Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Core 2 Duo) another really good choice for Multimedia PCs - Review

Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Core 2 Duo) another really good choice for Multimedia PCs

The toy like looks of the wireless magic mouse and keyboard makes it very attractive at first glance. The wide screen with the back aluminum panel showing off the apple logo is simply stunning.

Inside the Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 processor (3.06 GHz) is at the base, loaded with 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB hard drive, integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, and a slot loading DVD burner. The 1,920 by 1,080 (true 1080p screen resolution) comes with the system but does lack a blu ray player and is somewhat restrictive for downloads and web videos which is kind of a downer. They really push you to buy movies though the iTunes store with this machine.

The 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2, 1+EDR are added features and can hook up hard drives to the iMac's four USB ports or single FireWire 800 port. IMac’s Special features include Mac OS X 10.6 X (Snow Leopard), ilife ’09, and a few other programs like Photo Booth and Front Row that adds grace to the system.

Power usage on the HTPC is just awesome on this Mac only using 70W while idling with the screen on, and 91W while loading, 21.5-inch iMac is quite efficient. The EPEAT Gold certification, Energy Star 5.0 certification, RoHS compliance gives a green tech rating for this IMac.

The 3DMark Vantage and 3D game tests at 1,280 by 1,024 resolutions is quite upto standards compared to other multimedia system reviews. It runs Crysis (10 frames per second) and World in Conflict (12 fps) just fine with no chop or lag. The Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 processor and the reasonable price range with no quality compromise is the key to this successful model.

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