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PickledSquirrel

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 10, 2003
236
0
Aarhus, DK
I need replacement for Old Faithfull (yet neolithic) iMac 233 mhz, and have fallen in love with the 20" iMac G4. Question is if prices will get friendlier after MacWorld 2004 in january. (I live in Denmark, which means some 3000 USD for the standard-model) :(

Any helpful psychics out there ??

KJ
 

Dont Hurt Me

macrumors 603
Dec 21, 2002
6,055
6
Yahooville S.C.
I would guess a update announced and then shipping in march? if you love the 20" buy one! 1 lil comment G4! a 1.25 G4 would have been good a year ago but the competition is selling machine's that is approaching3 times the clock of the G4! enough said
 

KBFinFan

macrumors 6502
May 30, 2003
283
0
Connecticut, USA
I say wait.. simply because MacWorld is usually a time where significant product announcements are made. It is less than a month a way, so unless you are in dire need of a new computer, hang in there.

And who knows, maybe Apple will announce something new that you'll want.. something so innovative that it knocks the socks off the competition and yet again redefines personal computing.
 

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
I would guess a update announced and then shipping in march? if you love the 20" buy one! 1 lil comment G4! a 1.25 G4 would have been good a year ago but the competition is selling machine's that is approaching3 times the clock of the G4! enough said

geez, the rant on G4 again? there are chips that's three times the clock of celerons, what's your point? when you buy a pre-built computer, you are not just paying for the chip, you know. (i'm not going to get into a discussion regarding this, so don't bother replying.)

i don't think the iMac will see a huge revision since the last rev. took place in Nov. but of course, last year, Ti was updated in Nov. before Al's came out in Jan...

if you can afford to wait, wait because it's less than a month away.
 

Dont Hurt Me

macrumors 603
Dec 21, 2002
6,055
6
Yahooville S.C.
Sorry for sounding like a broken record but i cant help it after years of agonizing minor g4 bumps if we were lucky while the otherside was constantly getting faster and better, not only cpu's but bus speed and memory. Motorola Nearly killed the Mac, im sorry but a just intoduced bus of 167 and a 1.25 g4 is not cutting the mustard for a 2 thousand dollar machine. the biggest problem Apple has had in the past 3 years can be sumed up in 1 word........................ G4. Steve Jobs is on it believe me.
 

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
you are right, motorola did nearly kill apple... but thank goodness for IBM.

i think G4 is a fine chip for consumer machines, but that's just my opinion.
 

tom.96

Suspended
Jun 13, 2003
161
0
me too...

I'm in the same position. I've been wanting a new imac for some time but have been loathed to spend all that money until it gets a G5 and a better video card.

I'm waiting for MWSF to see what they release. The 20" looks like a fine machine, but for all that money I'd like a faster processor and a faster graphics card. I'm hoping that a new Mac will last for 3-4 years, and I'm not sure whether the current imacs will.

Fingers crossed for MWSF!
 

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
Re: me too...

Originally posted by tom.96
I'm in the same position. I've been wanting a new imac for some time but have been loathed to spend all that money until it gets a G5 and a better video card.

I'm waiting for MWSF to see what they release. The 20" looks like a fine machine, but for all that money I'd like a faster processor and a faster graphics card. I'm hoping that a new Mac will last for 3-4 years, and I'm not sure whether the current imacs will.

Fingers crossed for MWSF!

if you want a G5 and a better video card, you should just get a G5 PM.

apple will probably not put in G5 and a better video card and price the iMac out of its target customers when most of those consumer level customers will not need those advanced features. G5 will go in when it becomes a little older technology and the market price gets lower... "better video card" will make it to the iMac when there are even better video cards around.

iMac is supposed to be simple - do you want to burn DVD or not? is just about the only question apple will ask you and lets you change. if you are supposedly sophisticated enough to ask for better chip and a videocard, you should just get a PM.

because by the time iMac gets a G5 and a better video card as you requested, there will be better things out there and the longevity of the iMac won't be much better anyway. (i think the iMac will last 3 to 4 years, but of course, depends on use...)
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
Originally posted by Dont Hurt Me
I would guess a update announced and then shipping in march? if you love the 20" buy one! 1 lil comment G4! a 1.25 G4 would have been good a year ago but the competition is selling machine's that is approaching3 times the clock of the G4! enough said

