Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Help Needed for Choosing an iMac

shuffles

shuffles

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 7, 2007
403
8
dublin, ireland
We're getting a new desktop for the house and ive convinced my mum to get a mac. Shes so fed up with windows and all of its crashing etc. Ive got a Macbook Air on the way but was wondering if you guys cud help me choose the most suitable config for the iMac for me. We'll be using it for web, college/school assignments, music, photos, yada yada yada, games etc. Shud i jst stick with the standard config or get a bto? (id prob upgrade externally). I like the 24'' screen as well. Also, will that little jump in graphics card between the 2 models make a huge difference??

On a side note, i was looking on ebay and i came across the old iMac g4 model and i have to say it is the nicest looking comp i have ever seen. Wud leopard work on it alright? I wud nearly get one of those jst because they look so cool. If i was to upgrade it manually how much RAM cud i put into it??? I know i gotta get the one with at least 800mhz to run leopard smoothly.

Cheers,

Shuffles.
 
shuffles said:
We're getting a new desktop for the house and ive convinced my mum to get a mac. Shes so fed up with windows and all of its crashing etc. Ive got a Macbook Air on the way but was wondering if you guys cud help me choose the most suitable config for the iMac for me. We'll be using it for web, college/school assignments, music, photos, yada yada yada, games etc. Shud i jst stick with the standard config or get a bto? (id prob upgrade externally). I like the 24'' screen as well. Also, will that little jump in graphics card between the 2 models make a huge difference??

On a side note, i was looking on ebay and i came across the old iMac g4 model and i have to say it is the nicest looking comp i have ever seen. Wud leopard work on it alright? I wud nearly get one of those jst because they look so cool. If i was to upgrade it manually how much RAM cud i put into it??? I know i gotta get the one with at least 800mhz to run leopard smoothly.

Cheers,

Shuffles.
Click to expand...

The 24" iMac in its standard configuration is what I have and it will serve all of the purposes you list handily.

The G4 was a cool looking machine but I wouldn't spend too much nor would I count on it running Leopard very smoothly if you can manage to run it at all. Yes, as you mentioned the G4 with 800MHz is Apple's cutoff.
 
SaSaSushi said:
The G4 was a cool looking machine but I wouldn't spend too much nor would I count on it running Leopard very smoothly if you can manage to run it at all. Yes, as you mentioned the G4 with 800MHz is Apple's cutoff.
Click to expand...

If it's 1GHz G4 and has a decent amount of RAM, then it'll run Leopard fine. There's a 20-inch iMac G4 that could probably still be quite useful and run relatively zippy. Still, I wouldn't recommend it if you can get an Aluminum iMac instead.
 
scaredpoet said:
If it's 1GHz G4 and has a decent amount of RAM, then it'll run Leopard fine. There's a 20-inch iMac G4 that could probably still be quite useful and run relatively zippy. Still, I wouldn't recommend it if you can get an Aluminum iMac instead.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I stand corrected on the G4. I entered the Mac world with the first Intel iMac (Yonah 20") and have never owned a PowerPC-based machine.

Upon rereading the OP's post I think he was just asking about the G4 being able to run Leopard as a separate issue and not in lieu of buying the aluminum 24".
 
Get a 24 inch imac with a 2.4ghz C2D, i'd recommend 2gb of ram, and up the external HD to 500gb, just for music and family photos. I have that setup except with a 2.8ghz C2E and LOVE it. Congrats on the mba by the way, im checking them out later today.

But do that, you will have a sweet system. the 2.8 is for people who need to do some pro stuff somewhat regularly, but dont exactly need an MP. the 20 inch 2ghz imac, IMO, nobody take me wrong, is just inadequate for a desktop computer, either if you get a 20 inch, or 24 inch (highly recommend a 24 inch for the viewing angle, family gatherings), get a 2.4ghz C2D, i would recommend 2 gigs of ram, isnt necessary, but i'd recommend 2gb of ram any day now, 1gb is just starting to become "underpowered" for a desktop. and if you guys plan to grow a huge family photos library, music, or will have multiple accounts on the computer, i would recommend a 500gb HD

And hope you get a Seagate HD!!!! The Seagate's Apple puts in their iMacs are better than the Western Digital's they put in them. but the WD is quiter, I'd sacrifice that for a more powerful HD.
 
Cheers for all the replies. Think im gonna get the 24-inch, 2.8 with 500gb hard drive and upgrade the ram to 4gb form crucial.com.

Gonna wait till my Macbook Air arrives to show my mum how it works first.

In response to one of the posts, if I got the G4 i wasnt gonna play games on it jst install Lopard onto it. Don't think I'm gonna do that now cuz they're still pretty expensive...Apple products tend to hold their value for a long time.
 
shuffles said:
Cheers for all the replies. Think im gonna get the 24-inch, 2.8 with 500gb hard drive and upgrade the ram to 4gb form crucial.com.

Gonna wait till my Macbook Air arrives to show my mum how it works first.

