An iMac On A Shoestring?

[scoostraw]

I want to get a newer iMac (newer than my Intel Core Duo 17" which can only run Snow Leopard). And by necessity I need to do this as inexpensively as possible.

There is one currently for sale on craigs list that intrigues me. It is a 20" Intel core 2 duo 2.40ghz. 3 gb ram, 320 gb hard drive with Mac os El capitan. Apple keyboard and mouse are included. The seller also has some software (iWork) that he is including.

I may be able to get it for something close to $100. I'm thinking I could increase the ram to 6g, and at some point put in an SSD.

I would appreciate any and all thoughts. Thanks!

 

[talmy]

Seems like a good deal to me if it is in good condition. You won't be able to go beyond El Capitan, but that's still much better than what you currently have.

 

[theatremusician]

If it's a model in which you can replace the hard drive from a spinner to SSD and max out the RAM, then you should be able to get some meaningful life from it.

 

[keysofanxiety]

For $100 you can't really go wrong, especially if you max the RAM & throw in an SSD.

If you're looking for something that offers much more longevity than a Core 2 Duo iMac, a 2011 model isn't a bad shout -- max user-upgradeable RAM @32GB, and with an SSD it'll be butter. That would be more expensive though, so as long as you're not breaking the bank, the 20" iMac you're looking at is a solid deal.

 

[scoostraw]

Thanks guys for the feedback. I really appreciate it.

I went and got it today. Paid $120. It's a really nice machine. Already compared to my old one, it is very snappy and quick.

In the process I met a nice man who refurbs machines. Turns out this one he had gotten with no HD. He put in a new drive. And he's giving me 10 days to test-drive.

So yes I'm happy so far. I paid $1100 for my original machine. It blows my mind to be able to pick up something like this for this amount of money. Yes it is not cutting-edge, but man...