So, you’re in the market for your first mac and don’t know which way to turn?  Look no further, for the iBlog is here to help you make an informed choice.  Over the next few days, we’ll be running our Buyers Guide section.

Speak to any mac enthusiast and they’ll be more than happy to sing the praises of their machine of choice – but sometimes that’s just not enough to help you decide.  We aim to highlight the pros and cons of each machine and hopefully, when you finish reading, you’ll be armed with the knowledge to make the right decision.

So, lets talk out the merits of each form factor.  Today is the turn of the iMac range of computers.

Apple desktops come in three flavours, the iMac, the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro.

iMac

Aside from the iPod, the iMac is Apple’s most iconic product.  Originally released in 1998, it’s seen by a generation, as the product that single-handedly saved Apple.  The premise is simple - desktop performance, without the associated footprint.  The newest iMacs are crafted from aluminium in a style similar to Apple’s current cinema displays and offer a choice of 2 screen sizes, 20” and 24”, with the following standard specifications including an Intel Core 2 Duo processor at the speeds below.

Each machine has its own merits, and would be an ideal solution for the user who requires desktop performance but with a small footprint.

The entry level, 20” iMac starts at £799 inc VAT and is more than adequate for any user’s needs.  Built to order options include a 320GB/500GB Hard Drive and upto 4GB of RAM.  The dedicated graphics card enables easy manipulation of photos, videos and music.

Step up number 2, the Mid Range 20” 2.66 GHZ iMac starts at £949 inc VAT and comes with similar built to order options as the entry level iMac, although the standard specification bumps up the memory from 1GB to 2GB.  Personally, the speed increase is only slight – but the dedicated RAM available on the graphics card is doubled from 128mb to 256mb, which packs a bit more punch.

The remaining two models come with a 24” screen and, the 24” 2.8 GHZ model contains the same graphics card as the 20” 2.4GHZ model and comes at a cost of £1149 inc VAT.

The top of the range iMac comes with a 500GB hard drive, but is the first iMac to come with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB of memory and costs £1389 inc VAT.

Performance wise, it makes easy reading, and the speedmark* scores speak for themselves.  In speedmark scores, bigger is better.

Pros

Large screen, fast CPUs across the board, great choice of graphics cards ensures for good performance for gaming and graphics intensive programs.  In particular, the 8800 is spectacular!  Couple this with up to 4GB ram and a built in iSight camera and you have a multimedia dream machine.

Cons

Many people see the glossy screen as a hinderance rather than a help (I personally disagree) and the fact that the entry level model cannot support the high end NVIDIA graphics card.

I’d like to add one of my own.  Even though Apple aren’t renowned as the cheapest of brands, I think with the iMac they have the opportunity to exploit the form factor and introduce an affordable entry level machine, comparable to the previous generation 17” models.  But that is only a small aside.

Overall, any of the above machines would be a fantastic choice, I’ll make no bones about it – from a price and performance comparison – the high end 3.06GHZ, 24” iMac seems to be the best choice, though for those with slightly tighter purse strings, or those adhering to a stricter budget, the 2.8GHZ, 24’ model can be specced up similarly without incurring a noticeable drop in performance.

Another thing about Apple computers is that they seem to last a hell of a lot longer than their PC equivalent.  This is well worth bearing in mind when deciding which model to choose.

We hope that this guide has been useful to you and as usual, if you have any comments, please do let us know.  Its hoped that this guide will develop into something more substantial over the next few months and will be updated regularly.

Tomorrow is the turn of the Mac Mini – so stay tuned.