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$950 iMac

S

shmwy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 30, 2009
9
0
Hello all, I was wondering if you could give me some advice.

Although I am aware of an imminent iMac update, I found a $950 iMac on Craigslist, and I'm unsure of whether or not to go for it or wait, and spend more money.

The specs are:
20" screen
4GB RAM
250GB memory
2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo
iLife '09
mac OSX 10.5.6

It also has a warranty on it until March 2011.

I'm torn. I am not sure if I should wait or not, what do you think?
 
Dont get it You can find the same thing here for $999. USD


Refurbished iMac 20-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
20-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory
Built-in iSight Camera

Overview
Apple Certified Refurbished Products

- Quality products/great prices
- Stringent refurbishment process prior to sale
- Covered by Apple's One-Year Limited Warranty
- AppleCare Protection Plan can be purchased
- Supplies are limited

To learn more about Apple Certified Refurbished Products
CLICK HERE.


Product Details

Model Refurbished 20-inch iMac
Processor 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
L2 Cache 6MB Shared
System bus 1066MHz
Memory 1GB (one 1GB SO-DIMM) of 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; supports up to 4GB
Hard drive 250GB Serial ATA; 7200 rpm
Optical drive Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer burning (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Display 20-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, 1680 by 1050 pixels, millions of colors
Video Built-in iSight; mini-DVI output port with support for DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite video connections via adapter
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory
FireWire One FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port; 7 watts each
USB Three USB 2.0 ports on computer; two USB 2.0 ports on keyboard
Audio Built-in stereo speakers with 24-watt digital amplifier, built-in microphone, optical digital audio output/headphone out, optical digital audio input/audio line in
Ethernet Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Wireless Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
Hardware accessories Apple Remote, Apple Keyboard, and Mighty Mouse
Other Built-in IR receiver
Size and weight Height: 18.5 inches (46.9 cm)
Width: 19.1 inches (48.5 cm)
Depth: 8.1 inches (20.7 cm)
Weight: 25.4 pounds (11.5 kg)
 
moneyman118 said:
Dont get it You can find the same thing here for $999. USD


Refurbished iMac 20-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
20-inch glossy widescreen display
1GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB memory
Built-in iSight Camera

Overview
Apple Certified Refurbished Products

- Quality products/great prices
- Stringent refurbishment process prior to sale
- Covered by Apple's One-Year Limited Warranty
- AppleCare Protection Plan can be purchased
- Supplies are limited

To learn more about Apple Certified Refurbished Products
CLICK HERE.


Product Details

Model Refurbished 20-inch iMac
Processor 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
L2 Cache 6MB Shared
System bus 1066MHz
Memory 1GB (one 1GB SO-DIMM) of 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; supports up to 4GB
Hard drive 250GB Serial ATA; 7200 rpm
Optical drive Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer burning (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Display 20-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, 1680 by 1050 pixels, millions of colors
Video Built-in iSight; mini-DVI output port with support for DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite video connections via adapter
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory
FireWire One FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port; 7 watts each
USB Three USB 2.0 ports on computer; two USB 2.0 ports on keyboard
Audio Built-in stereo speakers with 24-watt digital amplifier, built-in microphone, optical digital audio output/headphone out, optical digital audio input/audio line in
Ethernet Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Wireless Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
Hardware accessories Apple Remote, Apple Keyboard, and Mighty Mouse
Other Built-in IR receiver
Size and weight Height: 18.5 inches (46.9 cm)
Width: 19.1 inches (48.5 cm)
Depth: 8.1 inches (20.7 cm)
Weight: 25.4 pounds (11.5 kg)
Click to expand...

But I would still have to buy the protection plan for $170 and upgrade the RAM for about $60, plus the $50 more it costs, so that would still be $280 more than the iMac on craigslist. Or do you think that I should just go ahead and fork out the extra $$$?
 
