Buying a used iMac - Questions

[JGC1986]

I am looking to buy a used 24" iMac - and the one I have found is an early 2008 with a Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz processor, 4GB RAM, and 640GB hard drive.

I don't believe it can be upgraded to Sierra OS (It has El Captain 10.1) and I believe 4GB is teh max amount of RAM it can handle. Also, can it handle a bluetooth keyboard/mouse?

What should I be looking for before I buy this, and how much should I spend on a unit like this? Condition is almost perfect. Not going to be doing any resource intensive tasks on the PC just watching movies and surfing the web.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Even streaming HD video takes processing and GPU power. I would steer clear of a 2008. It's no longer supported, slow. Very likely will run into issues like choppy video b/c of the processor. A 2012 2.7 i5 w/o mouse and keyboard can be had for $500. To me that is a better deal for a more reliable computer with more life and still not terribly expensive. Also for TV viewing the 2008 isn't HD or w/ a great viewing angle.

 

[JGC1986]

Gotcha, thanks for your reply!

My other option is a Mid 2010 iMac 21.5" 650GB hard drive, 128GB solid state with OS installed, and 8GB of RAM, 3.03GHz processor

 

[EugW]

I am looking to buy a used 24" iMac - and the one I have found is an early 2008 with a Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz processor, 4GB RAM, and 640GB hard drive.

I don't believe it can be upgraded to Sierra OS (It has El Captain 10.1) and I believe 4GB is teh max amount of RAM it can handle. Also, can it handle a bluetooth keyboard/mouse?

What should I be looking for before I buy this, and how much should I spend on a unit like this? Condition is almost perfect. Not going to be doing any resource intensive tasks on the PC just watching movies and surfing the web.

I think that is iMac8,1 has the Nvidia 8800GS and I think that does full hardware h.264 decode but you might want to confirm that. That would be important for movie watching.

If it is iMac8,1 then it is limited to OS X 10.11 but I believe the Sierra 10.12 installer can be hacked to install Sierra on it. It will work but I believe WiFi doesn’t work.

Also, while the official RAM limit is 4 GB, it can run 6 GB using one 2 GB module and one 4 GB module. 4 GB is pretty limiting, even just for surfing.

Also, if it has no SSD, it will feel slow.

Ultimately, unless you are getting it dirt cheap, I’d stick with with something more recent for compatibility reasons, and with more RAM and an SSD. That mid 2010 sounds decent, esp. given that it has 8 GB RAM and an SSD already. No upgrades needed.

 

[Fishrrman]

For watching movies?

You don't want anything with less than a 27" display.

My opinion only.

 

[JGC1986]

For watching movies?

You don't want anything with less than a 27" display.

My opinion only.

If I could afford a 27" :lol: