Look who's finally succumbing to the Cult of Mac. First I buy an iPhone 3G and get all giddy about it (not to mention a 3GS a year later), then spend an entire podcast talking about how manipulative the company is into making their products seem better than they are. Now, the final nail in the hammer comes in the form of a brand new 27" i7 iMac.

Before we get too excited about throwing the "f-word" around ("fanboy"), let's get through this article regarding me getting an Apple iMac. When they were announced in October 2009, they seemed quite promising. The now-aluminum body, Intel powered all-in-ones changed form factor to a 16:9 display, emphasizing its use as a video playback device, in my case, a surrogate TV. Sure, the basic hardware specs were bumped up from the previous models, such as hard drive capacity and processor speeds, but it was the screen size that was most notable. The 20" and 24" models were replaced by 21.5" and 27". A 27-inch, LED backlit, 16:9 1080 display all-in-one. That's gigantic. That's having an HDTV on your desk that also happens to be a computer. Note that you probably need some distance from it compared to a normal sized screen, it gets kinda obnoxious. It's an expensive device, but it's a luxury item. No lie, it's entirely a luxury to buy an Apple product. Does that make Apple owners elitist? Maybe, but you'd have to label all people who buy expensive things elitist. But I spent money on this, and I find it money (mostly) well spent.

The new Quad-core 2.8GHz i7 CPU (exclusive to the 27") makes it equally impressive on the inside. It's very responsive, although I've seen sluggish performance on it, even after a fresh OS install (of both OSX and Windows 7). I've only got 4GB of RAM inside because I couldn't afford to upgrade that, but I intend to eventually ramp it up to the maximum 16GB. Unfortunately, it has 2x2GB. If I want to upgrade to 8 with room to spare later, I have to scrap all that and do 2x4GB now, then double that later. Apple is well known to use expensive memory modules, which isn't entirely their fault, but they could certainly benefit from using a type of memory that wouldn't cost $800 for 4x4GB. It's a bit ridiculous, as I don't notice much difference from standard DDR2 800 from my old desktop. The video card is fine, but I'd rather go with NVIDIA than ATi. Too bad it's not an option in the iMac, so I'm stuck with a Radeon HD 4850. It plays Star Trek Online pretty decently, but with a screen resolution of 2560x1440, even that combination of hardware and new game don't like full screening. I'm also not a big fan of the Magic Mouse. I've never really been a fan of any Apple mouse, so I set that aside and got a wired Logitech mouse for it. I can get used to the keyboard, but as a longtime Windows user, I had to immediately switch the mapping for the Control-key so it feels right. Apple also builds their hardware with their idea of what you need in mind. I don't know about you, Steve, but I could use a few more USB ports on the back of my machine, especially since it has a production use and there's plenty of space to put a few more ports. Other than that, it's a nice machine. The unibody form makes it easy to manage and even move if you needed to pack it up (traveling cases sold separately).

Of course, these iMacs did not come without their share of controversy. Almost immediately upon delivery of the 27" models (which were delayed compared to the 20" models), reports started popping up that some were DOA, possible with cracked screens, or suffered later issues with flickering or yellowed displays. Mark Wilson of Gizmodo started a poll for readers to guess the status of his iMac, which ended up having a yellow screen. He got it exchanged twice, going through three units with the same problem. Apple stopped giving him exchanges, citing it wasn't a critical enough problem. That lead Wilson to start a crusade on Gizmodo, taking public action against Apple for not rectifying the situation with their hardware, the so called "Porches of computers". Check out his exhaustive investigation into Apple's reaction to customer complaints. It wasn't until about late February that Wilson and others were satisfied with Apple's "fixes".

Was I exempt from these issues? Were the Apple gods going to smile upon me for my first Apple computer purchase? Not a chance. I ordered the iMac, now known as Argos, on Nov 29. There was a 3 week preliminary delay, which couldn't be helped because of this "supply and demand" business. But anyway, it worked fine for about 2 weeks, when I wanted to install Parallels. The motor on the slot disc drive broke as I put in... a Windows disc. That's right, my Mac broke when I wanted to install Windows. Very funny. The exchange process was horrifying. Getting the unit inspected, sending it in, and the long process of getting it replaced while an army of angry consumers were doing the same.
Credit: Gizmod

Here's a breakdown of my personal experience

• Nov 29 - Order, 3 week preliminary delay.
• Dec 14 - Deliver.
• Dec 25 - Slot drive breaks.
• Dec 28 - Call #1, talk to 1 person, must get issue confirmed.
• Jan 1 - Drive 4 hours to Apple Store to confirm disc drive failure, must return over phone. Call #2, talk to 4 people, get RMA.
• Jan 4 - RMA shipped to Apple.
• Jan 8 - Apple receives RMA.
• Jan 20 - Receive delay, delivers Feb 1-3.
• Jan 28 - Call #3 to confirm delivery by Feb 1-3. Apple issues a 15% coupon valued up to $45. Promised to make further compensation should I not receive it by date.
• Jan 30 - Receive delay via e-mail, delivers Feb 19 (6 weeks after receiving RMA), call #4 to question the delay. Apple refunds expedited shipping cost plus $100.
• Feb 10 - Deliver, one month after receiving RMA.

There was rumor that Apple was having a silent recall, taking in defective units and totally replacing them with new ones. Another rumor that they were buying out customers with a bonus refund. Just to get these bad apples (/pun) out of the market. Apple is known for their secretive operations, but that hurts them when it comes to customer service. Transparency is key when it comes to making people happy. If they had been public and proactive about it in the first place, I'm sure most people would applaud them for taking (hopefully) strong measures to not only repair/replace defective units, but compensating everyone generously. They gave original iPhone owners a refund when they dropped the price so early, why not grease the wheels before they get squeaky?

So I got a replacement, after weeks of waiting, calling and demanding reimbursement for my troubles. After all, I have a production use for this thing. If this were for an actual business, I'd be losing money by not having this expensive and valuable tool. Apple reps even told me that I had "exhausted all my courtesies". Giving me money back because you don't give me a product I paid for in a timely manner is not a courtesy, it's an apology. I probably wouldn't have made a big deal about a slightly yellow screen, but there was a mechanical failure in my unit that needed to be addressed and you took over a month.

At the end of it all, I still don't think I'm an Apple fanboy. I always sit down to my Shuttle PC first (my Drobo and recording station), then use my iMac if I need to something on it. I dual boot with Windows 7 and use that for gaming and playing video sometimes. I try to force myself into using Mac by putting my Thunderbird and iTunes profiles on there so I have to sync and check it often. But it's still not winning me over. Don't even get me started on Apple's handling of their hardware problems. Their customer service was nice, but they still couldn't do anything for me. Of course, the question is, "Why didn't you just return it?" Well, I do like the computer, I just don't like the company. I'm not above using someone's product if it's a good product, but I don't like them. That would be immature. The iMac, especially the 27" with the hardware upgrades, makes a great production box. The podcast is getting rendered quicker and I hope to start doing video again. That would definitely not be happening on my Shuttle and I'm really not in the mood to build an eighth computer in my life (at least not yet).

Don't like Apple? Especially because of their dislike of Adobe, Google and the freedom of developers? That's fine. I use all their products, but I'm not an app developer. I'm not affected by corporate squabbles if I can still use what I want, when and where I want. Am I a fanboy now that I have an iPhone and iMac? Well, I still run Windows and I also have a Droid (and an old WinMo phone). I'm an equal opportunity consumer whore. You honestly can't say you dislike something without committing to it. And yes, I am buying an iPad, but for application reasons outside of anything Apple's doing. There are some serious reading opportunities and utilitarian uses I could get out of it, especially if I get it before Comic Con this year.

In the end, label me all you want, but remember this: I buy things so I can give an objective, as well as subjective, opinion about things. Journalists like Walt Mossberg, David Pogue and Leo Laporte may get free samples to talk about things, but I'm a nobody with no audience. I pay full price for things (or with a discount available to the public at large). I use them, compare them, describe them to other consumers that would not have an opportunity to experience them. I let people borrow (most of) my expensive things. You want to know what it's like to use a Kindle? Borrow mine. The iPad? Maybe with a deposit.