How many people's 24" iMac is still running strong?

Mine from August of 09 is still running like I just pulled it out of the box. I haven't had one single problem with it. FWIW it was the top spec model with the 3.06 and the ATI gpu. It has become my iTunes server as a top end 2011 iMac is my main machine.

Mine is still great. Got it on March 2009.

My early 2008 3.06 24" iMac just underwent a makeover - increased memory to 6GB and installed a 240GB SSD hard drive (with iTunes moved to firewire drive). I can't begin to say how speedy this new configuration is - it is like having a much newer computer - applications launch a lot faster. I have not noticed any slowness or lag by having my itunes data (600GB) loaded on the firewire drive. I did keep my iPhoto library (about 60GB) on the SSD, which also seemed to help the iPhoto lag i was experiencing.

Another change I made was relocating my TimeMachine drive from my airport extreme to a USB connection directly on the iMac - the backups complete much more quickly and are less invasive.

While I am anxious to see what the new iMacs will be, I really like the 24" form factor; I actually bought the 27" a few years ago and returned it because I felt it was too big for the spot I wanted to put it in. As such, I'm going to try and make the 24" last as long as possible.

August 2009....running great now....had a scare about a year ago. Lots of kernel panics after upgrading to 10.6.8, then downgrading to 10.6.7 wouldn't work (more KPs - even though it was running fine before I went to 10.6.8), but downgrading to 10.6.6 solved it. I did all kinds of hardware/disk tests and all came back fine.

Then one day I decided to delete my bootcamp paritition since I never used it and reclaim the space...THAT gave me more headaches that took a little googling, but it turned out there was a problem on the HD that, once the BC partition was reclaimed, disk utility could fix. After that, upgraded to 10.6.7 for a week or so, then 10.6.8 for a couple weeks, then by that time 10.7.3 was out and I made the Lion plunge (I wait a few releases before jumping on a new major version). Been working great ever since (now up to 10.7.4)!

I'm planning on hanging on to this machine until the new Mini's get released - I want to get away from the AIO concept.

fhall1 said:

August 2009....running great now....had a scare about a year ago. Lots of kernel panics after upgrading to 10.6.8, then downgrading to 10.6.7 wouldn't work (more KPs - even though it was running fine before I went to 10.6.8), but downgrading to 10.6.6 solved it. I did all kinds of hardware/disk tests and all came back fine.

Then one day I decided to delete my bootcamp paritition since I never used it and reclaim the space...THAT gave me more headaches that took a little googling, but it turned out there was a problem on the HD that, once the BC partition was reclaimed, disk utility could fix. After that, upgraded to 10.6.7 for a week or so, then 10.6.8 for a couple weeks, then by that time 10.7.3 was out and I made the Lion plunge (I wait a few releases before jumping on a new major version). Been working great ever since (now up to 10.7.4)!

I'm planning on hanging on to this machine until the new Mini's get released - I want to get away from the AIO concept.

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This 2.4 24" is the best computer ive ever bought. Im not going to tempt fate by delivering any other credit due to it...other than to say, thank you and long may you continue

Mine's had a new graphics card and logic board and is running slowly now, starting to struggle a little, even though I have maxed out the RAM.

Love it to bits, but can't wait for a new one to come out so I can step up my work rate

ser968 said:

Another change I made was relocating my TimeMachine drive from my airport extreme to a USB connection directly on the iMac - the backups complete much more quickly and are less invasive.

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I was wondering about this, I was considering TC for my new iMac but think I'll go with a FireWire IceCube case and put in my own 3Tb HDD.

While I am anxious to see what the new iMacs will be, I really like the 24" form factor; I actually bought the 27" a few years ago and returned it because I felt it was too big for the spot I wanted to put it in. As such, I'm going to try and make the 24" last as long as possible.

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I was worried the 27" is too big but I have a 21.5" Full HD LG on my G5 and need something bigger, 24" would have been idea but 27" should be much better now.

I still have/use my late 2007 / early 2008 24" 2.4GHz, 4Gig RAM model.

