[DinoG4]

Hey all...read alot of posts on the apple forum about previous issues with imacs, Especially the 15" early models which I wanted to buy....anyone know if this has been solved, .... jagged /blurry text/color bleeding all What most of us dont want......I was about to purchase today...Have second thoughts big time...anyone have experience with this model?

[Mac Zealot]

Sitting on my bro's imac FP at the moment. It's of one of the first that shipped. Screen's perfect.

[D'Espice]

That's not an iMac issue, that's OS X font smoothing. The iMac's TFT is very good, you don't have to worry about that.

[DinoG4]

Ok, im sure there has to be some sort of an issue, on the www.apple.com Discussion forums there are over 100+ posts about anti-aliasing issues, blurry/jagged text on the flat panel imacs...guess Ill run off to Compusa and look at one today for myself.

[MacMaui]

Originally posted by DinoG4:
Ok, im sure there has to be some sort of an issue, on the www.apple.com Discussion forums there are over 100+ posts about anti-aliasing issues, blurry/jagged text on the flat panel imacs...guess Ill run off to Compusa and look at one today for myself.

Isn't that Apple.com thread about the 17" imac?

[Mac Zealot]

Whatever it is I've never seen the problem

[Johnnyboysmac]

Hi All,

Well, it's mid-summer over here, downunder and all that, in OZ, and so I'll blame the currently very hot weather as the reason I was up till very late night/early morning, in the cool of the evening air, reading up on Macs, and sleeping during the day. Sigh....

So, here am I, a switcher to be, suddenly reading about the fuzzy font problem.

Panic.

Well, not quite panic, but re making myself almost broke re purchase of my very first Mac, this was not inspiring news at all.

I was astonished to read the sheer intensity of the complaining over at the discussion forums at Apple. Fair enough, if there's a real problem.

Guess what?

RTFM.

IE: Read the Fri*kin manual.

It NOW appears, for goodnesssake, that the fuzzy font problem has merely been because users didn't read teh manual as in correctly calibrating the gamma in their display settings, going by the latest comments on the postings, and mostly from those hitheroto complaining the most about the 'problem'.

Far be it for me to rant, and or judge, but it does strike me as very unfair to be blaming Apple for poor quality, returning machines etc, when the owners hadn't apparently followed through by checking/adjusting the monitor settings/calibration.

Personally, having mastered the complexity (well to a fairly good degree ) of windows, and having played with Macs, albeit never having owned one, the ease with which one can set up things like monitor preferences etc, is one of the things that endears and attracts me to the Mac.

I'm somewhat taken aback to find what would appear to be experienced users simply throwing their hands in the air, and flat out blaming Apple, when it's their own errors/oversight that appears to be responsible.

Fair enough if Apple have made a stuffup. But it does trouble me, as a potential switcher, to read this sort of seemingly well founded criticism, only upon further investigation to find that it is very unfair, and seemingly undeserved criticism of Apple indeed.

Goodness. Do you think the egos of some of these 'complainers' would allow them to recognise/admit their own oversights/errors, even in a sense of just good humour? No way, it would appear.

I read so much griping at times about these sorts of things, usually, but of course not always, unfounded.

If you think that Apple suffer problems re quality control, or are ripping you off with these sort of issues, my thoughts are that if you live in the windows world, as I currently do, you might well end up changing your mind fairly rapidly.

So please lets have some thorough research into potential problems, before posting all over the web, slagging Apple for something that's not their fault.

Anyway, end of rant!

Heheh, don't know quite why I 'blew a fuse' on that one, but I'm very taken with the machines, and am on the verge of switching. Naturally, this kind of fuzzy font thing, is a real concern. Thank goodness it's not a problem with the machine after all.

I'd like to give Apple credit where it is due. As far as an overall design concept, and a balance of form and function, for the home environment, the Imac is about as good as it gets in the computing world for a desktop system IMHO.

Long may Apple continue. And hey, that's praise from a Windows user.

So there!!

Peace to All,

Cheers,

Johnboi.....

[MacMaui]

G'day Johnnyboysmac,

Gee, I just read through the whole pile of posts at Apple.com re: fonts, at least all the ones on the first page of the FP iMac display forum, and walked away with a different impression.

It appears most everyone agreed there is a problem with the fonts on the FP iMac. To what degree the problem bothered folks seem to vary.

Yes, there were a number of solutions posted. To some those solutions were "good enough", yet to others the solutions fell short and only masked a deeper problem.

Apparently, it's all in the eye of the beholder and any person considering purchasing a FP iMac would be wise to view one in person prior to purchase to make sure the display is ok to them.

I didn't walk away with the impression that the solution was as simple as reading the manual and that Apple was fault free. There were a number of intelligent posts by computer savy people who found the imac fonts lacking, especially when compared to other dispalys (Apple or PC).

So mate, before you fork over your dough, do yer best to see a unit in person!

[Johnnyboysmac]

Heheh, thanx for your thoughts.

