Apple 24" iMac review

Apple's latest iMac is one of the first to use Intel's new Core 2 Duo processor.

It also has a huge 24" widescreen monitor. Like all iMacs, the computer is encased behind the display so it doesn't take up much more space than a standalone LCD. Despite its size, and unlike Sony's all-in-one Vaio VGC-LA1, it's easy to tilt and swivel.

The widescreen display isn't glossy, but it's still extremely bright. It's perfect for watching movies, even from across a small room. The spacious 1,920x1,200 resolution is ideal for working on several documents at the same time, editing large photos or watching high-definition 1,080p videos. It isn't perfect, though; we noticed some banding in our greyscale and colour tests, although it wasn't as coarse as on the Vaio.

The 24" iMac is equipped with 1GB of RAM and a Core 2 Duo T7400 processor, which is usually found in notebooks. To test the iMac, we installed Windows XP Professional Edition on it. It did well in our benchmarks, especially our video-encoding and multiple-application tests. It should be able to handle strenuous computing tasks easily. We were less impressed with the GeForce 7300 GT graphics card. It managed 30fps in our Doom 3 test and while this is playable, you'll have to lower graphical detail for higher frame rates. Furthermore, it mustered a measly 8.7fps in Call of Duty 2, so it's not suited for playing the latest and most demanding games. A model with a GeForce 7600 GT card is available from Apple for an extra £80.

We'd have expected to see a hard disk larger than 250GB in a computer at this price. This iMac is the first to have a FireWire 800 port, in addition to the usual FireWire 400 and three USB2 ports. FireWire 800 is faster than USB or FireWire 400, but most external hard disks don't support it.

The built-in webcam produces surprisingly smooth, good-quality video. A remote is included for browsing your photos, music and videos using the Front Row media centre software. You can even play music and videos stored in the iTunes libraries of other computers on your network. There's no TV tuner or memory card reader, though. Apple's bundled iLife suite of photo-, music- and video-editing software can produce impressive results. The iMac uses Apple's OS X system so Windows isn't included, but it's easy to install using Apple's downloadable Boot Camp utility.

The 24" iMac isn't suited for games, but it is an impressive, compact all-in-one computer with fast application performance and a large, high-resolution screen.