<<<... Front-and-center in the design is the controversial glossy LCD display. How much you like the display is just as binary as the overall look. Like the 13.3-inch MacBook, the gloss is intended to produce bolder colors compared to the occasionally washed-out look of matte screens. For the average home user more interested in watching movies or presenting a slideshow, the effect is striking and (on a 24-inch model) could fool you into thinking it was a small, high-quality HDTV. In a properly-lit room, reflections are still a fact of life but are seldom distracting enough to overwhelm the positives of the new display. Still, we question the wisdom of a glossy display, especially for the large surface area of our test unit. But it's not the fatal blow some would have expected. Ask a professional artist or video editor what they think, however, and you'll likely receive a very different opinion.
The same vivid colors that make the screen "pop" also distort the perceived colors for producers trying to judge how well the image will translate to someone's print ad or DVD. Reflections play even more havoc with accuracy by hiding detail and blending into the on-screen colors. Using a fixed color profile mitigates the problem but just shouldn't be necessary for a system being marketed to both home users and pro customers alike. The much-vaunted aluminum keyboard should be less contentious. In addition to being extremely compact -- a virtue in the small spaces where the iMac may sit -- the new design is actually easier to type with in practice. The MacBook-like flat keys have a larger surface area to strike and travel quickly enough that you can move to the next key sooner than you might with the older translucent case. Any doubts that the keyboard might be flimsy have also been erased: the thin slab of metal is absolutely solid. Users might be frustrated by the two extra USB ports, however, as both of them are tucked underneath the metal and require that you lift the keyboard before plugging in a camera or a mouse. ... more>>>