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Should I buy an iMac 21.5" now?

iWannaBeAdored

iWannaBeAdored

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 25, 2010
281
0
Scotland
Hey guys.

So, I am finally upgrading to a new computer! I am currently using a Dell Dimension E520 which was bought in 2006 so my mum is kindly gonna pay around £300 towards an iMac (I will happily pay the rest as I was gonna buy one myself anyway).

I have read it is near a refresh. However I really want one now. I will most likely be buying a MBP for when I go to university (2 years left at high school) so take that into consideration.

So, I was going to buy the base 21.5" model:

21.5-inch: 3.06GHz
3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1920 x 1080 resolution
4GB memory
500GB hard drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

However, I was thinking about paying an extra £270 to get the 1TB hard drive and the ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card with 256MB.

Should I buy the base model or should I buy the next model?

thanks in advance.

EDIT: If I buy the base model I could buy an Airport Extreme and a 640GB external hard drive
 
Well, if you have your heart set up the 1TB model, go for it.
Personally, I haven't even filled up my 1TB HDD half way yet. So really think about it, do you REALLY have that much data to put on there?

And a better video card is always good, if you're a gamer. Otherwise, go with the cheaper one, chances are you probably already own a PS3 or a Xbox, so you have something to game on.

If it was my choice, I'd get the Airport Express and the 640GB external HDD.

Because if you do ever end up needing more space on your computer, you can put a 1TB HDD in there for MUCH cheaper than what you'd pay for it now.
And when you go get a MBP, you'll most likely get a better video card with it (since it'll be in 2 years) the iMac should do you just fine now, for school work, movies, even playing some games, etc.
 
mtnDewFTW said:
Well, if you have your heart set up the 1TB model, go for it.
Personally, I haven't even filled up my 1TB HDD half way yet. So really think about it, do you REALLY have that much data to put on there?

And a better video card is always good, if you're a gamer. Otherwise, go with the cheaper one, chances are you probably already own a PS3 or a Xbox, so you have something to game on.

If it was my choice, I'd get the Airport Express and the 640GB external HDD.

Because if you do ever end up needing more space on your computer, you can put a 1TB HDD in there for MUCH cheaper than what you'd pay for it now.
And when you go get a MBP, you'll most likely get a better video card with it (since it'll be in 2 years) the iMac should do you just fine now, for school work, movies, even playing some games, etc.
Click to expand...

Spot on! I will only fill about 300GB lol. The 640GB is just for backups and if I plug it into the router I can share videos and music with my family. Plus, I think my router is a bit wonky. yes I have a Xbox 360 :p On the base model could I get away with playing MW2 and GTA IV?

The iMac will be used for school work, movies, some games and using Photoshop mainly.
 
Buy now or buy later is "up to you".

For me, I'm going to wait. Was going to buy a 21.5" last month and decided to wait until this Christmas. Currently, I see i5/i7 in iMac 27". And I also see i5s in the Mac Pro "portables" as well. My inner gut is telling me the i5/i7s will soon be installed in the iMac 21.5" line next. Possibly between Sept and late Nov - ready for Christmas sales boost. For me, I'll wait. I hear the i5/i7 is much faster then current iMac's lower end CPUs...

.
 
My advice, as a PC owner for years who recently switched to Mac , is that Mac HDDs seem to get filled up much more slowly than PC HDDs.

Mac software seems, in my limited experience-2 and a half weeks of Mac ownership, to be much smaller than PC software.
I was horrified by the idea of my MBP only having 250g of HDD space, considering that my PC has 3TB. But I have installed all the software I need/want and it has only used up 100gig.

So with regard to Mac HDD space my advice is fear not, Mac HDD space seems to go much further than PC space.
 
iWannaBeAdored said:
Spot on! I will only fill about 300GB lol. The 640GB is just for backups and if I plug it into the router I can share videos and music with my family. Plus, I think my router is a bit wonky. yes I have a Xbox 360 :p On the base model could I get away with playing MW2 and GTA IV?

The iMac will be used for school work, movies, some games and using Photoshop mainly.
Click to expand...

I hate to be the barer of bad news but the 9400 will have a tough time with GTA IV (a game which wants a quad core cpu and a fast video card) and probably MW2. The 9600m GT struggles with GTA IV (low/800*600).
 
I play mw2 everyday on my iMac 21.5 ATI. Everything is maxed out and there is no lag.
 
I hate to be the barer of bad news but the 9400 will have a tough time with GTA IV (a game which wants a quad core cpu and a fast video card) and probably MW2. The 9600m GT struggles with GTA IV (low/800*600).
Click to expand...

I gave up halfway through with my Radeon 2600.

Just waiting for the next refresh (August?) and then I'll get a new iMac.
 
If you want to play any games on the iMac, go the ATi way. The 9400 is not made for games. And about the hard drive - you will not really feel the speed difference.
Good luck,
Edis0n.
 
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