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2008 24" iMac vs 2011 21.5" iMac

W

webcity

macrumors member
Original poster
I'm currently on the lookout for an imac and trying to decide between a base 2011 21.5" or a 2008 24" 2.8ghz.

What is the real world difference likely to be between the two?
 
What is your computational use?

The 2011 iMac is obviously faster with CPU and GPU intensive stuff, though browsing the web or watching YouTube or creating text documents will be as fast as on the 2008 iMac.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
What is your computational use?

The 2011 iMac is obviously faster with CPU and GPU intensive stuff, though browsing the web or watching YouTube or creating text documents will be as fast as on the 2008 iMac.
Click to expand...

It'll be for office tasks and some light photoshop work. I'm currently using a 2011 Mini but want an iMac instead.
 
webcity said:
It'll be for office tasks and some light photoshop work. I'm currently using a 2011 Mini but want an iMac instead.
Click to expand...

If you don't want to buy a new iMac then and the 2008 iMac doesn't cost more than 500 to 600 USD and is in pristine condition, the 2008 iMac will suffice your needs. My 2007 iMac is fully capable of what you want to do and can do more too. Just check, that the iMac is alright.
 
simsaladimbamba said:
If you don't want to buy a new iMac then and the 2008 iMac doesn't cost more than 500 to 600 USD and is in pristine condition, the 2008 iMac will suffice your needs. My 2007 iMac is fully capable of what you want to do and can do more too. Just check, that the iMac is alright.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. The appeal for this machine is that the iMac has had the Logic Board and Screen replaced by Apple in 2011. The iMac also had the hard drive upgraded from a 320GB to 500GB by Apple.

It's an iMac 8,1 and has original box, etc and it's £600.
 
Have been thinking about this a bit more and to get a comparitive screen to the iMac I would have to buy something like the Dell U2412M for about £250 so would I be better to a:

Keep the Mac Mini I have (2.5Ghz i5) and buy a Dell U2412M for about £250. Cost to me £250.

or

Sell the Mac Mini for about £600 (it's got 2.5yrs AppleCare and an Apple Installed 750GB WD Black Drive) and buy a 24" 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo iMac for £600. Cost to me £0.

or

Sell the Mac Mini for about £600 and buy a base 21.5" iMac for about £850 (refurbished). Cost to me £250.
 
webcity said:
Thanks for the advice. The appeal for this machine is that the iMac has had the Logic Board and Screen replaced by Apple in 2011. The iMac also had the hard drive upgraded from a 320GB to 500GB by Apple.

It's an iMac 8,1 and has original box, etc and it's £600.
Click to expand...

That seems a little expensive to me.
I brought my 2009 24" imac which is a 2.6 C2D in 2010 for £650. it a bit newer as its the 9,1 imac
It has apple care until August 2012 and had 4GB RAM and 640GB Hard drive.
So for the machine your thinking of buying i'd be looking at closer to £470-£500 really as a fair price.

Ive since upgraded my imac to a 2TB hard drive and 8GB RAM so it should do me for 2 ish more years yet at least,

One thing to think about is that I THINK the 8,1 imac can only handle 4GB RAM which may limit what you want to do with the machine in the future
 
jamin100 said:
That seems a little expensive to me.
I brought my 2009 24" imac which is a 2.6 C2D in 2010 for £650. it a bit newer as its the 9,1 imac
It has apple care until August 2012 and had 4GB RAM and 640GB Hard drive.
So for the machine your thinking of buying i'd be looking at closer to £470-£500 really as a fair price.

Ive since upgraded my imac to a 2TB hard drive and 8GB RAM so it should do me for 2 ish more years yet at least,

One thing to think about is that I THINK the 8,1 imac can only handle 4GB RAM which may limit what you want to do with the machine in the future
Click to expand...

Thanks for your post. I hadn't really thought about the iMac only taking 4GB however, just did a quick search on Google which brought up a couple of old Macrumors threads that confirm it will take 6GB so that's not too bad.

However, I'm not sure about the price. I believe you when you say £470-£500 is a fairer price, however, £600 is the absolute cheapest I've found one for on eBay. Everyone else seems to want £700+ for the same machine.

The last iMac I bought was a 2.4GHz 20" about a year ago and that was £500 so I thought 2.8GHz 24" for £600 was a good deal.

