Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

20" iMac new or 20" iMac refurb

A

APPLENEWBIE

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 8, 2006
707
14
The high desert, USA
Decisions decisions....

Which is a better deal:

the previous gen REFURB imac, 20", 2.16 c2d processor, ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory for $1,099

-or-

new gen NEW imac 20", 2.0 c2d processor, ATI radeon HD2400 XT with 128 mb memory. $1,199.

ALL OTHER SPECS BEING EQUAL: WHICH SHOULD I GET? WHY?
 
Having worked on a new 20" iMac at an Apple store during a Keynote session, I'd vote old. Main reason is the screen drove me nuts--a lot of glare.

Bob
 
Naimfan said:
Having worked on a new 20" iMac at an Apple store during an Keynote session, I'd vote old. Main reason is the screen drove me nuts--a lot of glare.

Bob
Click to expand...

new

thinnner,sleeker, aluminum...nicer keyboard...and the glare isnt that bad! people come on..
 
I have an iMac G5 and a new alum one. I love the new one. It is so sleek, quiet, and fast. It is the best mac I ever owned and I have owned 5 of them now.
 
darklyt said:
New because it can use 4 gigs of RAM.
Click to expand...

That is my answer as well.

Old iMac: Napa platform, 667MHz FSB, 3GB Max RAM
New iMac: Santa Rosa platform, 800MHz FSB, 4GB max RAM

I'm not sure if you'll feel the 19% faster FSB seeing as how the CPU is 8% slower. But I'd go with the higher RAM ceiling on the machine.
 
Old iMac vs New iMac

I agree with the previous posters. For the $100 why not buy the newest and greatest?

I have heard a lot of complaints about the monitor. Went to the Apple store and even with the lights overhead, glare was not that bad!

Read a lot of complaints about the keyboard!! LOVED the action of the keys! And people said the white keys and white mouse did not word with the aluminum and glass! Backlighted black keys would be cool, but the color will not affect my typing! (Get a clue people!)

Anyway my money would be on the latest iMac!
 
does LCD panel type matter to you?

The old 20'' iMac uses an S-IPS LCD panel.
The new one uses a TN panel.

The older panel will have greater viewing angles, and is a more expensive type of panel than the TN. TN LCD panels are used in the majority of laptops, btw.

If your work will benefit from increased viewng angles, go for the old one. It's $100 cheaper, and you get an LCD panel that is more expensive than the new one.
 
I just was in that same dilemma and went with a used 20in Core 2 Duo; wireless keyboard and mouse, Apple Care, and upgraded RAM, off eBay for 1000; which is a pretty easy to find price.

I would recommend doing that.

Not sure if I made the right decision yet. Time will tell.

P.S. It comes tomorrow!!!! Sorry; I am really amped!
 
Thanks

Thanks for all the advice. After reading your responses, mulling it over, going back and forth, considering the pro's and con's, I did something completely different!

This computer will be for my office. I currently have a PPC mini. Part of my goal in getting a new machine was to get the ability to have dual monitors. I have a nice 22" Samsung LCD now. So, Last night I noticed on the refurb store they had 17" iMacs ( 2.0 gh, c2d, 1 gb, 160 hd, superdrive machines - oddly with all the iLife 08 stuff loaded) for $850. Being a cheap person I reasoned (reasonably or not) that I can get a pretty good dual monitor setup by using my 22" samsung as the primary screen, and the 17" iMac as the "second screen". So I pulled the trigger on that. I notice they are gone today from the store.

Hope I made the right decision. Thanks again!
 
Score!

Hi there. from the thread above you will see that I tried to decide between a new (aluminum) imac 20" versus a refurb 20". In the end I found a 17" refurb for $850... I price I couldn't refuse.

The 17" was supposed to ship by the 19th. It didn't. So today, I got the following message from Apple: "Thank you for your recent order for a refurbished 17-inch iMac. We do not have inventory of the refurbished model you requested, so we have made a change to your order. We cancelled the refurbished model and added a new 20-inch iMac for the same price as the iMac you originally ordered. The configuration is the same."

I checked the order status and here is what they are sending: IMAC 20/2.16/1G/250/SD/AP/BT-US.

Thank you Apple!
 
FatSweatyBlldog said:
The old 20'' iMac uses an S-IPS LCD panel.
The new one uses a TN panel.

The older panel will have greater viewing angles, and is a more expensive type of panel than the TN. TN LCD panels are used in the majority of laptops, btw.

If your work will benefit from increased viewng angles, go for the old one. It's $100 cheaper, and you get an LCD panel that is more expensive than the new one.
Click to expand...

S-IPS, dont think so...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back