The iMac User's Guide is a colorful, well illustrated and organized manual for getting comfortable with the machine. The only omission I saw was the lack of a note on the DVD drive's manual eject hole (mentioned earlier). I'm betting the next printing of the User Manual will have this noted.

The User's Guide includes a section on installing RAM upgrades and an Airport card via the lower rear access panel (which opens with a coin). I installed a 64MB dimm upgrade in a matter of minutes.

The iMac user guide also mentions the extensive software based help should you need more details than are in the printed manual. The documentation was typical Apple - very good. OOBE (out of box experience) was excellent - only the one-time CD failure to eject prevented it from being perfect. I don't think there is an easier or faster machine to setup and begin using than the iMac.

So far I've run most all of my applications with no problems (as shown on the Apps/Games tests page of this review). I also used the following add-ons with the iMac DV under OS 8.6:

• Panasonic PV-DV910 Camcorder (capture/control/print to camera worked well)
• Adaptec USB Connect 2000 USB/SCSI Adapter
• Yamaha 4416S SCSI CDROM recorder (via the above adapter)
• Toast 3.5.7 (used to burn CDRs at 2x rates with above CDR/Adapter)
• Kodak DC280 digital camera w/USB. (Note: the capture twain plugin worked fine in Photoshop 5 as did the Kodak border transfer program. However the image transfer program (v1.0) failed to work, returning only an SDK error when attempting to transfer files. This has been reported to Kodak Tech support via phone.)

The DVD page has links to Apple's iMovie Gear page for tips on issues with some models of DV camcorders when printing to the camera. Although there was note on a workaround for printing video to some Panasonic camcorders on the Gear page, peformance with my PC-DV910 was truely plug-n-play for both capture and printing back to the camera.

Nits: Some sort of standard removable/rewriteable media device should be included. Especially considering the target market of the iMac. Without it new computer users may form a habit of not backing up personal data. This omission usually results in an immediate purchase of additional hardware which adds to the total system cost. Networking your Macs can allow easy file transfers and backups from other machines, but many buyers won't have a home network or other computer.

Of less importance is the fact all iMacs I've seen (even demo models) have had some visible convergence (RGB gun alignment) errors - resulting in a thin colored stripe visible on the edges of the display (the amount and location varies, mine has a greenish edge on the lower left and a reddish edge on the upper right corner). However my iMac looks better in this regard than some display models I've seen. Although there are several monitor geometry adjustments in the control panel (see the specs page), there were none to correct this issue. At 800x600 mode (best for this size display) it's not really noticed during normal use.

The lack of uniform focus and sharpness at 1024x768 didn't bother me as much since a monitor this size is best run at 800x600 resolution.. Some may not find these monitor issues noticeable, and I mention it only to make readers that are highly critical of monitor quality aware of them (I don't want to be accused of overlooking it).

Of course the small keyboard and round mouse are common complaints (but the same as all new Macs). The snap-on mouse extenders really help, as within an hour of use you'll find the round shape makes it hard to determine mouse orientation by feel. Partly due to the light weight and USB cable, the mouse tends to rotate when you lift your hand off it, requiring you to often look at the mouse to orient it properly (if the shape was oblong you could orient it by feel). This is hard to describle, but within an hour of use you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

The beta DVD player audio sync issues should be addressed in a software update. I've honestly not seen it here so far in limited DVD play at the default playback window size with this 128MB machine. I'll update this review if I do encounter the problem as I intend to relax and watch a new movie right after I post this.

Is the iMac DV Right for Me?

The answer for the large majority of computer buyers is yes. You get a lot of capability in a classy package with the new iMacs. And let's admit it - they look good doing it as well (you'd be surprised how many computer buyers that do care about esthetics). I don't regret buying the iMac DV SE for a second.

If you're a hard-core gamer or tinkerer who likes to upgrade CPUs and Video cards as faster components become available, you would be better served with other models that have PCI slots and upgradeable CPUs; but for the target market of the iMac, this machine is hard to beat.

Bottom Line:

As you already know by reading this review, I am pleased and satisfied with the iMac DV SE. If you're looking for a computer that is simple, easy to use and uncluttered - give the new iMacs a serious look.

The true test of any computer is to ask its owner how they like it 6 months after the purchase.

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