<Sigh> Ah yes, the good old G4 rant again. I’ll never get tired of that one. :rolleyes: Yes, the competition has clock cycles 3x as fast, but as jxyama said, this is the case with Celerons out there so what’s your point? My G4 iMac does everything I need it to (Mail, Safari, Office, iLife) and will continue to for 2-3 more years. I agree Motorola sucks, their MHz progression in the G4 has been very poor, and it’s best for Apple to get rid of Moto as fast as possible, yet this does not make the iMac a bad machine or the G4 a bad chip. Plus, it sounds like this guy wants a Mac, not a machine from the competition, so let’s help him out instead of rehashing this old debate.

As always, it comes down to what you need to use your machine for. And also, what kind of a rush you’re in. If you can’t wait, I’d say wait a month, since it’s not too long, but don’t expect some sort of update/price drop for sure. After MWSF though, then you could make your decision one way or the other. Having said that, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the 20” iMac, again, depending what you need it for, so if you really like it, buy it now! Could you provide us with some more details?

Waiting is a dangerous game though. Waiting until MWSF though means waiting another month. And then who knows, a new iMac might be announced, but it may not ship until March so then you’re waiting an additional 2 months. Or, no updates will be announced at MWSF, but then rumors will fly that in Feb or Mar updates will come – so do you wait another month to see about those?

I've said it many times - if you’re always waiting for the next best thing, you’ll always be waiting. Buy the machine that you want, that does what you want, when you need it, and you’ll never be disappointed.
 

iJon

macrumors 604
Feb 7, 2002
6,586
229
man i dont know about those 20" imacs. i played with one, it was huge. i didn't like it, but i can understand why people would. it just felt to big, and the screen didnt swing nicely like the 17 and 15. i think apple needs to take this imac design into consideration for the cinema displays. i dont know how they would do it but it would be nice to just swivel a cinema display around like the imac.

iJon
 

Gymnut

macrumors 68000
Apr 18, 2003
1,887
28
Wait and hope Apple throws in a faster processor in there with their redesign of the iMac.
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
Originally posted by Gymnut
Wait and hope Apple throws in a faster processor in there with their redesign of the iMac.

If you want to wait for the redesigned iMac, by all means do so, but this might mean waiting until March or April. Or who knows - it could be January, but it could be July too. Welcome to the waiting game! It just depends how long you want to wait before you start enjoying your new Mac.
 

mwjd299

macrumors regular
Nov 9, 2003
141
2
Santa Maria, CA
Originally posted by iJon
man i dont know about those 20" imacs. i played with one, it was huge. i didn't like it, but i can understand why people would. it just felt to big, and the screen didnt swing nicely like the 17 and 15. i think apple needs to take this imac design into consideration for the cinema displays. i dont know how they would do it but it would be nice to just swivel a cinema display around like the imac.

iJon

I bought the 20" iMac the day after Thanksgiving. Whereas it seemed large then, I am used to it now and I would never go back. The widescreen is nice for having 2 browsers side by side. It swings fine, I've had no problems. This is my first Mac after 20 years on a Windoze machine.
 

legion

macrumors 6502a
Jul 31, 2003
516
0
I'd wait on a 20"iMac. We bought one for the receptionist where I work and it's had some problems hardware wise. In addition, if you go to the Santa Monica, CA Apple Store, you'll see that their 20"iMac is having some problems too (among other things, the wiring through the arm to the screen seems to have a short in it when moved about.) I went over to the Grove (Apple Flagship store) and their 20"iMacs also had varying hardware problems that look due to poor integration of the 20" screen with the iMac base. (All the issues mentioned seem related to the screen and the support arm.)

Just some anecdotal info.
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
Originally posted by legion
I'd wait on a 20"iMac. We bought one for the receptionist where I work and it's had some problems hardware wise. In addition, if you go to the Santa Monica, CA Apple Store, you'll see that their 20"iMac is having some problems too (among other things, the wiring through the arm to the screen seems to have a short in it when moved about.) I went over to the Grove (Apple Flagship store) and their 20"iMacs also had varying hardware problems that look due to poor integration of the 20" screen with the iMac base. (All the issues mentioned seem related to the screen and the support arm.)

Just some anecdotal info.

Good to know, thanks for passing this along for everyone. :)
 
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