iMac

Peter has a 27" iMac with two additional Apple Cinema displays. Sometimes he only wants to use one but they won't shut off because there's no on/off switch.

Fran wants to know if she should upgrade to OS X Mavericks if she buys a 21" iMac from Apple. Leo says it's odd that Apple is shipping their latest hardware without Mavericks. It should already be installed. If not, she can easily download and install it from Apple. It's a free upgrade. What about a fusion drive? Leo says it's not really worth the extra price. She should go with either a hard drive or, better yet, an SSD.

Howard's iMac goes to sleep overnight and he can't wake it up unless he resets the computer. Leo says that he should try to reset the PRAM. If that doesn't work, another thing that Howard can do is update to Mavericks. He might want to wait on that because it has trouble with a few things like Apple Mail. He should also check the Energy Saver preferences. Leo says it's a pretty common problem.

James' wife needs a new iMac for her doctorate and James wants to know if they should outfit it with a Fusion Drive or not. Leo says that the Fusion Drive is a little faster, but if they don't need a ton of storage, they should skip it and get it with an SSD instead. They are a lot faster. In fact, they are often faster than the bus! Also, Fusion drives have trouble dual booting into Windows with Boot Camp because Windows doesn't understand what to do with the Fusion Drive.

Michele has become a photographer since she retired. She's recently traded in her 5D Mk. II for an Olympus OMD because it's smaller. She's disappointed, however, in the lens. Leo says that Michele has come from a full frame DSLR to a micro-four thirds sensor and that causes a transition, especially in depth of field.

Ron needs to produce a video for his Shriner group. What program on the Mac can help him do that? Leo says that iMovie comes with the Mac and it's a great video editor which can include stills, titles, and more. Then he can burn it to DVD. It's a great all-in-one solution for basic video editing.

Carl is looking to upgrade his Mac Mini. Should he get a new Mac Mini or go with an iMac? Leo says that it's really a wash. The iMac would give him a big screen, but he's paying for it. The screens that Apple sells are better, but he can get a similar LCD for cheaper. If he's happy with the Mini, he should get a new Mini. Will the iMac be upgrading soon? Leo says probably really soon. Maybe in the next month or two. So it could be a good idea to wait.

Sandra is ready to get a full size computer after not having one for awhile. Leo wonders why a full computer? Sandra says she likes having a huge screen. Leo says it really depends on what Sandra is going to use it for. An i5 processor is fine for just about anything Sandra will do. Her husband is an artist though, so she's wondering if she should get an i7. Leo says it doesn't really give that much of a performance boost for most of what they will do.

Herb has an old iMac and is thinking about getting a new iMac with the Fusion hybrid drive. Leo says that the Fusion drive will buy him a 128GB SSD with a 2-3 TB hard drive, working in concert. They work just fine. In fact, Apple's hybrid drive is better than most.