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antizero · Mar 24, 2004, 07:30 PM

I just got my new iMac and Epson CX5400 printer/scanner/copier! Here are the pics -

So far so good! The 20" widescreen LCD absolutely dwarfs my 13" television, and even puts the 16" laptop display to shame.

jhb · Mar 24, 2004, 08:15 PM

Sweet purchase? It sure dwarfs my measly little 15" iMac. If you wouldn't mind my asking, click the apple, then click about this mac. Find the brand of your hard drive. I am guessing that it is a Hitachi HDD, as this iMac was likely made after Nov, like mine.

Before you ask me what drugs im on , I'd like to know if it makes a sort of "grinding" noise, like a floppy disk drive, in regular ten minute intervals. There are a lot of owners of recent iMac's who have this problem , and it's annoying. Thanks in advance, and congrats on the purchase.

discotronic · Mar 24, 2004, 10:23 PM

How do you like the printer? I got the same one recently when I purchased my iBook. Can't beat the price after the rebate.

antizero · Mar 24, 2004, 10:59 PM

No weird noises as of yet - this being my first Mac, I'd have to say it's remarkably quiet! And I absolutely love Expose - coolest thing I've ever seen.

Here's the HDD model: Hitachi HDS722580VLAT20

I don't know what all that means, but I don't hear much of anything when the computer is running. The CD-ROM was a bit noisy when installing the printer software, but other than that...nothing.

As for the printer, I haven't been able to try it out yet - I'm still trying to figure out what's up with it. I installed the software, plugged it in, then went to the chooser and found it - but it says there are no drivers installed yet, so it won't let me use it. Not sure how to remedy that, as I've already installed all the software...

discotronic · Mar 25, 2004, 12:24 AM

Originally posted by antizero:

As for the printer, I haven't been able to try it out yet - I'm still trying to figure out what's up with it. I installed the software, plugged it in, then went to the chooser and found it - but it says there are no drivers installed yet, so it won't let me use it. Not sure how to remedy that, as I've already installed all the software...

Did you select USB? Sometimes the system defaults to Rendezvous.

antizero · Mar 25, 2004, 12:31 AM

Actually, selecting USB turned out to be my problem - if I had looked a little further down the list I would have seen EPSON USB as an option, and THAT worked! I guess that's what I get for being impatient.

jhb · Mar 25, 2004, 10:45 AM

Thanks antizero! I believe that's the same model I have but anyway.... Enjoy the iMac.

MrHappyMonkey · Mar 27, 2004, 08:13 PM

Originally posted by jhb:
....before you ask me what drugs im on , I'd like to know if it makes a sort of "grinding" noise, like a floppy disk drive, in regular ten minute intervals. There are a lot of owners of recent iMac's who have this problem , and it's annoying. Thanks in advance, and congrats on the purchase.

My 17" 1.25Ghz iMac does this. I've called tech support and they just have me go through the typical tech support things (clear pram, repair permissions, use hardware test). I've got a Hitachi HDS722580VLAT20 80 gig drive.

jhb · Mar 28, 2004, 11:00 AM

im going to try to get a seagate put in mine. Apple says that there are probably no problems with the Hitachi drives but i basically said
"yeah right"

mac15 · Mar 29, 2004, 06:38 AM

Sexy looking setup, these machines are perfect. I have never had a fault with my Rev A 15" iMac *knock on wood* . Your sure to have endless pleasure with it.

With the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse the look is even sexier

Sydney Tsai · Mar 29, 2004, 07:35 AM

Originally posted by antizero:
As for the printer, I haven't been able to try it out yet - I'm still trying to figure out what's up with it. I installed the software, plugged it in, then went to the chooser and found it - but it says there are no drivers installed yet, so it won't let me use it. Not sure how to remedy that, as I've already installed all the software... [/B]

Chooser? it's for OS 9
you should try printer center

jhb · Mar 29, 2004, 03:56 PM

Originally posted by MrHappyMonkey:
My 17" 1.25Ghz iMac does this. I've called tech support and they just have me go through the typical tech support things (clear pram, repair permissions, use hardware test). I've got a Hitachi HDS722580VLAT20 80 gig drive.

