2017 BB sale? Purchasing advice needed please!

[Porterhouse]

Yes, it's another one of those threads. I've read through most of the others for the last 2-3 weeks, and I've gotten some of my questions answered. I just have a few more and I'm hoping some of you with more iMac experience than I have can point me in the right direction.

First, if I make this purchase, it will be my first iMac. I've been weighing the options since last fall. Currently, I'm working on a 2017 MBP 3.1 256. Aside from school, it was my first foray into MacOS, and I love it! No more Windows for this girl! Plus, I love how it works with my iPad and iPhone and other iDevices. (Preaching to the choir, I'm sure.)

Aside from general media consumption, most of which I do on my IPP, I teach online part-time. It's mostly journalism or oral comm, depending on the college. When I teach Oral Comm, I watch their uploaded videos and grade them. I'm guessing pretty much any machine that I buy would be able to handle this. (Currently, I'm casting the video to my Apple TV and grading on the MBP; a 27 inch would be a game changer!)

Other than work, I do a lot of writing and research; I tend to have a lot of browsers open at any one time. I don't do any video editing or play games, though I occasionally will do some light photo editing.

So my question is, what would be best? The collegiate discount helps, but these machines are still crazy expensive. I was looking at the 2019 27 3.7 i5 with 512 SSD.

Then I noticed Best Buy is having a sale with $400-500 off the 2017 models. I could get a 27 3.5 i5 for $1499 and upgrade the RAM myself. Or rather, since 1T is the lowest storage capacity, I could go with the 27 3.8 i5 with 2TB Fusion Drive for $1799.

I know that it's quad-core instead of 6 or 6+ core, but coming from the dual-core on my MBP, would I notice the difference? Would one of these iMacs work for the next 3-4 years, or would the newest one be so much better that's it worth the extra $$?

Finally, is there another option that would be better suited for me that I'm overlooking?

I appreciate any thoughts you might have. Thank you in advance!

 

[jerwin]

the 1 TB fusion drives have very small SSDs.

I've heard, anecdotally, that adjunct professors can't expect an office space and spend a good deal of time on the road. Are you sure that the scheduling practices of your employers won't make this imac into somethng of a white elephant?

 

[Porterhouse]

the 1 TB fusion drives have very small SSDs.

I've heard, anecdotally, that adjunct professors can't expect an office space and spend a good deal of time on the road. Are you sure that the scheduling practices of your employers won't make this imac into somethng of a white elephant?

That's true for purely adjunct professors in a brick and mortar setting or even a hybrid. I suppose it's also true for some of the less reptutable online schools. Fortunately, this school is different; I've worked consistently for this school for a couple of years now. In fact, I almost would say that I have more work than I want at times.

During the day, I have my "main" job at a local university. It's a good gig, but I like having the extra cash.

 

[jerwin]

Do you ever start something on the computer-- and have to take a break while it finishes processing?
Are there any instances in which your current laptop becomes audible because it needs to spin up the fans?

If so-- consider going with the 2019 models with the hex core cpus.
If not, consider the 3.8 GHz imac, and enjoy the 500 dollar savings. The 2 GB fusion drive will be somewhat faster than the 1 GB variant.

 

[Porterhouse]

Do you ever start something on the computer-- and have to take a break while it finishes processing?
Are there any instances in which your current laptop becomes audible because it needs to spin up the fans?

If so-- consider going with the 2019 models with the hex core cpus.
If not, consider the 3.8 GHz imac, and enjoy the 500 dollar savings. The 2 GB fusion drive will be somewhat faster than the 1 GB variant.

Thank you for your help. I haven't had a problem with any noise from my MBP. I'm leaning very much toward the 3.8. I know the SSD is better, but the savings would mean a lot. The model that I was looking at totaled almost $2800 with Apple Care and tax, and that's a hard blow to take. With BB, I have 30 days to return it, so if there's a problem, I can box it up and take it back.