In response to one of the posts, if I got the G4 i wasnt gonna play games on it jst install Lopard onto it. Don't think I'm gonna do that now cuz they're still pretty expensive...Apple products tend to hold their value for a long time.
Click to expand...

They don't get updated often;)

I didn't think you'd go for the pro model, but, GOOD FOR U!!! I love mine, you'll love it too, its a great machine, no problems. Other than the problem that everyone else has a there is no solve to it what so ever, the uneven backlighting.
 
shuffles said:
Is the uneven backlighting bad??? I mean, is it really noticeable???:confused:
Click to expand...

Don't be worried, Its been confirmed a while back no matter how many times someone would send their imacs back, they'll get it. It's just how the displays are, your going to have it NO MATTER WHAT.

You only notice it in front row, the all black screen. even when you have a black wallpaper, you dont notice it, nor do u notice it in itunes visualizer, i sometimes see it in a screensaver, just some times, depending on the room lighting, but in front row i always see it. but when watching a dark movie, i dont see it. so its not big, at least not for me. But you will enjoy your imac anyhow.
 
Cool, i doubt ill notice it then. Wats that thing called where you can access your iMac using ure laptop and wirelessly put stuff from your iMac onto your laptop wherever you are?? Maybe its not out yet...jst heard it somewhere (Im not talking about remote disk for the Macbook Air).

Shuffles,
:apple:
 
shuffles said:
Cool, i doubt ill notice it then. Wats that thing called where you can access your iMac using ure laptop and wirelessly put stuff from your iMac onto your laptop wherever you are?? Maybe its not out yet...jst heard it somewhere (Im not talking about remote disk for the Macbook Air).

Shuffles,
:apple:
Click to expand...

You can access your imac from you macbook air over your network if you setup screen and file sharing on your imac. If you are in school, and imac is at home, you would need .mac and use back to my mac to access it.
 
SaSaSushi said:
Thanks, I stand corrected on the G4. I entered the Mac world with the first Intel iMac (Yonah 20") and have never owned a PowerPC-based machine.
Click to expand...

Well, I should point out that although they run Leopard fine, and may even theoretically run the next version of the OS fine too, I get the feeling that G4s will not officially be supported with the next version of OS X. That said, Leopard is still new, so there's still plenty of life left in G4s as currently-supported computers. For machines that have been around 4, 5, 6 years and may be with us for another 16-20 months, that's a really good run.

One could also continue to use a G4 with Leopard or even Tiger for as long as it's useful to them. The problem is - and I hate to say this - so many mac developers seem to be lazy and refuse to do just a little bit extra to support anything but the absolute latest OS on on their latest software versions, even when there's no reason to. Take the lynx web browser, for instance. Why in the world would a 12-year-old text-only web browser that's been around before Netscape require Leopard 10.5.1 to run?! The only reason I can think of is that whoever compiled the binary didn't bother to check a couple boxes to permit support on previous versions.

But I digress...
 
bluedoggiant said:
You can access your imac from you macbook air over your network if you setup screen and file sharing on your imac. If you are in school, and imac is at home, you would need .mac and use back to my mac to access it.
Click to expand...

Bluedoggiant,

Wud u be able to explain to me the whole back to my mac with .mac?

Cheers.
 
If you want to game on this then buying a 24" iMac is a BAD idea. You're asking the graphics card to drive a display which has a much higher native resolution and as such if you try to run games at 1920x1080 then you'll get significantly worse performance than running them at the 20" 1680x1050 resolution.

This is NOT a gaming machine. There is absolutely no way that anyone who cares even slightly about playability of recent games should buy an iMac. The graphics card in them is a budget card - this thing belongs in computers which cost <$500, not a machine that's setting you back $1500+.

The 2.4GHz 20" model is $800 cheaper than the 24" and even more cheaper than the 2.8GHz 24" model. With $800 you could build a computer which would OUTPERFORM even the 2.8GHz machine in gaming benchmarks.
 
shuffles said:
On a side note, i was looking on ebay and i came across the old iMac g4 model and i have to say it is the nicest looking comp i have ever seen. Wud leopard work on it alright? I wud nearly get one of those jst because they look so cool. If i was to upgrade it manually how much RAM cud i put into it??? I know i gotta get the one with at least 800mhz to run leopard smoothly.

Cheers,

Shuffles.
Click to expand...

I'm running that absolutely beautiful machine with Leopard right now. 1.25GHz. Besides the Leopard woes, there's no hit to the performance. However, I'd suggest getting an Intel mac. It'll last longer (by which I mean 'be supported' longer) and run better. But if you still want one, they can have a max of 1GB, but one RAM slot is not easily accessible, so if you get one make sure that slot has at least 512MB in it.

If you're considering a G4 iMac, then performance must not be an issue for you. If that's the case then get any refurbished Intel iMac. You won't notice the graphics card difference. Then upgrade the RAM from Crucial. Size is entirely up to you. My 17" is absolutely big enough for me, but of course when I eventually buy a new iMac it'll be at least 20".
 
