New Imac

A chromebook is £230 it seems. I can be annoyed for even less money than I thought!
 
I'm just thinking how much gear for the same money I could get - chromebook, ipad mini and probably an iphone 5 as well. Just for the price of one laptop...
 
srichards said:
I'm just thinking how much gear for the same money I could get - chromebook, ipad mini and probably an iphone 5 as well. Just for the price of one laptop...
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:schtum:
 
acetone said:
The lack of an optical drive means very little in the apple world, as it's a cloud based install system now,
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What if you want to just watch a DVD or BluRay on it? LOL

acetone said:
You can get external drive for £20, so not a deal breaker in my mind, and I guess Apple will retort that many people moaned when floppy drives stopped being put in machines as standard.
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Kind of defeats the point of having an ultra thin, elegant and discreet computer if you have to plug in a rat's nest of USB cables/devices to get it to what you want.



Looks like form over function to me... pretty much like most Apple products. Great for those who want to be hip and cool, or have a computer that doubles as an aspirational product, or furniture, but looks like a pain in the ass for any power user, or serious graphics professional. It will probably appeal to the types who drape expensive cameras around their necks like jewellery/status symbols. :)
 
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You could watch a dvd though...

It's all very well having everything in the cloud but as amazon's recent snafu with that woman and her kindle it is clear that digital content gives you far fewer rights than having the physical media in your sticky mitts. A simple mistake could easily deny access to everything you have legitimately bought or thought you had legitimately bought.
 
arad85 said:
You never used to be able to play BRs on Macs. Has this changed?
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That's not really helping Apple's case much is it :)


[edit]

Another thing... The entire Adobe Master collection CS6 is around 12GB compressed... I'm supposed to download all that everytime I want to re-install it? Sod that. I'm sorry but a computer without an optical drive is just pants.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
That's not really helping Apple's case much is it :)


[edit]

Another thing... The entire Adobe Master collection CS6 is around 12GB compressed... I'm supposed to download all that everytime I want to re-install it? Sod that. I'm sorry but a computer without an optical drive is just pants.
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once downloaded i believe you can put it on a USB flash drive. i'll let you know when we shortly upgrade from CS4.
 
Still hardly the point. I often watch DVDs on my computer as I have a very large monitor. Compromising a machine's usability to make it look pretty is a pretty dumb idea.
 
For someone with crap broadband 12GB is an impossible amount of data to download, full stop. They'd never actually be able to install the software even if putting it on a flash drive or saving it somewhere was possible!

Does the new imac have an SD card slot? SD cards are at least portable and available on a lot of devices. I know mine does (not that I'd ever use it)
 
neil_g said:
once downloaded i believe you can put it on a USB flash drive. i'll let you know when we shortly upgrade from CS4.
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And how much are 16G flash drives these days compared to DVD-Rs?
 
srichards said:
I'm just thinking how much gear for the same money I could get - chromebook, ipad mini and probably an iphone 5 as well. Just for the price of one laptop...
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If you go full google, chrome book, nexus 7/10 and nexus 4/Samsung note 2/galaxy s3

You can save a lot more too! Lol :D
 
When I have enough money I'll be buying one.

Even though I use the disc drive on my MBP it really doesn't bother me that the iMac doesn't have one built in.

I really don't see it being such an issue of having an external drive on your desk when you need it. I mean how many of us back up to a number of external HDD's??
 
Pookeyhead said:
That's not really helping Apple's case much is it :)

[edit]

Another thing... The entire Adobe Master collection CS6 is around 12GB compressed... I'm supposed to download all that everytime I want to re-install it? Sod that. I'm sorry but a computer without an optical drive is just pants.
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A computer without a 7" floppy is pant
A computer with out a 3.5" floppy is pants
A computer without a tape drive is pants


Technology and the world moves on, Apple was slagged off for dropping flash, then 12 months later everyone else including Adobe did the same thing, the same will happen with cd/DVD. As broadband gets faster and faster downloading will be a non issue.
 
acetone said:
A computer without a 7" floppy is pant
A computer with out a 3.5" floppy is pants
A computer without a tape drive is pants

Technology and the world moves on, Apple was slagged off for dropping flash, then 12 months later everyone else including Adobe did the same thing, the same will happen with cd/DVD. As broadband gets faster and faster downloading will be a non issue.
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While I kind of agree most of the country struggles to get over 2mb Internet. It's a bit soon to drop a common large format drive like DVD.
 
The thing that is so stupid to me is they have this beautiful sleek machine and if you want to plug anything in, it's all round the back. So to make life easy, you're going to end up with a USB hub, card reader, possibly an external drive and a CD/DVD unit on the desk. I agree with whoever said form before function....
 
arad85 said:
. I agree with whoever said form before function....
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It's just like fashion on the catwalk, looks good but would you really wear it. :lol:

Now I have three external drive connected to my iMac, but you'd never know as they are hidden behind and under the desk, now I appreciate you can't do that with an optical drive as access would be needed, but I'm sure most folk could come up with a very simple and neat solution, if that kind of look is a big problem in their eyes. Put all your drives in an empty pc case, and have it look like a really home computer ;)

I totally agree about the position of the SD slot, that really is a stupid idea. Even at only 5mm thick there is enough room on the side/top/bottom for a slot, I would think it's not out of the question to have it on the keyboard even (not sure now fast Bluetooth speed would be)
 
Dropping cd/dvd drives is something that is sensible to do eventually but I think they've done it about 2 or 3 years too early. Broadband infrastructure isn't there to support downloading everything. Netflix etc isn't common or good enough for everyone to have got rid of their dvd collection.

