Hi folks,
I currently own a 20" early 2009 iMac with 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 8 GB RAM and 320 GB SATA, running OS 10.9.5.
After heavy use (I work from home) it's been having issues over the past year (occasionally needs fresh power cycle to boot up, grey screen occasionally on start up or shut down, audible hard drive sounds, and I recently had to zap the P-RAM because "no wifi software detected" notification came up) although the speed isn't too bad since I did a RAM upgrade last year. I didn't really want to buy a new machine as I'm lucky to have full Adobe Creative Suite installed, and I'm guessing that given its age and issues, it's time for a new machine...do you agree? I haven't upgraded the OS, despite support for certain browsers being pulled, for fear it'll break the darn thing.
If so, I'm looking for something that won't break the bank (£800 max, ideally much, much lower), but will be suitable for my needs and will last me a good few years. Am I asking for the impossible? I would like to install Adobe Creative Suite again - and use my iMac for web browsing, office work, and Photoshop, artworking (Illustrator) and in the future I hope to use video editing software too.
I've been looking on Ebay that come with Adobe CS pre-installed (?) and can see a variety of refurbished iMacs, a lot of them are 2011 and some are 2012 (although for super cheap (£200) I can get a 2009 iMac again but with upgrades).
I've never tried SSD - is that a crucial upgrade when looking at older machines?
If I'm looking for longevity, would it be wise to go for 2011 or should I go for a much later year?
All advice welcomed (whether I should ditch this machine or not, and if so what year and specs should I look out for or avoid?). I'd like to keep the price low, but wouldn't want to replace it again in a couple of years time.
Many thanks!
I currently own a 20" early 2009 iMac with 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 8 GB RAM and 320 GB SATA, running OS 10.9.5.
After heavy use (I work from home) it's been having issues over the past year (occasionally needs fresh power cycle to boot up, grey screen occasionally on start up or shut down, audible hard drive sounds, and I recently had to zap the P-RAM because "no wifi software detected" notification came up) although the speed isn't too bad since I did a RAM upgrade last year. I didn't really want to buy a new machine as I'm lucky to have full Adobe Creative Suite installed, and I'm guessing that given its age and issues, it's time for a new machine...do you agree? I haven't upgraded the OS, despite support for certain browsers being pulled, for fear it'll break the darn thing.
If so, I'm looking for something that won't break the bank (£800 max, ideally much, much lower), but will be suitable for my needs and will last me a good few years. Am I asking for the impossible? I would like to install Adobe Creative Suite again - and use my iMac for web browsing, office work, and Photoshop, artworking (Illustrator) and in the future I hope to use video editing software too.
I've been looking on Ebay that come with Adobe CS pre-installed (?) and can see a variety of refurbished iMacs, a lot of them are 2011 and some are 2012 (although for super cheap (£200) I can get a 2009 iMac again but with upgrades).
I've never tried SSD - is that a crucial upgrade when looking at older machines?
If I'm looking for longevity, would it be wise to go for 2011 or should I go for a much later year?
All advice welcomed (whether I should ditch this machine or not, and if so what year and specs should I look out for or avoid?). I'd like to keep the price low, but wouldn't want to replace it again in a couple of years time.
Many thanks!