EDIT: Just had a quick scan on ebay and there's a 2009 2.66GHz 24" iMac at £780 with over 2 days to go.
 
webcity said:
Thanks for your post. I hadn't really thought about the iMac only taking 4GB however, just did a quick search on Google which brought up a couple of old Macrumors threads that confirm it will take 6GB so that's not too bad.

However, I'm not sure about the price. I believe you when you say £470-£500 is a fairer price, however, £600 is the absolute cheapest I've found one for on eBay. Everyone else seems to want £700+ for the same machine.

The last iMac I bought was a 2.4GHz 20" about a year ago and that was £500 so I thought 2.8GHz 24" for £600 was a good deal.

EDIT: Just had a quick scan on ebay and there's a 2009 2.66GHz 24" iMac at £780 with over 2 days to go.
Click to expand...

didnt realise they held their value THAT well.
I must of had a bargin then ...

----------

Ok well here are a few ive just found that have already finished and based on the specs of these id see if you could get the imac for £550


Apple iMac 24" Desktop (March, 2009) 2.66GHz, 8GB RAM, 640GB, Snow Leopard £593

iMac 24" Aluminium/2.8Ghz/4GB RAM/500GB/OS X Snow Leopard £600
This isnt the one your thinking of buying is it?

2GB RAM, 320GB HD but only £500 (ram is cheap)
 
jamin100 said:
didnt realise they held their value THAT well.
I must of had a bargin then ...

----------

Ok well here are a few ive just found that have already finished and based on the specs of these id see if you could get the imac for £550


Apple iMac 24" Desktop (March, 2009) 2.66GHz, 8GB RAM, 640GB, Snow Leopard £593

iMac 24" Aluminium/2.8Ghz/4GB RAM/500GB/OS X Snow Leopard £600
This isnt the one your thinking of buying is it?

2GB RAM, 320GB HD but only £500 (ram is cheap)
Click to expand...

I tried bidding on that 2.66GHz one but got outbid at the last minute lol.

The second one is the one I'm looking to buy. The buyer has pulled out so it's been offered to me for the £600.

oooh decisions decisions 🙂
 
webcity said:
I tried bidding on that 2.66GHz one but got outbid at the last minute lol.

The second one is the one I'm looking to buy. The buyer has pulled out so it's been offered to me for the £600.

oooh decisions decisions 🙂
Click to expand...

Personally, if it were me, id be looking to get the 9,1 for £600-£650 ish so i would wait for another one to come along..

I know its a bit more money but have you thought about a 21.5" Core i5 refurb from currys for £799 ?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/apple-imac-mc309-refurbished-21-5-all-in-one-10801128-pdt.html
 
jamin100 said:
Personally, if it were me, id be looking to get the 9,1 for £600-£650 ish so i would wait for another one to come along..

I know its a bit more money but have you thought about a 21.5" Core i5 refurb from currys for £799 ?

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/apple-imac-mc309-refurbished-21-5-all-in-one-10801128-pdt.html
Click to expand...

Yeah I know what you mean...Might try and knock him down to £570 or somewhere around there.

I couldn't stretch to the cost of 21.5" at the moment and not sure I'd like the smaller screen size (which is why I went with a mini in the first place).

Thanks again for your advice though 🙂

----------

As another thought (going with the 21.5" screen), how about a 3GHz Core2Duo if I could find one for about £650 (or even an i3)?
 
webcity said:
Yeah I know what you mean...Might try and knock him down to £570 or somewhere around there.

I couldn't stretch to the cost of 21.5" at the moment and not sure I'd like the smaller screen size (which is why I went with a mini in the first place).

Thanks again for your advice though 🙂

----------

As another thought (going with the 21.5" screen), how about a 3GHz Core2Duo if I could find one for about £650 (or even an i3)?
Click to expand...

I have a 24" at home and a 21.5" at work and they are both very similar.
I work on the 21.5" more and when I use the 24" i dont notice that its any bigger.
 
jamin100 said:
I have a 24" at home and a 21.5" at work and they are both very similar.
I work on the 21.5" more and when I use the 24" i dont notice that its any bigger.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've heard a few people say that. I kinda agreed to have the 24" earlier today but I'm questioning whether it's the right thing to do purely because it's for my business and I'm wondering whether I should just wait a month and buy a 21.5 i5 (by which time I might've registered for vat and therefore would get 20% anyway).
 
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