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What to do with iMac?

A

asdfasdf32

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 19, 2010
41
0
Hi, I'm thinking of getting an iMac soon, but i need your advice as i dont really know much about this area. (I've been using windows my whole life, so its my first time entering this new world.)

I will be using it mainly for Photoshop/AutoCad/Indesign etc (often large files..which my current laptop cant really deal with) and a bit of gaming (e.g. Civilisation5) and of course other usual things.

But there are several issues i would really like to know more;

1) I know it is impossible to predict this, but I am not too sure if its a good idea to buy it right 'now', (because I've been waiting for an update since last November) or should I wait a bit longer? I've read many threads and it seems like there isn't going to be any 'major' change anyway, (If i'm not wrong)- but I am still not too sure what to do-

2) I am still quite uncertain about whether to get an iMac or a macbook pro. the reason is that I never really take my current laptop anywhere so i dont need 'mobility', but there is a possibility that i might be moving to another country within a year-(i'm currently in the UK) If this happens; would it be possible to take an iMac with me?(how heavy/reasonable is this? lol) or selling it would be a better idea OR getting a macbook pro in the first place would be the best choice..? (Personally, i like iMac the most as i think macbook pro is a bit too unreasonably expensive...)

3) I found that there are a lot of options to 'tick' when buying an imac. Is there any 'must-get' option for my purpose of usage? (perhaps around +100~200 pounds range?)

I understand that some of my questions could sound stupid to you, but please give me some advice. Your help will be much appreciated.. Thank you for your time.
 
OllyW said:
Are you going to run Windows on your iMac? It's going to cost a lot of money to migrate those apps to OS X.
Click to expand...

Both as it seems what ppl usually do.(?) but i will be using iMac most of the time-
 
Providing you bought your copy of Photoshop from an authorised reseller and still have the receipt (or e-receipt), Adobe will exchange it for a Mac version for a nominal postage charge.

I would strongly recommend spending a little extra on 8Gb ram rather than just 4Gb but you may want to order the iMac with the minimum ram and top up with 2x4Gb for a total of 12Gb from somewhere else (scan.co.uk for example).

Don't forget to budget for an external drive for Time Machine backups - any FW800 enclosure and something like a WD Caviar Green 1Tb would do. LaCie offer enclosures complete with drives if that's your fancy.
 
You can either wait for the next upgrade but if you need the Mac ASAP, I recommend getting a refurb in the meantime. If you don't want to spend too much money and get more out of it, you're better off with an iMac than a MBP, as the mobile counterparts are more expensive.

As for taking the Mac abroad, I believe iMacs work on all line voltages and frequencies, just get a local power cable for the iMac once you're there.
 
You said nothing of which model you are considering. For CAD work you really want the 27" with the i7 processor. Save money by buying a refurb and upgrading the RAM to 8GB from a third party provider. Also consider a Wacom tablet.
 
I've owned 3 Macbook Pros, a Blackbook, a Macbook Air, every generation iPhone, an iMac, etc etc.

Without question the iMac has been my favorite. Such a fantastic machine.
 
Macaroony said:
You can either wait for the next upgrade but if you need the Mac ASAP, I recommend getting a refurb in the meantime. If you don't want to spend too much money and get more out of it, you're better off with an iMac than a MBP, as the mobile counterparts are more expensive.

As for taking the Mac abroad, I believe iMacs work on all line voltages and frequencies, just get a local power cable for the iMac once you're there.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. I have looked at refurbs on apple website and the prices of most imacs arent that different(usually 15~20% off?) from student discount which is 15%. :) or is there cheaper way of getting it ??
Also if i end up going abroad, hows the second hand market like in this country? ive never sold anything so i have no idea whether it is easy to sell second hand computers or laptops?
i am definitely up for an iMac rather than MBP but because of this fact, im still not 100% sure what to do :)
 
czeluff said:
I've owned 3 Macbook Pros, a Blackbook, a Macbook Air, every generation iPhone, an iMac, etc etc.

