Nando Times Gives The New iMac 2 Thumbs Up

by , 11:00 AM EDT, April 30th, 2002

Larry Magrid of the Nando Times has a lot of good things to say about the new iMac. In his article titled 'LARRY MAGID: New iMac alone in its class', Mr. Magrid says:

PCs that run the Windows operating system may be more commonplace, but when it comes to aesthetics and sheer class, the Apple Macintosh is the winner. That was true back in 1984 when Apple first released the Mac, it was reiterated in 1998 when the company came out with the iMac, and it's truer than ever now that we have the new flat-screen iMac.

Mr. Magrid does find some fault with Apple's new consumer computer. He says:

But, as cute as the hardware looks, there isn't anything truly revolutionary about the way it works. There are lots of similarly equipped PCs on the market, including some that have far higher capacity hard drives. I went to Dell's Web site and configured a Dimension 4400 with an even more advanced DVD drive (called DVD R+W) that can also re-write DVDs. I added an 80 gigabyte hard drive and a $350 optional flat-panel display, which jacked the Dimension's price to $1,926 - $27 more than Apple's high-end iMac.

While we're talking about hardware, let me take a swipe at Apple's mouse. Like the newest mice from Microsoft and Logitech, the Apple Pro Mouse has an optical sensor, instead of a ball, to track movements. While some people like the simplicity of the Apple mouse, I'm bothered that it has only one button and no scroll wheel. I like the fact that mice that come with most Windows machines let you move up and down a page by scrolling a wheel with your fingers. The good news about the Apple mouse is that it is connected via a USB port, which means you can discard it and buy a better one from Microsoft and just about any other PC mouse company.

But he concludes that:

After setting up and using the new machine, it comes as no surprise that Apple is enjoying brisk sales for its new iMac. The company clearly has a winner on its hands.

Click on over to Mr. Magrid article in the Nando Times and see what else he has to say about Apple's new iMac.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Mr. Magrid's not alone with his complaints about Apple's one button mouse; there are alot of people who'd like to take a swipe at Apple's 1-button mouse, but that's a subject that's been debated ad nauseum at TMO and elsewhere. With the increasing popularity of the scroll-wheel, Apple's one-button stance makes even less sense. The argument can be made that people can buy third-party multi-button mice, as most of TMO's staff has done, but much of the computer buying public is saddled with the misconception that the Mac OS only supports one button mice. Mac partisans can get frustrated all we like that it's not like that, but this is a case where the perception has a stronger influence than reality. Denying that does nothing to change it. Get with the program, Apple: offer a two button mouse with a scroll wheel. Your customers want it.

Back to this review: despite the few criticisms, this was a very positive review that Apple can add to the mountain of good press for the iMac. That's a very Good Thing™.

LARRY MAGID: New iMac alone in its class