Is the imac 2.8Ghz worth it

no, and no

you dont need that kinda speed for what you are doing, and the 1TB drive is going to be the same speed as a 500gb drive

first of all, don't even consider buying an iMac until they update it to penryn based processors.

For $2299, you can get a refurb Quad 2.66GHz Mac Pro from the Apple Store, or a new 2.8GHz quad Mac Pro. The only thing you wouldn't have is the monitor. The 24" panel is probably about a $300 piece of equip by itself.

If you are hellbent on the 2.8GHz, look at the Apple Store Certified Refurbished/Clearance models - they have a steal of a deal on the 2.8GHz iMac right now at $1899, and it probably won't be on there for long...as well as a few other, much cheaper deals on other 24" iMacs:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...e.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=44BD9AA1&nclm=CertifiedMac

macmaniac01 said:

I was just wondering is the 24" iMAC w' 2.8Ghz extereme processor worth the extra money when the most intensive app i will be using will be DVD re-encoding software (E.g Toast, Popcorn) and maybe aperture???

Also, does anyone know if the bigger the hard drive is, the greater the diminishing marginal returns are in term of performance? That is, will a 1TB HDD in a new iMAC be slower than a 500GB?? 🙁

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Im not going to say the 2.8 is not worth the $$ because that's subjective. But the bottom line is I run all the same apps as you, with aperture processing 10megapixel photo's on a 24", 2.4C2D, 4gig ram no problem. These computers are so fast. Apple has really dropped their price on both RAM & hard drives on their build to order systems, a 1TB external drive will cost you around $350, and Apple is going to charge you $400... not all that bad, go for it. It wont slow you down.

I do not keep up on hardware at all. And I am currently on only my 2nd Mac, an iMac I just got saturday (2.0ghz refurb for $999). But what is with this Penryn processer that has ppl waiting and waiting and waiting before buying something? Does it shine your shoes and make you breakfast? Seriously, can it really be that much better than whats in the current lineup?

VoodooDaddy said:

I do not keep up on hardware at all. And I am currently on only my 2nd Mac, an iMac I just got saturday (2.0ghz refurb for $999). But what is with this Penryn processer that has ppl waiting and waiting and waiting before buying something? Does it shine your shoes and make you breakfast? Seriously, can it really be that much better than whats in the current lineup?

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I'm not waiting on Penryn, as most everyone seems to agree that Penryn won't mean much in terms of boosting iMac performance. I am waiting to see if the GPU is upgraded. Obviously, the graphics performance doesn't matter much to you, and the ATI 2400/2600 cards are perfectly capable. For some of us, however, a possible GPU upgrade is worth a short wait, even if no source definitively points to such an upgrade.

You got a great deal on your refurb. Congratulations on your new Mac. What's wrong with those of us who'd like a few performance boosts postponing our purchases if signs point to impending updates on systems that first appeared in August 2007? To each his own.

Got a white C2D white (jay leno) 20" 2.16 imac, and upped the ram to 3 gig last week. Got it new in the box for $990, hooked it up to my 22" lcd, and was able to put applecare on it.

Saw two days later that they had the refurbed 20" alums for $9 bucks more, plus tax. Was starting to have buyer's remorse until I got on these forums and saw the relatively minor differences between the two models.

I don't do a lot of high intensity stuff with my mac. I make and review documents, so the dual screens, ability to magnify them, and matte panel make life easier staring at the monitor(s) all day. I was on the internet checking county filings and dockets. Occasionally I'll rip and burn a movie. The difference between parallels on this machine and virtual pc on my dual g5 is night and day for the one or two windows applications that I absolutely have to use.

Yes, I could have stayed with my powermac a while longer, but I was able to sell it and have that cover most of the costs of the new machine. (I like having applecare on my primary system.) My current one is technically last week's flavor, but it serves my needs well. I anticipate it doing the same for some time to come.

For the people who absolutely must have the latest and greatest models, they'll have lots of opportunities to do so with the intel roadmap. For the more budget conscious, there's plenty of opportunities of discontinued/refurbed models at the online apple store or even the local best buy. I'm grateful for a) craigslist, and b) the fact that you can transfer applecare. And chances are, none but the most determined power user will tell the difference between the machines.

Isn't this a great time to be a computer user, and a mac enthusiast?

For my first Mac, i went for the new iMac (2.8Ghz) back in September. I don't regret getting it but sometimes I think to myself, "f***, for the amount of money i spent, I could of easily went for the Mac Pro"...the only difference i faced (that time) is that many people knew the Mac Pro's would get a nice upgrade eventually (and they did: theirs an 8800 series in it...) but it wasn't goin to happen in September and i couldn't wait any longer (I needed a new computer). But then again I tell myself, "well at least i have a 2.8 and it'll take awhile before a new iMac comes in with another extreme-like processor".

In any case, if Apple has them for $1899 as "refurb", then go for it, I don't see why not BUT look at the other options (the Mac Pro for example). Don't listen to this Penryn fiasco, it's annoying. I'd consider it for a laptop (you'll probably save 30-40 min on the battery) but for a desktop, it won't make a big difference. Yes those benchmarks are for the lappy's but you could just imagine to what affect it'll do on the iMacs.

So good luck and let us know how it works out for you! Oh ya and welcome to MacRumors!

mschmitt said:

What's wrong with those of us who'd like a few performance boosts postponing our purchases if signs point to impending updates on systems that first appeared in August 2007? To each his own.

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Nothing whatsoever. But the way ppl talk around here youd think the current lineup is just total trash and the Penryn release is going to solve world hunger, end wars, and cure disease.

this is a loaded question. the price certainly justifies the extra power, but why get a car when a horse will do you just fine?

I certainly enjoy mine and am very glad that I got it. You will be also.

squeeks said:

the 1TB drive is going to be the same speed as a 500gb drive

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This is not true. On higher capacity drives, the data is packed in more densely so the end result is that it can be read/written faster.

Of course, it all depends on the drive, IE how many platters the manufacturer uses, and some other variables.