Is the Apple iMac 27" the best all-in-one Desktop PC?

PC Pro Magazine annoyed many of its regular readers, when it awarded the Apple iMac 27" the accolade as the best all-in-one desktop PC currently available. When you review the specs list and see the amazing screen, you are left in little doubt of this machines credentials. If you opt for the quad-core 2.8GHz Core i5-760 version, then you really have a pretty powerful machine.

In fact, this is my new machine, running Windows 7 via BootCamp - to my mind truly the best of both worlds! There are pros and cons as with any system, athough I weighed these up during the specification process, and the benefits far outweighed the disadvantages - and more importantly, for what you are getting, this is actually relatively really good value.

It’s taken me a little while to get used to the peripherals, and I might still add a numeric keypad extension at some stage, as it helps me with all kinds of software-related shortcuts that are somewhat difficult to access with the simplified keyboard. The keyboard’s input action is great, and the small wireless form factor makes it very easy to use and convenient in general. The same has to be said about the ’Magic Mouse’, although its sensitivity is nowhere near that of my Logitech Performance MX mouse, but I’ve got used to it pretty quickly. As for those who say they cannot live without a Blue-Ray drive, this is just short-sighted nonsense - Apple are right in that soon all video content will be on-demand and download -based. I also happen to believe that to get the best of Blue-Ray you need a pretty large television to view it on - for full wrap-around cinema atmosphere - say 50"+.

So what do I run on this wonderful machine then?

My taskbar currently houses the following applications:

• Windows Explorer
• Remote Desktop Connection Manager
• Chrome Browser
• Firefox Browser
• IE Browser
• Safari Browser
• Snagit Screen-Capture Tool
• PhotoShop
• Google Talk
• Skype
• X-Lite Internet Phone
• Notepad
• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Excel
• Adobe Reader
• Windows Media Player
• Spotify
• iTunes

I must say that I am really loving the day-to-day experience - the media shortcuts on the keyboard are great, I’ve always loved slot loading CD Drives, applications load up super fast and the machine starts up and shuts down very rapidly too. There are of course a few tiny niggles, but nothing really which takes away from the overall experience - like I said previously, the screen really is quite something ...

Likes

• Amazing Screen
• Overall ergonomics
• Great Design and Build Quality
• Very quiet machine
• Very powerful
• Easy to use

Dislikes

• Machine runs very hot - it is quiet though (less fans = less noise but more heat)
• Certain useful key functions are missing from simplified keyboard