between these... (one last time)

[Muncher]

I'm definitely not getting a Macbook with the battery life it has now... maybe after Penryn. So right now I'm looking at these three imac configurations:

1. 17" iMac refurb @ 1049
2. 17" iMac w/edu discount + 2.16Ghz C2D + 250 HDD @ 1257
3. 20" iMac refurb @ 1299

As you can see, choice one is a good deal 'cause then I could get a decent display with the $250 saved, and still have mulah left over. 2 and 3 are the same, except for the difference in display size. I'm leaning towards the 20", because I don't want to have to buy a second display to get the same screen size as the 20 (what I want). 1299 is a little much for me, so is the screen size worth it?

 

[zero2dash]

#3
get the 20" or you'll regret it later; it's a fact of life with display size - you always want bigger.

 

[justG]

#3

 

[volntitan]

Other than the HDD size, is there a big difference btwn option #1 and option #2 spec wise?

 

[TheAnswer]

Go with #3...that screen real estate is priceless. 17" just feels squashed. I know, I bought one for a friend and every time I go over for tech support I don't know how people survive with less that a 20" screen.

 

[zero2dash]

Other than the HDD size, is there a big difference btwn option #1 and option #2 spec wise?

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...mm=browse&mco=CFF34D5F&node=home/desktop/imac

The base 17" has Intel GMA 950 which is integrated graphics, 512mb ram and a combo drive.

The 17" 2.0/2.16 ghz cpu has a Radeon X1600 graphics card, 1gig of ram and a SuperDrive.

Those are the bigger differences there.

He's spec'ing out a 17" 2 gig and updating the cpu for $100 to a 2.16.

 

[Muncher]

Both 17" iMacs are the 2.0Ghz versions.

The only differences (I believe) between the upper 17" and 20" (not including display size) are:

2.0 vs. 2.16Ghz processor
160 vs. 250GB HDD

In short, 2 and 3 are identical internally.

 

[Andrew D.]

My vote goes for #3. Size does matter when it comes to an iMac, oh yeah. Good luck!