Apple Online Store Offering Refurbished Current-Generation 21" iMac, Shipping in 1-3 Days

macnerd93 said:

I also think its quite poor that a computer starting at £1099, doesn't even come with a decent hard drive, its not 2005 anymore.

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Your also still using a mobile graphics card. Will always be tradeoffs with using all-in-one computers due to size/space/heat restrictions.

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Chupa Chupa said:

If that were the case I'd be typing this on a 2012 Mac Mini right now. But I couldn't buy one b/c it only has Intel graphics. I've been using Macs since 1988. To me the "experience" is not having an interface that gets in the way of my work. But in order to have a good experience my machines need to be able to keep up with software demands. So it's silly to say specs don't matter as a blanket statement.

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I think he is saying for the average user spec's are not the determining factor. For the much smaller percentage of us power users/Pro's its more important.

mushroomtip said:

I thought the iMac is geared more to the everyday to the more knowledgable everyday consumer and the Mac Pro is for the pro and creative customers ?

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Even the everyday consumer will be PO'd when something in his iMac fails, and he can't have it repaired at a shop. The new design is stupid.

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scottsjack said:

Exactly. Mac Pros are so useful. Need more hard drive space? No problem. Want Blu-ray? Easy to install. Have a need for lots of RAM? MP has you covered. Want to use a really good monitor? Ditto.

A Mac Pro is what can be referred to as "a real desktop computer". Most people do not need that kind of machine but for those who do the Mac Pro is Apple's only choice right now.

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The Mac mini is pretty customizable.

jav6454 said:

Adopters are not impressed I see.

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You don't know that. They could have returned them to exchange for an upgraded iMac.

Nor do we have numbers about flat returns, total sales of each model etc.

I can't believe there are people on these forums who see Apple offering 5400 rpm drives instead of 7200 as a good thing.
Wow.
Maybe they can improve the next generation of iMacs by selling them with 4200 rpm HDs.

Cole Slaw said:

I can't believe there are people on these forums who see Apple offering 5400 rpm drives instead of 7200 as a good thing.
Wow.
Maybe they can improve the next generation of iMacs by selling them with 4200 rpm HDs.

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The 27" iMac features an 7200 drive. The smaller screen size of the 20.1" iMac cannot fit the 7200 also a problem with heat buildup.

sofila said:

So I give back a perfectly working computer that I need for my ordinary home-stuff (You just said I'm not a geek, I can't tell differences between blah blah blah) just to wait another couple of months to have a bigger one?

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Uh yeah. There are people that realize when they get home they wanted a larger screen. One is not exactly required to be a geek for that. That happens with TV's and the like. Also as far as waiting, people wait for things much longer. It's gotten to a point that when you buy concert tickets, you're barely buying them to use within the same year. Lots of big time artists's promoters are selling tickets to their shows almost a year ahead of time, they've already charged your credit card and you don't even know for sure if you'll be able to get off work for it.

As far as waiting for Apple products, some of you guys here are virgins at it. I remember when the Powerbook 17" came out. It was the first of it's kind in the industry of laptops. I was at Macworld on January 7th and was shocked at something so amazing. Apple was taking orders right at Macworld for it. Steve Jobs stood right on stage and said the new Powerbook would be shipping in February.
I popped out my credit card and they took my order, only to tell me that it won't be shipping until the end of March. Got it the first week of April and guess what? It had multiple issues and they were on short supply. I understand people's needs here but some of you need to lighten up about the wait time.

linuxcooldude said:

Your also still using a mobile graphics card. Will always be tradeoffs with using all-in-one computers due to size/space/heat restrictions.

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I think he is saying for the average user spec's are not the determining factor. For the much smaller percentage of us power users/Pro's its more important.

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the GPU doesn't bother me, its more than adequate for Aperture and video encoding thats all I really, do slow hard drive performance for me is a no, no

Fatalbert said:

Even the everyday consumer will be PO'd when something in his iMac fails, and he can't have it repaired at a shop. The new design is stupid..

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anyone would be PO'd when anything they paid handsomely for fails .
the logic would be, the everyday consumer wouldnt know how to repair it themselves , so the lack of accessibility would not bother them.

HenryDJP said:

I just love ridiculous posts like this. Gotta love MR for thinking they are Apple's only customers. . Did it ever occur to anyone here that the majority of Apple's customers, maybe, just maybe, are normal everyday people that aren't geeks, they don't give a rats butt about a 5400rpm drive or the GPU, or the SSD vs. the Fusion drive or the fact that screen is molded together? PUULLEESE! Get over yourselves. Maybe these people decided to upgrade to the 27". Oh yeah, that's a thought? . I'll bet more people that don't frequent here telling of all their returns/exchanges are getting work done on their iMacs.

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They don't need to know the specs to know it is not operating any faster than their old computer, despite faster processor.

Yes, all these 21" imac returns are people that decide to get 27" AFTER buying the 21". I like your post because they are funny. Please write more.