Without question the iMac has been my favorite. Such a fantastic machine.
Click to expand...

i do agree with you. so definitely imac over MBP then :)
 
talmy said:
You said nothing of which model you are considering. For CAD work you really want the 27" with the i7 processor. Save money by buying a refurb and upgrading the RAM to 8GB from a third party provider. Also consider a Wacom tablet.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply,
Yes since I do alot of graphic-related work, my choice would be either MBP 17" or iMac27" :)
any suggestions on where to get an additional RAM from? and is it easy to do so ? sorry i dont really know much about this kinda stuff :(
 
You can multi-quote by using the icon next to the quote button. ;)

If you are looking to save, an iMac is your friend. I don't know the big differences between refurb and student discounts but keep your eyes peeled.
 
asdfasdf32 said:
Hi, I'm thinking of getting an iMac soon, but i need your advice as i dont really know much about this area. (I've been using windows my whole life, so its my first time entering this new world.)

I will be using it mainly for Photoshop/AutoCad/Indesign etc (often large files..which my current laptop cant really deal with) and a bit of gaming (e.g. Civilisation5) and of course other usual things.

But there are several issues i would really like to know more;

1) I know it is impossible to predict this, but I am not too sure if its a good idea to buy it right 'now', (because I've been waiting for an update since last November) or should I wait a bit longer? I've read many threads and it seems like there isn't going to be any 'major' change anyway, (If i'm not wrong)- but I am still not too sure what to do-
Click to expand...
It sounds like you already have a working computer and are not in immediate need. Per Macrumors' Buyer's Guide (https://buyersguide.macrumors.com//#iMac), it's best to wait. A new version will probably be announced/released within the next 6 months. Now, whether this will simply be a hardware refresh or a complete design change is hard to say. My money is on a hardware refresh (upping the memory, hard disk storage, graphics card, main processor, etc.), but I have been wrong before.
asdfasdf32 said:
2) I am still quite uncertain about whether to get an iMac or a macbook pro. the reason is that I never really take my current laptop anywhere so i dont need 'mobility', but there is a possibility that i might be moving to another country within a year-(i'm currently in the UK) If this happens; would it be possible to take an iMac with me?(how heavy/reasonable is this? lol) or selling it would be a better idea OR getting a macbook pro in the first place would be the best choice..? (Personally, i like iMac the most as i think macbook pro is a bit too unreasonably expensive...)
Click to expand...
If you might be moving, it might be best to look at the MacBook Pro or the MacBook. Portability might be a good idea, unless it's with the intent to move permanently, then it's no harder or easier to move an iMac than moving a normal computer, especially if you keep the box.

asdfasdf32 said:
3) I found that there are a lot of options to 'tick' when buying an imac. Is there any 'must-get' option for my purpose of usage? (perhaps around +100~200 pounds range?)
Click to expand...
Up the memory to 8GB if affordable from Apple. Otherwise you could buy online or locally (likely saving money) and install yourself (memory on iMac's are user serviceable and easy to change).

asdfasdf32 said:
I understand that some of my questions could sound stupid to you, but please give me some advice. Your help will be much appreciated.. Thank you for your time.
Click to expand...
Never a stupid question! Good luck with whatever decision you make.
 
Macaroony said:
You can multi-quote by using the icon next to the quote button. ;)
Oh thank you lol im new to this forum quite clearly. :D
If you are looking to save, an iMac is your friend. I don't know the big differences between refurb and student discounts but keep your eyes peeled.
Click to expand...

OllyW said:
Crucial is a good place to start and it's easy to figure out the correct RAM to buy.
Click to expand...
OH thanks very much- if you dont mind, one last stupid question- Do i just insert the new RAMs into RAM slots and thats it ? or do i have to install etc etc to work it?

hope you all have a pleasant evening. :)
 
asdfasdf32 said:
OH thanks very much- if you dont mind, one last stupid question- Do i just insert the new RAMs into RAM slots and thats it ? or do i have to install etc etc to work it?

hope you all have a pleasant evening. :)
Click to expand...

