Some advice required on which iMac to buy

[5against1]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy one of the 24" iMacs and was pretty certain on the entry level 2.66ghz model.

The one niggle I have that's holding me back is the fact that it has an integrated graphics card, whereas the 2.93ghz version is upgradable (i'm assuming!)

I'm a web designer so will be running the creative suite, with sometimes up to 4 applications open at once (photoshop, dreamweaver, flash, fireworks) so was wanting to make sure this would run ok.

I'm also wanting to make sure that if I buy the 2.66ghz model, it's future proof in the sense that if new applications come out in a few years or a new operating system, that I could increase the RAM (from the standard 4gb) and that would make a difference.

So basically i'm looking for advice whether the 2.66ghz model will be great for me now, and will be upgradable in the future to run my web design apps, or whether I should just invest the extra cash to have a more powerful machine from the off, with the option to upgrade the graphics and or RAM in the future?

Thanks in advance!

p.s. this is my first mac. Moving over from pc after 12 years!

 

[Hellhammer]

Adobe has terrible GPU support in their apps so 9400M is enough. Get the 2.66 model and save money towards 8GB of RAM, that'll make CS a lot faster

 

[zedsdead]

I would go for the 2.93 version and get the ATI card. It will be more "future proof."

I agree on the RAM though. 4 will be fine for now, but if it feels sluggish, save up for the 8 gigs:

www.macsales.com

 

[5against1]

Thanks for the advice.

I think i'll go for the 2.66ghz version and upgrade the RAM in the future.

Getting the ATI card in the 2.93ghz version is well above my budget so i'm afraid i'll have to go for the lesser version.