BANGALORE – I have spent close to two months now on the 27-inch Apple iMac all-in-one desktop computer as my primary work machine. There are certain things that I absolutely love about the behemoth in front of me, things that underline the iMac’s uniqueness. But then there are certain mishits as well. Here’s the ‘gist’.

(I used the entry-level 27-inch iMac which comes with a 3.06-GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, and ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics. It sells for Rs. 89,990 (US$1,910).

Things I like about the Core 2 Duo-based 27-inch Apple iMac:

All-in-one design: As per a popular adage, ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.’ And there have been pretenders aplenty of the iconic Apple iMac — the original cool desktop computer. Some have come close to emulating its design (like the Lenovo IdeaCentre A600 or Dell Studio One 19) but none can match the elegance and glamor of the Apple iMac even now.

The Apple iMac (both the 21.5-inch and 27-inch model) is encased in an elegantly crafted all-aluminum shell. The aluminum enclosure is seamless, exquisitely finished, very well built, looks simple and stylish, and the entire unit resembles a piece of art. Also the 27-inch iMac’s shell is made out of one single block of aluminum. Simply put, Apple’s flagship desktop computer continues to remain a testimony to excellent product design and the envy of all-in-one desktops everywhere. In Apple’s own words the iMac is the ultimate all-in-one desktop computer. I think that claim is justified at least in terms of the iMac’s design, look and feel.

Amazing Display: This isn’t just a highlight but the highlight of the Apple iMac — its truly gorgeous screen. The minimalist enclosure of the screen only heightens its grandeur. The screen has a very thin bezel and the glossy LED-backlit display spans almost edge-to-edge. It is undoubtedly the centrepiece of the entire 27-inch iMac package. There are two things that make you sit up and take notice of the 27-inch Apple iMac’s display.

One — it is huge, really huge. The screen supports a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels — I can have multiple browser windows, spreadsheets, etc., open and still have enough free screen space to utilize. Believe me when I say that organizing your work smartly on a computer is drastically simplified by just having a large screen to work with — which is what the iMac gives. It is hard to explain how such a huge screen will affect your computer usage drastically unless you sit in front of the 27-inch giant and experience it yourself.

Two — The display on the Apple iMac consists of a premium IPS (in-plane switching) panel. Unlike TN panels (which is used in almost all mainstream monitor and laptop screens), IPS panels support truly fantastic viewing angles (without color shift) and color reproduction within displays. Reading text, watching movies, admiring high-res images, it’s all great on the Apple iMac’s screen. Colors are better because of standard 8-bit displays across the iMac line, compared to earlier 6-bit displays in the 20-inch iMacs. For six-hours every day, I stare into the 27-inch iMac’s screen from as far as 3-feet, and despite having to focus on a thousand things on my desktop and my eye having to travel the expanse of the screen, my eyes aren’t unduly stressed. To put it tamely: the 27-inch Apple iMac has one fantastic screen.

Big Screen Home Theater: The 27-inch Apple iMac not only has a fantastic IPS panel and a very high pixel resolution screen but also a 16:9 aspect ratio display, which is ideal for watching HD content. Couple that with the iMac’s support for 5.1 speaker system and you have a very good home entertainment solution on the Apple iMac.

At native screen resolution a 1920×1080 full-HD video doesn’t occupy the 27-inch Apple iMac’s entire screen — just to put into perspective the enormity of the screen space on offer. But when you full-screen a video or movie, the display does an excellent scaling job visually. We watched quite a few HD movies (and trailers from the Apple iTunes Store) and are happy to report that the screen is just brilliant. I love it! No matter where you sit, you will see the best possible picture on the screen — courtesy a 178 degree viewing angle support from the iMac’s IPS panel.

The iMac also comes with an optional IR remote that (looks a bit like the Apple iPod Nano 5G) supports a range of up to 30 feet. So you can manipulate whichever movie you’re watching from a distance. Don’t worry if you don’t have external speakers to connect to the Apple iMac, as it comes with built-in stereo speakers. Encased in a slim aluminum case at the screen’s bottom edge, the speakers aren’t spectacular in terms of quality, definitely not for audiophiles, but they are pretty good if you don’t have too many options — I tune into them every day at work (much to a colleague’s dismay) and they work just fine for me.

Magic Mouse: The Apple Magic Mouse is unlike any other mouse you will encounter. Based on pure aesthetics, it is in sync with Apple’s design philosophy. It is stunning and sophisticated — adjectives not generally attributed to mice. It has a nice smooth glassy top and aluminum around the side (much like the iMac’s screen), and it’s pretty slim compared to regular mice.

The Magic Mouse operates wirelessly over Bluetooth, has no scroll-ball, and one of its unique features is its multi-touch support — much like on the iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch, and MacBook touchpads. You can use the whole surface above the Apple logo for finger swipes. You can swipe up, down, left, right, diagonally, or even in a circle, and your on-screen window will move in the respective direction — it’s pretty cool and functional at the same time.

