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21.5 2012 iMac - Base Model 5400 rpm drive question

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udflyer

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 3, 2011
424
104
I know for myself as a developer / power user I would not get this Mac.

However, I talked my father in law into getting a Mac instead of a new PC.

The $1299 iMac is the sweet spot from pricing for him.


He is an email, surfer, iPhoto, MS Word type of person.


Is this 5400rpm drive in this machine **that** bad.

For a lightweight user do you think he will see solid performance ?

Yes, I have tried them at the store, I was looking for data from someone who owns it and has used for a while


TIA.


Flyer
 
T

trustever

macrumors 6502
Jan 14, 2013
290
0
The HDD is a bit laggy when the mac starts up but afther let say a minute or max 2 everything runs smooth so I doubt your father will be disappointed at all..
 
A

Arfdog

macrumors 6502
Jan 25, 2013
377
0
udflyer said:
Is this 5400rpm drive in this machine **that** bad.

For a lightweight user do you think he will see solid performance ?

Flyer
Click to expand...

It's faster than the outgoing 7200 rpm model, so yeah, it'll be alright.
 
azentropy

azentropy

macrumors 601
Jul 19, 2002
4,024
5,385
Surprise
Arfdog said:
It's faster than the outgoing 7200 rpm model, so yeah, it'll be alright.
Click to expand...

No, it is not. At least in my own experience and Disk Magic benchmarks it is about 20% slower than the 1tb 7200rpm 3.5 drive in the 2011 iMac I had. I only had them side by side for a little bit, but the 2011 definitely booted faster, and launched my VMWare Linux VM images quicker although CPU intensive takes were faster with the 2012 iMac.

On the plus side it is silent and overall the 2012 iMac runs much cooler and is much more energy efficient than the 2011 model. For light users this is probably more of a benefit.
 
P

passey

macrumors member
Mar 28, 2013
89
0
I have the base 21.5" 2012 model the only real time you notice the slow speeds are
1) startup (which you don't use as you always put your mac to sleep).
2) opening big applications ie. photoshop. The basic apps safari email all open instantly.

For basic browsing I wouldn't pay for a faster drive.

On that note I did buy a 250GB SSD and have it externaly booting osx from but i use photoshop and editing software.
 
U

udflyer

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 3, 2011
424
104
Thanks everyone....

It will be a go.

1 more PC person converted !

Now if I could only get his "Quicken Home Inventory" data over to a Mac App.

That old school inventory program has no export capability !

:)
 
M

macalec

macrumors 6502
Mar 12, 2012
252
2
udflyer said:
Thanks everyone....

It will be a go.

1 more PC person converted !

Now if I could only get his "Quicken Home Inventory" data over to a Mac App.

That old school inventory program has no export capability !

:)
Click to expand...

That is wonderful! Congrats to him. Also I have the fusion drive in the new system, so it really mitigates the slower speeds from the drive.
 
F

flavr

macrumors 6502
Nov 9, 2011
363
40
azentropy said:
No, it is not. At least in my own experience and Disk Magic benchmarks it is about 20% slower than the 1tb 7200rpm 3.5 drive in the 2011 iMac I had. I only had them side by side for a little bit, but the 2011 definitely booted faster, and launched my VMWare Linux VM images quicker although CPU intensive takes were faster with the 2012 iMac.

On the plus side it is silent and overall the 2012 iMac runs much cooler and is much more energy efficient than the 2011 model. For light users this is probably more of a benefit.
Click to expand...

soooo....what are the benchmarks scores?
 
U

udflyer

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 3, 2011
424
104
Thanks to everyone in this thread.

He did by the base iMac 21.5 and it is great for his needs.

I would have never guessed it had a 5400 rpm drive in there because it
is a peppy machine for his use cases

Slowest part is his AT&T Uverse since he has their cheapest tier.

Thanks again everyone!


flyer
 
d0nK

d0nK

macrumors 6502
Nov 4, 2011
392
209
UK
I've found all the 5400rpm 21.5" base models I've tried to beachball too much, even for basic things like managing and viewing photo's.
Terrible design decision.

Fusion should be standard.
 
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