I'm in the market for a used iMac, and I was curious if there are any generations to stay away from. For example with MBPs, I just learned of the high failure rate of the 8600M gpu. I am mainly looking for C2D or newer, unless an older one is considered much better. (hardware requirements are low, so don't be afraid to suggest a less powerful model)
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iMac to watch out for?
- Thread starter svenn
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a tricky question first of all what is your budget as Mac's hold their value very very well , so your budget dictates what years you could possibly buy , ok you should stay definitely clear of the 2008 iMac with the nvidia 8800gs and stay clear of the early iMac G5 because of the capacitor issues and the later G5 had powersupply and display issues which carried over to the early intels (stripes on display) , generally the failing or repair rate on the rest of the iMac's is quiet low but you could always be unlucky and pick a lemon , you should always be prepared getting the HDD replaced
but really all depends on your budget , if its high enough i would say go for a refurbished base model 21.5 from apple where you can get apple care for and you are safe , or go for a end of line model(last intel in white acrylic case ,last intel model with black plastic back and alu front) where apple had usually sorted out all the little problems
best tip of all buy from a local shop /or a local apple certified repair technician as they have a reputation to lose ,they dont sell 50 a week and usually because of that dont sell you lemons as most of them love Mac's and want happy customers , might be , but doesn't have to be more expensive , but its certainly worth the extra cash if you get a iMac on your desk that had been proper maintained / refurbished ,
rather then getting one of a ebay shop which might be a bit cheaper ,who sells them like they get them and understand under the word "fully refurbished" to take a bit of surface polishing spray to make it shine from the outside and install the OS
buying private on ebay is always risky as not everyone would tell you about a fault , and stay clear of private sellers who sell and say " i know nothing about Mac's and thats the only reason for selling ", as to often they discovered a fault and want to get rid of it after they got told about the repair costs
and dont get fooled by " 1000's worth of software " where you get no disc's or licenses for, its not worth a extra penny if sold without disc /license not to mention illegal
to be fair to the good ebay shops and private seller's, there are honest ones among them , but because of the high resell value of Mac's more who are just after the quick money
sames as for ebay on craiglist ..if its to cheap to be true it certainly is
but again for defects or faults , ebay is great for these to find out , if you look for a certain iMac , look out for the ones of the same model which are sold as faulty , that give you a rough indication how high the risk is to get one which develops the same fault sooner or later too
but really all depends on your budget , if its high enough i would say go for a refurbished base model 21.5 from apple where you can get apple care for and you are safe , or go for a end of line model(last intel in white acrylic case ,last intel model with black plastic back and alu front) where apple had usually sorted out all the little problems
best tip of all buy from a local shop /or a local apple certified repair technician as they have a reputation to lose ,they dont sell 50 a week and usually because of that dont sell you lemons as most of them love Mac's and want happy customers , might be , but doesn't have to be more expensive , but its certainly worth the extra cash if you get a iMac on your desk that had been proper maintained / refurbished ,
rather then getting one of a ebay shop which might be a bit cheaper ,who sells them like they get them and understand under the word "fully refurbished" to take a bit of surface polishing spray to make it shine from the outside and install the OS
buying private on ebay is always risky as not everyone would tell you about a fault , and stay clear of private sellers who sell and say " i know nothing about Mac's and thats the only reason for selling ", as to often they discovered a fault and want to get rid of it after they got told about the repair costs
and dont get fooled by " 1000's worth of software " where you get no disc's or licenses for, its not worth a extra penny if sold without disc /license not to mention illegal
to be fair to the good ebay shops and private seller's, there are honest ones among them , but because of the high resell value of Mac's more who are just after the quick money
sames as for ebay on craiglist ..if its to cheap to be true it certainly is
but again for defects or faults , ebay is great for these to find out , if you look for a certain iMac , look out for the ones of the same model which are sold as faulty , that give you a rough indication how high the risk is to get one which develops the same fault sooner or later too
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