Advice on which Imac to buy

[Lexieloula]

Hello!!!! I have read through the threads with interest and would like to ask someone with a lot more knowledge than me for their advice!!!
We have an old , very old XP computer which is almost dead plus our first venture into apple , a Mac book which is 2007 , very very slow and now missing the letter O from its keyboard !
So we have decided that as we now have numerous iPads and iPhones that the best option is to make our next purchase an imac , as the cloud will facilitate ease of sharing photos and music amongst other things.
So the question is ....... We are not a computer literate family , kids play on the xbox as opposed to the computer , we live in rural France where we have the slowest internet which makes netflix and streaming anything to the computer virtually impossible .
It would be used for consolidating all the photos , iTunes library and also invoicing clients , maybe ten a month.
Would the starter 21 inch imac be sufficient for us, or should we consider paying more for the meatier one?
Looking at the posts it looks like the new model won't be out for a while , think I need to go for one now so I can transfer over all the picture etc before the old one dies completely!
Many thanks , Merci beaucoup!!!!
Julie

 

[yjchua95]

Hello!!!! I have read through the threads with interest and would like to ask someone with a lot more knowledge than me for their advice!!!
We have an old , very old XP computer which is almost dead plus our first venture into apple , a Mac book which is 2007 , very very slow and now missing the letter O from its keyboard !
So we have decided that as we now have numerous iPads and iPhones that the best option is to make our next purchase an imac , as the cloud will facilitate ease of sharing photos and music amongst other things.
So the question is ....... We are not a computer literate family , kids play on the xbox as opposed to the computer , we live in rural France where we have the slowest internet which makes netflix and streaming anything to the computer virtually impossible .
It would be used for consolidating all the photos , iTunes library and also invoicing clients , maybe ten a month.
Would the starter 21 inch imac be sufficient for us, or should we consider paying more for the meatier one?
Looking at the posts it looks like the new model won't be out for a while , think I need to go for one now so I can transfer over all the picture etc before the old one dies completely!
Many thanks , Merci beaucoup!!!!
Julie

Bonjour monsieur/mademoiselle,

Given your needs, it looks like the base 21.5" iMac will be suitable for everything you do.

However, the only upgrade I'd suggest is the 1TB Fusion Drive. The Fusion drive will give an enormous benefit in performance compared to the regular 1TB 5400rpm HDD.

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

Bonjour monsieur/mademoiselle,

Given your needs, it looks like the base 21.5" iMac will be suitable for everything you do.

However, the only upgrade I'd suggest is the 1TB Fusion Drive. The Fusion drive will give an enormous benefit in performance compared to the regular 1TB 5400rpm HDD.

I have to disagree on getting the Fusion Drive, my HDD is rocketing.

 

[yjchua95]

I have to disagree on getting the Fusion Drive, my HDD is rocketing.

Yes, but what is rocketing to you can be accelerated to light speed for just a small sum of money. Besides, it'll give a good performance improvement over the long run so that the Mac will always feel as if it's still new even a few years later.

 

[robgendreau]

While SSDs haven't reached starship speeds yet, they certainly are much much faster than rust rockets, i.e. HDDs. http://barefeats.com/imac12d1.html

And in day to day use they feel even faster. But that, of course, depends on how you use it. A pure SSD setup would be better IMHO, but not all can afford that in iMacs. In any case in the future you can add a big external SSD as prices fall.

But I too would recommend a Fusion drive, although extra RAM probably comes first since you can't add that later in a 21" iMac. Here's a good long term look at their benefits: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6679/a-month-with-apples-fusion-drive/5

And consider refurbs; they are generally great deals. The US Apple Store online actually has a 27" 2011 refurb iMac for LESS than a refurb 21" iMac, at $1129 US. I think that's a great deal; you rarely see refurbs that old. Kinda odd, actually, but it has the same graphics card and other features as some 2013 models.