion drive. The 27 inch iMac also allows the ram to be upgraded very easily and I personally upgraded the ram to 24gb. As expected the design is visually stunning and thin, due to no built in optical drive. I did buy a external Apple SuperDrive and as a result I believe that the lack of a built in optical drive was worth it. The one draw back, due to the georgeous design, is learning how to stop staring at the iMac from the side. The iMac is also very quiet and does not even get warm to the touch. The new LCD screen is also a pleasure to look at. Reflections are no longer a problem and the image looks stunning.
FYI: On the 27 inch iMac the ram is easily upgraded by a rear pop out access door. If you decided to add two more ram sticks make sure you get oem comparable spec ram sticks, CL 11 PC12800s ddr3 1600 sodimm. Then simply install them into the two empty slots, 1 and 3. If you replace all the ram sticks be aware that slots 1/3 and 2/4 are paired slots.
FYI: On the 27 inch iMac the ram is easily upgraded by a rear pop out access door. If you decided to add two more ram sticks make sure you get oem comparable spec ram sticks, CL 11 PC12800s ddr3 1600 sodimm. Then simply install them into the two empty slots, 1 and 3. If you replace all the ram sticks be aware that slots 1/3 and 2/4 are paired slots.
This iMac's screen is huge which allows a lot of space for multi-tasking. It is also stunningly beautiful. I know the gamma has been factory set so that colors are rendered true to life. Glare has been cut helping to focus on the task at hand. Opening programs happens quickly and silently. I have only heard the fan once, that during the Apple test which I conducted on my own. The only other time I've experienced completely silent computing was on my laptop. I really appreciate this feature.
Web surfing using Safari with the trackpad is a wonderful experience. The ability to move forward and backward between pages with a few swipes to me is more intuitive and easier than with a mouse.
Apps like iMovie were a prime motivation for my purchase. The PC has no equivalent for iMovie. I've been using Sony Vegas for years. Yes, I can make transparent title bars in Sony Vegas, but a greater expense of time and effort than with iMovie, which already has templates setup for easy creation. Should I decide to move up to a more sophisticated video editor, Final Cut Pro is the standard for many a video studio.
Apple has made a machine that works exceptionally well and is very elegant to boot. It is a computer that inspires as well as allows for creation of beautiful content with minimal effort.
