That's pretty good then, buy the "cheap" Mini and put in 4GB RAM from 3rd party, and you're golden. All you lack from the more expensive version is the 2.26 CPU then, which one could live without for that price
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Apple Announces New iMacs, Mac Minis, AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule
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That's pretty good then, buy the "cheap" Mini and put in 4GB RAM from 3rd party, and you're golden. All you lack from the more expensive version is the 2.26 CPU then, which one could live without for that price
They do - it's called the Clearance store. You can get the 24"/2.8 and 20"/2.4 for discounts of $400 and $200 respectively. Or you can get a 24"/2.8 refurb for an amazing $600 discount ($1200).
I just picked up a 20"/2.66 refurb for my kids for $500 less than a new one was selling for yesterday. I would have loved to get the 24"/2.8, which is what I have on my desktop, but we don't have enough room in our work area for another 24", so the 20" will have to do.
They'll love it as they'll be moving up from a Dell P4/3.06 running XP. They have been drooling over my iMac for 5 months!
I was shocked as well when i first saw the UK prices. They seemed absolutely extortionate. But sadly when you examine them in detail they are bang on what they should be. For once the UK ISN'T paying more than america for macs. In fact it is arguably less once tax is taken into account. i.e Low end American iMac price converted to pounds add the VAT is £981
I mean, perhaps Apple should have taken a margins hit instead, but if the prices had stayed the same, the UK would have been getting a much better deal than the USA which wouldn't have made much sense. I mean the prices look horrendous and I felt that too, but in actual fact it just rubs in how much the Government have managed to **** up Sterling. Blame them, not Apple imho.
I mean, perhaps Apple should have taken a margins hit instead, but if the prices had stayed the same, the UK would have been getting a much better deal than the USA which wouldn't have made much sense. I mean the prices look horrendous and I felt that too, but in actual fact it just rubs in how much the Government have managed to **** up Sterling. Blame them, not Apple imho.
Sorry old bean, I didn't realise that reasonably priced Apple products were only for Americans.
Excellent - I may be tapping you for information very soon!
Feel free.. Insanelymac is a good resource too.
You can't be serious with that reply? So I could compare a bottom-end Mac mini to a Dell XPS and say "both do the work I need a computer to do". The XPS will do it a lot faster, but hey, the mini will finish encoding this HD movie eventually right!
alexisV said:
So you've opened this gen iMac already and checked?
I know the 17" MBP does, but never heard anyone call iMac density "insane" before. That and density doesn't really improve performance.Is the case of these macs identical to the old ones, meaning I need a putty knife to upgrade the HDD/Ram?
And why is there so much antipathy for using HDMI instead of mini-DVI? if you need DVI, you need an adapter regardless; it's the difference of having 2 adapters instead of 1 if you're wanting to use HDMI. (Unless there's a mini-DVI to HDMI adapter out there somewhere).
I'll probably wait a couple of months but I suspect by summertime I'll own a mac mini finally.
And why is there so much antipathy for using HDMI instead of mini-DVI? if you need DVI, you need an adapter regardless; it's the difference of having 2 adapters instead of 1 if you're wanting to use HDMI. (Unless there's a mini-DVI to HDMI adapter out there somewhere).
I'll probably wait a couple of months but I suspect by summertime I'll own a mac mini finally.
Hackintosh here I come
Looks like the iMac is exactly the same as last year: same display (not LED backlit), same impossible to upgrade hard drive and, perhaps most lame of all, still a dual core processor. This refresh delivered NONE of my requirements to buy.
The mini got a new graphics card, FW800 and a second display port. For a machine that's mostly used as a server, word processor or center of a home theatre it seems weird to have a second display port, and ridiculous that one isn't HDMI.
This refresh was a complete failure. For the first time in 8 years I'm going to buy a PC. I've got two friends running Leopard on PCs so it shouldn't be hard.
Looks like the iMac is exactly the same as last year: same display (not LED backlit), same impossible to upgrade hard drive and, perhaps most lame of all, still a dual core processor. This refresh delivered NONE of my requirements to buy.
The mini got a new graphics card, FW800 and a second display port. For a machine that's mostly used as a server, word processor or center of a home theatre it seems weird to have a second display port, and ridiculous that one isn't HDMI.
