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Buy iMac now?

Soulflower

Soulflower

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 17, 2011
186
29
Lost my iMac in a tornado in February. I'm going to replace it but I've been waiting for the new release of iMacs before purchasing a new one.

I have a MBP so I can wait and I like to get the newest model possible but sometimes I'm just ready to buy and use it.

Buy....Wait....Buy....Wait.... :confused::confused:

How much difference is expected?
 
Buy not buy. Wait & see. Wait & not buy. Been there three years.

Soulflower said:
Lost my iMac in a tornado in February. I'm going to replace it but I've been waiting for the new release of iMacs before purchasing a new one.

I have a MBP so I can wait and I like to get the newest model possible but sometimes I'm just ready to buy and use it.

Buy....Wait....Buy....Wait.... :confused::confused:

How much difference is expected?
Click to expand...

High. I went through the same hell...that lasted two years. So two weeks ago I took the plunge after saying to myself "Fu...Haswell, updates, bigger SSD and this and that". I bought a brand new 27, i5 3.2, 1Tb fusion drive and that's it. After much searching, reading and waiting for the next better thing, I saw I would never buy. Let's say Haswell iMac are for late august as it possible. Right after you buy your Haswell, you'll tell yourself "What if I had waited until June 2014? Not so far away after all. Maybe Apple will add 48 gig Ram and 10Tb fusion drive". This thinking never ends. Believe me, I went there and got stuck in there fore two years if not three. So you want a new iMac: buy one now cause there'll always be a better computer "in the next months". Again: wait & see is a good attitude until it becomes wait & don't act.
 
pretty much what he is saying!

Got the new 27" iMac few weeks back. Was contemplating waiting for the next release, but then I realised this is a never ending story. Buy now and have fun!
 
The other thing is, have a think on what it is you actually *need* rather than just having better specs for the sake of it.

So, let's assume 802.11ac wifi is coming. If you connect with Ethernet anyway, what's the point??? And no-one really *needs* Haswell. It consumers more power (not less) and is only very marginally faster, to the point that only benchmarks would show a difference. Or 29 minutes instead of 30 minutes on a video transcode perhaps.

So what else? PCI-based SSD? (Assuming it's coming). Would you notice a difference with that? In day to day use, unlikely.

If there's something you *need*, then waiting makes sense. Otherwise?...
 
if you have the money wait for the release of the haswell iMac and buy it. You will have the newest model with 7xx dGPU wifi ac, better ssd and fusion drive i hope non-issues 27" imacs
 
I agree with most on this thread. If you need it buy it. It is so easy to get caught up in, "but the next one might have..."

I'm actually buying one next weekend. Waiting for tax free weekend, not the next rumor! :)

Good luck with your decision!
 
Yesterday was tax free weekend. I bought it. I think I paid tax though.
 
historyteacher said:
I agree with most on this thread. If you need it buy it. It is so easy to get caught up in, "but the next one might have..."

I'm actually buying one next weekend. Waiting for tax free weekend, not the next rumor! :)

Good luck with your decision!
Click to expand...

Hi, haha! This might sound a little funny.... But, what exactly is tax free weekend? Is that every state in the USA or just your state? I've been waiting to buy for 3 years now but want the greatest and latest.
 
imjoee said:
Hi, haha! This might sound a little funny.... But, what exactly is tax free weekend? Is that every state in the USA or just your state? I've been waiting to buy for 3 years now but want the greatest and latest.
Click to expand...

I think there are like 10 states that participate in tax free weekend. I might have that number off, just thought I remembered hearing that. Please correct me someone if I am wrong.

It's basically no sales tax (except local) on all back to school stuff. Computers, clothes, office stuff. Not a huge deal if you are buying n some pencils, but $2000 computers make it worth while.

Aren't there some states that don't have sales tax ever?
 
historyteacher said:
I think there are like 10 states that participate in tax free weekend. I might have that number off, just thought I remembered hearing that. Please correct me someone if I am wrong.

It's basically no sales tax (except local) on all back to school stuff. Computers, clothes, office stuff. Not a huge deal if you are buying n some pencils, but $2000 computers make it worth while.

Aren't there some states that don't have sales tax ever?
Click to expand...

Tax free weekend states. Something common about these states I just can't put my finger on it.

Alabama
Arkansas
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Iowa
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
Missouri
New Mexico
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont (proposed)
Virginia
 
I agree that you'll always be hearing about the next one, so get it when you need it. I'm ready to get a new iMac right now but I'm waiting only because the rumours are saying August. I'm at university so not only do I get discount but there's a £70 iTunes/App Store credit until early September as well when purchasing a new Mac. I'd like one now but for the sake of getting the latest I can wait just one month. But if we're in late August and no sign of it, I'll purchase the current model. That way I'll get the store credit plus a great Mac.

Summary: I don't recommend getting caught up in the wait for the latest all the time, though sometimes it makes sense if it ties in with a deal or if you're confident it's only weeks away.
 
historyteacher said:
I think there are like 10 states that participate in tax free weekend. I might have that number off, just thought I remembered hearing that. Please correct me someone if I am wrong.

It's basically no sales tax (except local) on all back to school stuff. Computers, clothes, office stuff. Not a huge deal if you are buying n some pencils, but $2000 computers make it worth while.

Aren't there some states that don't have sales tax ever?
Click to expand...
I think you're right, I just searched it and it was somewhere around 10, mainly southern states. Maryland and Delaware have absolutely no tax, I always wonder why people neighboring those states don't just drive an extra 40 miles to buy their cars so they don't get taxed a couple grand. I've always wondered If the government knows that people do that.
 
imjoee said:
Maryland and Delaware have absolutely no tax, I always wonder why people neighboring those states don't just drive an extra 40 miles to buy their cars so they don't get taxed a couple grand. I've always wondered If the government knows that people do that.
Click to expand...

People do, but most are technically still on the hook for the sales tax. For example, I live in Massachusetts; New Hampshire, which has no sales tax, is just a short trip to the North. However, Massachusetts has a "use tax" which essentially states that you have to pay sales tax on anything purchased and brought into Massachusetts if you haven't already paid that sales tax in the state where it was purchased.

Also, if I were to buy an item in another state having either a lower or higher sales tax than Massachusetts then I'd either have to pay the difference in tax or I'd be eligible for a refund of my overpaid sales tax.

Massachusetts seems to know that not many people are going to keep track of all their out of state purchases (to include internet orders) so they offer something called a safe harbor tax which will cover your out of state purchases. This safe harbor tax is based on a percentage of your earnings and is usually less than you would pay if you itemized all your purchases. This safe harbor tax doesn't apply to big ticket items (>$1000 ?); you still have to itemize those out of state purchases.

Funny thing is not many people I talk to even seem to know they are supposed to be paying this tax. A colleague even told me that her paid tax preparer asked her "Did you make any out of state purchases this year?" all the while shaking his head side to side to encourage her to answer "no" so he could file her taxes as such and get her a bigger return.

We do have a tax free weekend coming in August so I'll likely wait until then to replace my 2007 iMac.
 
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