No, seriously how can you afford a brand new iMac?

[CraigB3]

I think its because when you use your computer for work/professional purposes, the extra money is worth it because you will use your machine to earn money anyway (and the faster the machine, presumably the faster you earn it back because you save time on each project). Time is money.

Also, in professional environments you deal with tight deadlines, so saving 30% to 50% on encoding time for a video (which for larger projects could mean hours) could mean the difference between keeping your boss or clients happy and losing your job/client/money.

When you are a student, you usually do not have mission critical projects, and waiting 35 minutes for a video to encode versus 25 minutes is usually not that big a deal. Also, as a student you usually have a lot of other expenses, so saving a few hundred or thousand bucks on your equipment helps you pay your tuition, books, credit cards, etc.

Its not to say that a student couldn't use the best equipment available, cause I am sure it certainly is better/more fun/etc. to do so, but that a student doesn't NEED it as badly as a professional user who uses that equipment to actually make their living. (Much like a new driver could definitely have fun driving a BMW, but usually an entry level car will suffice for learning how to drive.)

I see where you're coming from, that is a fair point.
On the other hand though, another reason i decided to spend the extra money on a more powerful machine was to future proof myself.
For example, once i finish university (still have two years to go), the chances of me going straight into a well paid job are going to be slim, and therefore the last thing i need to be thinking about is buying a new computer because mine is no longer meeting my needs etc.
I understand that it is a lot of money for a student to pay (speaking from personal experience ) but surely by buying now, while i have the money, means this is one less debt to worry about when it comes to the end of my time at university?

 

[bartelby]

I saved my money...

 

[mox358]

Freelance

I do freelance work after my regular 9-5 job. I have a handful of clients who bring me maybe an additional 1250 - 1500 a month in income. It means working a lot of my "free" time but it gives that extra money to afford things like new equipment, software, etc...

And I still have to save up for major purchases too... That's just a fact of life.

 

[HE15MAN]

Really? with that much experiences you still make less than $35? What do you do? I guess it's not anything related to Engineering or Computer Science.

I'm Software Engineer. I got a MS degree majoring Software Engineering I started my first year of work with $26 / hour I have 3 years experiences and now I'm making about $34.

I work in IT. But working a state job never pays a ton of money, but has sick benefits and job security

 

[SiMBa37]

I work in IT. But working a state job never pays a ton of money, but has sick benefits and job security
__________________
24-inch iMac 3.06GHz 20-inch iMac 2.66GHz Black iPhone 4G 32 GB x 2 15-inch: 2.53GHz Macbook Pro 2.0 GHz Mac Mini HTPC 16 GB WiFi iPad

What exactly is an iPhone 4G? I Assume you mean the iPhone 4 that still runs on a 3G network, right? Sorry, don't mean to bust your chops, but got into the same conversation with someone today that was insistent that the new iPhone was a 4G phone.

 

[HE15MAN]

What exactly is an iPhone 4G? I Assume you mean the iPhone 4 that still runs on a 3G network, right? Sorry, don't mean to bust your chops, but got into the same conversation with someone today that was insistent that the new iPhone was a 4G phone.

Forgot to remove the G. It said 3G before and I just changed the number.