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I anticipate Pariah's answer is that it falls short as "it's not upgradable and cost's too much."

However in my personal opinion it's pretty pro-sumer oriented.

Well, it is certainly faster than "pro" from a couple of years ago - what killer app do you have that is less than two years old?   If you like the all-in-one aspect, then buy it.

ScifiterX wrote:

I anticipate Pariah's answer is that it falls short as "it's not upgradable and cost's too much."

Yep, thats exactly what I think. AIO's will never be suitable for anything approaching serious usage.
As neat as that huge screen would be for a boutique use there is just no getting away from the fact that the larger the screen you jam in it the worse the idea an AIO becomes.

ScifiterX wrote:

I anticipate Pariah's answer is that it falls short as "it's not upgradable and cost's too much."

However in my personal opinion it's pretty pro-sumer oriented.

Give credit in the fact he sticks to his guns

Unfortunately graphics cards can't be upgraded via USB or FireWire.  Or new connectivity like eSATA can't always be added via USB or FireWire.  One category of people needing PCI slots is ProTools HD users, but they'd probably get the Mac Pro to begin with.

Is it really a good value to toss out a 24" display along with the rest of the machine when it comes time to upgrade?

The 7600GT video option is nice however.  I wonder if Apple will shift more toward nVidia chips now that AMD has acquired ATi...

The original G5 case design was much better as far as upgradability. I want to see a dissection just to confirm though.

Still, for schools and buisnesses which get new computers on a regular basis, the AIO is actually a pretty good deal. I don't think a 24" screen will be outdated anytime soon though...

robco wrote:

I wonder if Apple will shift more toward nVidia chips now that AMD has acquired ATi...

I'd guess they follow their historical pattern of using the best midrange to high-midrange card(s) made available for integrated design and providing drivers for OS X.

reece_james wrote:

Still, for schools and buisnesses which get new computers on a regular basis, the AIO is actually a pretty good deal.

Why? Aside from student housing, I rarely see all-in-one computers in universities. Universities and businesses tend to milk their hardware investments for all they're worth. That includes running monitors until they literally stop displaying properly... and that usually happens years after computer hardware is utterly impractical.

robco wrote:

The 7600GT video option is nice however.  I wonder if Apple will shift more toward nVidia chips now that AMD has acquired ATi...

It would depend on how independent from AMD they would be. I doubl AMD would really care if Apple still used there graphics systems,  because of the money. Unless Intel where to bitch about it, I think it will reamain largely the same.

volk wrote:

The 24" has a great disply, decent RAM capacity, Firewire 800, and the option of a pretty nice video card...is this Apple's answer to the "Pro-sumer" market?  I have to admit, I am sorely tempted by this machine.  I would think Photoshop would even be bearable under Rossetta on this, and should scream once native.  Certainly Final Cut and any audio software would be happy on this.

Is the 24" iMac the real deal for the mid-range pro-sumer market, or does it fall short?

It's a nice machine, and it both is and isn't a prosumer machine.

The problem is not features, but the AIO aspect.  Simply put, a lot of prosumers already have high end LCD panels.  Apple (and others) have been selling them for years.  And monitors often last a user longer than the computer itself.  If you spent $1500 or so on an aluminum 24 inch cinema display a year and a half ago, you're not going to be interested in paying a premium to replace it.

Yes, you could use it as a second monitor, but not everyone needs two monitors, wants two monitors, or has space for two monitors.  It all comes down to options and choice, two words that inexplicably are poison to many apple users.

I like the idea mentioned above of a beefed up mini.  A mermon or single conroe based machine (single processor, not single core) that had a standard 3.5 inch hard drive (for HDs larger than 120 GB), a PCIe slot to upgrade the video card, and FW 400 and 800 ports (maybe even eSATA) for around $1300 would be perfect.  2 RAM slots and a single slot loading media drive would be plenty.  A headless iMac.  it wouldn't destroy the asthetics of the product line, or make it a confusing Dell-like mishmash.  It would simply fill a void.

All I gotta say is "COOL, COOL, COOL!"   I don't care if it totally fits the prosumer bill or not. Still a great little machine! Now I just need to sell my current iMac to my mother inlaw...

People keep crying for the second, cheaper tower.  It's never going to happen, it would just mean lost revenue for Apple.  And yes, Pariah - Apple could care less about you.