Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Refurb 2.8 imac vs New 2.66 imac

I tested both...

I went to the Apple store last night to purchase my new 24" 2.93GHz iMac with 4G of 1066Mhz DDR3 ram and 640GB SATA. When I got their they had both the new model listed above and the old model (2.8Ghz CPU, 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 ram and 320Gb SATA). So I thought I'll test them myself before I make the purchase. Ok so here we go, now my testing may not seen all that indepth or even accurate but it does raise some serious questions for me that maybe someone else can answer. I rebooted both models, waited about 3 minutes after reboot just to make sure that all software was stable (probly not necessary). I then opened iMovie 09 on both machines (I assumed both had all apple updates, I forgot to check) and selected their preinstalled sample movies which are identical on both models. Then I went to share and exported both to the documents folder in the exact same format, I think quicktime. I then had my beautiful assistant/president (AKA my wife) start one at the same time I started the other. The results with about 3 minutes of their video, on the old iMac took about 5 minutes to complete... And the new iMac model took just at 3 minutes longer to complete the exact same process under the same conditions and starting at the same time. I also opened iPhoto and selected a randem album that they had, again same album on both machines. I opened the edit mode in full screen. Then I simply held the right arrow key down to scroll thru the pictures, you would not believe how much faster the old model seemed blaze thru the pics compared to the new model. Again this may not be a true bench mark but I urge you to go test for yourself. The verdict for me, Well I walked out with a brand new 2.8GHz previous model for $1400. Sure hard to beat that as it was $1800 on Monday. I set it up last night and WOW I should have got this a year ago. If anyone has insight as to why the new model may have seemed so slow please tell me now so I can take this back and exchange...
 
iyacyas said:
I went to the Apple store last night to purchase my new 24" 2.93GHz iMac with 4G of 1066Mhz DDR3 ram and 640GB SATA. When I got their they had both the new model listed above and the old model (2.8Ghz CPU, 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 ram and 320Gb SATA). So I thought I'll test them myself before I make the purchase. Ok so here we go, now my testing may not seen all that indepth or even accurate but it does raise some serious questions for me that maybe someone else can answer. I rebooted both models, waited about 3 minutes after reboot just to make sure that all software was stable (probly not necessary). I then opened iMovie 09 on both machines (I assumed both had all apple updates, I forgot to check) and selected their preinstalled sample movies which are identical on both models. Then I went to share and exported both to the documents folder in the exact same format, I think quicktime. I then had my beautiful assistant/president (AKA my wife) start one at the same time I started the other. The results with about 3 minutes of their video, on the old iMac took about 5 minutes to complete... And the new iMac model took just at 3 minutes longer to complete the exact same process under the same conditions and starting at the same time. I also opened iPhoto and selected a randem album that they had, again same album on both machines. I opened the edit mode in full screen. Then I simply held the right arrow key down to scroll thru the pictures, you would not believe how much faster the old model seemed blaze thru the pics compared to the new model. Again this may not be a true bench mark but I urge you to go test for yourself. The verdict for me, Well I walked out with a brand new 2.8GHz previous model for $1400. Sure hard to beat that as it was $1800 on Monday. I set it up last night and WOW I should have got this a year ago. If anyone has insight as to why the new model may have seemed so slow please tell me now so I can take this back and exchange...
Click to expand...

Good to know. It's now down to the price friendly 24" 2.8 refrub for me or the not so price friendly 2.93 ATI 4850 monster for $1800 (student disccount).
 
i think im going to have to go with the new 2.93. Thanks for the posts.
 
FoxHoundADAM said:
Good to know. It's now down to the price friendly 24" 2.8 refrub for me or the not so price friendly 2.93 ATI 4850 monster for $1800 (student disccount).
Click to expand...

I know you won't, but don't take make my word for. If you can, go to the apple store and try it out yourself while they still have both models. As I stated on another post in this forum, I am going back to verify that both are on the same level of software updates. Especially since these have only been on the floor for a few hours before I hid'em.
 
Video

In most tests with core video, ATI cards usually perform better than more expensive NVIDIA cards, with respect to Aperture and Motion.
This has been the case for several generations of iMacs and Mac Pros. The standard ATI cards perform these tasks better than the $200 upgrade NVIDIA cards.

This may change in the future since Apple is using NVIDIA chipsets on the motherboard and NVIDIA is a close partner on CUDA. We'll have to wait for 10.6 Snow Leopard to see if this partnership pays off.
 
digging this one up for a question on RAM: what is the RAM limit on the refurbished 2.8ghz iMac (from 2008)? is it officially 4gb but can accept 6gb? thanks.
 
I got the 2.66 model and I find it pretty fantastic. But then again, I don't do much A/V work.
 
GadgetAddicted said:
Where from??
Click to expand...

I didn't mean new 2.8, I mean a new iMac. I got mine from BestBuy. :p

PowerMax is an american company. If you want a Canadian used dealer, google for "MacDoc". They sell lots of refurbs. I have bought 2 MBPs from them for work just before christmas, no issues.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back