Good friend of mine just bought a new 24" iMac on my recommendation as he has a desk that resembles a mantlepiece in his 'study' which is more like an airing cupboard. It came with a GT130 graphics module.

Anyway I set it up the way he wanted it and everything is fine and he asks me on the phone a day or so later what graphics card my PC was running. I said a Radeon 4890. He then says, ah you need a GT130 or an HD4850 all smugly. So I say, 'why is that' he said 'because they are better'. I didn't bother to argue and just told him I had stuff to get on with.

Then whilst looking if they have upgraded the Macbooks since I bought mine or lowered the price, I happened upon the iMac page and found this snippet:



I think they forgot to mention that is the 'fastest graphics performance yet' on an iMac. Looks like Apple are still deliberately misleading people like my friend, and I am betting that he is drawing the HD4890 is not as good as a GT130 information off that site.

Maybe a call to trading standards ?

Just ROFL. Your friend fails. I know it's not always the case but n00bs often think like this - higher number = better. So surely your HD4890 pwns a 4850 (well, it does anyway but you get the idea).

Perhaps you should send a polite email to Apple and see what they say. In comparison to a 4890, the GT130 is pretty weedy.

I emailed them years ago about them claiming the G5 was the fastest personal computer in the world, but they never replied.
I remember a case where two washing up liquid makers were both claiming their product was the 'best'. It went to court, both were told neither could say they were the best, but either could claim to be 'unbeatable' !

Two things that annoy me a bit are the BBC's love of advertising and profiteering with our money (the tv tax) such as the way they show Apple laptops and Nokia phones as if it was a rap video with a deliberate endorsement. The other one is BS in adverts. Audi were still running an advert for the A4 claiming it was the most powerful 1.8 normally aspirated engine in a production car and it produced 125bhp. Many cars came out with more power and NA engines whilst they were still running the ad, and Honda has engines with smaller 1.6's running 160 bhp!

Having not been in the market for a new graphics card for about four years, I still think my 7600GT is still good...
But when looking at the Apple website, I don't see their specs in relation to "PC's", I see their specs in relation to other Macs.

In my mind, it's like a car company claiming their car is the only thing in the world that can go from 0-60 in <1s
When I expect many computers could could from 0-60 in much, much less

I understand many people don't see it this way, but the Apple and the PC market aren't the same, when it comes to marketing.

You have a 4890? I only have a 4870, old news . *Is jealous*.

Don't the iMac's use mobility chipsets ? aka laptop graphics ?

If so the Mobility HD4850 is definitely one of the fastest laptop GPUs iirc...

Obviously your friend is still ignorant and Apple haven't completely worded it correctly.

He was the guy at school who reckoned his Dad's car was faster because the speedo had a higher reading on it, or the 140mph on a Ford Cortina Speedo meant that it would pull 140mph actually and one of those people you don't want to argue with.

I say you email Apple or otherwise get in contact with them and see what they say. I would love it if you could pwn him by proving the Apple statement to be false advertising.

The GT 130 is a rebranded 8800GS and a 9600GS which was originally reviewed by PC Pro in March 2008, so it's not exactly cutting edge, even in desktop form, never mind the cut-down laptop version you'll find in the imac.

I'm curious how they have a 4850 in the imac too as I had an HD4850 1gb passive one that got HOT ! This was in a p182 with lots of fans and I had to put a 120mm against it to stop the screen going black all the time when it was in full use.

You know those tower defence games with 50 levels?

Where 50 is damned near impossible to beat, but if you have a perfect tactic you can do it...

And you know sometimes they have "challenges" to see how you can last?

Well i'm willing to bet that beating apple in court, even when they're totally wrong on all counts, would be like level 150.

TECHNICALLY it's possible, but you can never get the resources to do it.

I doubt even if you had an intricate looping maze system and a whole host of uber Microsoft turrets you wouldn't be able to do.

That said, go for it!

I think Apple (the company) are twats, and it's because they've created this divide between PC and Macs by not supporting anything that was non-apple for so long and making Macs out to be so different from PCs (and therefore better). And the advertising kills me; Most of the people who use Macs are well-rounded individuals, but those who aren't "in the know" about technology think they're SO much better than PCs because of the advertising they so naively buy into.

I took the following statements directly from the Apple website under "Why get a Mac?" when I was deciding whether to get a Samsung laptop or a Macbook. It convinced me to get the Samsung.

"Doesn't get PC viruses" - Gets Mac viruses...

"With the latest Intel processors" - So where's the i7 iMac?

"Mac does all the things that only a Mac can do" - And a PC does all the things that only a PC can do. So?

"You can get on the Internet with a few clicks" - So... Like a PC?

"You can run Microsoft Office" - Like... every other computer in the world?

Underclocked it massively...?

You'll be lucky! The only i7 mac costs £1900, whereas you can upgrade a normal PC for under £500 now.

Oh and its a 4850m they are using, so don't get too excited. Will just about run Crysis at 1024x768 on high settings, so probably a slideshow at the imac's native resolution.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4850.13975.0.html

Interestingly, the top end £1800 imac comes with this:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-130M.13789.0.html

65 FPS in FEAR at 1024x768!? On an £1800 PC?!

Woah, it was more my feelings towards misleading advertising, and the way they mislead the punters, rather than an attack on Apple. In a nutshell, its typical American low blow marketing, promotion and advertising that Apple use and if you have ever watched TV in the states, where they don't have a force like the ASA to kick some ass, lots of slagginf off and mis-information is allowed to go unchecked.

But wait, I mean, imagine (if you will) someone was looking at a PC and they saw it had an Nvidia GTX275 then on the Apple page they were lead to believe if they bought an imac they would be getting a GT130 which is the 'fastest graphics performance yet'. If they were after graphical power, they may well swallow that line up and believe the GT130 'pwns' the 275.

That kind if misleading stuff is what has led people to believe things like the Intel processors in Mac's are better than the same ones in PC's or Apple use bespoke components (besides the cases).

Buying a PC laptop can be like getting one of those cakes they do in Asda that you finish off yourself, and if you don't its going to not do the job that well, a Mac is a certainly better finished product and that is why I got the Macbook. But the marketing and advertising sucks ass big time, its no wonder Mac Users draw groans across the web when some are regurgitating the nonsense Apple have been peddling for years.

I think that's part of the problem, if Apple suddenly stopped saying this stuff, would they be seen to be saying "We've got cr@p products, go elsewhere!"
Because that's just not good marketing!

I think you're correct in saying that it's because the Americans don't have the strict guidelines.

I also think they use their words carefully:
"Doesn't get PC viruses" - Gets Mac viruses - Yup, but they wouldn't tell you that...Do MS use the fact you CAN get viruses as a selling point?
"With the latest Intel processors" - So where's the i7 iMac? - Look at the Mac Pro, it uses the latest, this statement isn't completely false
"Mac does all the things that only a Mac can do" - And a PC does all the things that only a PC can do. So? - Yup, but why would they say that?
"You can get on the Internet with a few clicks" - So... Like a PC? - Again, see above
"You can run Microsoft Office" - Like... every other computer in the world? - This isn't saying others can't, it's saying that you can still have compatibility...

It's all marketing, and shouldn't be seen as logical...You're just a smart consumer that sees between the lines...