I must confess it was very late, and I was very tired when I was reading the posts on the Apple discussion forums, and I may have got it wrong.

However, please have a look at the Apple/support/discussions/Imac flatpanel/usuage/ re the thread: "Improving text legibility in OS X... YES!!!!!"

I'd appreciate your commments, as I didn't mean to be disparaging to savvy users, but rather did get the impression that a 'cure' had been found, and that it was merely a matter of the calibration of the monitor being overlooked, re the manual etc.

However, it may be more complicated than that. I hope it isn't, as I'm interested in switching, and don't want to be buying a half finished/developed box/OS, with ongoing problems.

Heaven knows I've had more than enough of this in the Windows world, and if the Mac can only promise more of the same, then frankly I can think of a number of things to do with my time/life, than fiddle about with problematic computers.

There is a life outside the computing shpere for some of us you know.

I just want something that works.

I'm not a technophobe, far from it, but am so sick and tired of the continual Windows complexity, etc, and the maintanence of the thing, and was so hoping the Mac would at least be some sort of answer.

And now this.

So I hope I'm at least partially right, and this fuzzy font thing is a result of an oversight re owners setup, and not something I'll be having to contend with, as it all feels somewhat of a downer,and my purchasing enthusiasm has taken quite a knock.

As you say, let the buyer beware, re checking it out for oneself, and I'm intending to do just that, as soon as demo stock becomes available here.

And, well then I guess I'll have to see how it goes. But I do find all this whining, groaning, moaning, endless complaining about this and that in the Mac forums VERY offputting being a potential switcher.

So what is it? Do the machines actually live up to the hype, or is it all myth, and if I switch am I going to be in for more endless computer hassle in my life, as I get now in the windows world?

Are you guys endless perfectionists? - or is their genuinely something to complain about?

Certainly, with all due respect, whilst one needs to be objective, all this complaining is VERY offputting to potential switchers like me, which really doesn't win you Mac diehards many brownie points, IMHO, although I guess it's always good to know the downside of something in advance if possible

But I sure hope the upside is a lot better, and outweighs the other, or it's back to the darkside for me.

Anyway, I'll be checking for myself in a few days.

Thanx again for the commments, as I know they were meant well to alert me to potential problems beyond the fuzzy font issue being merely an user oversight re monitor calibration etc.

Peace to all,

Johnboi...

[MacMaui]

Originally posted by Johnnyboysmac:
However, please have a look at the Apple/support/discussions/Imac flatpanel/usuage/ re the thread: "Improving text legibility in OS X... YES!!!!!"

Aloha Johnnyboymac,

Thanks for pointing that thread out, hadn't seen that one, they're downright giddy The threads I had read were in the imac display forum and were much more gloomy. Yet several of the upset folks have posted in the "Improving text legibility in OSX.... YES!!!!!" and appear thrilled with the results. Though the fix is unlikely to be found in Apple's skimpy manual.

Don't get too bummed out by the Apple.com Forums. They're support forums thus you mostly hear only about problems. You have to sift through what you read there and take with a grain of salt. Imagine if you worked for Apple Tech Support. All you'd hear about is problems. Few folks call to say "hey, my mac works great, good job guys"

If you read the user reviews at Amazon or Cnet you'll see a very high percentage (90% +) of positive reviews for the FP iMac.

You ought to jot down the steps for the fix and try it out on the demo unit......

Good Luck!

[DinoG4]

Well my mind is made up Not to purchase the Imac, seems as what made up my mind was people have issues with the screen 'creeping down" and eventually sits on the desk...theres no way for a home user to tighten the neck, must be sent to apple for repair...crazy if you ask me, I thought that was an issue when I went to Compusa, thier floor models were all sagging, I adjust it up, it was constantly creeping down...granted its a floor model and did get more use...but obviously that issue needs to be addressed.....back to the "which mac is for me drawing board"

[MacMaui]

Originally posted by DinoG4:
Well my mind is made up Not to purchase the Imac, seems as what made up my mind was people have issues with the screen 'creeping down" and eventually sits on the desk...theres no way for a home user to tighten the neck, must be sent to apple for repair...crazy if you ask me, I thought that was an issue when I went to Compusa, thier floor models were all sagging, I adjust it up, it was constantly creeping down...granted its a floor model and did get more use...but obviously that issue needs to be addressed.....back to the "which mac is for me drawing board"

That is pretty silly. It would take a minor feat of engineering to design the arm so that the user could lock it in to place by tightening a knob. Another issue is the screen tilt on some units, 1/8 to 1/4 inch either way. One fellow stuffed a piece of paper under the base to balance it out!

When you think about it, the FP iMac really is just a funkily designed laptop. It's all in one like a laptop, thus you can't change the display or upgrade the graphics card. No more expandable than a laptop and uses laptop memory. Maybe you should get an ibook? Or howabout the 1GHZ PowerMac for $1499?

Btw, here's the fix for improving iMac text legibility as posted on the Apple Forums:

All from the Display preference panel under system prerences.

