27 inch iMac i3

[solowmodel]

Hello all, my first post here!

I was wondering if anyone here has the 27inch i3 iMac? From most of the posts on the forum, it seems most 27inch owners have the i5 or i7.

The reason I ask is this; I am planning on selling my mid/late 07 24inch iMac and purchasing one of the newer ones. I realise that the best value for money is the base 21.5" i3, however I do want the better graphics card.

The difference in price between the two 21" models is 256GBP here in the UK. However, the difference between the 21" and the i3 27" then becomes only 153GBP, which seems relatively small for the huge increase in screen size.

My uses can be considered quite average; my profession is not in the video/photo industry and hence I don't do anything that can be considered extremely heavy.

What are peoples' experiences with the 27" i3? Further, what are peoples' experiences with such a huge screen size in general? Is it 'too' big?

Thanks all!

 

[Intell]

I don't have one but I will say this: If you don't have a reason, HD video editing/gaming, then the i3 is fine for you. If you want to get extra cheap, one could even say a modern C2D is good enough for your uses.

 

[solowmodel]

Thanks for the reply.

That's fair. Up until recently I had been an advocate of always getting the most powerful/most I could afford. However, compared to the US (where I'm originally from) the UK (where I study) has really quite high prices; around 33% higher.

 

[Danando1993]

Ive got the i3 27inch and i also like you don't do anything that can be considered extremely heavy. I personally chose the 27inch because of the screen and i love it! at first i thought the size was overwhelming but as i got used to it, i find its the perfect size.

 

[martyn05]

iMac 27 Inch i3

I have the iMac 27 Inch i3 and I love it. The screen size is brilliant. The performance has been fine so far. I run Photoshop CS5 with half a dozen other programs running and it has handled it all ok. I thought about going for the i5 but decided I did not need it.

 

[ethyleneguy2003]

Great but

The i3is plenty powerful for most tasks including running Aperture etc. The display is big bright and gorgeous.

BUT

Mine suffers from the well known bug where it is unable to burn CD/DVDs. I'm packing mine up for a repair (or in my case yet another repair of a broken mac). At least it's not another logic board failure this time (knock on aluminum).

 

[solowmodel]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

A further question; how do you guys fare with prolonged use for reading and editing texts? (i.e. research papers). Does the resolution/pixel density/screen size lead to any straining of the eyes or are you completely comfortable?

 

[ethyleneguy2003]

i3 iMac

As regards to reading papers (PDF) it's great or pretty much the same as the 24".

In fact I'd say that if you have the 24" of the previous gen model and it is working well there really is little to be gained from buying the new 27". Performance is practically the same, the screens a little larger that's about it. So unless you need another computer I'd keep the money in my wallet.

We have a 27" i3 and a 24" core 2 here and I often have to stop and think which one I'm using, they are so similar.

We have had issues with both. The 27 has problems with it's DVD drive and the 24" suffers from occasional freezing which is a known issue with that machine.

 

[solowmodel]

Thanks for all the replies.

My 24inch was getting quite old (3.5 years), and I had a decent offer in cash which is what prompted me to sell.

I'm just worried that the 27inch is 'too' big for reading and prolonged use^^

 

[Ubuntu]

Thanks for all the replies.

My 24inch was getting quite old (3.5 years), and I had a decent offer in cash which is what prompted me to sell.

I'm just worried that the 27inch is 'too' big for reading and prolonged use^^

So are you a university student in the UK? I ask because I wonder if you can take advantage of the student discount.

 

[solowmodel]

So are you a university student in the UK? I ask because I wonder if you can take advantage of the student discount.

Yes. The student discount is ~12% which seems less than in previous years if I remember correctly. However, at least AppleCare becomes really cheap!

 

[ethyleneguy2003]

No the 27 is actually great for reading. I view PDF papers full screen and it is great (as is the 24").

Now if I could just burn a DVD or CD....