Desperately need opinions

[macthismacthat]

Hi,
I'm 24 hours from ordering a brand new 27" iMac i3 model without any custom changes (the basic model).
Please someone share their experience regarding this model:
HD videos;
Gaming(FPS);
Problems;

I will use it for XCode and casual gaming(SC2,WoW),watching movies.....every opinion counts. I know that they are near refresh, but I'm tired of waiting. I was going for the base 2011 15" Macbook Pro,but I changed my mind because of the silly difference in money b/w the low and the high end of the 15". Plus I really like the real estate of the 27" screen for developing.
Thanks.

 

[HacKage]

What about going for a refurb i5 or i7 instead?

 

[flipster]

Go refurbished, I literally can't reccomend it enough -- it's so much cheaper and its LITERALLY the same as a new iMac.

Please though, if your not going to take the refurbished route, wait at least until April. New iMac's are right around the corner, and you better believe your gonna get more bang for your buck, and a lot more power (CPU and GPU wise) than the currently offered iMac lineup.

EDIT: At first when I heard Apple offered refurbished products, my reaction was "Absolutely no way I'm getting a used computer".
After tons of research and unboxing videos though, I found out that refurbished Apple products are like basically new and that convinced me to get my first Mac, it is refurbished, and it's perfect

 

[HacKage]

Yea, the refurbs are in almost perfect condition, if not totally perfect all the time, and come with a full year warranty. Going for an i3 when you could get a higher spec refurb for the same price, or when there is a refresh which will prob bring an i5 quad to the low end model in a matter of weeks would be a bit daft.

I know what it's like when you have your wanting something, but if you aren't happy with the thought of a refurb for whatever reason, the best bet would be to just wait it out, save up a bit of extra cash in the mean time and get a good spec new one.

 

[macthismacthat]

Go refurbished, I literally can't reccomend it enough -- it's so much cheaper and its LITERALLY the same as a new iMac.

Please though, if your not going to take the refurbished route, wait at least until April. New iMac's are right around the corner, and you better believe your gonna get more bang for your buck, and a lot more power (CPU and GPU wise) than the currently offered iMac lineup.

EDIT: At first when I heard Apple offered refurbished products, my reaction was "Absolutely no way I'm getting a used computer".
After tons of research and unboxing videos though, I found out that refurbished Apple products are like basically new and that convinced me to get my first Mac, it is refurbished, and it's perfect

I have nothing against refurbished Apple product,but under my user name on the left you can see that I come from a country in which the MBA 11" & 13" were announced LAST month. Right, I'm talking about February(4 months) from the official release. Never mind that,they don't even keep them in stock. If you want to buy you will have to wait for a two weeks shipment from Greece or Bulgaria. Did I mentioned the fact that there are not refurbished products from Apple!?,no last generation products. The misery just keeps piling in
I cannot wait any longer,I need to start coding. I'm tired of just reading books and video tutorial on "How to" for XCode.

 

[flipster]

I have nothing against refurbished Apple product,but under my user name on the left you can see that I come from a country in which the MBA 11" & 13" were announced LAST month. Right, I'm talking about February(4 months) from the official release. Never mind that,they don't even keep them in stock. If you want to buy you will have to wait for a two weeks shipment from Greece or Bulgaria. Did I mentioned the fact that there are not refurbished products from Apple!?,no last generation products. The misery just keeps piling in
I cannot wait any longer,I need to start coding. I'm tired of just reading books and video tutorial on "How to" for XCode.

Err, I understand now. That really sucks, someone from another country told me the same thing, he couldn't get refurbished because of the country he was in. Hmm, I mean, if you really need it, then get it. But I'd still wait. I would kick myself knowing that I just spent like $2,000 USD (I hear it's even more in other countries) on a computer that would be outdated a month later.

 

[macthismacthat]

Err, I understand now. That really sucks, someone from another country told me the same thing, he couldn't get refurbished because of the country he was in. Hmm, I mean, if you really need it, then get it. But I'd still wait. I would kick myself knowing that I just spent like $2,000 USD (I hear it's even more in other countries) on a computer that would be outdated a month later.

I understand everything that you guys are saying,I know that because I'm doing the math for couple of months now. But it will last me for good 4 years....because my needs are not too demanding-casual gaming and coding.

 

[RubbishBBspeed]

I have nothing against refurbished Apple product,but under my user name on the left you can see that I come from a country in which the MBA 11" & 13" were announced LAST month. Right, I'm talking about February(4 months) from the official release. Never mind that,they don't even keep them in stock. If you want to buy you will have to wait for a two weeks shipment from Greece or Bulgaria. Did I mentioned the fact that there are not refurbished products from Apple!?,no last generation products. The misery just keeps piling in
I cannot wait any longer,I need to start coding. I'm tired of just reading books and video tutorial on "How to" for XCode.

Do you have the option of buying and arranging delivery to a relative or friend from another countries store and getting them to secondary ship it to you.

One of my cousins recently returned from america to uk and had his MacPro and two 32" acd's shipped over here by DHL international.

Because of this I'm looking at buying from the USA store and having it shipped to relatives in New York who three months later will ship it to me after they used it for a while and checked for niggles and bugs through Saving will be around 20% including the shipping fee.

We're actually buying two iMacs at the same time one for them and one for me so hence the idea came up.

 

[macthismacthat]

Do you have the option of buying and arranging delivery to a relative or friend from another countries store and getting them to secondary ship it to you.

One of my cousins recently returned from america to uk and had his MacPro and two 32" acd's shipped over here by DHL international.

Because of this I'm looking at buying from the USA store and having it shipped to relatives in New York who three months later will ship it to me after they used it for a while and checked for niggles and bugs through Saving will be around 20% including the shipping fee.

We're actually buying two iMacs at the same time one for them and one for me so hence the idea came up.

The taxes are high in my country when you want to import iMac or MBP that is already being sold by an Apple reseller in Macedonia. Just so u know the iMac 27" i3 costs 2469 $ to buy it.