iMac 3.06GHz opinions please!

[candyman]

Hello all!

As my Powermac G5 is beginning its decent into retirement (long story that would end up in some kind of mini rant of mine!) at a time I can not afford to begin to repair it (processors, expired warranty) and can not afford a lower end model MacPro at this time. I am very interested in the iMac 3.06GHz model with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS card. I would plan on maxing it out to 4GB as well.

I am a graphic designer who regularly works with the Adobe CS3 suite. I always have my email, web browser and chat app open as well as iTunes occasionally (although I typically just use my iPhone hooked up to speakers now).

I do not do much in the way of video, occasionally creating some animations with After Effects. Primarily, I spend all day in Photoshop, Illustrator, with some InDesign and Dreamweaver on the side.

My question is could I get by with this machine for at least 1-2 years? My wife is finishing up on her RN degree and once she gets in the workforce, we could then invest in a top of the line MacPro system and I would just hand off this iMac to her. She still uses my 6 year old Ti G4 PowerBook to this day which is great for her basic needs.

Are there many designers out there who use the iMac as there work machine? Powerful enough? Quiet? Hampered by limited options to upgrade parts?

I'm looking for as many opinions as possible on this. Thanks!

 

[9007938]

I think it should more than last for how long you need it.

The ONLY concern I can think of for your situation is that a lot of people argue that even with proper calibration the iMac's glossy screen does not produce accurate colors on the monitor. When viewed on other monitors or printed the colors are off because the glossy screen increases saturation and exaggerates some colors.

I don't know personally but that is the argument I hear. I've also heard others say they do graphic design fine on them.