Short and to the point -
I'm on a strict budget. Both of the machines listed below are at the exact same price in the Refurb store. Please assume that I cannot exceed my budget beyond the cost of these machines.
My needs:
Given those requirements, which 2012 iMac will best suit my needs?
It seems to come down to choosing between having the capability to upgrade RAM (27") or having the faster Fusion drive (21.5").
I've seen the benchmarks of the Fusion drive, and it seems like it would be very nice to have. At the same time, waiting an extra 30-45 seconds for a spinning 7200 RPM disk to load a program or sample (27") wouldn't be the end of the world, since this machine will not be used for my work or any professional activities.
Advice?
I'm on a strict budget. Both of the machines listed below are at the exact same price in the Refurb store. Please assume that I cannot exceed my budget beyond the cost of these machines.
My needs:
- Logic Pro X as a home hobby user. Mostly audio tracks with some use of virtual instruments, limited mostly to those that come with Logic. No plans at this time to make extensive use of third party VI's or plug ins, although I will likely dabble in them at some point. My projects will not make use of heavy orchestral samples requiring lots of RAM.
- Otherwise, general purpose web browsing, iTunes, music streaming, MS Office and or iWork.
- No plans at this time to run Windows.
- No gaming, no heavy graphics requirements.
Given those requirements, which 2012 iMac will best suit my needs?
- 21.5" 2.9GHz i5, 8Gb Ram, Fusion drive
- 27" 2.9Ghz i5, 8Gb RAM, standard 7200 RPM drive
It seems to come down to choosing between having the capability to upgrade RAM (27") or having the faster Fusion drive (21.5").
I've seen the benchmarks of the Fusion drive, and it seems like it would be very nice to have. At the same time, waiting an extra 30-45 seconds for a spinning 7200 RPM disk to load a program or sample (27") wouldn't be the end of the world, since this machine will not be used for my work or any professional activities.
Advice?
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