The iMac has 2 RAM slots. Say it has 4GB and you want 8GB. Stock it would likely have 2x2GB RAM sticks. You'd take those 2 out and replace them with your 2x4GB RAM sticks. It's pretty easy to install, and you'll know once you power up if you have them in properly. The older iMacs were a little finicky with the mechanism that makes the RAM contact with the logic board, but the newer ones are very simple and almost impossible to mess up.
 
baummer said:
The iMac has 2 RAM slots. Say it has 4GB and you want 8GB. Stock it would likely have 2x2GB RAM sticks. You'd take those 2 out and replace them with your 2x4GB RAM sticks. It's pretty easy to install, and you'll know once you power up if you have them in properly. The older iMacs were a little finicky with the mechanism that makes the RAM contact with the logic board, but the newer ones are very simple and almost impossible to mess up.
Click to expand...

haha so just stick them in then :) Thank you so much.
 
baummer said:
The iMac has 2 RAM slots. Say it has 4GB and you want 8GB. Stock it would likely have 2x2GB RAM sticks. You'd take those 2 out and replace them with your 2x4GB RAM sticks. It's pretty easy to install, and you'll know once you power up if you have them in properly. The older iMacs were a little finicky with the mechanism that makes the RAM contact with the logic board, but the newer ones are very simple and almost impossible to mess up.
Click to expand...

Actually the new iMacs after 2009 come with 4 Ram slots, so you only have to buy another 2 2gb Memory Cards which should run around $80. It takes less than 5 mins to replace them and there is many tutorials on youtube.

Refurbs are great.

Best thing about iMacs is that they have incredible resale value. I started with the 20" used iMac sold it bought a refurb, sold it for the same price i bought it, bought another refurb sold it for MORE than i bought it and finally i bought the one i really wanted. The i7 it's amazing.
 
BulletToothTony said:
Actually the new iMacs after 2009 come with 4 Ram slots, so you only have to buy another 2 2gb Memory Cards which should run around $80. It takes less than 5 mins to replace them and there is many tutorials on youtube.

Refurbs are great.

Best thing about iMacs is that they have incredible resale value. I started with the 20" used iMac sold it bought a refurb, sold it for the same price i bought it, bought another refurb sold it for MORE than i bought it and finally i bought the one i really wanted. The i7 it's amazing.
Click to expand...
Cool, that sounds great, thank you very much, :) and as for the refurbs, i can get a student discount which is 15% so its as cheap as refurbs from apple, so id rather pay very little more and get a new iMac :)
Trinite said:
If you're thinking of moving to another country with an iMac, you might check out this thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1083938/

If you're in the UK and moving to the Continent, of course, you could just travel by land, and carry it with you.
Click to expand...

Haha unfortunately, im moving to Asia for a couple of years. the thing is tho i wont be carrying a brand new iMac, it will be at least a year old , but do i still have to pay tax and all? (It'd be alot better to sell it and get another one there right? lol )
Last question, what do people normally use to sell their computers or laptops? ebay or is there a specific website for apple products?
thanks for your replies :)
 
BulletToothTony said:
Actually the new iMacs after 2009 come with 4 Ram slots, so you only have to buy another 2 2gb Memory Cards which should run around $80. It takes less than 5 mins to replace them and there is many tutorials on youtube.

Refurbs are great.

Best thing about iMacs is that they have incredible resale value. I started with the 20" used iMac sold it bought a refurb, sold it for the same price i bought it, bought another refurb sold it for MORE than i bought it and finally i bought the one i really wanted. The i7 it's amazing.
Click to expand...

I stand corrected. My model is the model that was released before those, so I wasn't aware it had 4. That's even better.
 
baummer said:
The iMac has 2 RAM slots. Say it has 4GB and you want 8GB. Stock it would likely have 2x2GB RAM sticks. You'd take those 2 out and replace them with your 2x4GB RAM sticks. It's pretty easy to install, and you'll know once you power up if you have them in properly. The older iMacs were a little finicky with the mechanism that makes the RAM contact with the logic board, but the newer ones are very simple and almost impossible to mess up.
Click to expand...

...but make you you fit them with the power off! ;)
 
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My suggestion is, wait for the macbook pro update (max 2 months) and get the best 13" mbp there is, combined with an external display.
 
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