Upgrading to a new iMac, need some last min advice

[kdog005]

Hello,

I've been a long time Mac owner, starting with the iBook and up, I've owned various Macbooks, a G5, and my 2006 iMac. It's the Duo Core model with the white case

Now, it has heat issues, the GPU is failing and it shuts off when it gets past 42 C. So I have decided to break down and replace it with the 27" i7. Now a few questions I have:

1) the recent recall on the Intel units, does this affect any current model of iMac on the market or simply the refresh?

2) I'm at a debate between a brand new iMac and a refurb. The 300$ is pretty marginal for the same unit. So I was wondering the luck that some have had with the refurb units and if you have had to replace, how quickly they respond with shipping as opposed to a new product purchase.

3) How substantial is the difference between the i5 and the i7 as far as performance is concerned. I game, in addition to using Logic Studio to record music. Some video editing and recording. I want the best of the best, so to speak, but do the i7 owners really find the 200$ markup worth it?

I plan on buying this week so any advice or tips is appreciated. Thanks ahead of time.

 

[Exino]

Been through a few

Hey,

Sounds like a great upgrade! I only upgraded to the Core i3 3.2GHz with an ATI Radeon 5670 and it flies, so you should be good speed wise.

My only issue is, since last Wednesday, I've replaced my 21.5" (same mid-2010 series as the 27") 5 times (waiting for my 5th today), due to screen related issues. It might be worth, if you have any Apple store, to ask to open the box and demonstrate it works before leaving the store, only as it would save a lot of headache (which I've definitely had).

The things to notice, as you have probably read, are the yellow screen (more often than not in the bottom right), screen buzzing/high pitch tone when changing brightness (50-80% seems to be the sweet spot to tell if there is an issue), and any noticeable fan issue or HDD sound.

As far as the Intel CPU recall, I believe that only effects a handful of PCs since it was an interaction of the SATA controller causing the issue. I haven't read anything saying the iMacs directly are effected, but it's possible (from what I read it's only certain brands, and Apple wasn't in the list when I was reading about it last week - might want to ask for a second opinion though, naturally).

All in all, I would love to get the 27" but my desk is too shallow, so it would be like sitting 6" from a big screen TV - not ideal, but, it's a nice looking machine.

Hope that's of any help. Enjoy your upgrade!