Step 1: Density to about 80% max

Step 2: switch to the color tab

Step 3. Check expert mode

Step 4: Gamma seting should be slid up to 2.4

Step 5: Color setting should be backed down to 6250k

Step 6: save settings

Step 7: readjust brigtness to your preference.

[Johnnyboysmac]

Quote: " Don't get too bummed out by the Apple.com Forums. They're support forums thus you mostly hear only about problems. You have to sift through what you read there and take with a grain of salt. Imagine if you worked for Apple Tech Support. All you'd hear about is problems. Few folks call to say "hey, my mac works great, good job guys"

If you read the user reviews at Amazon or Cnet you'll see a very high percentage (90% +) of positive reviews for the FP iMac. "

Heheh, yeah, thanx MacMaui, I feel a bit better now, and you're right, glad at least someone can keep their head around here, I seem to loose mine a bit at the 'mo - didn't realise this buying a computer experience could be so 'stressful'

I guess when you read all the negative stuff, it becomes hard to keep perspective re all the good points.

I'm still inclined to go with the Imac. It'd be a real bummer to get one with a screen at a slight tilt, but I can only imagine this would be a reasonably rare occurence and that Apple could do a warranty fix on it. Certainly there's not been any negative feedback here on MacNN that I can recall on a general screen tilt problem.

Personally, I'm not off put by screen sagging problems, as again, I've not read any general commments about that, and would tend to feel that shop demo models would have a far, far more stressful existence than one in one's own home etc.

Again, worst case scenario; get it tightened.

I think the 1ghz tower is a viable option, however once equipped with superdrive, pro speakers, and a Mic, AND the Apple 17" studio LCD display, it becomes around $1000 dearer than the Imac.

The extra $$ would buy me a technically better display, albeit in a less attractive aspect ratio, L3 cache, and hence a marginal performance/snappiness increase for the 'domestic' things I'd certainly be starting out with re apps etc, and expandability that I may not need. By the time I develop the skills/knowledge to run the sort of Apps that would require PCI cards, or say a higher end video card/dual displays etc, the 1ghz tower would offer little more in speed over the Imac, and a new box, ie the latest 970 or whatever tower, would be a more appropriate choice at that time.

Also, purely on cost, I'd be well over budget to get tower, and studio 17" LCD display, and would thus have to stick for quite some time with my existing 17"CRT display, which is getting elderly anyway, or maybe buy a 19" CRT, when I actually much prefer the LCD to work with. I wear glasses for computer use, and the LCD's appear to be a lot better with text for me, than CRT's.

Hence, despite these apparent problems with some Imacs re the fuzzy fonts, which does appear to have a fix, and the tilting screen/and/or sagging ones, I'm still inclined to think, now that I've stopped panicking that the Imac is the best choice for me, for my very first ever Mac.

If you've any thoughts or suggestions, please fire away, as I'm completely new to the Mac, and there may be a few things I haven't thought of re my choice etc.

Peace to All,

Johnboi....

[MacMaui]

Johnnyboysmac: Go for it! Just get Applecare along the way....

The Powermac may prove less expensive in the long run because of it's upgradeability and flexibility with monitor choices. But no doubt, it's not cheap at the start.

Let us know how it goes!

[MariusUmlius]

Yess, go buy yourself an iMac. Do not think these wonderful machines are built JUST to rip you off. I bought my iMac in May last year, and I love it more for each day that pass. If you're a switcher, you're lucky; I had NEVER used a computer in my entire life. NEVER!! In the beginning, I did not even know how to switch on the machine. I called support xxx-times every day, and they tried to be patient (really). Well, after 9 months, I use it profesionally as one of my working tools every day, and I clearly see how fantastic this machine is. It has great personality, and smiles to me with the cd-slot and shiny apple nose. The screen is good. People that is blaming the panel, is the same people that blames the DVD-player of average quality as bad; for many years they did well with the Video-player. Oki, things can always improve. But, off course many peolple experience troubles with their Mac's, people do the same with absolutely everything else on earth. Maybe I am the only one alive not having trouble with my machine? I do not think so. Buy the Mac OS X Bible, and you can not go wrong. Just don't think more, buy it! I don't see how you can regret.

MariusUmulius

[JNG]

Originally posted by Johnnyboysmac:


please have a look at the Apple/support/discussions/Imac flatpanel/usuage/ re the thread: "Improving text legibility in OS X... YES!!!!!"

I can't believe the people on that thread.

"I have been hating my display for six months...how in the world did you guys figure out to adjust the Display preferences???"

"I was afraid to touch the Gamma slider...it look so technical!!!"

[psu03bob]

Doesn't Apple have a patent on a special anti-alias system for LCDs that turns on and off partial pixels. Basically if you look at your TV really close you can see all three colors for each pixel, but on an LCD the three dots that make up each pixel display every color. I thought I remember hearing about that when XP came out because Microsoft had to license the technology from Apple. I am kind of disappointed that Apple did not include this in OS X. As far as I can tell I haven't examined my screen with a microsope. Yet!