Looking to buy iMac

The base 27" 2012 iMac is $1,799 which as you say is out of your price range.

The used iMac sounds like an ok deal to me although you should shop around (eBay/craigslist etc. to see if you can find a better deal - make sure they are trustworthy though!)

As long as the tasks you are doing now are equivalent to what you would have been doing 4 years ago (and these machines are in your budget range) then go for it, it can still run Mountain Lion and all the latest software fine - it was more or less a top of the range model when new remember!

The RAM (12GB/4GB you say) you can upgrade yourself so be especially careful not to get ripped off here!

The new iMac range is all i5, with the exception of the very top model which is i7.

Most new iMacs have 512MB graphics memory except top models (1GB/2GB), although the ones you are looking at have the previous-generation AMD cards whereas the new ones have Nvidia. All have 1TB hard drives (7200RPM), unless you want 768GB SSD or Fusion Drive.

Well the unibody iMac has been updated 4 times since it was released - Late 2009 (October), Mid 2010 (July), Mid 2011 (May), and Late 2012 (October).

Something to bear in mind was that the Mid 2011 was the last to have a CD drive (SuperDrive as Apple calls it).

Have a look round and see if there are any Mid 2011 models in your range (you might have to settle for a 21.5" or go earlier - your choice).

All of them support Mountain Lion so they're not too outdated yet.

Take a look here for the specs of each different model: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_iMac#Aluminum_iMac

if you or someone in your house is a student then you can get the education discount and pick up the late 2012 specs for 50 bucks more


21.5-inch: 2.7GHz
2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M with 512MB

That 2011 is a good imac... it's the one I currently use. Also tried and true procedures for upgrading with an added internal SSD (which I also did). No gluing or taping the screen back on after any update. I had a late 2009 C2D imac. It was sloooow compared to this 4 core unit... even before I added the SSD.

So, I'd recommend the 2011.

go buy your self a baseline imac 21.5 late 2012 it's 1200$ your budget and you get last hardware quad core and warranty 1 year

drummer1 said:

Yeah thats true really want a 27" but no good deals online or cl there out my budget otherwise. Besides the 27" late 2011 model at frys but none available.

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actually ! you can save even more by going to the Apple refurb store .the following is in stock now !

Probably a good idea, once the supply constraints have fully eased then we'll start to see more and more refurbished models for sale.

Did you purchased from that site

drummer1 said:

Well found a 27" iMac Mid 2011*Apple Care Until June 2014 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 Processor 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 MemoryAMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB Video Card1TB Hard Drive. Think im gonna buy it seems like a good deal and in my price range for $1050.

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I tried looking for website reviews but couldnt find it anywhere.
Did you purchased from that website by any chance. The deal looks good to me as well.

Let me know if you purchased from that site.

drummer1 said:

Well got some info from gocheapsky.com they have the 2011 imac for $700 then shipping. They say there brand new and will ship from china and will receive in like a week. They have license and full back up everything they work with paypal so guess that's good anyways what do you guys think? Still sounds like a scam

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2011, brand new and that cheap? Shipping from China? Hmmmm four words for you Not With My Money!

There is one for sale for $1050 on this site. 2010 i5.

The thing is, do you absolutely NEED the 27"?

The 21.5" model will offer the same if not better performance (because of the smaller screen size - less work for the GPU etc), as well as being a MUCH more manageable size, which should be fine unless you absolutely NEED to have 3 windows open at the same time on the screen (you could just buy another display for the smaller model.)

This will save you a lot of money, especially as you are on a budget!