17" versus 20"; 2.16GHz vs. 2.33GHz oh the woes

[RyanF2009]

Hi guys New user here at the Macrumors Forums... I currently own a 12" Powerbook (1GHz, 256MB RAM, 40GB HDD), that was my intro into the Apple world. Still have a PC, but have been finding myself using the PB more and more, so I was interested in buying an iMac. I had been putting it off because I was waiting for Core 2, and now the time has come

So, I have a few questions... I was mainly looking at the 20" model, because of size, it seemed like the right choice for me, as I like higher resolutions (young eyes, lol). But would it be worth my while to downgrade to the 17" and load it up a little more, or go with the 20"? Also, I was looking on some input on 2.16GHz vs. 2.33GHz. Would I see that much of a difference for the extra $225 (assuming I go with the 20-incher)?

Also, the RAM question, should I go with 1GB or 2GB? I suppose I could always add more later, but what would be recommended for 10.5?

And one last thing, the video card... I do quite a bit of photo editing in CS2, with some large files from my EOS20D. I have been toying around with the idea of buying Aperture and experimenting with that. I would like for this to last me a couple years, so I assume going with the 256MB X1600 would be more beneficial...?

Also, how much might I be able to squeeze out of my PB? I know it doesn't have a lot of RAM or anything like that, but would I be able to get like $300-$400 out of it?

Thanks guys!

Looking forward to a long future here @ MacRumors

 

[RichP]

I think you can get 400-500 for it. Ebay generally brings better prices than macrumors, although with ebay you need to pay the fees.

Go with the 20, and, with image editing, 2Gb of memory. Not sure how much of a difference the 2.33 is going to give you, I find much larger speed bottlenecks in data movement (bus, memory, hard drive).

 

[dmw007]

$400-$500 seems like a reasonable price for you PowerBook G4 RyanF2009. But won't you miss having a mobile computer?


As far as which iMac to get, I think that the following would be a nice machine for you:

20" iMac
2.16GHz Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM
250GB HDD
256MB ATI Radeon X1600

.....$1,749 ($1,625 with education discount)


$225 for the 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo seems like a bit of a steep price, but if you spend a lot of time in Photoshop, I guess that it would be worth the price.

 

[CiBoys]

went through the same situation... i just went with the base 20incher, i didnt want to wait for the BTO. Total comes to $1,522.42

 

[RyanF2009]

Thanks, guys

Really, I don't think I'll miss the PB, mainly because I have it hitched up to an external monitor right now anyway... I like more screen real estate.

This sounds like a reasonable price and config for me, nice point about the larger screen for photos, never really thought about that when I was posting, I do wish I had a bigger screen/rez right now for some of the photos.
20" iMac
2.16GHz Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM
250GB HDD
256MB ATI Radeon X1600

Thanks guys! Very helpful