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High end 21.5" vs low end 27.5"

A

AppleLou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 7, 2011
24
0
I know the 21.5" scored a little higher on the benchmarks, but if you guys had the choice which one would you choose?

The 21.5" inc. student discount: £1099.20
The 27" inc. student discount: £1231.20

(Yes, they are pretty darn expensive in the UK)

So that's £132 difference for a 5.5" increase in screen size and a little less gpu performance.

Just wondering which YOU guys would prefer to have and why.
 
AppleLou said:
I know the 21.5" scored a little higher on the benchmarks, but if you guys had the choice which one would you choose?

The 21.5" inc. student discount: £1099.20
The 27" inc. student discount: £1231.20

(Yes, they are pretty darn expensive in the UK)

So that's £132 difference for a 5.5" increase in screen size and a little less gpu performance.

Just wondering which YOU guys would prefer to have and why.
Click to expand...

The reason I bought an imac and not a MBP is for the screen real estate. The 27 allows two FULL side by side pages to be displayed. It seems well worth it to me for the modest increase and price. If space isn't an issue, then I would definitely get the 27. Also, remember the 27 comes with two thunderbolt ports, so if you got a USB3 dongle in a few months and then also an external drive with Thunderbolt connection you'd be able to plug both in without having to worry about chaining.

they're basically going to perform identically. If you're a heavy gamer, the higher resolution of the base 27 may detract from its value to you, but then again you should get the high 27 in that case.
 
The extra £132 is not much more considering the extra screen size. The 27" is a beast!

When I was a student I moved around a lot, packing up my stuff each year and cramming it in my parent's car, so consider that too!

Does the small GPU hit really matter? It won't be that much.

Even though I wouldn't need a 27" I'd be tempted at that price.

Remember, UK HE students get 3 years warranty as standard online, not in store though.See here
 
iStudentUK said:
The extra £132 is not much more considering the extra screen size. The 27" is a beast!

When I was a student I moved around a lot, packing up my stuff each year and cramming it in my parent's car, so consider that too!

Does the small GPU hit really matter? It won't be that much.

Even though I wouldn't need a 27" I'd be tempted at that price.

Remember, UK HE students get 3 years warranty as standard online, not in store though.See here
Click to expand...

Luckily I live at home and not away, so I wont have to move the mac anywhere.

For the past week I have been debating a macbook pro, but for my university course I draw a lot and the MBP would probably just be a distraction for lectures. Also, I have a DSi for travel.. So no need for one there.

Yeah I noticed they get the 3 year warranty, is it the same as apple care?

and I do really fancy the 27".. I saw it and my mouth dropped at how great it looked.

Good views so far guys, keep them coming!
 
Take the difference in price and upgrade the 21.5" with the 2.8GHz i7 option. You can always add a larger external display later through Tbolt.
 
corvus32 said:
Take the difference in price and upgrade the 21.5" with the 2.8GHz i7 option. You can always add a larger external display later through Tbolt.
Click to expand...

That just sounds like a complete waste of money to me.

Sure the addition of the i7 alone probably makes the two models the same price, and adding a GOOD screen later (probably around £220) here would just blow budget.

Would just go for the top model 27" if I could do that.
 
Oh my..

Just measured my HDTV in my room and that's 26". The iMac is going to blow it away!

Now if only I could stream sky tv + xbox 360 through the iMac..
 
AppleLou said:
That just sounds like a complete waste of money to me.

Sure the addition of the i7 alone probably makes the two models the same price, and adding a GOOD screen later (probably around £220) here would just blow budget.

Would just go for the top model 27" if I could do that.
Click to expand...

Then why are you even considering the base model 27"? It's the same price.
 
corvus32 said:
Then why are you even considering the base model 27"? It's the same price.
Click to expand...

What?

The high end 21.5" + the i7 upgrade = the same price as the base 27" and only scores a mere 250 higher than the base 27".

Adding in the screen would throw it up an extra £220.
 
It boils down to how important the larger screen is to your needs. My wife just got a 21.5" mid-level since she didn't need a large screen for what she does. After using a 14" Wintel laptop at home and a 19' monitor at work, the iMac 21.5 was plenty big. Getting the 1TB drive was more important than screen real estate.
 
AppleLou said:
What?

The high end 21.5" + the i7 upgrade = the same price as the base 27" and only scores a mere 250 higher than the base 27".

Adding in the screen would throw it up an extra £220.
Click to expand...

A nice external display has value of its own. You can't include its cost with the iMac's cost of ownership. It can be used again with your next Mac.

Perhaps you have a second display already, or have no need for one or even a 27" screen for that matter? In that case, the extra speed of the i7 in a 21.5" might be worth it depending on what you do.
 
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