Which IMac is for me?

[Doctorsti]

My question which machine should I have: 2.8 extreme, 2.8 new, or 3.06 new with upgraded graphics.
My uses are:
Adobe Master Suite CS3
HD video editing (home use)
Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 media
Picture editing
Browsing, blogging, surfing forums (I know any machine will do this)
Computer to be used for work and home (working from home 3 days)
Streaming media to Apple TV
No gaming (I have a Wii and PS3)

My reservations are purchasing a refurb over a new unit but the savings can be significant.

 

[Doctorsti]

any suggestions folks? I want to make sure I make the right decision and not over-buy as I can get a few extras like RAM or Time Capsule with any saved cash from a cheaper system.

 

[zap2]

Adobe Master Suite CS3 is really what you'll need to worry about.

Everything else is doable on any of the iMacs with 1Gb of RAM(assuming you'd only talking iMovie editing)

I'd make sure I had 2GB.

Wait, after looking at Adobe Master Suite CS3 requirements, 1Gb would be passable, although a nice 2GB wouldn't hurt. Still if a G4 can ''run'' on it, then I'll guess any current Mac will handle it easy.

 

[bluedoggiant]

You will definitely need 4GB, and why not, its only $105 from crucial.com, and will allow you to handle lots of layers in PS, and video editing, especially HD, likes RAM, so 4GB is a musty must. As for the processor, the previous 2.8 c2e, current 2.8 c2d, or 3.06 c2d. Will handle what you want just fine. But HD handling HD video is processor intensive, and the 3.06 might be what you want, would you care to say on what basis do you use CS3 and handle HD video? And do you do FCE or anything?

 

[Sun Baked]

The new ones have a 50% larger cache, and a 20% faster FSB -- both of which offer significant number crunching boost.

The new 2.8 is likely worth the extra $200 for that alone over the refurb.

---

Get the base 24" and AppleCare ... then worry about upgrades later.

You can alway bump the memory later, get an external drive, etc.

$600 for the GPU and the CPU update over the refurb is likely an ego stroking exercise if you don't play games or run apps that need the CPU/GPU boost.

 

[Doctorsti]

I just checked into the requirements for the CS3 master suite and it recommends either ATI Radeon x1900 or a number of nVidia cards including the 8800 (does not specify if they want the GT, GS, or GTS etc).
Also says they recommend Dual 2.8GHz Xeon or Dual Core so that's a bit of a surprise.

Two more things:
- "Dedicated 7,200 RPM hard drive for DV and HDV editing; striped disk array storage (RAID 0) for HD; SCSI disk subsystem preferred" Please enlighten the computer tech challenged. Is this saying I need a separate internal hard drive to edit HD video? RAID 0 is what again? Obviously IMac = one internal hard drive so I hope it will do.

- "Some 3D features in Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 Extended require a Microsoft DirectX 9 capable graphics card with at least 64MB of VRAM" Are both the ATI and nVidia options DirectX 9 or higher? Clearly they have more then 64MB.
My wife will be using photoshop, inDesign, illustrator, and possibly dreamweaver, fireworks, and contribute. I thinks thats it.
I plan on doing the HDV editing and such for home/hobby use.
I get edu pricing so the difference in the two is 350 dollars more for the 3.06 machine.

 

[bluedoggiant]

I just checked into the requirements for the CS3 master suite and it recommends either ATI Radeon x1900 or a number of nVidia cards including the 8800 (does not specify if they want the GT, GS, or GTS etc).
Also says they recommend Dual 2.8GHz Xeon or Dual Core so that's a bit of a surprise.

Two more things:
- "Dedicated 7,200 RPM hard drive for DV and HDV editing; striped disk array storage (RAID 0) for HD; SCSI disk subsystem preferred" Please enlighten the computer tech challenged. Is this saying I need a separate internal hard drive to edit HD video? RAID 0 is what again? Obviously IMac = one internal hard drive so I hope it will do.

- "Some 3D features in Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 Extended require a Microsoft DirectX 9 capable graphics card with at least 64MB of VRAM" Are both the ATI and nVidia options DirectX 9 or higher? Clearly they have more then 64MB.
My wife will be using photoshop, inDesign, illustrator, and possibly dreamweaver, fireworks, and contribute. I thinks thats it.
I plan on doing the HDV editing and such for home/hobby use.
I get edu pricing so the difference in the two is 350 dollars more for the 3.06 machine.

Uhh... Did a mod delete my posts? They were clearly on topic, I'm kinda pissed.

As I've said the ATI is good for core image/animation stuff.

The nVidia is good for Gaming and CAD. I think you should go for the 3.06GHz, you seem to do some pretty intensive stuff, and/or going to get more into it.

 

[xxjuicymintxx]

The new top of the line iMac is tempting, and seems to be getting some pretty good feedback.

That'd be my best bet.