The new iMac is an overall design wonder: a sleek, suspended slab with smooth tilting action and only a power cord running from the back. Taking design cues from the iPhone, the computer sports panels of aluminum and glass on the front and polycarbonate black plastic on the back, materials that make it a “more recyclable” system.

The iMac glossy 20-inch display has a resolution of 1,680-by-1,050, so it's optimal for displaying 1,280-by-720 HD content at full resolution, though 1,920-by-1,080 HD content needs to be scaled down. This will bother only the most exacting of users, but
it's worth noting. Playing back QuickTime-encoded movie trailers at 480p, 720p, and 1080p full-screen was smooth and stutter-free.

The LCD screen is clear and bright, with colors that “pop” off the screen, but, as with other built-in displays, I did see some noise on large swaths of solid colors from extreme angles. This problem shouldn't bother most users, but in case you want to hook up another monitor, there is a mini-DVI port on the back. (You’ll need a separately available adaptor to use it, however, and if you decide to use an HDMI adapter. you'll also need a separate audio cable. If you're hypercritical, the full-size desktop Mac Pro is still available, as are professional workstations from Dell and HP with separate monitors.

The new Apple wired keyboard is very much like the MacBook’s in style, with flat, shallow keys. Using it is similar to using the MacBook keyboard: It has enough travel and “bounce” to make typing comfortable for most users. Made of aluminum and plastic, it's much thinner than the old all-plastic one, so the new typing position may take some getting used to. Although it lacks an ergonomic “curve", the keyboard is quite usable.

The iMac runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 processor. Using this 2.4-GHz notebook-class CPU reduces heat and saves energy, and fortunately, it sacrifices very little computing power. It ran our Adobe Photoshop CS2 test slightly faster than the previous iMac did and performed even better with Photoshop CS3. Aided by an ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO graphic~card, it easily handled casual games as well as the less-demanding 3D titles.

One reason the new iMac falls short of a perfect rating is that it lacks a built-in digital card reader, a feature most multimedia-oriented desktops manage to include. But otherwise, the wonderfully integrated iLife ‘08 software suite makes the iMac a perfect home for your digital media. By combining superior performance with economical design, Apple's latest desktop sets a sleek new standard for other all-in-one PCs to follow.

Apple iMac (20-inch Aluminum): $1.499 direct

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