The original disk crashed after 6 month of usage, i got it replaced by warranty. Then after just about 2 years i started to experience graphic clitches. It was the Ati HD 2600 chip which was failing. I got that replaced also by warranty.

Later i experienced yet another hard disks crash(good thing i have 100% backups). This time it was way too late and too slow to take it to a repair, so i replaced the disk by my self. I have opened my imac since then 2 times to clean the fans. That reminded me, i should do it again soon... I have two cats in the house

Currently it runs just fine, albeit little slow (hard disk is the biggest bottleneck) because i have it fully encrypted with filevault 2 with lion.

I use it in everyday general internet stuff, sometimes movie encoding(final cut), photos(aperture), iphone syncing, PLEX as movie server outputting to projector and so on...its not fast by anymeans, but it gets the job done. It enough for me to watch my 1080p / 720p movies without dropped frames...

I'm going to update in couple months and waiting for the imac refresh. I can then give this imac to my girlfriend so she can play her games which run just fine under bootcamp. She's not complaining about FPS as she plays some MMORPG games and isnt nitpicking about GFX performance.

I still have my 2.8 2008 model! Although it was once my work machine, its now too slow to carry out what I need. So I have a workstation laptop for my main machine and my iMac as my home PC, but I still love it

Still running like a champ. However I do think it is time for an iMac refresh

24" Late 2007 Model 2.4 Ghz with Ram maxed out at 4 gigs. It's been my main computer for almost 5 years now. Obviously its running slower now due to all the updates with the software and going from Leopard to Snow Leopard to Lion. It's final stop will be Mountain Lion before I retire it and give it to my daughter.

Problems:
(1) More "beachball" moments than ever when doing even moderate tasks.
(2) iTunes wifi issues with AirPlay to my AirPort Express and first gen AppleTv

Tutone said:

Show some love for the 24" iMac my early 2008 model still runs like new,only thing I have had to do was replace the hard drive which I did myself with a 1TB WD Black Label and upgraded the memory to OWC 6GB kit.I purchased the Magic Mouse when released and then the Trackpad which I prefer over the Magic Mouse. I am hoping I added some years to my 24" model by cleaning all the dust out of the fans etc. when I opened my iMac to replace the HHD amazing how much dust collects inside. Lion has run flawlessly for me so far and cannot wait for the Mountain Kitty to arrive. Ok I am done just wanted to show my appriciation for Apple products and how long they last. Thanks

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Late 2007 machine runs perfectly and has updated from Tiger to Leopard to Snow Leopard to Lion and further with absolutely no problems. Also running 6GB RAM and still have the 320GB HD installed. I use external HD's for my large libraries of music, photos & movies.

Bought my 2007 24" iMac in March 2008.

Since then:
- I upgraded to 4 GB RAM about 2 years ago
- I had a power surge a couple weeks back that I was afraid had fried the hard drive, but it simply left it unbootable. Once I got booted off a Snow Leopard DVD and ran Disk Utility on it, it was fine.

And that's it. It still runs well, even in Lion. I don't think the screen is a completely even color anymore, but if you're not a graphic designer you probably won't notice. I still hope to fetch $500 or so for it when I sell it, whenever Apple gets around to releasing the 2012's.

My white iMac 24" (purchased on clearance for $999 right after the aluminum models came out) is still going strong as well. It's now my wife's desktop computer.

You're right about the amount of dust collecting inside. About 3 months ago, her iMac started displaying strange things on the screen. I immediately recognized it as overheating video card. Opened up the iMac and WOW! DUSTY! Cleaned it out thoroughly and it's still doing great.

My 2008 is still great. I want a new 27" but I can't justify the expense when my 24" still does eveything I need it to. I too bought a magic trackpad and love it. I have upgraded mem to 4 GB but want to upgrade to the 6GB OWC kit OP mentioned. I also want to put a SSD or a hybrid drive in as I am still rocking the original HD! The HD seems to be the biggest bottleneck causing rainbow wheels although I have also had a few out of mem slowdowns.

