Buying an iMac

[Golden-boy]

Hello,

 

I'am planning on buying an iMac, but ofcourse I have some doubts. So read on.

 

I currently own a custom PC. At the time I bought it my plans where to use it for school, music, movies and games. Now games, I never play games, not anymore atleast. So I am here, sitting on a expansive PC that's hardly used for anything but music, movies and internet.

 

Now my current rig:

 

AMD64 3700+ s939

DFI LanParty SLI-DR

Corsair 2x512 TwinX XMS PRO CL2 2-2-2-5 T1 / Headsink + LED's (Nice leds in a case!, Riight)

GeForce 7800GTX 256 MB DDR3

Tagan 530 Watt EasyCon PCI-E PSU

Western Digital 250GB 16mb Cache

Logitec Keybord + Mouse (Just cheap)

Sound Blaster Live! 5.1

DVD Toaster and Reader

 

There is a a 800 Euro offer for this PC, sell it anylater and it might be worthless.

 

The 800 euro will be investing it in my new iMac -> Thinking of the 24 Inch one (1799).

 

 

My concerns:

 

The recent iMac upgrade was more Cosmetic in my opinion, and not just mine. I read allot of reviews, a few of them suggested there WILL be another iMac upgrade in the near future, Better GFX?, Better CPU and maby even blu-ray. Now I was planning to wait for Leopard anyway but how likely are the chances these upgrades will come around the same time Leopard is realeased? I dont mind waiting 4 months to get a Quadcore/Bluray/GFX Upgrade, but what are the chances?

 

 

And what do you Mac guru's advice me.

 

- Sell my PC Now and get a Mac when Leopard debuts

- Sell and wait even longer

- Do nothing

 

 

 

Thanks,

 

Victor ter Hark

[hackintom]

a wise advise: forget the Quadcore/Bluray/GFX Upgrade

[Onetrack]

I'm actually in your exact shoes.. I had a good chance to play with a new imac today and omg sexy. My hackintosh in the sig is something i'd part with to get - my comp is only about 3 months old, so i just have to find someone to take it off my hands.

 

It doesn't matter if they want it as a hackintosh, or a linux or xp or vista box - I would just prefer a real imac.

 

Golden-boy - sell yours.. big ugly towers are a thing of the past.. in the pc realm there is a paradigm shift every 3 months, your hardware, as mine will soon be obsoleted.

 

If you have a nice offer on your machine, I say take it.

 

I will do the same as soon as I find a buyer.. OSX on a hackintosh is nice, but nothing beats a real mac.

[Golden-boy]

Thanks for you reply's. I guess I will follow both of your advice then.

 

To be honest I didn't realy think anyone would advice me to wait even longer for a possible upgrade on the iMacs.

If I tell you I can "afford" to wait, as I still have a older Amd 2100, 512 ram GF4I can use for a while. (Sold it for 100Euro but not until end november). Does you advice stay the same hackintom? I'am just a student you know.

 

Thanks allot

[Synaesthesia]

Well they're not going to update them for a while. So you'll be waiting for a long time if you want a better one than currently!

[U.C.]

I just bought a 20inch iMac 29th August to be exact. To be frank I am absolutely loving it. Absolutely. Its brilliant.

 

All apps run very fast on it, so does XP. I even run games on it quite often. The GFX Card can easily manage 1680x1050 High Detail Company Of Heroes. So if you ever wanna play games, this will be good enough. The iMac is really great for normal everyday use. Even the built in speakers are pretty good.

 

The Glossy display is really good. Colors are so much better than my old 19inch Viewsonic CRT.

 

IMHO the 24inch is a waste, as you only get 4inches more of real estate, but no extra performance.

 

 

As far as the upgrade goes, Yes they probably will be one next year, as the new Intel Platform is coming in early 2008. But No chance of a upgrade when Leopard debuts.

Dont hold your breath for a better GFX or Bluray or even Quad Core. This thing runs pretty hot by itself. My GPU never goes below 60C. Max you will get is a bit of performance upgrade with the new platform but that is it.

 

EDIT: Whoops, Didnt read, you dont game anymore

[Headrush69]

Well they're not going to update them for a while. So you'll be waiting for a long time if you want a better one than currently!

Agreed.

 

For the things you quoted you don't have much to gain from a quad core anyways. Its unlikely you will be maxing the potential of the dual core and video card in the current iMac.

[A Nonny Moose]

You state the specs, but what exactly are you planning on doing with this machine (edit: I saw the "I don't play games" thing above)? Unless you're running Aperture or a hardcore gamer, you won't miss a thing by a slower graphics card or even (GASP) the Intel GMA.

 

So my question is WHY you need the best graphics card?

