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Apple iMac...Shall I?

T

trnce.lam

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 4, 2008
18
0
Hi all,

I'm sorry I don't normally do this but i'm in a state of mind ...about whether to buy an apple imac or not...

The reason being is because i am an Architecture student and i have a hp compaq business laptop which works well but battery has lost it's capacity...and i heard imacs where good for graphics and CAD? or am i completely mistaken?

Programmes i use are:

Photoshop CS3, AutoCAD, Sketchup, 3ds Max...and possibly Revit in the near future..

---------

the mac i was looking to buy was...

iMac 24-inch

2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

4 GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2 G

320GB Serial ATA; 7200 rpm

Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer burning (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/256MB GDDR3

24-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, 1920 by 1200 pixels, millions of colors

--------

So basically standard 24-inch 2.80Ghz but with 2GB extra RAM for performance.

I've been told that Apple might release a new imac soon? So shall i wait till then? or is that not true?

All help and comments greatly appreicated.

Thanks

Terence
 
trnce.lam said:
Hi all,

I'm sorry I don't normally do this but i'm in a state of mind ...about whether to buy an apple imac or not...

The reason being is because i am an Architecture student and i have a hp compaq business laptop which works well but battery has lost it's capacity...and i heard imacs where good for graphics and CAD? or am i completely mistaken?

Programmes i use are:

Photoshop CS3, AutoCAD, Sketchup, 3ds Max...and possibly Revit in the near future..

---------

the mac i was looking to buy was...

iMac 24-inch

2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

4 GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2 G

320GB Serial ATA; 7200 rpm

Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer burning (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/256MB GDDR3

24-inch (viewable) glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, 1920 by 1200 pixels, millions of colors

--------

So basically standard 24-inch 2.80Ghz but with 2GB extra RAM for performance.

I've been told that Apple might release a new imac soon? So shall i wait till then? or is that not true?

All help and comments greatly appreicated.

Thanks

Terence
Click to expand...

your decision to buy an iMac should bases on if the programs you need are available for the iMac. As a graphic designer I know what is available, but do not know about the CAd programs etc., you will need.

Do your research, call the college and ask them also.

The imac was just refreshed, so I think the earliest we will see an update won't be until the fall.

Hope this helps mate!
 
Yes, do NOT buy RAM from apple, its ridiculous how much they charge! Get the standard RAM then buy 4 GB from a 3rd party and install it yourself. Its stupid easy to install, all you need is a screwdriver and about 5 minutes.
 
DesignerOnMac said:
your decision to buy an iMac should bases on if the programs you need are available for the iMac. As a graphic designer I know what is available, but do not know about the CAd programs etc., you will need.

Do your research, call the college and ask them also.

The imac was just refreshed, so I think the earliest we will see an update won't be until the fall.

Hope this helps mate!
Click to expand...

That statment is sort-of pointless seeing that any program not availible for OSX can easily be run via bootcamp.
 
Yer the cad progs not available on osx ...i was going to use Parallels? or is it better to use bootcamp?

lol ok from the above comments I will not buy RAM from apple..
however i do have time on my hands i don't need to wait and i could afford the 3Ghz one...

but is it worth it to get the 3Ghz or is the 2.8Ghz the best for what you get with the price?
and the current imacs were released last sept? (i could be wrong) and my friend told me ...might be best to wait for the new ones? if there are any?

lol i know the decisions mine but i need help deciding! if only macs were like food then i wouldn't be so picky! haha

thanks for posting everyone above me. cheers
 
trnce.lam said:
Yer the cad progs not available on osx ...i was going to use Parallels? or is it better to use bootcamp?

lol ok from the above comments I will not buy RAM from apple..
however i do have time on my hands i don't need to wait and i could afford the 3Ghz one...

but is it worth it to get the 3Ghz or is the 2.8Ghz the best for what you get with the price?
and the current imacs were released last sept? (i could be wrong) and my friend told me ...might be best to wait for the new ones? if there are any?

lol i know the decisions mine but i need help deciding! if only macs were like food then i wouldn't be so picky! haha

thanks for posting everyone above me. cheers
Click to expand...

