Thinking of buying an iMac in India? Think again!

It’s now over a year since I got my current iMac. It was a reasonable price and a decent enough configuration. This is the desktop which removed the last PC class system that I had over a year ago.

So, what’s the problem one might wonder. Well, besides the regular OS X issues, which, are inherent to any complex software, the hardware itself seems to be sub-standard. To be more specific, the screen itself.

Initially, I thought it was only me…a one off kind of case. Then, with time, I found that almost everyone I know or came across, had the same issue. The screen develops gray patches making it almost un-usable since you can no longer distinguish the grayscale colours on the screen.

The first time I called up for service, also sent a photo of the screen, taken from my iPhone. The initial response was that Apple does not replace screens with minor defects. Ah, okay, that was a new one. Anyway, approximately 6-8 months into the first year warranty, the patches were all over the screen and it was replaced.

The moment the iMac came out of the first year of warranty, the screen developed the patches again. Apple service tells me that the new screen warranty was only for 3 months and therefore I would be charged for a new screen. The cost? 30k for a new screen vs 60k for a new iMac!!!

Having just lost a suit for iPhone warranties not being honoured I hope someone takes up these kind of warranty discrepancies as well.

On the technical side of this issue, some research on the net tells me that the issue is with the LG screens. Both my iMac screens, the original and the replaced one, were LG. I have currently asked for a replacement of a non-LG screen. I hope they have some in stock here.

If Microsoft had not made Windows 8 almost completely unusable, I would probably have ditched the iMac and bought a new, high-end PC with Windows 8. As things stand currently, I have little option but to pay for a new iMac screen.

To summarise, if you are buying an iMac in India, be cautious. Try and see if you can get one with a non-LG screen, if not, get the extended care pack. Of course, if you plan to discard the iMac in a year, there is no worry…otherwise, you might want to seriously consider a Windows 7 based PC.