[reemixx]

The iMac was just updated a month ago. Now is a good time to buy, if you're considering it. I wouldn't be waiting around for improvements that may or may not happen. Besides, by waiting around for a better video card or CPU or whatever else, you're probably making the same mistake you did with your original PC purchase - that is, spending more than you need to to receive a computer that does more than you need it to do. Do you really need a better video card? You said yourself you don't play games anymore anyway. Quad-core? I doubt you'll even bottleneck the dual core CPU in an iMac playing music, movies, and surfing the net. Blu-Ray? ...Well, I'll bite my tongue on what I think of Blu-Ray. Point is, just get what you need for TODAY'S use, and worry about the future in the future.

 

In my opinion, switching to an iMac from your current computer just because it's too over-powered for your needs right now wouldn't be a substantial reason for doing it. Keep in mind that your current computer might do more than you need it to right now, but it will probably have a longer lifespan for your needs because of it.

 

However, if you're wanting to switch to an iMac because you want to use OSX, or some software that's exclusive to the Mac, or you're tired of Windows, or you want a nice big screen to watch movies on, or you want to reduce desk clutter, etc.... Then, sure, go for the iMac. I just ordered one for myself this evening. My PC will be reduced to nothing more than a gaming machine.

 

Good luck making a decision.

[Golden-boy]

Thanks for the new wave of reply's

 

It seems you guys totaly confinced me. And specially the last post by reemixx.

 

The AMD65 3700+ PC already has a new owner (Last sunday 800 eu). And the other pc, eh yeah he got toasted >.<. I used an old PSU and I am afraid it blew my old CPU maby including my mobo, but the GFX card and RAM on that machine still work so maby just the CPU Lets hope for the best. (I was about to sell that one for 100 euro) First time ever to blow hardware btw

 

However, if you're wanting to switch to an iMac because you want to use OSX, or some software that's exclusive to (Aparture, Logic Pro) the Mac, or you're tired of Windows, or you want a nice big screen to watch movies on, or you want to reduce desk clutter, etc.... Then, sure, go for the iMac

 

Add design and it pretty much sums it all up.

Now I just wait for Leopard to "arive on time", not planning to buy a Socket A CPU I will life without one till october.

 

 

Pz,

 

EDIT: Someone convince me to buy the 24" one.

[bxsci(macuser)]

Why buy the 24" one you ask? well you can get it with the fastest processor. and if that isnt what you looking for, then its always good for bragging and saying "My comp is big and sexy"

 

[skyhighmac]

No blu-ray for a while, gpu is good already. No reason for them to update it so soon after its debut.

[hackintom]

My advise stay the same.

Buy now, or forget it :-)

[CLiDE FTW!!1]

I'm selling my Hackintosh (plus a spare compy) for a Macbook, so, I'm in the same boat.

[siddhartha]

I absolutely love my 20" alu iMac-best computer I've ever had.

 

Big upgrade from my 17" G5 iMac, in every way.

 

Highly recommended. Feels snappier with the iMac Software Update 1.1 posted yesterday

 

Take care,

 

Chris

[gn!uz]

If you got the dough, go for a 24". The screen is soo much better than the 20". And why wait for Leopard to arrive? My guess is they will offer people a free (or almost free) upgrade once it arrives if you bought an iMac say 2 months in advance. I did order one last week and can't wait for it to arrive.. Together with an iPod Touch 16G to make the sexiness complete!

 

A hackintosh is nice to check if you dig the OS and to hobby around a little, but it's just not good enough.. Always need to check if you can upgrade stuff without killing things and always work with crossed fingers, at least I did.. IMO it's just not reliable enough to use as a production machine. So I can say, playing around with an illegal version of Tiger to run on my not-so-beige-lian-li box eventually led to buying the biggest and fattest iMac to exist on the planet today!

 

My guess is Windows Vista will have a damn hard time ahead of them and once Leopard comes out a complete mass will make the switch... Vista ended up in rubbish because of legacy. They need to start over, and this time for real! At least the server releases look VERY promising!

[FUKKU]

If you got the dough, go for a 24". The screen is soo much better than the 20". And why wait for Leopard to arrive? My guess is they will offer people a free (or almost free) upgrade once it arrives if you bought an iMac say 2 months in advance. I did order one last week and can't wait for it to arrive.. Together with an iPod Touch 16G to make the sexiness complete!

Typically it's only been orders made AFTER the release date announcement that get vouchers for the next OS. You're going to have to pay/pirate like everyone else.

[A Nonny Moose]

However, if you're wanting to switch to an iMac because you want to use OSX, or some software that's exclusive to the Mac, or you're tired of Windows, or you want a nice big screen to watch movies on, or you want to reduce desk clutter, or you don't want to go into the system folder to hack your system again because Apple released an update, or you have software that cannot work on a hack, etc.... Then, sure, go for the iMac.

 

fixed