Connectivity Options: The Apple iMac has the entire gamut of connectivity options. Four USB ports and a FireWire 800 port let you connect an MP3 player, digital camera, camcorder, external hard drive, and a printer — all at the same time. There’s a mini DisplayPort for connecting the iMac to an external monitor (if you need one!), and it supports VGA, DVI and dual-link DVI for up to a 30-inch monitor screen via an adapter.

Not just Gigabit Ethernet, but the Apple iMac 27-inch supports both Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR wireless connectivity standards. You can not only connect the Apple Magic Mouse and Keyboard wirelessly, but also any phone or PDA for that matter. And the new Apple iMac also comes with an SD card slot — something not seen on older iMacs. This is especially useful for transferring images from your phone or camera’s memory card.

Now to the things I don’t like about the Core 2 Duo-based 27-inch Apple iMac:

Keyboard – I like the fact that Apple now bundles a wireless keyboard (and mouse) as standard on the iMacs — earlier it was an optional upgrade. The keyboard may be slim, it may be tinier than standard keyboards, but I’m simply not a fan of the new wireless keyboard. I’ve had issues with previous input devices as well, on the 24-inch Apple iMac (2009) for instance, where the Mighty Mouse and the thin keyboard were hard to work with. I miss the full-fledged keyboard (with dedicated number pads) offered with older iMacs.

Somehow I’ve always felt the keys too hard to type on the new iMac’s keyboard. It’s very thin, hence the keys hardly sink inside when pressed — the feedback isn’t optimum, at least for me. Hard to understand when Apple can have such good keyboard implementation on its MacBooks, why it flounders with the iMac’s keyboard. Props to the innovative mouse, Apple, but the keyboard falls short of expectations – again.

Acceptable Gaming? – For a huge screen with very high resolution, the entry-level 27-inch iMac comes with a modest graphics card at best – the ATI Radeon HD 4670. This is a card primarily aimed at budget-conscious gamers who are happy to game on a 20-inch monitor at best. Having this as the default graphics card safely tosses out any expectations you had of respectable gaming on the iMac’s 27-inch screen.

I’m not saying you can’t game on the bundled 4670, but then at 1280×1024 (for a huge screen that supports 2560×1440), is it worth it? However, Apple allows you to upgrade the GPU to an ATI Radeon HD 4850 — not the best solution on offer, but definitely better than the measly Radeon HD 4670.

Heat – The 27-inch iMac generates quite a bit of heat, but due to its all-aluminum exterior this effect is amplified and the iMac’s heat isn’t just restricted to its vent (situated at the top edge of the back panel). Having an all-metal enclosure doesn’t seem to help here. The screen does heat up, but nothing like the casing around it. This may sound like nitpicking but it is a minor annoyance to feel the heat every time a cable needs to be plugged in to or disconnected from the iMac.

Glossy screen – It is ironic the 27-inch wide screen that I admire was also the reason for a gripe in the beginning. This is something that you learn to ignore with time, but the glass on the iMac’s display and its glossy effect is a nuisance early on. Because of the sheer enormity of the screen in front of me, whenever I was working on the iMac I could irritatingly see myself and my immediate surroundings reflected in the 27-inch display. Screen glare is also a problem when you’re gathered around the 27-inch iMac and watching a movie, for example.

However, the glass screen and glossy effect is what makes colors pop, appear more vivid on the 27-inch iMac’s screen. It is unlikely Apple may be interested in offering a matte screen option on the iMac since it started rolling out glass screens over two years ago. Like I said, with time I have learned to look past the screen glare; but others may not.

Oversights – I totally admire the 27-inch screen on the iMac and the mini DisplayPort on its back can not only output video but also accept video inputs. This means you can connect, say, a gaming console or a Blu-ray player to the iMac’s 27-inch screen and use it as an external monitor — provided you have the connector for it. And Apple doesn’t sell it by default with the 27-inch iMac, you have to pay extra for the mini DisplayPort connector. It’s like selling monitors without a VGA or DVI cable. Even the IR remote I mentioned above is an optional add-on. These things should be included by default on a product like this targeted at a premium audience, not carted as optional addons.

Also the Core 2 Duo-based 27-inch Apple iMac has a processor-graphics combo that’s a generation old compared to current market realities — especially graphics, since Apple allows you the option to upgrade the processor to the latest Intel Core i5 and i7, but at a higher price. Like the recently refreshed MacBooks and MacBook Pros, where Apple have standardized on better hardware, something similar should be done for the 27-inch iMac.

When it comes down to getting your buck’s worth now, the Core 2 Duo-based 27-inch iMac isn’t so much about its iconic all-in-one design or hardware but its truly magnificent screen.