First Mac: refurbished 27" i5

[LEET1973]

I've been thinking about getting a mac for a long time as the family has iPods and iPhones and it just seems to make sense. Plus they always look so dam good.

Anyway I started off with the idea of getting a mini but then moved quickly onto an iMac. I was going to get the new 21" base i3 this weekend for £999 but stumbled on a 27" refurb i5 model today and quickly snapped it up before really doing any proper research.

The question I have for you more knowledgeable folk is have I done the right thing in buying the older model.

 

[zappster]

The question I have for you more knowledgeable folk is have I done the right thing in buying the older model.

The 2009 i5 or i7 are much more advanced than the new 2010 crop of i3 based iMacs. They are even very comparable to the 2010 i5 and i7 machines. I don't think you can go wrong with your selection.

 

[JoelMarcey]

I've been thinking about getting a mac for a long time as the family has iPods and iPhones and it just seems to make sense. Plus they always look so dam good.

Anyway I started off with the idea of getting a mini but then moved quickly onto an iMac. I was going to get the new 21" base i3 this weekend for £999 but stumbled on a 27" refurb i5 model today and quickly snapped it up before really doing any proper research.

The question I have for you more knowledgeable folk is have I done the right thing in buying the older model.

At $1529, you made a very smart decision in my opinion. Great specs at a nice price. Oh, and I have a refurb just like yours.

 

[LEET1973]

Doing a side by side comparison with the 2009 and 2010 i5's, the main difference to me seems to be the graphic card.

Are the 2010 graphic cards a significant improvement over the 2009?

 

[JoelMarcey]

Doing a side by side comparison with the 2009 and 2010 i5's, the main difference to me seems to be the graphic card.

Are the 2010 graphic cards a significant improvement over the 2009?

First you have to get something straight. Price. The refurb i5 is $1529. The base new i5 model is $1999. What that extra $470 gets you is basically a slight bump in speed and 512MB more VRAM in graphics. Unless you are hardcore graphics and video intensive in your work, it is not worth $470. Spend that money on 8 more GB of RAM and pocket the change. You will be good to go.

 

[dwd3885]

First you have to get something straight. Price. The refurb i5 is $1529. The base new i5 model is $1999. What that extra $470 gets you is basically a slight bump in speed and 512MB more VRAM in graphics. Unless you are hardcore graphics and video intensive in your work, it is not worth $470. Spend that money on 8 more GB of RAM and pocket the change. You will be good to go.

I don't think it'd be worth the $470 even if you are a hardcore graphics or video intense person.

Get the refurb i7, 1699, still $300 CHEAPER than the new i5.

 

[Zacken87]

Doing a side by side comparison with the 2009 and 2010 i5's, the main difference to me seems to be the graphic card.

Are the 2010 graphic cards a significant improvement over the 2009?

You'll probably be fine. Even if you are into things like gaming, you'll be able to run most games currently available for the Mac (such as Starcraft II) at reasonable settings. As long as you don't expect to be able to run new games on the highest detail levels, you're not likely to be disappointed with your current choice.

 

[dwd3885]

You'll probably be fine. Even if you are into things like gaming, you'll be able to run most games currently available for the Mac (such as Starcraft II) at reasonable settings. As long as you don't expect to be able to run new games on the highest detail levels, you're not likely to be disappointed with your current choice.

am i crazy or did i think the i7s were so much better than the i5s that the slight graphics and ram updates still don't make the quad i5 imac 2010 as good as the quad i7 2009

 

[ls521]

First you have to get something straight. Price. The refurb i5 is $1529. The base new i5 model is $1999. What that extra $470 gets you is basically a slight bump in speed and 512MB more VRAM in graphics. Unless you are hardcore graphics and video intensive in your work, it is not worth $470. Spend that money on 8 more GB of RAM and pocket the change. You will be good to go.

+1

I did the same thing and pulled the trigger on an i5 refurb for the time being -- just didn't think there was enough there on the new releases to justify a purchase at the prices they command.

My guess would be that the next iteration will have some significant improvements, so I'll be using the refurb i5 as a stopgap for the time being.