This refresh was a complete failure. For the first time in 8 years I'm going to buy a PC. I've got two friends running Leopard on PCs so it shouldn't be hard.
I hope you weren't thinking I was an American, but i completely agree with you, especially the problems with energy companies. With Apple even when the £ was strong against the $ it did not reflect the exchange rate at all, companies can be so hypocritical 'we had to raise the price due to materials and the market' but don't do the opposite when prices dip.
Same i was looking to buy a mini but not anymore, i seriously think Apple is loosing touch and the power has gone to their heads with fanboys, who will buy anything new and shiny, just fuelling it.
That only matters if you are buying in a British store with American dollars. It is simply more money for them. Their salaries stayed the same. So, macs are more expensive.
Seems like there are a lot of disappointed people out there, I'm NOT one of them. I just purchased the high end iMac and can't wait for it to arrive. I'll be upgrading from my G4 125Ghz desklamp with 1GB of Ram. I'm pretty sure it will be a noticeable upgrade!!!
The high end iMac is quite a bit cheaper than yesterday's high end and you do get a memory, graphics and storage bump.
Very Happy!
Nice Job!
No graphics bump, the GT130 is a 8800 GS rebranded two times (8800 GS -> 9600 GSO -> GT130 )
You were wrong Jim, and I'm not surprised. Surely it was obvious to everyone (except you) that these upgrades were going to occur.
Linux would be a third option...
And quickly becoming the only option, between Microsoft's lame OS and Apple's lame hardware.
That's pretty good then, buy the "cheap" Mini and put in 4GB RAM from 3rd party, and you're golden. All you lack from the more expensive version is the 2.26 CPU then, which one could live without for that price
Actually the top end mini is stock with 2Ghz. I would do the ram and bump the processor. Pay the same as the high end but have a better unit. Except for HDD but thats why god invented externals for media storage.
Fair point that it is equal now but before it was not, the pricing was not equal or fair compared to american pricing. anyone with the fall in £ you do realise that means more people coming to shop in the UK, have you heard the stories of people in Ireland crossing the boarder just to do weekly shopping.
Well it definitely has not been as worse as what the previous government did, when we had to pull the £ out of the ERM!
Lemme ask you this: Is the hardware/software setup from Apple reliable?
From what i've heard Apple's OS is streamlined to run with the hardware they choose to use in the imac, mini, etc. I build my own Pc's and I can tell you that I'm sick of defective DOA motherboards, memory, and other components coming from manufacturers.
I have two PC's waiting for new parts because of failing parts. Every time I receive replacements something is dead, piss poor QC'in on the manufacturer end.
This is my main reason for considering an imac even with the older specs. I don't want to run a hacked system (meaning Hackintosh) with PC parts that will possibly fail. From what I see, Apple hardware seems to be lasting longer than most...But maybe that is because there are more PC users...I dont know...just a thought.
The other great part is applecare. With PC components you have to RMA, which is a pain in the ass; pay for shipping, wait, receive it dead again...
any thoughts?
That's not all it's cracked up to be, though....
I've honestly never really had a Windows PC I could do much upgrading of, either, despite the supposedly upgradable CPU, video, etc.
First, it was the switch from AGP to PCIe video slots that forced me to get a new motherboard, just so I could use a current video card. Then it was different RAM needed to work with said new motherboard. Then it was transitioning to a Core 2 Duo type CPU, which didn't fit in the slot my old Pentium 4 plugged into.....
I've really grown to realize that "expandability" sounds great on paper, but isn't usually helping you much in reality - the way the industry keeps changing pin configurations of chips, power supply requirements, RAM speeds and types, and slot types.
I've honestly never really had a Windows PC I could do much upgrading of, either, despite the supposedly upgradable CPU, video, etc.
First, it was the switch from AGP to PCIe video slots that forced me to get a new motherboard, just so I could use a current video card. Then it was different RAM needed to work with said new motherboard. Then it was transitioning to a Core 2 Duo type CPU, which didn't fit in the slot my old Pentium 4 plugged into.....
I've really grown to realize that "expandability" sounds great on paper, but isn't usually helping you much in reality - the way the industry keeps changing pin configurations of chips, power supply requirements, RAM speeds and types, and slot types.