Looking for objective opinions....

[thayne]

I'm seriously jonezin' for a 17" iMac and want some objective opinions on how it performs in comparison to a P4 2.0GHz PC.

I currently have a 2.0GHz PC with 512MB PC2700 ram as my main computer and the iMac would be replacing it.

Anyway I'm looking for comments mainly from people who use similar machines and have real world experience running both. I have already heard all the Apple propaganda and it means nothing to me. They hyped the 500MHz iBook like crazy and I got it and have been pretty dissapointed with it's performance and that's why I'm now sceptical. I played around with this iMac at compusa a bit, but you can't really run it through the ringer that way.

Thanks

[BernieR]

"Objective opinions" in a MAC video forum ????

ok, what are you planning to "run through the ringer" so that we can get a feel for what you want it to do..... please say its something to do with video so that this post is in the right place!




Bernie

[thayne]

Well yeah, of course video

Video encoding, DVD authoring, light photoshop and illustrator, web browsing, movie watching (SVCD, DivX and DVD)

I think encoding would be a good benchmark. How is the general feel of OSX operations, my iBook is a slug just doing simple things like launching apps and switching/resizing windows. I never wanna see the spinning beachball again! LOL

Here is a specific question: What is the average time it take DVD2onex to process a DVD9 disk full disk mode. My P4 takes on averge 35 min to do this over 100 base t (I rip on a speprate machine) Movie only takes 15 to 20 min.

[g4jedi]

Well, I don't have an iMac, but I do have a Dual 1 Ghz and it takes about 20 minutes to do a complete DVD with DVD2OneX. I have heard that an iMac can do it in under 30 minutes.

[bilestyle]

Dont let the name description fool you, im going to be as objective as possible. It all depends on what type of video conversions you want to do. I dont have an iMac either but depending on what type of conversions you want to do some are slow and some are really fast, another big factor is what software you use. DVD2OneX is obviously very fast (probably not much different from the speeds you see on a PC) but that doesnt actually RE-Encode video. Many of the tools available use mpeg2enc for mpeg-2 encoding, and ill be honest, its dirt slow. Cleaner (very expensive) is relatively fast, but has horrible response rates and doesn't support alot of audio formats that it very well should. ffmpeg and mpeg2enc are pretty speedy for mpeg-1 encoding, for divx encoding you have a few options, but i honestly NEVER encode divx so i wouldn't be the best person to tell you about that. Photoshop and Illustrator run very nicely and at great speeds. For viewing vcd/svcd/divx you have a few different options (it also depends on what kind of file you are trying to decode, whether it be mpeg or bin, in the case of vcd/svcd of course) vlc is an excellent viewer that supports just about everything i've thrown at it, and anything vlc doesnt accept im pretty certain mplayer will. Now if you want REALLLLLLLY fast speed encoding mpeg-2->mpeg-2 transcoding in quicktime is the best choice. mpeg-2->mpeg-2 conversions in quicktime go realtime for me on my DP 800. If you have any other questions (as long as they arent divx related) feel free to ask and ill try and answer.

[thayne]

Well in a perfect world I'd get a DP G5 with a 23" Cinima display!

I wouldn't be encode divx on a mac, just watching. I only use divx for archiving TV captures of cartoons that I like. Everything else is either SVCD or DVD. I have tried VLC on my ibook, but it was not usable. I could play VCD's but not SVCD's and I don't encode to VCD anymore. My min is SVCD now and mostly DVD. I expect it works okay on the faster iMac though.

What comes with it for DVD authoring, iDVD? how's that for encoding say a high bit rate mpeg-2 file like 720X480 8000kbps CBR? That might give me some idea.

I've used iMovie and like it a lot even though it's pretty basic video eitor it does just about everything I want or need to do.

It looks DVD2one is about the same as my PC.

[bilestyle]

wouldnt we all love to have a DP G5 with that sweet 23" display
Okay now to be honest.. iDVD is COMPLETELY worthless (imo) it doesnt accept mpeg in any way shape or form.. it only accepts DV video (or something like that) None of the programs available for DVD authoring actually encode the data for DVD, for that you need to use programs like mpeg2enc (a unix program that has been wrapped into SEVERAL different GUIs, speeds vary depending on the decoder used, quality can range from crap to excellent) Cleaner ( i personally do NOT like cleaner) apples mpeg-2 encoder (fast and great quality, can be used for DVD or XSVCD, only drawbacks are you dont get THAT many encoding options and it cant be purchased on its own, is only bundled with dvd studio pro) Sizzle is a nice free option for DVD authoring, iDVD sucks, and DVD Studio Pro (1.5 at least) takes a little while to get used to but lets u control EVERY aspect of dvd authoring, (like a pro, who knew?)

of course there are more mpeg-2 encoders on the market, but if i felt they were worth mentioning i would have mentioned them

you CAN do your video editing in iMovie and export to MPEG-2, but you STILL need the MPEG-2 encoder included with DVD Studio Pro - Can you author DVDs without DVD studio pro and the extremely fast mpeg-2 encoder?.. yep.. would i suggest it? nope

[thayne]

Does the iMac's superdrive write to DVD-RW disks? I got this from thier web site, but it makes no mention of RW's:

it now writes DVD-R discs at 4x speed, reads DVDs at 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at 16x speed, writes CD-RW discs at 8x speed and reads CDs at 32x speed.

[bilestyle]

i dont know that it writes dvd-rw from experience (i still have a 103 and this one doesnt i dont think) but the ones on the new models definitely do

[AntnyMD]

Everything else is either SVCD or DVD. I have tried VLC on my ibook, but it was not usable. I could play VCD's but not SVCD's and I don't encode to VCD anymore. My min is SVCD now and mostly DVD.

It seems like you're trying to go with the most freeware options as possible, which is fine ... but getting the Apple MPEG-2 decoder ($0 - $30, depending on your source) enables SVCD playback in applications like MacVCD X.

[galactica]

Anyway I'm looking for comments mainly from people who use similar machines and have real world experience running both. I have already heard all the Apple propaganda and it means nothing to me. They hyped the 500MHz iBook like crazy and I got it and have been pretty dissapointed with it's performance and that's why I'm now sceptical. I played around with this iMac at compusa a bit, but you can't really run it through the ringer that way.

Thanks

The iMac's are nice, if you want to get one that will handle the type of requirements you are asking for id get the $1,799.00 model, up the ram yourself since its the only difference between the more expensive model. I mac's have an internal memory dubbed "apple slot" because you have to basically take the machine apart to get to it, and the "user slot" which is accesable by removing the plate on the bottom. Its an easy install and is well worth your while to do it yourself.

The comptuer comes with an internal superdrive, which is a 4x burner, so as long as you are content with just one drive its not a bad deal.
The dvd read speeds (important for dvd ripping time) have gone way up since I had an imac, so im sure they are a lot faster now. (im thinking 16x but I could be wrong)

apps wise, it comes with iDVD which is a basic dvd authoring app. There are lots of other ways to go from .mpeg to dvd and you cna even do it with freeware apps. To get a "professional" look and feel you will need DVDSTUDIO PRO though.

Hope this helps some,
let me know if you got any more questions specifically.