27" iMac Purchase Advice

[TCrowe]

It is time, I think, to replace my 1,1 Mac Pro as I can only upgrade to Lion the way it sits. I am looking at the Apple iMac ME088LL/A 27-Inch Desktop.

It ships for $2499.00 from Amazon. Photography has been my living for 40 some years and the Mac Pro isn't needed any longer as I am not doing anywhere near the post processing I was doing in the mid 2000's. That plus the fact that I don't want to buy new chips and other items just to upgrade to Yosemite. I have discussed this on the forum and have made a pretty firm decision to get this Mac.

Is there anything I need to know concerning what to look for as to peculiarities or problems that may occur with this if I pull the trigger on this?

Thanks for any consideration.

 

[andy9l]

It is time, I think, to replace my 1,1 Mac Pro as I can only upgrade to Lion the way it sits. I am looking at the Apple iMac ME088LL/A 27-Inch Desktop.

It ships for $2499.00 from Amazon. Photography has been my living for 40 some years and the Mac Pro isn't needed any longer as I am not doing anywhere near the post processing I was doing in the mid 2000's. That plus the fact that I don't want to buy new chips and other items just to upgrade to Yosemite. I have discussed this on the forum and have made a pretty firm decision to get this Mac.

Is there anything I need to know concerning what to look for as to peculiarities or problems that may occur with this if I pull the trigger on this?

Thanks for any consideration.

That model numbers refers to the basic 2013 27" iMac, correct? If that's the case, you can get it shipped straight from Apple for $1,799

However, I would strongly advise you consider some of the upgrades if you already had a $2,499 budget in mind. Or even the new 5K iMac, which, coincidentally, is $2,499.

I would strongly advise against buying a PC or Mac with a spinning hard disk in 2015 (ie. the "1TB Serial ATA Drive"). Go for a Flash storage option (SSD) if you can justify the cost, and use external network/thunderbolt storage if you really need more storage space. A Fusion drive is also an option, but it still ultimately relies on a spinning disk for archives.

Just my opinion, ultimately it's your workflow and your decision.

 

[TCrowe]

These are the listed particulars of the iMac I am looking at:

3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor
8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory; 1 TB Fusion Drive
27-inch (diagonal) Retina display with IPS technology
AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
Mac OS X Yosemite

 

[andy9l]

These are the listed particulars of the iMac I am looking at:

3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor
8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory; 1 TB Fusion Drive
27-inch (diagonal) Retina display with IPS technology
AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
Mac OS X Yosemite

That's the 2014 iMac with Retina 5K display. That doesn't seem to correspond to the model number you originally posted, so be careful when buying.

I would strongly advise you always buy directly from Apple. Here's a link.

With regards to the 5K iMac, for the stuff you're doing, I have no doubts that it will be a wonderful machine.

 

[ixxx69]

These are the listed particulars of the iMac I am looking at:

3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor
8GB (two 4GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 memory; 1 TB Fusion Drive
27-inch (diagonal) Retina display with IPS technology
AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor with 2GB of GDDR5 memory
Mac OS X Yosemite

Nice computer - that's the Retina!

I agree with Andy about the SSD, but the Fusion is a fine compromise (small SSD + large HDD).

 

[TCrowe]

I have pretty much retired from the day to day client side photography. Now I shoot pretty much for myself and work on post processing others photographs which gives me a cushion for this purchase.

I looked at the Apple link and I can see the differences that both of you mentioned and, you're correct about the vagaries of non-Apple dealers. It is sometimes an iffy proposition. I had looked at the $1799.00 computer and didn't care for that set up for what I use it for. Wasn't sure about the fusion aspect of it so came here to ask. The MP 1,1 has been nothing short of spectacular as I added 8 GB of RAM before I ever turned it on. Kind of bitter sweet to relegate it to the closet but time moves on and so do I.

I will buy from Apple and go for the machine you linked to. I will keep you apprised as I move forward with this. Thank you for taking your time to lend a hand. crowe