If I have a copy of a dvd then I want some way of watching it anywhere, like I can with a dvd drive! Why can't I tell itunes I own a dvd so I can have it available free anywhere I am? Apple have missed out the crucial step. Giving people a solution to where they store their films or having access to films they've already bought all via the apple ecosystem.
 
acetone said:
A computer without a 7" floppy is pant
A computer with out a 3.5" floppy is pants
A computer without a tape drive is pants


Technology and the world moves on, Apple was slagged off for dropping flash, then 12 months later everyone else including Adobe did the same thing, the same will happen with cd/DVD. As broadband gets faster and faster downloading will be a non issue.
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But DVDs and BluRay are still widely used, and will be for some time. They've removed a ubiquitous and widely used format from it WAY too early. It's not just about software being in the cloud either. It's about watching movies. They still come on optical disk. I know you can stream them but the quality is utterly rubbish from most services.
 
Pookeyhead said:
But DVDs and BluRay are still widely used, and will be for some time. They've removed a ubiquitous and widely used format from it WAY too early. It's not just about software being in the cloud either. It's about watching movies. They still come on optical disk. I know you can stream them but the quality is utterly rubbish from most services.
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I've not used a cd or dvd in my pc for a year or 2 now.

I've ripped a lot of DVDs, also use LOVEFiLM, Netflix and blink box, so 80% of movie watching is streamed.

Everyone is different. Apple removed floppy drives a little early, Microsoft aren't fussed about blu ray in the 360 as they believe blu ray will be the last physical medium. We ship our software digitally, a lot of software is purchased digitally. CDs, DVDs and blu-rays are going.

Streaming may be not be as good as a DVD or blurry, but the majority of people want convenience rather than quality. Hence why mp3 has succeed and DVD-A and SA-CD disappeared.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
Streaming may be not be as good as a DVD or blurry, but the majority of people want convenience rather than quality. Hence why mp3 has succeed and DVD-A and SA-CD disappeared.
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The problem with streaming is that you need the bandwidth. This is fine if you have FTTC, but most people don't.
 
I have come to realise that Apple can see the future clearer than I can, unfortunately you have to see their vision for it to work.

Writing CD/DVD is out - who would when flash media is so cheap. I cannot remember when I last wrote optical media, but use flash loads. I rent films through Apple TV and have no desire to rewatch a film once I have seen it.

Because I'm old, I prefer to buy a music CD for albums rather than buying a digital download. But I no longer have a 'music centre' in which to play it.

Integration is now key. I dislike the idea of using iPhones to play music, but I now take snaps, listen to music/podcasts, use maps and apps. I get my email and browse the internet. Who knew I'd do that on a phone?

I used to back up my photos to CDs, then to DVDs. Now they are backed up in two different digital mediums. I don't like cloud computing, but every major producer is offering cloud solutions. Even the Government is using G Cloud (and think how out of date they are). I get Microsoft 360 and Adobe solution emails regularly. I bet you do too.

Dinosaurs died out. Computer usage is changing.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
I've ripped a lot of DVDs, also use LOVEFiLM, Netflix and blink box, so 80% of movie watching is streamed.
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The quality isn't good enough. I didn't pay a great deal of cash for a top quality TV to watch low bitrate psuedo HD. Same goes for when I want to watch stuff on my computer. I have a 30" screen here and I notice every flaw in streamed content. I think you'll find BluRay will be here for a long time. When we go 4K it will still be an optical disc medium that you obtain films on, as streaming high bitrate 4K video is just out of the question for 99% of the population.

I think you're writing off the optical disk WAY too soon.
 
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Pookeyhead said:
The quality isn't good enough. I didn't pay a great deal of cash for a top quality TV to watch low bitrate psuedo HD.
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Exactly

arad85 said:
The problem with streaming is that you need the bandwidth. This is fine if you have FTTC, but most people don't.
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5MBit streams aren't too bad... But I'd want at least 16Mbit to be able to stream 5Mbit reliably.
 
Realised another use of optical drives. Burning music playlists to have music in the car. Without write able drive it would be a total pain unless apple offer a burn to USB stick option. Just had to write some to DVD then copy those onto a stick as car head unit won't drive iPod shuffle. It's hard enough with iTunes having to mess around with a two step process.
 
srichards said:
Realised another use of optical drives. Burning music playlists to have music in the car. Without write able drive it would be a total pain unless apple offer a burn to USB stick option. Just had to write some to DVD then copy those onto a stick as car head unit won't drive iPod shuffle. It's hard enough with iTunes having to mess around with a two step process.
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ripping files is pretty easy. I am sure there is plenty of help on the net if you need.
At least you car can take USB. Mine can't and it has built in solid media centre with simple CD support only :cuckoo:. I hate even touching these round things so radio only for me now :thumbsdown: - no CD/DVD in imac won't change a thing
 
I only have usb support today. Got fed up of cds not playing because they had condensation on them!
 
I've spoken to an apple online rep and he didn't know a date yet either. The local reseller in Chester didn't even think they'd know before apple started to take orders.

I'm waiting for the option pricing so I can get a 27" 3.4 on order.
 
If your getting the 21.5 watch the ram, as it is NOT upgradedable, what you buy is what your stuck with
 
treeman said:
It looks to me like it comes with 8GB, configurable to 16GB :shrug:

Even so 8GB would be fine for me :)
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The thing is if you buy the 8GB model and at a later date you want to upgrade to 12 or 16GB you just can't with the 21.5 but with the 27"you could.

As you say 8GB is probably enough for most users, but personally I'd get the full amount possible just in case.
 
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