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Help please! What to do? Need advice!

I

iNewb

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 30, 2009
6
0
iHi!

My sister is buying a new iMac, and she's relying on me to help her choose the right one for her.. but.. it's so difficult! I spend 10 minutes trying to decide which shoe to put on first!

Initially, I recommended the lower 21.5", being the cheapest and totally fullfilling the needs of her family.. but then again.. that 27" sure is purdy.. and it's not really THAT much more expensive then the 21.5.. but it would be a total overkill.. but is that a bad thing? I mean, atleast the kids will get a healthy tan!

The alternatives are:

21.5" lower (9500kr) - cheapest, but is 500gb and gfx good nuff?

21.5" higher (11500kr) - 1tb and better gfx, but is it worth 2000 more?

27" lower (13000kr) - now it's just 1500 more for the most kickass display ever! but is the gfx a bit weak for the bigger resolution?

Does anyone have any insightful advice on how or what to choose?
 
Buy the best iMac that she can afford. You can't upgrade these computers down the line, so an extra few $$$ at the start will pay off big time.

What are her priorities? If she uses alot of photos, video, iTunes, then go with the biggest HD you can afford. Does she play games? Don't be affraid to go with the 21.5" model. That is PLENTY of desktop for 98% of home users.

Enjoy!
 
It sounds like she should just get the 21 inch. Unless she's going to use it for watching TV or some other form of heavy media usage, then I'd go with the 27".
 
iNewb said:
does anybody that doesnt suck have an answer?
Click to expand...

In the states the price difference between entry level 21.5 and lower 27 is $500. For me it is a matter of how long I intend to keep the system. We spent over $3000 on a Mac Pro for our 10 year old daughter almost 3 years ago and she will use that system through high school (another 4.5 years) so to us it was worth it.

Also, I really wouldn't consider the entry lever 21.5 since I insist on dedicated GPU on all my systems except my little mini. If they ever want to run Windows games at decent detail the 9400m is not going to cut it.

@ $1699 the lower 27 is a good deal if you plan to keep the system for many years. Some might argue the GPU is weak for the resolution, however, most games can be played at lower resolutions w/o significant loss of fidelity. For your average work in OS X the GPU will be fine.

Best of luck,
 
OCBulldogs said:
Buy the best iMac that she can afford. You can't upgrade these computers down the line, so an extra few $$$ at the start will pay off big time.

What are her priorities? If she uses alot of photos, video, iTunes, then go with the biggest HD you can afford. Does she play games? Don't be affraid to go with the 21.5" model. That is PLENTY of desktop for 98% of home users.

Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it be nice if the actual user could answer these questions? Otherwise, the OP is right, this sucks. :D
 
Thanks for your input guys, they all make good points.

Her use is mostly typical light use, although the kids might use it for some gaming, but theyre young, so they wont be playing call of duty (I hope!).

How would the 9400M perform on typical games kids play? Like Sims, and similar?

Also, does the 9400M use CPU power? Will the system in its whole go "faster" with a dedicated GPU?

I don't think she will be using it for a lot of video and TV, but pictures and such for sure. I don't really think she needs the 27", but imo its kind of a bargain to pay the little extra to get an amazing screen like that. If I was buying for myself there would be nothing to ponder about!
 
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