[FinnSwede]

I'm about to switch to mac, and am considering a 17" 1Ghz iMac. Can anyone with that machine give me some input on its perceived noise level? A silent machine is important to me, and I hear it should be somewhere between the iBook and PowerMac in terms of fan noise and such? Does the superdrive whine when playing DVD:s?

While I'm on the topic: How is DivX playback? And last but not least, do you know of a way to receive encoded tv channels (cable) into an iMac (or any Mac) and descramble them? On a pc, this is possible with special tv cards and decoding software, but... can you do it on a Mac as well? I read that for example EyeTv doesn't accept encoded cable channels.

Thanks!

[benjamino]

I reckon that the fan noise is equivalent to a PC's, although being at desk height the sound deflects off nearby walls and exaggerates this a little. If you're planning on using it with the rear facing an open space it is more subtle.

I was a bit disappointed at first, as I was used to the almost eerily silent iMac prior to this. Now I barely notice.
Hope this helps :-)

[CheesePuff]

I have the 17" iMac G4 800 MHz, and it is silent. When I first turned it on I didn't think it even turned on! Never hear a damn thing out of this puppy...

[funkboy]

My 17" 800MHz G4 is so quiet, especially compared to my roommate's Dell. It's barely perceptable.

I only wish there was an option to get a silent keyboard and mouse from Apple... that would truly be a first in the industry. What would it be useful for? Well, aside from feeling like a secret agent spy guy, it's good if you're in a small dorm room with a roommate but you're trying to use the computer while he's trying to sleep.

Of couse, a trackpad comes in very handy for that, too... but I feel the clicking on many input devices is artifically loud. As in, the designers wanted it to give a very good, loud click when used. I realize it's a part of the experience and feedback of using the mouse, but wouldn't it be nice if it could even be turned off?

...I digress. My iMac's super quiet. You shouldn't be disappointed.

As for TV input... there are USB devices to input TV, yes. EyeTV is one such device... wait, I re-read your post. You want to get free cable via the Mac? Well... I think that would have to be asked elsewhere

DiVX playback is acceptable when it's the only thing running, mostly because there's only one DiVX player that works decently (VLC) and it really hogs processor, or is poorly written, or something. It's multiplatform, and it works, so I can't complain. You just can't set it to run in the background and expect it to play your movie smoothly while you work in MS Word, unfortunately. DVDs and QuickTime-compatible movies (which do include some DiVXs) run plenty fine in the background, through.

[FinnSwede]

Thanks for the input guys! It's always hard to tell these things in the store, with all the background noise. The 17 " screen though... blows my mind away how crisp it is, and the viewing angle is huge! It sure is a pretty machine...

By the way, I asked the guy at the store about DivX playback, and he was saying something about a brand new (or updated?) DivX player for Mac. Was that just sales talk or does he know what he's talking about? Kinda off topic but what the heck.

[funkboy]

Actually, it looks like the new version of VLC plays DiVX in the background just fine... at least one of my movies here. It choked on another one, so I'm not sure... I think yours fears can be calmed, though. VLC looks to be good, and MPlayer may be decent, too.

Looks like DiVX plays just fine on Macs now, even in the background. How handy

[P]

VLC works fine for DivX even on my old iMac DV/400. If it doesn't work for you, try an older version - 0.5.1a is the best one IMHO.

[SpinCycle]

I found that only when in a completely silent room can I hear the iMac running, I have a 1GHz 17". The loudest thing is burning CD/DVDs I think, and really that is not too loud, plus I dont burn that often anyway.