Should i buy 24" now or wait

[scottydoguk]

Hello,

Im a PC user who has finally been converted over to Macs, i was all charged to buy a 24" then i realised that:

1. Their is a new OS on it's way
2. Rumours of a new design

This has put me me in a dilema to either wait or buy now, the guides on here say wait but i just dont know what to do

Scott

 

[Applespider]

I hate to say this but you're not going to get a lot of varied and detailed responses to this thread. There are several of these questions posted every day and most people are tired of answering them.

Have a read through the Buying Tips pages and see which have most responses and you'll get a good idea of what the current sentiments are.

However, the current 24" iMac is gorgeous, works well and will serve you well for several years. You'll be able to easily upgrade it to Leopard for about £80 and the next iLife for another £50 (unless Apple change how they sell the two). If you need a new computer NOW, then just go ahead and buy it - then you can choose when or if you need to upgrade software.

If you've decided you want to switch but you have a PC that works reasonably well, then you might as well wait (as the guides tell you to - that's for a reason) until Leopard comes out. If that's June, then chances are any speed-bump/redesign as a result of Santa Rosa may also make an appearance around then.

I'm in the market for a 24" iMac but my old Powerbook is still chugging along well enough that I'm waiting.

 

[wkw]

Wait For Updates

 

[FleurDuMal]

If you can, wait. Although no one knows for sure, it simply can't be that long until an update. Whether it'll be a major redesign or just a update I don't know, but I can't help but feel that with Leopard we'll see updates across the board.

 

[eluk]

I think the consensus will be to wait. Bear in mind that it could be a few months until it's actually on your desk. I reckon you will be glad you waited.

 

[scottydoguk]

Cheers, i might just wait as i would hate it if i spent all that money only to find that they release a new design.

I even went into an apple store and asked if i bought a new 24" now could i get a free upgrade to Leopard and they said no what sort of incentive is that to upgrade knowing a new OS is just around the corner not to mention a new design (none i tell you)

When they do annouce a new design would it be at one of these conferences?

Scott

 

[joshwest]

Cheers, i might just wait as i would hate it if i spent all that money only to find that they release a new design.

I even went into an apple store and asked if i bought a new 24" now could i get a free upgrade to Leopard and they said no what sort of incentive is that to upgrade knowing a new OS is just around the corner not to mention a new design (none i tell you)

When they do annouce a new design would it be at one of these conferences?

Scott

They only do that sort of thing if it has been within 30 days before or after the release of leopard..

 

[Captain Planet]

Well, if you need it now, buy it. But if you can manage to wait until Leopard and/or a possibly new design/update for the iMac, then I guess it would be worth to wait. How long though? Kind of hard to say, I got a feeling that it probably won't be until June, at WWDC. But, I could be wrong...anyways, I was in the same position as you, wanting a new iMac but playing the waiting game. Though I just went ahead and bought one. Don't regret it either...and you can always get Leopard when it comes out...though you'll pay for it. Oh well, you decide!

 

[tingly]

I've been expecting the free upgrade thing to start in 7-8 weeks. The grace period last time was ~2.5 weeks.

If a new design takes advantage of the upcoming new chip, that could be months from now if not 2008.

 

[iNeurox]

About three and a half weeks ago, I was in the same boat as you were. I didn't know if I should wait or buy my iMac right now. The only difference is, I was considering a 20" iMac. Anyways. I decided to switch from PC to Mac RIGHT NOW, because I was so bored of all the viruses a PC can get, all the bugs a PC can have and Windows itself that sucks a lot, if you ask me. Anyways. I bought my iMac and I don't think I'll regret it, because The Core2 Duo chip is awesome, so is the wonderful all-in-one design ! Wow !

I also upgraded the RAM to 2 GB on my iMac and the graphic card to 256 MB VRAM, so that I can easily buy Leopard and upgrade to that wonderful OS as soon as it is available !

So, from my point of view, don't wait. If you want a great computer with a sleek design, coming with a great OS and many great features, don't wait. Throw your PC in the garbage and buy that wonderful 24" iMac : you won,t regret it !

 

[roland.g]

This is a bit of a regurgitation of the answer I gave not to long ago to Captain Planet.

As a new to Mac and OS X user, your main concerns should be hardware and OS stability. I would tell anyone wanting to buy their first Mac to get it now rather than wait for Leopard for 2 reasons:

1. No one knows how long till Leopard yet and most things point to May/June not April and maybe not till late May at the earliest.

2. The first release of a new OS can be buggy, so you may want to get your iMac now or soon and then once you know and love it, maybe when there is a 10.5.2 or 10.5.3 release, sometime around end of summer, spend the $129 for the OS upgrade.

However, that said, the possiblity of an iMac redesign throws a kink into that. Again, we don't know what is coming, definitely not when, and most likely beyond your time frame. Also, as has been seen with the MacBooks and other new releases, rev. A's of a product can sometimes have issues that early adopters have to deal with. I usually don't recommend a switcher be an early adopter. Now the iMac may still have most of the same guts and just a cosmetic change which means that it may not have those issues.

Lastly, once there are new iMacs, you can probably get the current design from MacZone or MacMall, CompUSA, etc. at a $200-300 discount or refurbs (which are great deals and great Q.C.) however, neither resellers or refurbs get you upgraded graphics card or any other enhancements but RAM. And I think you definitely want the graphics and RAM upgrades, possibly a HDD, I would go for the 500GB over the 250GB.

All that said, I would buy now, or wait till mid April to see if Leopard is either announced or new iMacs suddenly appear. I'm guess not though since new iMacs will mostly likely feature the Santa Rosa chipset which Intel won't be releasing till May. Then again if you really want the new design and you're counting on there being one, wait and wait and wait...

 

[jesteraver]

Just wait.

I am dieing to change also. I know Leopard coming out soon.

Wait until July, latest September.

 

[Klrbee25]

I too am hot to buy a 24" iMac and face this dilemma. I've rationalized it both ways a dozen times by now. Two days ago I spoke with someone who used to work for Mac and I just couldn't resist tossing the question out to him. When I told him that there was rumor of an iMac update in the works, he was surprised when I told him people expect it between now and June. He worked with apple for a number of years and said that it didn't fit Apple's normal product release scheme to come out with a new line of iMacs this early in the year. He said more than likely the new hardware would be a fall or even winter release...supported further by the fact that Intel's Santa Rosa needs to be released and worked into the design before anything ships.

That being said, I've finally come to this conclusion. I'm waiting until NAB on April 15. While I don't expect any product releases with immediate shipping on that day, hopefully we'll have at least a little idea of what the near future holds. From there I'll either buy the current 24" immediately and upgrade to Leopard later (as one person noted, who wants to deal with the first release bugs?) or I'll wait for either Leopard or new hardware if there is a definitive date for the near future. I mostly want to know what I'd be missing if I bought now.

While waiting for an OS could be reasonable given cost considerations, waiting 3 months or more for new hardware is downright goofy. I bought a new car 7 years ago which I still love today. Granted there have been 3 redesigns since I bought my car, but it's still a great machine. The same holds true for the 24" iMac. There is always something better on the horizon, so waiting until later will just put you right back into this same situation.

 

[nateDEEZY]

Wait.

 

[giganten]

Yes, wait if you have a PC that works.

 

[joshwest]

For everyone that is wanting to wait go ahead and bight the bullet but get a refurbed you will save 300$, its not maxed out but it feels better spend 1699 than around 2500 for a upgraded 24" like i did.