Sunday, October 6, 2013

Review: Apple iMac 27

Today, we purchased an Apple iMac 27 (2013+) to replace our Dell XPS One 2710 (which had problems with WiFi connectivity).



In comparison to Dell, Apple's iMac has some interesting differences:

Advantages of iMac 27
  • iMac is much slimmer and much better looking
  • iMac is much quieter, and I never heard the fan going off (Dell's fan is pretty loud)
  • iMac has a much faster graphics chip (Nvidia 755m vs 640m)
  • iMac has a better mouse and keyboard
  • iMac supports the latest Wifi (AC vs 802.11 a/b/g on Dell). Dell's Wifi was super slow.
  • iMac can dual boot OS X or Windows 7 using Bootcamp
  • OS X is much better than Windows 8

Advantages of Dell XPS One
  • Dell's screen has a much wider gamut and looks much better than iMac's
  • Dell has much better speakers and sound quality
  • Dell has a CD/DVD drive for watching DVDs
  • Dell has a much faster SSD (Crucial 256 mSATA)
  • Dell dual boots Windows 7 or Windows 8
  • Dell had a larger hard disk (2TB vs 1TB)
  • Dell is more accessible to service and upgrade (most parts are easily removable and replaceable)
  • Dell has a more extended warranty of 3 years, with on-site home service and 24/7 phone support.


After some time, I decided to return the iMac (it was within its 14-day return period) because I wanted an iMac with the PCIe SSD drive - not the 7,200 rpm hard disk. Also, I was not happy with the color quality of the Apple display - I thought that both Dell's XPS One and my HP ZR30w monitors were far superior. With an iMac, one is stuck with whatever display one gets.

An iMac is completely un-upgradeable - one cannot change the hard disk, add an SSD, or add additional memory. I like to be able to upgrade or replace parts as needed.

I decided to get an upgraded iMac with a 3.4 GHz i5 processor, Nvidia GTX 775 graphics, and PCIe 256GB SSD instead of the 1TB hard disk.


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