The first think I thought when I saw the new iMacs was, “oh that looks cool.” The second thing I thought was, “that keyboard might take some getting used to.”
Think calculator with large buttons. There’s not a lot of travel to the keys, and they’re pretty sensitive, so your fingers can really glide over the keys with little effort. However, I already miss contoured keys. I think I rely on the feedback the touch of a contoured key gives when my fingers don’t strike the center. Even the keys on my iBook and PowerBook keyboards aren’t flat like the iMac keys. It’s not bad, but the real test will be when I do some work with it. Maybe I’ll try plugging it into the Dell at the office and give it a work out for the day. (This kind of thing qualifies as fun around here.)
As someone who’s never discarded an old computer (or its peripherals), I’ve got plenty of keyboards to choose from if this one doesn’t pan out. I’ve got a cordless Logitech keyboard that’s itching for more use.
I’ve got an LCD TV and I think the colors are better on the iMac. There’s a striking difference between dark colors. On the TV the darker colors are a little washed out. Black can look a little more like charcoal. On the iMac, black can look like the darkest, black obsidian.
It stacks up well (in terms of color and clarity) against the best screen I’ve had to this point: the CRT on an eMac. LCDs have come a long way. It blows away the screen on my PowerBook. I was a little worried about glare, because our main computer has always sat right next to a window (at 90 degrees), but I haven’t noticed any glare at all.
Reviewers all say you get use to the new keyboard in short order.
I’m wondering what the glossy screen looks like. My iMac doubles as a television, so it would be cool if the new screens really make the colors pop.