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Which iMac to go for!

S

starfish

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 17, 2004
20
0
Sussex
Hi Everyone,

I've been a mac user for 5 years now and can't think of life without them! I've recently completed a Music Technology degree at the London College Of Music where I used iMac G5's and Dual Processor PowerMac G5's.

I currently own a 12" 1 Ghz Powerbook G4 (which will be going up for sale shortly) and a 15" 1.67Ghz (Final HiDef edition) Powerbook G4 (which I love!)

I would like to buy a mac desktop finally and have decided that as I never by first rev. products I don't want to buy a new iMac but think a second hand white Intel Core 2 Duo iMac would suit my needs perfectly.

Question 1: Which processor and screen size should I go for (general family use, music production, web and graphic design work with photoshop cs3 and studio 8)

Question 2: How much quicker are the new (Alu) iMacs compared to the last of the white iMac Core 2 Duo models?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Mike
 
Get a 256MB video card if possible. (whether it be nVidia or ATI) It could come to help down the road (Leopard) As that is one component you can't really upgrade.

The 20" iMacs (white here) TO MY EYES - look better. My 24" (white) iMac is overpoweringly bright on "default" settings - and the contrast ratio isn't as rich as my 20" iMac. (even post-adjustment)

That said - the 24" panel is still very much bearable once it's adjusted... Though I still don't like looking at it next to the 20" :)

Computing power - newer are faster - but not so much that 90% of users would notice day in day out.

My current: 24" Imac 2.16 Nvidia 7600 3GB with 250GB HD. Works fine N dandy for me.
 
Get the most you can afford to get now. No processor or video card upgrade so get as much of those two as possible, upgrade the RAM and HDD later (and cheaper). I'm waiting on my iMac 24" C2Extreme but it'll only come with 1GB RAM and a 320GB HDD, both of which won't survive the holiday sales I'm guessing.

Good luck with whatever you choose but go deep on those items you can't upgrade.
 
I would like to buy a mac desktop finally and have decided that as I never by first rev. products
Click to expand...

So you like living in the past then? :D

It's hard to get a really good deal on the white iMacs and they will be worth less than the Al when you come to sell on. From a financial point of view, it would be a less wise investment, as buying an obsolete model usually is.
 
thanks for the replies!

did some of the White Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs come with 256mb graphics cards then?
 
starfish said:
did some of the White Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs come with 256mb graphics cards then?
Click to expand...
Yes, but it was a rare and expensive option -- you'll have a very hard time finding a used one. The same is true of the 2.33 GHz processor option.

Anyhoo, for your intended uses ("general family use, music production, web and graphic design work with photoshop cs3 and studio 8"), the video card will make exactly ZERO difference. All video cards are essentially equivalent for static 2-D renderings. High-performance GFX hardware makes a difference ONLY for heavy-duty gaming and other high frame-rate video applications.

The best way to "protect" resale value is to minimize your hardware investment and buy only what you need, at the best price you can find. All current iMacs -- ALU or white -- will become seriously obsolete as soon as a BlueRay or HD-DVD model arrives. This is the wrong time to buy a high-end iMac.

LK
 
Small dog actually recently sold the 24 in iMac with the 7300 GT. Unfortunately they ran out tho x(


About the Screen issue - I heard that the 24 inch Alum. iMac uses an H-IPS LCD which is considered to be amazing!

However the 20 inch model uses a lower end display - I think maybe a cheap TN.
 
pianoplayer1 said:
Small dog actually recently sold the 24 in iMac with the 7300 GT. Unfortunately they ran out tho x(
Click to expand...
They're still showing 2 in stock (down from 125 or so last month). $1499.
I got my white 20" from smalldog (highly recommended vendor!), but they
sold-out of those a few weeks ago. Amazon.com still has some @ $1250:

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-MA759LL...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1195253337&sr=8-3

About the Screen issue - I heard that the 24 inch Alum. iMac uses an H-IPS LCD which is considered to be amazing!
Click to expand...
Well, the LCD panel has the same basic LG.Philips part number as the one
used in the 24" white iMac -- but with a different P/N suffix. Chroma and
viewing angles are both excellent; but unlike its predecessor, the 24" ALU
iMac version has some very serious problems with uneven brightness.

http://picasaweb.google.com/TheLooby

However the 20 inch model uses a lower end display - I think maybe a cheap TN.
Click to expand...
Yep, a 6-bit TN panel -- not just a cheap panel, but an exceptionally bad cheap panel.

http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/panels.htm

As you can see from the link above, many inexpensive TN panels have excellent uniformity...

...but not the 20" iMac's,

LK
 
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RUN, don't walk and get it from SMALLDOG

For about $1500 shipped, I got

-24" iMac 2.16 Core2Duo
-iLife 08
-Leopard upgrade
-nVidia 7600GT :eek:

Everything was flawless.
 
thanks for the advice everyone. Just an update!

I picked up a brand new, unopened (surplus) 20" iMac White Late 06 2.16Ghz for £635 which I thought wasn't bad! Already purchased and installed Leopard, iLife '08 and Logic Studio and loving it! Also ordered 3GB of RAM from Crucial so it should be pretty fast!

Mike
 
starfish said:
thanks for the advice everyone. Just an update!

I picked up a brand new, unopened (surplus) 20" iMac White Late 06 2.16Ghz for £635 which I thought wasn't bad! Already purchased and installed Leopard, iLife '08 and Logic Studio and loving it! Also ordered 3GB of RAM from Crucial so it should be pretty fast!

Mike
Click to expand...

wow you overpayed... I see them selling for $800 regularly
 
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