New iMacs are strangely cheap, all things considered.

[d_stilgar]

Check out these prices. Even if you hate Apple, you can plug in your computer and use this a a great looking monitor.

Check out the new 27" iMac (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/imac?aid=AIC-WWW-NAUS-K2-BUYNOW-MACBOOK-INDEX&cp=BUYNOW-MACBOOK-INDEX). $1700 or $2000 depending on which you choose.

Now look at these monitors with a similar resolution, but no LED backlighting. We're sitting at $1200 at least for just a monitor. I wonder where Apple gets monitors at that resolution. Nobody else seems to have any. This years Dell 30" is $1700 all by itself. Given the choice, I would be hard pressed not to go with the iMac, even if I rarely ever used it for anything other than a monitor.

$1140 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824176071)
$1220-2500 (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=us&category_id=4009&cs=19&l=en&nf=177~0~174493,4723~0~382981&s=dhs&~ck=anav&navla=4723~0~382981)

[Luke122]

Bootcamp it and run Win7..

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

can a mac ever be used as a decent win computer? gaming wise... with bootcamp and such? is there drivers for proper 3D?

[Luke122]

When the intel macbooks first came out, the guys at Penny Arcade actually got better performance playing WoW through bootcamp than they did in OSX.

I'm sure it's come along since then.. and since it's all intel hardware, I imagine the regular nvidia drivers will work just fine.

[d_stilgar]

They have an ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card. That's not bad at all if you ask me. This may be the next computer I buy. Or HP Blackbird if I can get that $700 deal again, or the firebird. Still, this may be the way to go.

[Luke122]

Whoops, my bad. Last generation was Nvidia's. :)

[x88x]

Well, to be fair, it's a 16:9, 2560x1440 panel, not a 16:10, 2560x1600 panel, but yeah...it is kinda weird how relatively cheap they are. Especially when you consider that (to my knowledge) nobody has ever made a panel that resolution before, so they had to get an entire new production line set up just for them (looks like LG makes it for them (http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-27-Inch/1236/1)). The one problem I would have using it for gaming would be that idk how well the 4850 does pushing that high resolution with advanced graphics going on (also, the 4850 is integrated into the MBB, so no upgrading that). Plus, it uses SO-DIMMs, though looking at stats on NewEgg, it looks like that might not the performance issue it used to be. Reading through the teardown (link (http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac-Intel-27-Inch/1236/1)), apparently Apple included a feature to pass an external source to the onboard panel, but it looks like the iMac might need to be powered on to do that..idk, trades and balances, I guess.

Another thing though I just realized, reading through Apple's product page...it's an LED backlit, IPS panel.. Looks like Dell's 30" is an S-IPS, but not LED backlit (probably why they're both about the same depth, even with the iMac having a computer in it :P ). IDK what tech other manufacturers' WQXGA panels use..with the prices they usually are, and just the shear size, hopefully nobody uses TN...

As a side note, in theory, DisplayPort is supposed to replace all external connections and all internal connections (ie, laptop, all-in-one, etc), so if it ever becomes possible to buy just the panel (LM270WQ1) from a manufacturer/wholesaler/etc (think, once people start breaking the panels in their iMacs and a repair market gets going), if it would be possible to get just that, plus the PSU board (looks like they integrated the computer and display power supply into the same board), and just feed normal displayport input into the displayport connector. In theory, I think it should work, and you'd get a 2560x1440 LED backlit, S-IPS panel monitor in a custom case, for relatively cheap. ...I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for when those start showing up... :evil:

[knowledgegranted]

For the person asking about gaming on a mac. (this is from an apple hater) they are actually pretty decent gaming machines, they may not have top specs but they do decent for the hardware they have.

[x88x]

For the person asking about gaming on a mac. (this is from an apple hater) they are actually pretty decent gaming machines, they may not have top specs but they do decent for the hardware they have.

The problem I was pointing out was that at that resolution, to get good performance, you have to have a really good system, not just a decent one, and idk if the 4850 is up to it, or even worse, the 4670 in the base 27" version.