Are you planning to do anything about it? Does the noise annoy me as much as it annoys you? I just exchanged my iMac and the new one has the same problem. I'm going to see if they can put a SEagate in it under warranty. Or I may trade for an iBook. Who knows...

discotronic · Mar 29, 2004, 10:34 PM

Originally posted by jhb:
Are you planning to do anything about it? Does the noise annoy me as much as it annoys you? I just exchanged my iMac and the new one has the same problem. I'm going to see if they can put a SEagate in it under warranty. Or I may trade for an iBook. Who knows...

Did you get charged the open box fee?

jhb · Mar 30, 2004, 04:35 PM

I'm in Canada, and I wasn't charged anything. But... I threw out the original box, which may be a problem if I exchange for another model (ibook, etc.). They had to take my old one, put it in the box of the new one, and just give me the new computer. Honestly... Who keeps a box that big? Anyway, I'm not sure where this fee applies, but I do know that I wasn't charged at all.

Big Fat Octopus · Mar 31, 2004, 12:23 AM

Originally posted by jhb:
Before you ask me what drugs im on , I'd like to know if it makes a sort of "grinding" noise, like a floppy disk drive, in regular ten minute intervals. There are a lot of owners of recent iMac's who have this problem , and it's annoying.

Yeah my 1Ghz 17" iMac makes this sound too! It doesn't really bother me at all as it isn't very loud. It sounds like something resetting. I thought it was the CD drive spinning up to check for discs???

To my mind it is not a "fault". The noise only occurs intermittantly and isn't loud enough to wake the family dog. It has no effect on the running of the iMac when it occurs. My iMac has been fantastic and is silent the rest of the time. I love it, my wife loves it and the dog loves it. No complaints from us

Hitachi actually bought out IBM's Hard Disc Manufacturing last year. The drive is likely the same IBM design only rebranded as Hitachi.

jhb · Apr 1, 2004, 03:40 PM

Originally posted by Big Fat Octopus:

Hitachi actually bought out IBM's Hard Disc Manufacturing last year. The drive is likely the same IBM design only rebranded as Hitachi. [/B]

I guess that you're right. TO boot, the new Hitachi drives are called Deskstars. But, I am a first time mac-purchaser, and the noise annoys me. When I spend $2000 (CAD) on what is supposed to be a "premium" product, and then something like this happens, I'm not too pleased. Nothing against Apple or its pricing, but for a lot of people that's a lot of money. I actually bought an Apple because I was tired of problems with PC hardware. It's an otherwise perfect computer, but Apple has agreed to do something about it at their expense (under warranty). I'm going to try to get the repair guys to install a Seagate, because, as I understand it, (and as I have experienced), this is a problem only with Hitachi HDD's. I've heard good things about them (the Seagates). Anyway, I'm done venting

diehlr · Apr 1, 2004, 04:27 PM

Originally posted by jhb:
I'm going to try to get the repair guys to install a Seagate, because, as I understand it, (and as I have experienced), this is a problem only with Hitachi HDD's. I've heard good things about them (the Seagates). Anyway, I'm done venting

There is nothing wrong with your Hitachi hard drive, it was how the drive was designed. Precisely every 10 minutes (use a stopwatch if you don't believe me) the drive performs a calibration to ensure data integrity. So, if you are returning it because you fear the noise is an indication of failure, then you're wasting your time. The drive is not failing. The only reason to exchange the drive is if you simply cannot live with a "bzzzz" every 10 minutes.

Dimitri · Apr 1, 2004, 04:55 PM

Yup, it's a calibration. I had a Seagate Barracuda IV that did something similiar but the noise was more of a quiet 2 second whine. And there was an option to turn it off (using a bootup disk) which I did and no longer heard the noise. Perhaps this can be done with Hitachis too but this noise isn't that annoying to me.

pliny · Apr 3, 2004, 08:40 AM

That's a nice iMac, what's that laptop over on the right?

What are you going to be using the iMac for, why did you "switch"?

djohnson · Apr 3, 2004, 08:36 PM

Mmmm nice! I keep messing with the 20" iMac at CompUSA. I am going to wait for the Rev A G5 iMac

Yes I will take one for the team and be a guinnea pig!

antizero · Apr 3, 2004, 11:20 PM

Originally posted by pliny:
That's a nice iMac, what's that laptop over on the right?

What are you going to be using the iMac for, why did you "switch"?

The laptop was a Toshiba Satellite I had been using for work until it became less-than-reliable. It's gone now. I bought the iMac for work (web & graphic design) and I'm loving it. Made the decision to go iMac for the 20" flat panel and the warranty.