It may be too late to order a Christmas present, but if you’re in the market for a new desktop computer and have your eye on an Apple then today is your lucky day.  It’s not often you can get a discount on any Apple product,but today the 21.5″ iMac is on Woot, the bargain hunter’s dream web site.

The 21.5 inch iMac starts at $1199 both in-store and on the Apple web site and sales are rare at best.  Woot, today only, is offering it for $1049.  This model comes with a 2.5 GHz Intel quad-core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, a Radeon 6850M graphics card, and 802.11n WiFi.  These are brand new iMac’s, not refurbished models.

While this deal is good news for those shopping for a new Apple computer, it may also signal that new models are on the way.  That seems to frequently be the case with electronics that show up on Woot, which has had several tablets available recently in their daily deals.  Products like this also frequently sell out quickly, so if you want to get one then you better head over to Woot now.

I decided to jump on the bandwagon in May and purchased an iMac as a replacement for one of my PCs.  While I was not expecting an epiphany I must say I am a little underwhelmed by the experience.  Apart from the small differences in mouse use and where to look for menus I have really not found it any different from a windows PC, and definitely quite similar in feel to my KDE desktop.  I guess I expected to be more impressed with my experience.

Image courtesy of Apple

So far the Mac has been justifying the main reason I purchased it admirably so far.  The PC it replaced was the family one and even with anti-virus software I was still finding myself cleaning out some sort of trojan or malware every few months.  After 3 months I have had to do zero maintenance on the Mac, so in that regard I am pleased.

Most of the actual issues I have with the platform probably relate more to my experience level than any inherent problem, for instance OpenOffice is still not running as well as I would like.  I am also not that impressed with Safari even though v4 is a definite improvement (I see a Firefox install in the near future).

What I do really like is the quality of the design.  The only cable involved is power and it looks good enough that I am considering moving it out into the family area.  The one bundled app I have fallen in love with though is iPhoto, especially the face recognition feature.  I haven’t found the photo editing any better though.

While I am not dissapointed in the Mac, it has not impressed me enough to change my main system from a Windows/Linux machine.  If any of the experienced Mac hands out there have any suggestions on how to improve the taste of the kool-aid please send them in.  As long as the box stays trojan free it will remain appreciated.

Back in the saddle from the new location and new studio. A great show where I catch you up on the move and all of the exciting things that have been happening here.

Sponsors:
Special Promotion code 20% off on 1 Year Shared Hosting Plans use Godaddy Code Todd20
Sponsor: Save Money with all our GoDaddy Codes see our Promo Code Page
[Try GoToMeeting free for 30 days at GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts. No credit card needed.]

Twitter Me http://www.twitter.com/geeknews
My Facebook Profile
Comments to 619-342-7365 e-mail to geeknews@gmail.com

Listener Links
www.iyule.tv
Sony Fined for Price Fixing
iTunes Games
Wifi Causing Autism?
www.connect2elect.com

Show Notes:
Firefox Reach
Mark Cuban way off base!
Kindle DOR
Skype stumbles in UK
OLPC 2 for 1 Extended through Dec 31st
Hydrogen from MSI
Vista spurns Linux Adoption?
Pirate Bay to have revised Music Section
DVD Rentals to have Commercials?
Ten Firefox Extensions to keep surfing safe!
Doc Searls #1
Doc Searls #2
Maglev Wind Turbine
Toyota Simulator Cool!
Guitar Hero it Shreds
Desktop Evolution Windows and Mac
FeedDemon Calculates Attention
Windows XP SP3 10% Faster
Robin Good One True Media
MPAA Spy Toolkit
Credit Card Thieves .01 cents
Zoho Writer Work Off line
ISS Spacewalk and Harmony Wrap Up
RIAA not willing to battle Harvard
Best and Worse Consumer Electronics 2007
Cable Ala Carte could be Expensive
Cell Phone Tracking
Radiation not bad for you, Yea Right!
iMac update equals iBrick
QuickTime bug and XP

Gems I Found
Wells Fargo President Statement
Cool Toy if it was bigger

Two major rants tonight: Realistic privacy expectations in new media and signing exclusive podcast advertising contracts. Plus, a lot of great tech news and information.

Sponsors:
Sponsor: Save Money with all our GoDaddy Codes see our Promo Code Page
[Get a SSL Cert for 14.00] Use Code GNCSSL
[Try GoToMeeting free for 30 days at GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts. No credit card needed.]

Twitter Me http://www.twitter.com/geeknews
My Facebook Profile
Comments to 619-342-7365 e-mail to geeknews@gmail.com

Listener Links:
Dorthy iLife08 Video
Metric Conversions
Zune running iPhone Fake or Real
AMIE Street
NYT Lowers some Walls
Amazon Payment system for Developers
HDTV Worth Waiting For
Linspire – Indiana University — Listen to show
Flashlight that makes you throw up

Show Notes:
Spam Blogs
AOL will Kill Digg Clone
Google Deletes Own Blog as Spammer
MAC vs PC in Cost
Circuit City and No Refunds
Oklahoma Students Fight Back
Apple Strategy
iPhone Touch Screen Issues
Ford almost got my vision correct
Sprint + Nokia N800
iMac teardown
Apple Wireless Keyboard
Xbox 360 has HDMI
NASA Asteroid Buster mock up
Vonage Financials
Google Evil News Walled Garden
Be careful Jason!
Endeavor STS-118
Search Engine Privacy Improvements?
Big File Transfer
Hitachi Blu-ray Camcorder
iLife08
Low Marks on Video Downloads
DRM Stripped from Netflix Movie Stream
Universal Music DRM Free Test