Go with the 24". 2.8Ghz isn't entirely necessary, and if you are considering upgrading, *definitely* go for an extra 1Gig of RAM.

Its true that, as many people have already stated, the iMac is not a gaming machine. Nonetheless, with the better graphics card movies and pictures will look absolutely amazing on it.
 
Everythingisnt said:
Go with the 24". 2.8Ghz isn't entirely necessary, and if you are considering upgrading, *definitely* go for an extra 1Gig of RAM.

Its true that, as many people have already stated, the iMac is not a gaming machine. Nonetheless, with the better graphics card movies and pictures will look absolutely amazing on it.
Click to expand...

The better graphics card will make absolutely no perceivable difference to static images or movies.
 
Everythingisnt said:
Go with the 24". 2.8Ghz isn't entirely necessary, and if you are considering upgrading, *definitely* go for an extra 1Gig of RAM.

Its true that, as many people have already stated, the iMac is not a gaming machine. Nonetheless, with the better graphics card movies and pictures will look absolutely amazing on it.
Click to expand...

Amen - you nailed it right there. :D
 
I wont be playing hardcore games on it...I jst want the option of being able to play some games if i wanted to. Ive got a PS3 and a 360 for gaming!!!
 
neiltc13 said:
This is NOT a gaming machine.
Click to expand...

No, it is not a "gaming machine". That said it runs all the games I love to play like Call of Duty 4, Counter-Strike: Source, Crysis, Bioshock, etc at the native 1920x1200 with smooth framerates at good quality settings.

There is absolutely no way that anyone who cares even slightly about playability of recent games should buy an iMac.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but now you're talking out your butt. The 24" aluminum iMac is a very good solution for a casual gamer and has no trouble playing almost any game out there currently. Try one then talk or have a look at the countless 24" iMac gaming videos on Youtube.

The graphics card in them is a budget card - this thing belongs in computers which cost <$500, not a machine that's setting you back $1500+.
Click to expand...

More BS. The card is an underclocked Radeon Mobility HD2600 XT. It is FAR from a "budget card", sorry.

You gotta love people that just blindly spread the hype.

The 2.4GHz 20" model is $800 cheaper than the 24" and even more cheaper than the 2.8GHz 24" model. With $800 you could build a computer which would OUTPERFORM even the 2.8GHz machine in gaming benchmarks.
Click to expand...

Absolutely true. But then you'd have a loud gaming machine with no monitor and no ability to run OS X. What a ridiculous statement!

There is a certain compromise one makes for an all-in-one computer. The iMac is not in competition with PC gaming machines. That it is a work of art that runs OS X and Windows nearly silently AND can play games is more than justification for the price of admission. Of course it's not a "gaming machine". But then PC gaming machines aren't Macs either. :p
 
SaSaSushi said:
No, it is not a "gaming machine". That said it runs all the games I love to play like Call of Duty 4, Counter-Strike: Source, Crysis, Bioshock, etc at the native 1920x1200 with smooth framerates at good quality settings.



Sorry, but now you're talking out your butt. The 24" aluminum iMac is a very good solution for a casual gamer and has no trouble playing almost any game out there currently. Try one then talk or have a look at the countless 24" iMac gaming videos on Youtube.



More BS. The card is an underclocked Radeon Mobility HD2600 XT. It is FAR from a "budget card", sorry.

You gotta love people that just blindly spread the hype.



Absolutely true. But then you'd have a loud gaming machine with no monitor and no ability to run OS X. What a ridiculous statement!

There is a certain compromise one makes for an all-in-one computer. The iMac is not in competition with PC gaming machines. That it is a work of art that runs OS X and Windows nearly silently AND can play games is more than justification for the price of admission. Of course it's not a "gaming machine". But then PC gaming machines aren't Macs either. :p
Click to expand...

I've got some, my account is http://www.youtube.com/bluedoggiant

got some videos of halo, and doom 3. Later FSX.
 
bluedoggiant said:
I've got some, my account is http://www.youtube.com/bluedoggiant

got some videos of halo, and doom 3. Later FSX.
Click to expand...

Doom 3 was released around three and a half years ago and Halo is now over four years old on Windows.

I have the same machine. A 2.4GHz iMac with the same 2600 card. Quite frankly this thing is a joke for gaming. Trying to run the Lost Planet demo yields framerates sub 30, often dropping below 20 at 1680x1050. I find it hard to believe that Call of Duty or Crysis will run any better than they do on mine at a higher resolution. If you've got any tips on how the hell you accomplish such things, I'd love to hear them.

I've found the best games to play on it are those which run under the Source engine like Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2. While the computer still struggles a bit with these you should get some playable gameplay out of it.

Speaking as someone who has an Xbox 360 then I'll say this - you'll never, ever choose to buy a game for your iMac before you get it for your Xbox. The simplicity you get from Xbox 360 along with its far better performance means that the iMac is always going to play second-fiddle to the console
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back