Let me first start by saying that I have been an avid PC user for years and now I am finally taking the step to go to Apple. I don't know why I waited this long. I am going to wait for the iMac refresh, I just see too many people on here saying that I should wait so I am. I currently do a lot of work with CS4 mostly Photoshop, Fireworks and Dreamweaver (building websites). When I get my iMac I will also start compiling all the home movies that I have over the last 3 years. I never really got into it with the PC because they are all recorded in AVCHD. My question is which iMac should I go with? I am looking at the 27" quad-core i7 with 4 gb RAM (I am going to upgrade to 16 after I receive the computer, save money), 1 TB hard drive, Aperture, CS4 or CS5, Final Cut Express & Office. Do you all think this machine will handle all that I want and be "future-proof" for a few years? Is this too much machine for what I want to do? Thanks for your advice.
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Which iMac to get?
- Thread starter jasonmilford
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I believe that when the refresh hits, you would be good to go with even the stock model. I believe we will be seeing quad cores in all of them very soon.
That will very easily handle what you want it to do. I imagine when the new ones come out, a quad i5 with 8GB RAM should even work very well. Since most programs have yet to catch up with how fast today's processors are, with any of the upcoming (or even current) iMacs, you'll be set for quite a while.
Thanks for the replies. Are there any accessories or other software that you can recommend for a newbie?
I am also trying to figure out the different speeds between the models. Will a 27" i3 or i5 with SSD be faster than a i7 without SSD? Is it better to have SSD or quad-core?
If your coming from the PC world you may not care for the mouse. My "PC" friends don't care for it, actually I really do not care for the Magic Mouse that much (mac user for the past 5 years). I'm just use to my Logitech mouse.
Hard to say anything yet because the new iMacs are not available. Hopefully the SSD options will be noticeably cheaper so maybe you could afford an i7 with SSD? Also, new iMacs will likely have Thunderbolt which will let you add an external SSD and use that as a boot drive. Should be cheaper.
Actually I like the Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse, but thanks for the heads up.
That is what I was hoping for just trying to learn as much as I can before I make a purchase.
SSD will be the biggest upgrade you ever make! There's a massive difference between SSD & HDD and you'll notice it, as soon as you boot up.
If you're doing something that requires a LOT of calculation OR you're working with video files etc you might want to go for the i7 - if you're a regular user, SSD is the way to go
Thanks cinek, after watching videos of SSD on YouTube and reading about them I am sold on them. I am probably just going to go all out with the i7, 4gb RAM (upgrade to 16 after delivery) and the SSD HDD combo. Now I just have to sell my four wheeler and wait for the refresh.
looking at the prices right now, you're getting ripped off if you take the ssd or ssd + hdd. I hope this'll change with the refresh, if you decide to buy the current setup, you might consider getting the ssd & then get a external HDD - which would cost a lot less than what apple wants for it
Hey hammer I was thinking of doing this exact thing, that is putting windows on an external SSD. The speeds would be just as fast as an internal one, but where do you get one
I've seen a couple but they are not official yet.
Lacie's LittleBigDisk with thunderbolt is supposed to be available this "summer", and features a pair of intel SSD's in RAID 0 for a total of either 240GB or 500GB of space. No price yet, but will be very expensive considering the tech inside.
I haven't seen any external enclosures yet. This is what I'm waiting for, as I already have a 120GB intel SSD that I'd like to use as a boot drive with a future iMac, and I don't wanna take apart the machine to do that.
I haven't seen any external enclosures yet. This is what I'm waiting for, as I already have a 120GB intel SSD that I'd like to use as a boot drive with a future iMac, and I don't wanna take apart the machine to do that.
Hi, I was a very hardcore PC user until last year. I bought my first iMac last year and I'm telling you it's the best thing i've ever done in my life! i'm a graphic designer and use CS5 all the time. I can run photoshop illustrator and indesign at the same time with 20+ pages of work and no freezes no crahes nothing. We use PC at work and I can't run Photoshop CS2 and Indesign CS2 at the same time!
I have a 21.5 and it gives me all I need.
Good luck
I have a 21.5 and it gives me all I need.
Good luck
Hey hammer I was thinking of doing this exact thing, that is putting windows on an external SSD. The speeds would be just as fast as an internal one, but where do you get one
I've seen a couple but they are not official yet.
There is none available at the moment. Most companies like LaCie and Promise are working on their products and have said they should be available in Q2 2011. Computex looks like a good timing for demoing and releasing the new products.
FYI, Windows does not like external HDs. Currently, you cannot install Windows 7 to an external HD, at least not without extensive modifications. Thunderbolt operates through PCIe so it is possible but not certain. IIRC, Anand said that Thunderbolt was not recognized under Windows at all so at least you will need to wait for TB support in Windows.
FYI, Windows does not like external HDs. Currently, you cannot install Windows 7 to an external HD, at least not without extensive modifications. Thunderbolt operates through PCIe so it is possible but not certain. IIRC, Anand said that Thunderbolt was not recognized under Windows at all so at least you will need to wait for TB support in Windows.[/QUOTE]
Ya I was gonna get win7, xp can't be supported forever.
Ya I was gonna get win7, xp can't be supported forever.