A new guy looking for help buying my first Mac!

[I'm a Newbie]

Hi guys, I'm new to the whole Mac scene and am just looking to dip my feet into the water and get some opinions/facts.

After many years of resisting the temptation I've finally decided to jump ship and buy my first iMac (in fact, my first Apple product!).

I want to start producing video content for a small independent project I'm working on. Nothing massively intensive, mainly three or four minute game video reviews/previews etc.

I used iMacs/Final Cut Express throughout my time at university and believe it's the best option for me (particularly in my price range).

I have a rough idea of what I want. It'll definitely be 21.5 inch base model (I'm poor sadly), but I'm torn between the 2011 model and the recently announced and soon to be released 2012 model.

The 2011 iMac comes with a potentially useful optical drive, faster HDD and can be upgraded.

However the 2012 model boasts a faster CPU, bigger HDD and a better graphics card.

I suppose my question is, will the slower RPM in the newer unit impact my editing and if so, is it worth the trade off for the slightly better machine?

I know it isn't the most powerful machine in the world (far from it) but I think both would serve my needs.

Anyone got any thoughts, something I haven't thought about etc.?

I'd appreciate any responses and thank you for taking the time to read my post.

Cheers,
Nick


PS I'd upgrade the older model to 8GB so they'll both have the same RAM and cost about the same amount.

 

[I8P'CS]

What is puzzling is the £100/$100 increase on the 21.5" and lesser components included. It's as if Apple are laughing thinking don"t worry our isheep will buy this.

This company has $100b just sitting in the bank yet they are taking advantage of the new found popularity of IOS and are are ripping customers off. Don't get me started on the 128GB on the new Retiba MBPS that cost £1449. Really Apple really!?! Where is the value in these new products?!? Oh they are "thinner". Then they only offer a 2 year extended warranty. If they had confidence in their premium product why not offer a longer warranty?!? As you can see Apple are ******* me off.

For me 2011 imac is better value at this time. Plus the speed gain are minimal compared to the 2012 model. If you want to stare at the computer from the back and see the "thin edges" and bulge by all means purchase the 2012 model that looks just like the 2011 model face on but cost more for less.

 

[Mike Valmike]

The 2011 iMac comes with a potentially useful optical drive, faster HDD and can be upgraded.

Hi and welcome to the land of Macs! I would suggest going with the 2012 iMac and getting a CTO upgrade to an SSD drive. Given your usage, you will benefit from that more than anything. I suggest using an external Thunderbolt RAID array like the LaCie Little Big Disk for your video asset storage because you'll need the space and you'll get the most effective allocation of the correct hardware for the job with your particular content. Doing an internal HDD or even a fusion drive represents a compromise in your expected usage that frankly will frustrate the crap out of you and make you wish you had done it the other way to begin with. I bought an older iMac primarily for video work and these were the conclusions I reached after trying to go the cheaper route up front to save a buck, only to realize...

Anyway good luck!

 

[zarf2007]

Hi and welcome to the land of Macs! I would suggest going with the 2012 iMac and getting a CTO upgrade to an SSD drive. Given your usage, you will benefit from that more than anything. I suggest using an external Thunderbolt RAID array like the LaCie Little Big Disk for your video asset storage because you'll need the space and you'll get the most effective allocation of the correct hardware for the job with your particular content. Doing an internal HDD or even a fusion drive represents a compromise in your expected usage that frankly will frustrate the crap out of you and make you wish you had done it the other way to begin with. I bought an older iMac primarily for video work and these were the conclusions I reached after trying to go the cheaper route up front to save a buck, only to realize...

Anyway good luck!

yes, and while your at it buy a ferrari as that is just as cheap....jeez did you see he was on a budget? what TB RAID enclosure do you know about that is cheaper than $1000?

For this reason I would get the latest iMac as you can add an external USB3 drive for storage and have the benefit of fast storage for a reasonable price.

Also definitely have an SSD as your main OS/apps drive if you can stretch to it, its the thing that will definitely give you the biggest performance increase followed by memory.

 

[Mike Valmike]

yes, and while your at it buy a ferrari as that is just as cheap....jeez did you see he was on a budget? what TB RAID enclosure do you know about that is cheaper than $1000?

The one I named, the LaCie LBD. If you're producing video and expecting to make money at it, this is not a budget buster. If your budget isn't up to that level, you aren't going to make money producing video. Just MHO.

 

[jvmxtra]

If aesthetic is important and you have money for it, then go for new imac 27 2012 w/ best guts you can get.

IF not, look for superb bargain on 2011 imac 27 (refurb from apple) and upgrade SSD and memory yourself. If above is not that important then this is the best deal until retina imac comes.