Corrode said:

Obviously the jump from 5400rpm to SSD is huge but is the jump from 5400 to 7200 that big? I've always used a 5400rpm drive but maybe I've been missing out.

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The jump from a 3.5" 7200 rpm drive to a 2.5" 5400 rpm drive is a noticeable one.

macnerd93 said:

the GPU doesn't bother me, its more than adequate for Aperture and video encoding thats all I really, do slow hard drive performance for me is a no, no

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Depends on the needs of the user. The iMac has several options including 7200rpm drives and fusion drives. If you do video rendering a better video card could make a difference, iMovie won't probably do much better.

I still do not understand why anyone would want a 21" desktop system. The 23"/24" displays Apple used to produce were perfect for their smaller end iMac's and displays. 21" and 27" make no sense compared to the near perfect 23"/24" and 30" displays. Miss those days.

linuxcooldude said:

The 27" iMac features an 7200 drive. The smaller screen size of the 20.1" iMac cannot fit the 7200 also a problem with heat buildup.

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Sure it can fit a 7200 drive. It just needs a 2,5" drive versus the 3,5" drive used in the 27". Heat is a different issue but I doubt it has a meaningful effect. The biggest problem is marketing. There are no 1 TB 2,5" drive with 7200 RPM yet. But apple wants to sell a 1TB at least out of marketing reasons...

Not missing out ^_^

Corrode said:

Obviously the jump from 5400rpm to SSD is huge but is the jump from 5400 to 7200 that big? I've always used a 5400rpm drive but maybe I've been missing out.

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Hey - you're not missing out, one of my machines is still running a 5400rpm drive and it is just as fast / quieter / cooler than my 7200.

I think if you are a patient and efficient person, you don't notice the little seconds and minutes, you just always get all you need done - DONE...

Thanks.

I wonder if the mac mini will be the last user upgradable / serviceable apple computer? Well... other than the mac pro server.

robinp said:

Sorry, meant generally there was a lot of stuff. Should have been clearer. Ordered a mbpr earlier

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So did I!

nope to the new iMac

I would get a new one but I think I am just going to wait for the new mac pro. My mid 2010 iMac is working fine for now and I just got the Air (which I will be upgrading with a 480 owc drive eventually) Right now I need to upgrade ableton since the beta ran out yesterday which will cost me 250 on top of the 600 dollar ssd. I need gigs soon.

iGrip said:

Likely that Apple's drivers detected that you had tampered with the machine. Remember that Apple closely integrates their hardware and software. If you start sticking in unapproved hardware willy-nilly, bad things happen. You are always much better off with what Apple gives you than some unreliable third-party hardware.

It always cracks me up when people complain about Apple's prices, buy some el-cheapo piece of crap instead, and then complain. You get what you pay for, people!

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So I suppose you pay Apple’s insane prices if you want a bigger hard drive?

since when is this news. its a friggin 2nd hand store.

mrsir2009 said:

I switched up from a 5400 to a 7200 and didn't notice anything. If anything, my MBP got slower

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when the 7200 drives first came out in the 90's there were tests done and they weren't much faster than the 5400 drives. not enough for a person to notice

the things that made a hard drive faster were a NCQ chip like enterprise hard drives have, lots of RAM for cache and faster interface like going from IDE to SATA

i've known people in the 90's who used to buy SCSI hard drives and their computers were a lot faster
one time i connected a CD-ROm drive to my soundblaster card because the old ones had IDE ports. the speed increase was HUGE because the card had a controller chip as well and the cheap consumer CD-ROM drives like the cheap hard drives used the host CPU for control of the device

It's because of that bubble on the back of it that you don't see advertised.

mushroomtip said:

anyone would be PO'd when anything they paid handsomely for fails .
the logic would be, the everyday consumer wouldnt know how to repair it themselves , so the lack of accessibility would not bother them.

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Can ANYONE repair these? Once one part dies, the whole computer, possibly even the screen, is useless.

I paid about $1000 for my Mac Pro. If a part failed in it, sure I wouldn't be happy, but it would be easy to fix by myself or by taking it into a repair shop.

Fatalbert said:

Can ANYONE repair these? Once one part dies, the whole computer, possibly even the screen, is useless.

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Im thinking Apple or an Authorized Apple Service Shop would be able to fix it . which is what the average consumer would do if the product is out of its warranty because they would not attempt to fix it themselves regardless wether the iMac has accessibility or not.

vpro said:

Hey - you're not missing out, one of my machines is still running a 5400rpm drive and it is just as fast / quieter / cooler than my 7200.

I think if you are a patient and efficient person, you don't notice the little seconds and minutes, you just always get all you need done - DONE...

Thanks.

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If you are a logical person, you will not spend money on new computer and processor which is limited by slow hard drive.

mushroomtip said:

Im thinking Apple or an Authorized Apple Service Shop would be able to fix it . which is what the average consumer would do if the product is out of its warranty because they would not attempt to fix it themselves regardless wether the iMac has accessibility or not.

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Nobody can fix welded parts.