I know the iMacs are at the end of their cycle and new ones are expected to come out soon. Which I have been waiting for but last week a friend of mine told me he was selling his iMac that he bought in november for a MBP. It is a 21.5 3.6 ghz 4 gb of ram and the ATI 512 video card w\ microsoft office for 1400. I'm deciding if I should buy it since that iMac with office is about 1900 new. But with the new ones due out in a matter of a month or so will this machine be a huge downgrade compared to the Sandy Bridge chipsets and upgraded video cards. My main uses for iMac is normal school things powerpoints, papers light video editing. Some gaming but I have never owned a Mac so I'm not sure how it will perform if I bootcamp and use windows for gaming. If i add 4GB of ram would that help much? I do need a computer asap for upcoming projects. Any feedback would be appreciated.
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Am I an idiot?
- Thread starter mactoss
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Like everyone else said... Wait. Unless you don't case about fast external storage, and Mac pro class speed!
My current computer is a dell Inspiron E1505 with the "e,r,3" buttons missing. My laptop got stolen and I fixed my sisters old laptop so I had something. This laptop does not have office or anything. It has already set me behind because of no excel,word, and powerpoint. I can't wait a month which is the biggest problem. Do you think I could purchase it and resell it in a few weeks? If the new iMacs came out in june or even may i'd be screwed if I waited.
Remember, technology constantly updates. If you need an iMac now (and can afford it), get it. You won't be "screwed" once the update comes out. Just because a new model is announced doesn't mean the old models are incapable of working. I have a 27" iMac i7, and I see it working just fine for a few years to come (and I do push my computers with what I do).
What makes you say that? The upgraded i5 and windows office would cost 1800 from the apple store? For a computer that was used for less than 6 months I think it is a good deal.
That would work to ethier way im still saving a $250 on a computer that is just about perfect.
I guess I'm wondering how much better will the new iMacs be?
Thee iMac that I listed would I be able to play any games?
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Yes of course it will. The mobility 4850 is a competent gpu. Just note the iMac coming out in this summer will have a gpu twice as powerful, if gaming is something you're really into.
The cpu will be more powerful yes, but judging at what you do, you won't notice it at all.
The cpu will be more powerful yes, but judging at what you do, you won't notice it at all.
I saw some benchmarks that showed a difference in 8-12fps between the 512mb and 1 gig ATI cards on thee iMacs right now. Both of them mark in the 80fps range which is plenty good for me.
Do you think that 1400 is a good price for what I'm getting? Someone made a comment earlier about it being expensive... I thought I was getting a good deal by saving $400.
Why don't you just download Open Office and use that for word processing? Sounds like you're not a big spender so a free application should be perfect for you.
I should say though that I find it odd that you're running behind because of the lack of Microsoft's Office. It's hardly that important considering the many alternatives there are and that can run on any computer.
I should say though that I find it odd that you're running behind because of the lack of Microsoft's Office. It's hardly that important considering the many alternatives there are and that can run on any computer.
get that iMac , even if in summer a new iMac came out that would be twice as powerful , in 2012 will come one that is even faster ,so will the one that comes in 2013 ..2014... there will always come a better one within the next 12 month so in my book there is no need to wait if you need a decent computer now and you need one definitely .
$1400 for a iMac thats just 6 month old and still under warranty is a fair price , take the savings and put it towards apple care and some apps you might want or need , and you got a more then decent iMac for the next years to come . and office is not really something that would challenge the i5 form late 2010
i mean i use a iMac core duo and i still find it delivers more then enough performance for what i do , some video editing /ripping ,some photoshop, office ,some seti@home , some einstein @home and some other boinc projects , sure a summer 2011 model with a i7 and thunderbold and this sandy bridge would be faster no doubt , but why , i dont need the performance , compared to my iMac G3 the iMac core duo is a supercomputer already, but apart from some of the boinc projects which need a multi core processor i could do everything still on my iMac G3 ,just takes a bit time thats all
$1400 for a iMac thats just 6 month old and still under warranty is a fair price , take the savings and put it towards apple care and some apps you might want or need , and you got a more then decent iMac for the next years to come . and office is not really something that would challenge the i5 form late 2010
i mean i use a iMac core duo and i still find it delivers more then enough performance for what i do , some video editing /ripping ,some photoshop, office ,some seti@home , some einstein @home and some other boinc projects , sure a summer 2011 model with a i7 and thunderbold and this sandy bridge would be faster no doubt , but why , i dont need the performance , compared to my iMac G3 the iMac core duo is a supercomputer already, but apart from some of the boinc projects which need a multi core processor i could do everything still on my iMac G3 ,just takes a bit time thats all
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get that iMac , even if in summer a new iMac came out that would be twice as powerful , in 2012 will come one that is even faster ,so will the one that comes in 2013 ..2014... there will always come a better one within the next 12 month so in my book there is no need to wait if you need a decent computer now and you need one definitely .
$1400 for a iMac thats just 6 month old and still under warranty is a fair price , take the savings and put it towards apple care and some apps you might want or need , and you got a more then decent iMac for the next years to come ..
I would wait. By buying the latest you have the greatest longevity. It seems the next update might bring some substantial improvements as well.
Is it the the 3.6 i5? If so it is a reasonable price, not especially good, but not bad. If you can settle for an i3 processor a refurb 3.2 is $1269 or 3.06 for $1019 which is plenty if you are just using office and web stuff (but obviously can handle plenty more).
I can't buy into that. Sure, back in the PPC and MHz rather than GHz days, every ounce of speed mattered. But now, unless you need some heavy duty stuff, that i5 will smoke anything you throw at it for quite a while.
Since it appears you need a new computer, I'd buy it. I don't think that's too bad of a price, and if you want any frame of reference for the price, check eBay for similar models and what they are going for.
+1 for OpenOffice.
Seriously, if you are only feeling in a hurry because you are missing Word Processing and other Office applications then just download OpenOffice. It is almost identical to the Microsoft Office suite so there is no learning curve at all. It is not quite as pretty as Microsoft's offering but that's hardly a big issue.
You may even find out that OpenOffice is sufficient and you never have to buy MS Office again - I know plenty of people who do this.
Seriously, if you are only feeling in a hurry because you are missing Word Processing and other Office applications then just download OpenOffice. It is almost identical to the Microsoft Office suite so there is no learning curve at all. It is not quite as pretty as Microsoft's offering but that's hardly a big issue.
You may even find out that OpenOffice is sufficient and you never have to buy MS Office again - I know plenty of people who do this.
I'm a full time student with a 2k budget. If i can bank 600 and get a nice computer that is used I'm going to take advantage of it. Alternatives still cost money so why light money on fire with a +ev investment on a computer and not waste $80 or whatever on a program I'm only going to use for 2 months.
1 year maximum , because then again a new one comes , ok you can buy one every 12 month if you wish , but always remember the first revision always has some little flaws, so i would not be surprised if the new sandy bridge /thunderbold would not work like it should in all iMac's
like the first 27" displays , brand new technology yes , but came with flaws , so getting always the newest can have downsides too
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