Drawbacks of the iMac 20-inch?

You can add memory to the iMac. Other than that it is complete.

There have been numerious discussions on Mac vs Microsoft. You can spend time defraging M/S and doing various other maintenance or just have a computer that works.

Apple deletes the cache after a file is closed. M/S does not unless you reboot. This becomes a pain when you work with lots of pictures.

Choice of compatable low scanners and low end printers is much more limited with Mac. High end photo quality stuff is all compatable.

If you want a laser jet letter printer for Mac, HP P1006 is very nice.

One thing to consider is iMacs are all in one. You can not just buy a new monitor. My first Mac was a 1Mac24. To do again, I would get a tower and separate monitor. But my imac processes my photos very well and I am very happy with it.

Cheap monitors do not calibrate well, so you need a good monitor with M/S computer. Others can advise on the least expensive ones that work.

Well, you can add more memory, but with the current aluminum body construction, that can be very difficult to do by yourself.

The main advantages of a tower IMO come when you build the thing yourself. Usually buying something that's already assembled can get you pretty close to what you want, but oftentimes it will miss the niche you were hoping it would fill by just a benchmark or two.

If you decide to go ahead and build your own tower you can customize it to your exact specifications, and compromise as to what you really need/want/can afford. Getting the latest video card may not be as important to you as running a 64-bit operating system with 8GB+ of RAM if you're running CS3, but if you're running CS4 then maybe you want to take advantage of that GPU acceleration.

The other issue that comes into play here is going to be which operating system you want to use. If you are stuck on OS X (which I use and prefer) you really only have a few options as far as rig customization, unless you want to shell out the big bucks for the Mac Pro. If you're willing to go Windows (Windows 7 is supposed to be a substantially improved OS over Vista, by the way) then you have an entire galaxy of choices and configuration possibilities.

Personally, I think the iMac is a very capable machine and provides a decent level of power at a more rational premium. I doubt you'd be disappointed if you picked one up.

Like I said, I own a Mac, but I'll be the first to admit that Apple tends to charge a premium for their hardware and services. So, yes, you really can get the same or better specs in a PC rig, and if you build it yourself you can really get a lot of bang for your buck. It's a decision I've had to weigh a number of times, and if I wasn't a struggling newspaper photog/reporter I'd probably have both!

Adding memory is simple. You can also add external hard drives etc. But the 20" iMac screen is TN monitor and is not great for color correction and other photo work. If you can't afford a 24" model, you might as well get your PC. That's just my opinion. The iMac, is a complete unit. The 24" version is an excellent photo kit. I've been using mine for since Oct 2006 and it's still going strong. I'm not a professional photographer, but I take and process a lot of photos in digital, 35mm and MF scanned film. I'll be ready for a new one maybe at the end of this year or next year, when I decide to upgrade to Leopard or the next version after that, then I will want more than my 3GB ram max. Right now it chugs along just fine thank you. I have 4 external drives attached and 2 scanners. All works well.
If you are interested, you might want to wait about a month, there's a new version suppose to come out soon, that will have some enhancements.

I have the 24" version and it's close to the perfect machine for someone who wants a compact, stylish and powerful machine with a decent size of screen. I am very happy with mine. I'd strongly recommend going to the 24" version over the 20" if you're doing any photo work, though.

Ronald, Ryan, Barry and John, Thank you all for your detailed replies. This is a test...I keep trying to ask another question and the system keeps rejecting it.

Here we got an 20" iMac about 2 years ago; we also have about 2 dozen PC's.

Our iMac 20" only holds 2 gigs of ram; newer models hold more.

We bought full Photoshop 7 and CS2 upgrade as a bundle from an seller; Photoshop 7 for the Mac is locked out; Apples rigid world defines what one can install; BUT the CS2 upgrade at least peeked at the PS7 disk to allow a full CS2 install.

As a computer it really seems not any faster than our PC's of that era. Getting it on our lan was not so bad; but having it connect to our graphics printer required another 250 bucks. They charge 250 for the PC's as a whole; another 250 for Mac. I futzed around trying to get the Mac to work with our graphics printer on the lan; then punted and paid to have it done. It turned out the discs that came with our new printer that were for the Mac were not correct; the printer support tech had to talk to another and we downloaded the drivers that were in the service techs passworded area; not for the general public; they cut us some slack an only charged us 100 bucks instead of 250.

