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MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
I'm thinking about buying the new iMac 21,5 cause I can't afford the 27. What do I need it for? I like photography so for photo editing (photoshop, lightroom). Some dslr movie editing (very rare). Web browsing, movies, mp3 music and normal every day stuff. Games - not very often, I like old games - quake3, coutner-strike, starcraft but it would be fine if it could run new games like Crysis etc.
Would iMac suit my needs? I'm thinking about buying the new cheaper one (with 640 graphics) and adding to it extra 8gb of RAM.

What do you think? Is it a good choice?
 

martinm0

macrumors 6502a
Feb 27, 2010
568
25
I'm thinking about buying the new iMac 21,5 cause I can't afford the 27. What do I need it for? I like photography so for photo editing (photoshop, lightroom). Some dslr movie editing (very rare). Web browsing, movies, mp3 music and normal every day stuff. Games - not very often, I like old games - quake3, coutner-strike, starcraft but it would be fine if it could run new games like Crysis etc.
Would iMac suit my needs? I'm thinking about buying the new cheaper one (with 640 graphics) and adding to it extra 8gb of RAM.

What do you think? Is it a good choice?

The 2012 21.5" iMacs do not have user upgradeable RAM, so you cannot add additional RAM like you could in the prior models (at least, not without pulling it all apart).

That said, if you can get by on 8GB RAM then go for it. Otherwise, you might want to look at a 2011 or the 27".
 

Nightarchaon

macrumors 65816
Sep 1, 2010
1,393
30
I would go for a 2011 model if your stuck with the 21.5", at least that way you will have some form of expand-ability (Ram and at a push being able to add an SSD later) instead of the disposability of the modern 2012 iMac.

I bought mine right on the edge of the upgrade to the modern style and was so glad i went with the old model, ive got 16GB Ram and an aftermarket, self fitted 512Gb SSD (still not fusioned it though)
 

Macsonic

macrumors 68000
Sep 6, 2009
1,706
97
Photography would be nice for a bigger 27" screen. Would go for the 2011 27" if there are budget constraints. Like what was posted earlier, the late 2012 21.5" iMac has a ram limit and I heard it also has ghost image retention issues
 

MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
What is ghost image retention?

In Poland its hard to buy in an apple store the old iMac - it has dust issues?
 

MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
it would suck to have this on a new iMac :eek:

i'm going to get probably the 8gb base 21,5...
 

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
Yes, you can go for 21.5 base model..it is powerful and the 21.5 model has no issues.
 

MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
and why is that? there is a different lcd on a 27 and a 21,5 iMac?
 

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
i don't work at apple but seems that the 27" has more problems than 21.5"

----------

Maybe yes, different brands for ips like they have for retina macbook LG and Samsung, samsung has no problems but Lg displays has ghosting issues
 

Macsonic

macrumors 68000
Sep 6, 2009
1,706
97
i don't work at apple but seems that the 27" has more problems than 21.5"

----------

Maybe yes, different brands for ips like they have for retina macbook LG and Samsung, samsung has no problems but Lg displays has ghosting issues

You are probably correct. 2 of my friends had problems with their Retina MacBook Pros' screens and both of them are made by LGs
 

MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
is there a big difference between the graphic card in the base 21,5 and the one with 650m card?
 

eXan

macrumors 601
Jan 10, 2005
4,731
63
Russia
is there a big difference between the graphic card in the base 21,5 and the one with 650m card?

I would say, yes. I have no benchmarks to back it up (there are some probably on barefeats.com), but I would estimate about 30% fps loss in 640m.
 

eXan

macrumors 601
Jan 10, 2005
4,731
63
Russia
Well, you could always do a youtube search, like

imac geforce 640 call of duty

and see if there's anything of worth.
 

MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
I've suddenly thought something. Mainly I play games with my PS3 so I thought maybe I should go with the rMBP. Why?
I am an judicial officer apprentice (not sure how you call it correctly) so you can say I'm still studying. I thought that maybe the best way would be to go with the rMBP13 and an external monitor. What do you think?

The rMBP has very good reviews and looks more firm than the 15 inch. The 15 inch though is beyond my budget. The iMac 21,5 in Poland costs about 1700 bucks and the rMBP 2000. Nice prices, arent they?

I would like also to have the iMac but I think that having a rMBP with an external monitor (in 2-3 months time) could be a nice option. Waiting for your opinions :)
 

TjeuV

macrumors 6502
Dec 14, 2011
306
4
Belgium
I've suddenly thought something. Mainly I play games with my PS3 so I thought maybe I should go with the rMBP. Why?
I am an judicial officer apprentice (not sure how you call it correctly) so you can say I'm still studying. I thought that maybe the best way would be to go with the rMBP13 and an external monitor. What do you think?

The rMBP has very good reviews and looks more firm than the 15 inch. The 15 inch though is beyond my budget. The iMac 21,5 in Poland costs about 1700 bucks and the rMBP 2000. Nice prices, arent they?

I would like also to have the iMac but I think that having a rMBP with an external monitor (in 2-3 months time) could be a nice option. Waiting for your opinions :)

As it is a great possibility ... I would only recommend buying the macbook pro if you're a lot on the road, otherwise, stick with the iMac. Just because in my experience I felt that using a laptop as if it were a desktop with that external monitor, you'll go through your battery life much quicker, it'll degrade much faster.


edit: I bought a mac mini to take with me every sunday evening to go to my student house and back on fridays. I got a two screens, one back home, one in my studentroom. In addition to that, I bought a macbook air 13" for class notes only and I still got a battery life exceeding the 7 hours as promised, after one year in use I still got about 9 hours battery.
Years before that, I only had a macbook pro 15" to do all the work, and my battery went total loss in about a year - hardly getting two hours.
 

MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
Had anyone compared other ultrabooks to the rMBP? The Dell XPS 14 i7 3517U/GT630M/8GB/500GB/mSata32GB?
 

MajkJaro

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 2, 2013
115
11
The configuration od the Dell is above :). the rMBP is the 2013 version :)
 
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