Confused about what iMac to get for final year in college

[Cyril23]

which is better for college a 21.5" iMac with 2.9GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -2X8GB and 256GB Flash Storage or 21.5" or iMac with 2.9GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -2XGB and 256GB Flash Storage? and which one will run faster than the other? and is it worth to max the 512gb ssd and when i max it will it run quickly with 16gbram?
i hate slow computers no matter what programs am running.

plz help out.

will appreciate all feedback.

 

[AirBeagle]

which is better for college a 21.5" iMac with 2.9GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -2X8GB and 256GB Flash Storage or 21.5" or iMac with 2.9GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -2XGB and 256GB Flash Storage? and which one will run faster than the other? and is it worth to max the 512gb ssd and when i max it will it run quickly with 16gbram?
i hate slow computers no matter what programs am running.

plz help out.

will appreciate all feedback.

I'm not an expert by any stretch, but if I read that correctly, the only difference between the two configurations you're looking at is whether to go with 8 GB or 16 GB? If so, I think it's a no-brainer that the one with 16GB will run more quickly...

 

[talmy]

Considering that it cannot be upgraded in the future, you might as well buy all you can afford now, which would be the 16GB RAM model. You didn't say what you will be using it for, so I can't make any recommendation based on usage. This applies to the SSD size as well. 256GB might be plenty for you. I know it wouldn't be for me. But at least with an iMac you can always attach an external hard drive if you need it -- media files take lots of space but don't need or use the speed of an SSD.

 

[Cyril23]

Yes 256gb ssd is enough for me because i only store alot of microsoft office and pdf files mostly and a little music and movies. I'll be a first mac user since i have never used any mac before and mostly the imac 21.5 inch is the one i have liked alot because of the screen size for easy reading,i have been a windows user since then so i wanted to know too, how fun is os x and is it easy to use? i will mostly use the mac for editing word docs and excel sheets and heavy internet browsing so what are your recommendations? i open too many web tabs at once and i read alot.

 

[talmy]

Opening lots of web tabs consumes lots of RAM, making the 16GB attractive. You aren't running anything that is CPU/GPU intensive so probably won't see much performance difference across the various options other than the faster boot and program loading times from the SSD over the hard drive.

You might not be happy with the Mac if you are primarily using Microsoft Office. I use both Macs and Windows machines (Linux, too, but that's another story) and find Office on the Mac annoying in that the user interface is somewhat different, especially if you use keyboard shortcuts. Unless you use Windows Explorer, the browsing experience will be the same. Where the Mac comes into its own is when you start using applications designed specifically for the Mac. Look at threads here about "essential" applications. I've got a web page on what I use: http://almy.us/macsoftware.html.

 

[Cyril23]

So what do you recommend me getting the imac 21.5 inch or i should just go for a macbook air 2013 13 inch end with 8gb ram?

 

[12vElectronics]

So what do you recommend me getting the imac 21.5 inch or i should just go for a macbook air 2013 13 inch end with 8gb ram?

One is a desktop and the other is a laptop. Seems like you don't know what you want?

 

[Cyril23]

I want a mac for school thats all so what you recommend?

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I want a mac for school thats all so what you recommend between imac and macbook air?

 

[talmy]

Most students prefer notebook computers so that they can take them to class. However if you need to do lots of work on the computer and don't mind being tethered to a desk, a desktop system has much better ergonomics so will be less tiring and likely to cause physical ailments (but you are probably young and strong!)

 

[MartinAppleGuy]

I'm not an expert by any stretch, but if I read that correctly, the only difference between the two configurations you're looking at is whether to go with 8 GB or 16 GB? If so, I think it's a no-brainer that the one with 16GB will run more quickly...

The speed deference between 8 and 16 would be negligible (onlnly really noticeable when transferring or copying files), it would only increase the amount of program's that can be open at one point. OSX Mavericks runs at 1.8Gb, and I can have ever program open on my 8Gb machine and not have a problemo.

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I'm not an expert by any stretch, but if I read that correctly, the only difference between the two configurations you're looking at is whether to go with 8 GB or 16 GB? If so, I think it's a no-brainer that the one with 16GB will run more quickly...

Plus 8Gb of ram with ram compression acts as 12Gb. So it is not a question of 8 Vs 16; more 12 Vs 24. I love that the 64Gb MP will act as a 96Gb of RAM device when using ram compression

 

[YMark]

which is better for college a 21.5" iMac with 2.9GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -2X8GB and 256GB Flash Storage or 21.5" or iMac with 2.9GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -2XGB and 256GB Flash Storage? and which one will run faster than the other? and is it worth to max the 512gb ssd and when i max it will it run quickly with 16gbram?
i hate slow computers no matter what programs am running.

plz help out.

will appreciate all feedback.

Hopefully you'll appreciate me telling you that as you enter your final year of college, you really should write like a senior in college.

That being said.... as a college student a laptop will be much more valuable and convenient than a desktop.

 

[talmy]

Hopefully you'll appreciate me telling you that as you enter your final year of college, you really should write like a senior in college.

Come on now! Scholarly posts in most forums are rare and not expected.