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Don't think this makes sense? New imac for Christmas

R

rphiggins

macrumors member
Original poster
May 4, 2010
44
0
I am going to buy a new imac to replace my 5 year old imac g5.

These are the steps I have gone through:

1. 21.5" is big enough for me, so £999
2. But wait, I want a 1tb hard drive as I have lots of music, films and photos.
3. So I need the next model up for £1,250
4. I am now thinking that for just £150 more I could get 27"! £1,400
5. Now if I get 27" then I could get a SDD? £2,000
6. Then I'll want more RAM..

But now I'm spending £2k on a huge screen - doesn't seem right?

Can a novice upgrade the hard drive on the entry level imac?
 
You could (and probably should) store all your data (music, movies, text documents) on an external hard drive.
 
It doesn't look too easy, here's the ifixit guide. you can see if it's something you're comfortable doing. and whatever you do don't buy RAM from Apple they charge way too much.

Edit: As the previous post sugested, just use an external drive for all of your data. Just have your applications on the internal drive.
 
I dont see the point of getting an SSD. I think there way too expensive for what they are. I suppose there good if you want the best you can get and have the money to spend on it, but i reckon you could stop at the 27" with 1TB HDD and leave it as that.
 
rphiggins said:
I am going to buy a new imac to replace my 5 year old imac g5.

These are the steps I have gone through:

1. 21.5" is big enough for me, so £999
2. But wait, I want a 1tb hard drive as I have lots of music, films and photos.
3. So I need the next model up for £1,250
4. I am now thinking that for just £150 more I could get 27"! £1,400
5. Now if I get 27" then I could get a SDD? £2,000
6. Then I'll want more RAM..

But now I'm spending £2k on a huge screen - doesn't seem right?

Can a novice upgrade the hard drive on the entry level imac?
Click to expand...

Don't you just love how Apple has their whole pricing laid out so that the thought process goes right like this? You basically have to just pick a point where you are comfortable with what you are getting. I ran through this basic dilemma back in October 2009 when the 21.5" and 27" iMacs first came out. I ended up going with the higher end 21.5" mainly for the dedicated GPU and 1TB hdd and have not been disappointed at all.

I will also second the buying RAM on your own. It's extremely easy to install in the iMacs. You just take out a screw or two and they pop right in. I consider myself fairly handy, but I don't know that I would want to upgrade the hdd myself on my iMac. As others said, take a look at the ifixit tutorial and see what you think.
 
Thanks for the quick replies.

I do have a 1TB backup drive and I will upgrade the RAM myself.

I do not fancy upgrading the hard drive and voiding my warranty.

I want to stop at the 21.5" 1TB imac, but thinking about adding the i5.

I also don't want a mighty mouse or a very tiny bluetooth keyboard - but Apple don't give you any money off if you reject these options.
 
rphiggins said:
I do have a 1TB backup drive and I will upgrade the RAM myself.

I do not fancy upgrading the hard drive and voiding my warranty.

I want to stop at the 21.5" 1TB imac, but thinking about adding the i5.

I also don't want a mighty mouse or a very tiny bluetooth keyboard - but Apple don't give you any money off if you reject these options.
Click to expand...

just sell them on craigslist or ebay. I got $100 for both them together.
 
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