Been using mine daily for almost 4 years. Only one real problem I had was a couple of months ago when the graphics card (the notorious 8800GS) busted, so had to have that replaced. Unfortunately, it was replaced with the 2600 Pro which is not as great from a gaming perspective, but supposedly it doesn't suffer from the thermal issues that the 8800 did so I'll be glad if it lasts another few years.

I plan to put Mountain Lion on it, and this should ensure it can still keep up with new software for a few years yet.

Should be getting my Air soon though which I'm looking forward to

I bought my Late 2008 24" iMac on eBay for $700 bucks, best part of it is my client paid for it (darn it, if I only knew he was going to pay for it I would have gotten a brand new 27" iMac)

I fixed it up hooked it up to three external wide screen monitors so now I have a 4-screen setup. The iMac has 4G of RAM and a 750G HD with 2 !T external HDs. It works like a champ and it looks like new, just installed ML GM, can't be happier

Mid 2007 iMac definitely starting to struggle these days, maxed out ram etc but not as zippy as it used to be.

Also hoping (and expecting) the new iMac screen is a vast improvement over what they included in my 24". I've got a 20" Cinema Display (old aluminium version) which is miles ahead of the iMac screen in terms of colours.

Lovely machine, but definitely won't miss it when upgrade time comes.

To those having slow downs:

Make sure your data is backed up and do a fresh install of your OS. You'll be amazed at how things will speed up. Especially if you haven't done this before and have went from Leopard, to Snow Leopard to Lion. A lot of "gunk" get's built up over the years and sometimes it's just best to start over and will fix the constant beach balls. I've been there.


If financially feasible, get an SSD.

I bought my 2008 model used about 3 months ago and it's screamin'. 6GB ram, 128GB SSD drive running Mountain Lion with zero issues.

Might upgrade to the new iMac if it's redesigned. If not, I'll hold out.

I don't know that I'd say "going strong," but it does still work in every respect except that the optical drive is worn out. My early 2009 iMac has been asked to do more than it was ever designed to do, basically being a complete household media server WHILE allowing video editing and encoding, photo editing, docs, and other work. It's time for a new one, and the current iMac can be "retired" to light duty for probably a decently long time.

ep2002 said:

24" Late 2007 Model 2.4 Ghz with Ram maxed out at 4 gigs. It's been my main computer for almost 5 years now. Obviously its running slower now due to all the updates with the software and going from Leopard to Snow Leopard to Lion. It's final stop will be Mountain Lion before I retire it and give it to my daughter.

Problems:
(1) More "beachball" moments than ever when doing even moderate tasks.
(2) iTunes wifi issues with AirPlay to my AirPort Express and first gen AppleTv

Click to expand...

If you have upgraded you OSX always by updating and not done CLEAN install, i would highly recommend you to do so !

I bet your slownes is mainly to do with the disk performance(fragmented files) and all the weird processes background taking you CPU time.

I know you can upgrade leopard-snow leopard-lion just fine, like i did, but i started to see more frequently slow performance and beachballs.

I had, to this point always just upgraded / restored from time machine.

What i did some time ago, was to backup all my stuff the old school way, and then erased the drive clean, did a fresh install, then manually importing all my media back and reinstalling every software from scratch. This way i had to stop and think "do i really need this and this software?", and also this way i made sure there were no old versions of programs library / preferences bugging eatch other causing "weirdnes".

Gotta say, it was / still is way snappier than the upgrade of upgrade of upgrade. Its just so gradual process of getting your system full of crudd(if you install big sofware many times, differend versions etc). Like mine had many differend versions of Office and Final Cut Studio etc.

I would say, it would be recommend to do a clean install at least after 3 major upgrade (this of course depends how much have you installed differend programs during that time).

Greetings,

Long pc user and soon to be 2012 iMac owner. I don't understand the big deal that Mac's has last 3 or more yrs. My first Compaq in 1998 lasted till 2004 and my current Dell since 2004. Both were upgraded due to new technology and not wear or tear. BTW, only changed one HD in 14 yrs (lucky I guess).

While it's nice to know that Mac's last for yrs, pc's do also.