Which iMac..

unklerosco

Looking to treat myself to a new comp and an looking at the 27" imac..

I've 3 different options..

A used iMac - Core2Duo 3.06ghz, 4gb ram etc etc. Be late 2009 model. €900

A refurb iMac - i5 2.8 quad core, 4gb etc.. Late 2010 model. €1400 (€1156 ex vat)

A new iMac - i5 quad, thunderbolt etc.. €1649 (€1362)

Of the 3 which offers the best bang per buck... I can claim the vat back on a new purchase and the newer ones also come with warrantys. Is there much of a difference between the latest model and last years imac?

Greentree_uk

steer clear of the core2Duo. it is old tech these days, if you can afford it go for the latest model. it is that much faster and has some extra future proofing techs. like SATA III and Thunderbolt. MAcworld offer a speed comparison. http://www.macworld.com/article/159765/2011/05/imac2011.html


Said all that if you plan on just word processing, then the core2duo will suffice.

Red Alert

I wouldn't go for any of the Core2Duo options.

unklerosco

Is there much of a difference between last years model and this years.. From what I can see the processors are the same. SATA III doesn't mean much as they have SATAII drives in them and thunderbolt aint much use (from what I can see..)

It will mainly be used for office work with the odd bit of photo/vid editing.. Will be using it as both a mac/pc (mostly as a PC as most of the software I use for work is PC based). I have a Dell PC at the mo with a Q6600 processor in it so I'm guessing I should see a decent speed jump from that regardless of which processor I go for..

Greentree_uk

Sata III might not matter now, now, nor thunderbolt. but in a 2/3 years they will. THe main benefit is that these techs have the potential to give your machine a new lease of life with parts replaced.


I am guessing you are going to virtualize windows? if so rule out the C2Duo for sure. since we are talking about €200 the newer machine is definitely worth the difference. the machine is faster and is using the latest motherboard technology.

unklerosco

But in order to replace the hard drive i'd need to void the warranty or send it back to apple.. + they use their own connection so it isn't as simple as just getting a HD online and fitting it..

Is Tunderbolt really gonna take off or is it just gonna be like firewire?

fasty

If you don't think it's worth it, get the older spec i5/i7.

Thunderbolt will be more high end/pro in terms of peripherals and while the Sandy Bridge iX CPUs are a lot better than the previous generation, this is only true for certain tasks.

I think with a Mac, you should always get the best that you can afford, however.

unklerosco

Went for the newer one.. Was able to get an educational discount which knocked a decent amount off it.. Can't get an educational discount on refurbs..

Boxfresh

Whats the story with the educational pricing unklerosco? Did you have to give them much details? I was thinking of buying one through my sister who's at college and was just wondering would I get away with it!

unklerosco

I just clicked on it on the website and got the discount.. I was onto them on the phone, my wife lectures part time in a small PLC college. They said that was fine and told me to just do it via the website.. wasn't asked for any details when I put the order through. I think if you work or are a student in a listed college u may get a different discount..