OK here we go:

1. For heavy work like CAD I would definatly reccomend doing it in bootcamp rather than emulating it with parallels(besides, VMWare fusion is much much better than parallels)

2.yes get your ram somewhere else

3.as long as you aren't a big gamer and you don't want/need you mac bleeding speed, the 2.8ghz is definatly more than enough, no use in wasting te extra $200 if you are barley going to use it.

4.new imacs...doubt it, very slim possiblity...next imac updates will be in jan. or june-september of 2009.
 
trnce.lam said:
Yer the cad progs not available on osx ...i was going to use Parallels? or is it better to use bootcamp?

lol ok from the above comments I will not buy RAM from apple..
however i do have time on my hands i don't need to wait and i could afford the 3Ghz one...

but is it worth it to get the 3Ghz or is the 2.8Ghz the best for what you get with the price?
and the current imacs were released last sept? (i could be wrong) and my friend told me ...might be best to wait for the new ones? if there are any?

lol i know the decisions mine but i need help deciding! if only macs were like food then i wouldn't be so picky! haha

thanks for posting everyone above me. cheers
Click to expand...

Well, like the previous poster, I would definitely run Windows via Boot Camp for two reasons; CAD is incredibly processor/RAM intensive and Boot Camp runs at native speed. Two, you don't have to buy VMWare/Parallels (unless you already have one). However, I would recommend getting the 3.06 if you can afford it; it would be worth it to have the extra power for what you plan on doing. Of course, if you don't want to spend the money, it's not much of a difference. In regard to waiting for the next model, I'll say what everyone has said before me; the current iMacs are great. If you need one now, get it; if you can afford to wait, wait.
 
trnce.lam said:
Yer the cad progs not available on osx ...i was going to use Parallels? or is it better to use bootcamp?

lol ok from the above comments I will not buy RAM from apple..
however i do have time on my hands i don't need to wait and i could afford the 3Ghz one...

but is it worth it to get the 3Ghz or is the 2.8Ghz the best for what you get with the price?
and the current imacs were released last sept? (i could be wrong) and my friend told me ...might be best to wait for the new ones? if there are any?

lol i know the decisions mine but i need help deciding! if only macs were like food then i wouldn't be so picky! haha

thanks for posting everyone above me. cheers
Click to expand...


AutoCAD and 3DS Max are not available for Mac OSX. You'll need to buy an OEM version of Windows (XP, not Vista! - £60 my copy was) and install using Bootcamp. That's what I do and it works flawlessly, and I use AutoCAD and 3DS Max. It's a real boon being able to select operating systems when I boot up.

The current iMacs were only released at the end of April so no updates soon. If you can afford the 3.06ghz one get it, I have the 2.66ghz one and it's perfect.

Get the Mac!
 
Yer i'll prob wait then....but prob get on in september? because I saw the rumor about UK back to school promo?

Oh and i got another question for you peeps..(prob heard it all before tho..but i need help!) can the iMac be used as just a stand alone monitor for another pc? or/and tv?

Also do you reckon i should get a graphics card upgrade? or just stick with ATi?
considering i don't play that many games (football manager, and poss GTA 4 in the future ;) ) but apart from that just graphics work, playing movies, photo editing and CAD drawings. Thanks.
 
Makes me feel stupid for getting the RAM upgrade done at the Apple store now xD I had it built in when I purchased the laptop... looks like I should have headed somewhere else for that. Ah well, next time.
 
trnce.lam said:
Oh and i got another question for you peeps..(prob heard it all before tho..but i need help!) can the iMac be used as just a stand alone monitor for another pc? or/and tv?

Also do you reckon i should get a graphics card upgrade? or just stick with ATi?
considering i don't play that many games (football manager, and poss GTA 4 in the future ;) ) but apart from that just graphics work, playing movies, photo editing and CAD drawings. Thanks.
Click to expand...

As for using it with a standalone monitor, there actually is a way you can use your iMac as a TV, and that would be to purchase a USB TV Tuner card. You can also feed your SD game consoles into the computer, and play them that way with an RF Modulator.
As for using it as a standalone monitor for another computer, etc., No, unless you use VNC, or remote desktop
 
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