If somebody brings in a CD burned with Windows Vista cannd lame burning software; the 20" iMac will not read them; nor will our win2000 boxes; nor 1/2 of my XP boxes. If its burned with Nero then any computer can read them; even an old NT3.51 server.

The USB jack on the iMacs 20" keyboard will only read some falsh fobs; you have to use the back USB jack that can sink more current with many of them.

With a used iMac 20" you should check what vintage it is to see what the maximum ram it will hold
With our customers I have heard some mac folks say they like the 24" Imac's screen better than the 20" imac. Ours really doesnt seem that bad as a photoshop retouching box; thats why we bought it for a mac retoucher/employee of ours.

To install oldeer software locked out with the imac we installed Parallels; win2000 and then installed PS 5.5 and 7. This allows us to on rare occasions open up weird file variants that are gone with CS2.

We had a brownout where the AC line voltage dropped from 120 to 80 volts back in September; the PC's were either on or off; the Imac screen was on but it was like it was all locked up; after several restarts when we had full 120 volts the imac sorted its self out

"..Well, you can add more memory, but with the current aluminum body construction, that can be very difficult to do by yourself..."

? its a matter of removing 2 philips screw, put the memory in, put back the screw and voila..around 2min for a chimp to do..im sure you can do it faster : )

A imac by itself is a powerfull station for most user, and i could say for any photographic oriented user pro or not a Imac is wayyyyyyy OK. 320gig of hard drive, 4gig of ram, 2xprocessor, firewire 800, 400, usb2..what do you want more? 8gig of ram? why? do you work on 2gig image regularly...i work as a professional and i have one ( i also have a super power station because i also work on mega big image most of the time)

Want more storage space? get a fast firewire 800 drive of any flavor you want; 1T, 2T...5 x 1T..your choice.

Oh wnat a better video card? why? the 256 one included is more than sufficient and if you dont do music or video (i mean serious close to a pro level video) its doestn matter what video card you have..yes, even for CS4, if you dont need the new gadget (glidding image, animated zoom, live rotate) any mac video card will do as today. If you dont open more than 7 image at the same time..any mac video card will do as today.

You want a 20inch? bad choice..the 24inch have a better monitor, better viewing angle also.

After that its a matter of OS mainly (put asside virus and imcompatibility) but for me, i always been on a Mac and like the interface, all i use is retty straigth forward, simple to use even for a first time user.

I dont like the look, the feel of Vista or XP, dont like the *own it look* on screen. dont like the way you have to think..but like any mac / pc user the main reason not to like one or the other is basically a question of taste and $. Even if i could have a PC as powerfull as my Mac, at 50% less $.. i would still get a Mac just because i like it : )..like some user will still get a PC even if it was the same price as a Mac. At that point its more about what you like and what you can pay.

A iMac 24inch, 4gig of ram is certainly the best choice for 95% user that do photography and want a Mac. I have one, well i should say i *had* one because im changing everyhting to get a new macbook pro with a 24inch LED display to bring on shoot next week instead of my Imac 24inch; best of both world..same powerfull machine, but portable also ( i mean portable as i can open it in a cafe..little hard to do with my imac : )

I have an older 23" Cinema monitor and I would agree to go with the 24" version, partly because of size where you can put a medium print on the screen at or near full size with all the software applications around. Also at 23" I can put two 8 1/2 x 11 pages side by side when working with documents and similar sized applications windows, and I can design 900x1024 Web page without scrolling. In monitors size matters as well as color calibration.

Hi John, You were asking for an unbiased response, I don't think you got it. More on this later. Personally, I would look to the 24 inch iMac as stated above, or the Mac Pro. Apple does make a fine computer, but its not perfect (and no computer is). "spend time defraging M/S" - are you serious? This is, at most, a monthly task that you do before going to bed. Time spent= 1 minute per month. "Various other maintenance" - what are you talking about? "delete cache" This comment is a bit funny. The comment linking a video card to audio was also a bit funny. Look, the truth is that Mac or PC, they are both fine systems, we are spoiled and don't know it. I tell people to buy a Mac when they ask me about buying a new computer. But let's get real on the reasons here. Get the 24 inch iMac, or get a Dell with a 24 inch screen. If you can hold off a few months, get a PC with Vista that has a free upgrade to Windows 7. 7 is looking quite good right now. But, if you want the best, get Linux. No PHOTOSHOP, but everything else just sings!