Ok soo its a bit different. But you can add your own Ram and upgrade the HD for not much more and have the pleasure of opening the new iMac yourself. It's like Christmas morning when I open a new iMac. (I'm on my third one) Plus you can add a waranty for $169 USD. I dont trust craigslist or ebay all that much. And you can get iLife '09 up to date for and additional $9.95 if it does not ship with the new refurb. :apple:
 
moneyman118 said:
Ok soo its a bit different. But you can add your own Ram and upgrade the HD for not much more and have the pleasure of opening the new iMac yourself. It's like Christmas morning when I open a new iMac. (I'm on my third one) Plus you can add a waranty for $169 USD. I dont trust craigslist or ebay all that much. And you can get iLife '09 up to date for and additional $9.95 if it does not ship with the new refurb. :apple:
Click to expand...

Haha yeah, I know what you mean. Maybe I'll just visit this one and then make a decision. thanks. :)
 
moneyman118 said:
Ok soo its a bit different. But you can add your own Ram and upgrade the HD for not much more and have the pleasure of opening the new iMac yourself. It's like Christmas morning when I open a new iMac. (I'm on my third one) Plus you can add a waranty for $169 USD. I dont trust craigslist or ebay all that much. And you can get iLife '09 up to date for and additional $9.95 if it does not ship with the new refurb. :apple:
Click to expand...

Also, is 2.0 GHz a lot slower than 2.4 GHz? I only use my mac for internet use, powerpoint, and photoshop painting.
 
Plus you can get a free printer now. They give $100.00 rebate which you get in like 3 weeks from shipping. I got the lowest end HP Scanner copier and color printer. And I got it for free. That should shift you over to the refurb! :apple:
 
2.0 is slower. The refurb is faster.

Model Refurbished 20-inch iMac
Processor 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
L2 Cache 6MB Shared
System bus 1066MHz
Memory 1GB (one 1GB SO-DIMM) of 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; supports up to 4GB
Hard drive 250GB Serial ATA; 7200 rpm
Optical drive Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer burning (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Display 20-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, 1680 by 1050 pixels, millions of colors
Video Built-in iSight; mini-DVI output port with support for DVI, VGA, S-video, and composite video connections via adapter
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB of GDDR3 memory
FireWire One FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port; 7 watts each
USB Three USB 2.0 ports on computer; two USB 2.0 ports on keyboard
Audio Built-in stereo speakers with 24-watt digital amplifier, built-in microphone, optical digital audio output/headphone out, optical digital audio input/audio line in
Ethernet Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Wireless Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.1+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate)
Hardware accessories Apple Remote, Apple Keyboard, and Mighty Mouse
Other Built-in IR receiver
Size and weight Height: 18.5 inches (46.9 cm)
Width: 19.1 inches (48.5 cm)
Depth: 8.1 inches (20.7 cm)
Weight: 25.4 pounds (11.5 kg)
 
shmwy said:
Also, is 2.0 GHz a lot slower than 2.4 GHz? I only use my mac for internet use, powerpoint, and photoshop painting.
Click to expand...

I suspect the craiglist one is an imac from when they first came out (august '07), this is because the slowest imac they have at the apple store is now 2.4 ghz, which they refreshed may of last year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac_(Intel-based)

If you look here, you can see that the August '07 model had the 2.0 ghz processor. And you can also see that the memory is slower on the older model.

I would definitely go for the newer one... (I mean, if he got it in '07 its already been used for a year and a half)
 
umgoblue2008 said:
I suspect the craiglist one is an imac from when they first came out (august '07), this is because the slowest imac they have at the apple store is now 2.4 ghz, which they refreshed may of last year.
Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. I just wanted to make sure that it wouldn't be incredibly slow comparatively.
 
Thats what I was thinking but I didnt have an exact date. Apple store is a no brainer when it come to purchasing apple products either new or refurbished.
 
I have a 2.0 and love it. the only time i feel i need more power is when im rendering videos. however i use photoshop heavily and its perfect.

If you using it to edit/view pictures and use the internet a 2.0 is just as fast as a 3.06.. The difference will be impossible to tell. Now if you are doing things like games/video editing.. thats a different story.
 
I play fallout 3, half life 2, and swat 4 on my 20" imac all the time with a 2400 video card :)
 
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