23-29 January #742

iWant

A worthy expense for its sharp image quality and huge storage space
Yantrick

The popularity and use of desktop computers might be on the wane with the advent of ultra-portable laptops and tablets, but nothing beats the good old solid feel and power of a top-notch machine on your desk, especially if that machine so happens to be the new Apple iMac with Retina 5K. The ultimate that Apple has to offer, the iMac with Retina 5K has it all -- a design that oozes ultramodern class, hardware specifications to satisfy even the pickiest of techies, and a 27” screen with 4x as many pixels as the standard iMac that is sure to take your breath away, every single time you turn it on. The screen is sharp and crisp with great image quality.

This thing of beauty follows the entire-system-in-one design of the original 27” iMac, a razor-like 5mm thin at the edge, and an overall dashingly sleek design consistent with Apple products. Flying Apple’s trademark aluminum, the rear has four USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt/Mini-DisplayPort connections, an SD card slot, Ethernet jack, and a headphone port. A wireless Apple keyboard and an Apple Magic mouse are also included in the box, to further enhance and accentuate the futuristic look and feel.

A stunning pristine screen is what the iMac with Retina 5K is really about — boasting double the resolution of a regular iMac, this invention’s IPS screen possesses an astounding resolution of 5,120 pixels x 2,880 pixels (217 PPI), resulting in an incredibly detailed multimedia experience. However, low resolution media looks pixilated when expanded to normal viewing sizes.

The iMac with Retina 5K runs on Apple’s OS X Yosemite, and is powered by a 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 (can be upgraded to Intel Core i7 for about USD 250) with 8GB of GDDR5 RAM (can be upgraded to 16GB for USD 200 or 32GB for USD 600) and an AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics card with 2GB video memory, which should work excellently for beginners and can impress expert users. While a 1TB Fusion Drive should be more than enough storage for most users, it can be upgraded to a maximum 3TB Fusion Drive or a super fast 1TB SSD hard drive for a little extra cash. It also claims to use 30 per cent less power than its predecessors. The iMac with Retina 5K is a best in all computer that is a bit pricey but has the features and technology to make it a brilliant investment, which should be of great news particularly for those in the video, music and image editing fields.

Yantrick’s Verdict: As with all Apple products, the iMac with Retina 5k does not come cheap and is priced at approx. Rs 300,000. But, for maintaining high standards, producing sharp image quality and huge storage space, it is worth the money.