iMac 3.06GHz ordered!

[candyman]

Well, finally sold and shipped off the old G5 and just made my online purchase of a new iMac! Got the education discount deal with the wife being in school, so we've go a free 8GB iPod touch (mail in rebate) on the way as well.

Got the 3.06GHz model with the 500GB HD and NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS graphics card. Made sure to get the 3-year AppleCare as it was dicounted through the education package (only $119!) as well as added on the 500GB Time Capsule with wifi. It will act as both my new Time Machine backup drive and replace my old original (spaceship) Airport! Love the fact I can hook my printer up to it through USB and have a wireless printer!

Also, made sure to buy 4GB RAM through Crucial to max this baby out.

Looks like I won't get it until the end of this week, possibly as late as middle of next week. I am very excited and cannot wait to set everything up! Just wanted to share. This is my 4th Mac purchase over the past 6 years but its always an exciting experience.

Thanks to many of you for helping in my decision making process and being able to read up so much about this specific model.

 

[TwinCities Dan]

Congrats! Awesome machine!

 

[Eidorian]

A Mac Pro wouldn't have been a better deal?

 

[xxbrankxx]

Allow me to join in the chorus, I just ordered the same config 5 minutes ago! I ordered through the Federal Employee store and it knocked off $132. I was thinking about getting the MacPro but I think for my needs it's sorta overkill... Maybe for my next Mac...Congrats on your purchase and I'll be anxiously waiting arrival just as you!

 

[Eidorian]

Spending more then US$1,000 on a computer is overkill enough. If you're getting the 3.06 GHz iMac you're already well into the single processor Mac Pro.

 

[kabunaru]

Congratulations.

 

[twistedlegato]

Lovely purchase!
But i must agree with the poster above the poster above me. What compelled you to buy that over a Mac Pro? You could of gotten a 4-core one for just a little more!

But other than that. I'm totally jealous

 

[D4F]

Lovely purchase!
But i must agree with the poster above the poster above me. What compelled you to buy that over a Mac Pro? You could of gotten a 4-core one for just a little more!

But other than that. I'm totally jealous

Then add $700+ for a monitor to match iMac's screen and your deal ain't pretty anymore.

With current software the iMac stands it's ground damn good. Multicore support is very rare and this wont change in the next 1-2 years. Even Snow won't bring much difference in my opinion as it'll take quite some time for developers to follow.

In photoshop the 3.06 is faster than 8 core Pro.
Quad or 8 cores are for those that really need them... or for those that like to throw their $$ away.
There is a reason the big daddy is called Pro

 

[Fallinangel]

Congratulations!
I'm going to get the exact same configuration next week.

Don't let the haters unsettle you, you have bought the perfect machine.
Last week a friend showed me that even Crysis runs on pretty impressive settings.

 

[candyman]

A Mac Pro wouldn't have been a better deal?

Spending more then US$1,000 on a computer is overkill enough. If you're getting the 3.06 GHz iMac you're already well into the single processor Mac Pro.

Lovely purchase!
But i must agree with the poster above the poster above me. What compelled you to buy that over a Mac Pro? You could of gotten a 4-core one for just a little more!

But other than that. I'm totally jealous

Actually, the iMac is the best deal around based on what you get included. It's the whole system. I really don't need much more than the dual core processors and even with a single quad core 2.8GHz MacPro, it's still an extra $200 price difference (getting the same size HD included.)

Also, AppleCare was only $119 with the education discount where it is $199 on the MacPro. So, there is another $80 in savings.

Lastly is RAM, I got 4GB of ram for the iMac for $110. They want $200 for the same setup on the MP. Chalk up another $90 savings. Not including an external monitor, I have saved nearly $400 which I put towards a 500GB Time Capsule.

I will more than likely get a MacPro in the future (1-3 years) as this machine for me is kind of a temporary holdover due to the wife being in school and tight finances. I do love the idea of the all in one and no clutter on the desk. Pus my old monitor was a 20", so this will be a big upgrade for me to the 24" size.

I understand the inability in being able to update or upgrade components. However, it would kind of be overkill for me right now. I use a 17" MBPro at work as my machine with 3GB of RAM, and it's great in itself while using the whole Adobe CS3 suite. I have no doubts this desktop will be even better than the MBPro.

In the end, this was the best solution for me.

Allow me to join in the chorus, I just ordered the same config 5 minutes ago! I ordered through the Federal Employee store and it knocked off $132. I was thinking about getting the MacPro but I think for my needs it's sorta overkill... Maybe for my next Mac...Congrats on your purchase and I'll be anxiously waiting arrival just as you!

Congrats to you to. Like I said, from reading these posts around here, this machine is a great machine, especially if you don't do much heavy tasks such as 3D rendering or video editing. My main concern was its speed in Photoshop which it does very well at.

 

[andychris02]

Good purchase Candyman, you won't regret it! This is my 3rd Mac (iBook, G5 iMac) and is the best I've had. It even seems to be a bit quicker than my quad Mac Pro at work sometimes.

Enjoy your new iMac.