How much better are the new imacs ?

[sas76]

I am just about sold on the new 24inch imac. But I have one further question. Are they that much better then the previos model ? Forget the 24 inch screen. What about the rest ?

I am in Australia and would be spending around $3500 (aus) for a new 24 inch,(2 gig ram 256 vid card) the standard 20 inch imac will cost about $2300. There are 20inch imac core duo's (previous model) on ebay and other places for $1200-$1500 and offical apple refurbished ones for under $2000.

I am sure I would notice the speed difference, but how much ? will the previous intel imacs be outdated sooner ?

I look foward to your responces.
Look I am a newbie and hope I have started a thread which people are willing to discuss
cheers
Shane

 

[governor]

I am just about sold on the new 24inch imac. But I have one further question. Are they that much better then the previos model ? Forget the 24 inch screen. What about the rest ?

I am in Australia and would be spending around $3500 (aus) for a new 24 inch,(2 gig ram 256 vid card) the standard 20 inch imac will cost about $2300. There are 20inch imac core duo's (previous model) on ebay and other places for $1200-$1500 and offical apple refurbished ones for under $2000.

I am sure I would notice the speed difference, but how much ? will the previous intel imacs be outdated sooner ?

I look foward to your responces.
Look I am a newbie and hope I have started a thread which people are willing to discuss
cheers
Shane

In many common every day tasks up to 20% faster with the C2D. So it's quite a leap if i may say!

 

[JMies419]

You cant forget about the 24 inch screen, you just cant!

 

[QCassidy352]

In many common every day tasks up to 20% faster with the C2D. So it's quite a leap if i may say!

"up to" being the key phrase here. The average difference is about 10%. If you're talking about the midrange 17" and 20" models, the only differences are:
core duo --> core 2 duo
1.82/2.0 --> 2.0/2.16 (17"/20")
512 RAM --> 1 GB
$100-200 cheaper (Doesn't matter for your purposes because the old ones will be even cheaper now.)

Everything else is the same. IMO most users would not notice a difference in performance.

 

[governor]

"up to" being the key phrase here. The average difference is about 10%. If you're talking about the midrange 17" and 20" models, the only differences are:
core duo --> core 2 duo
1.82/2.0 --> 2.0/2.16 (17"/20")
512 RAM --> 1 GB
$100-200 cheaper (Doesn't matter for your purposes because the old ones will be even cheaper now.)

Everything else is the same. IMO most users would not notice a difference in performance.

A bitter pill to swallow?

There is a noticeable speed boost.. in some things it isn't, and in some things there is quite a leap. I just read that apps like iTunes and Garageband now is much faster. The ability to have up to 3GB of memory.. And the thing that the Superdrive is less loud, and now burns Dual Layer DVD's. Something that i personaly really needed.

15-20% measured by qualified reliable test_is_quite a lot.

 

[Allotriophagy]

Don't forget the improved GPU in the 24"!

 

[kimbles]

I just got a new 20" iMac (on tuesday,yay!), i'm in australia too. I'd say it depends on how much you want the big screen and how much money you've got to play with.
If you've got the money and you really want the 24", get it! You don't want to get a refurb 20 and then keep wishing you got the 24. I was going to get the better 17" model and save $400 but I decided I couldn't live without the 20.

I don't think the core duo's would really be outdated much sooner than the current ones, there is talk of the 64 bittness of the new chips compared with the old ones but things like leopard will run just fine on the older ones (and you never know what new chips are around the corner).
That 24" screen must be huge! I haven't seen one yet (local shops don't have them), but I've seen the 23" displays. My 20" screen seems big to me, but I've only used standard monitors before