My 2009 27 went into the shop two weeks ago with display failure complaint. They've spent the time replacing this and that, including power supply, with still no pinpoint as to the cause. I'll probably get told to replace the display at a cost of about $700. I'm prepared to do that, but if I have second thoughts, I'd want to get another iMac; important feature is FireWire, as my two external disks have my backed up data and I'd need to retrieve that stuff. How recently was FW discontinued, that I may find the newest replacement available?
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Finding a replacement iMac with FW
- Thread starter MacTownBoy
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I've use the thunderbolt -> Firewire adapter for almost a year to do SuperDuper clones of my rMBP and MBA. no problems.
I wouldn't spend $700 to repair a 2009-vintage iMac.
If push comes to shove, and you need something newer but are pressed for cash, consider something like an Apple-refurbished late 2012 i7 2.3ghz quad-core Mac Mini.
You'll need an external display of course, but you can find 1080p IPS displays in the mid-$200 range.
And it still has a firewire800 port, as well...
If push comes to shove, and you need something newer but are pressed for cash, consider something like an Apple-refurbished late 2012 i7 2.3ghz quad-core Mac Mini.
You'll need an external display of course, but you can find 1080p IPS displays in the mid-$200 range.
And it still has a firewire800 port, as well...
I used the Thunderbolt-to-FireWire adapter to connect my iMac to a Nikon Slide Scanner. I had no problems with it scanning about 5000 high resolution 35mm photo-slides to digital running continuously for several hours a day. It was inexpensive and worked very well for my application! 
I've ordered the adapter, thanks for pointing that out; however, I think I'll have the display replaced and keep the iMac. It works fine and handles big photo files well, as well as processes hundreds of files used in time lapse. If he ever gets done fixing the damn thing!