Decisions Decisions Decisions - IMAC Refurb vs Latest IMAC

[aritwik]

I've read these forums over the past few days so that I can make an informed in buying myself a new IMAC. I have drilled down to the two options below - and I'm hoping you folks can influence me to lock down on one of these:

I have three main purposes (outside of regular internet usage and MS Office apps usage)

1. Futureproof - something I can use for the next 3 years.
2. I want to use my IMAC as my main entertainment centerpiece. I want to stream HD quality videos and images from this to my Pioneer plasma screen using the mini DVI connections. I will be looking to use it as a remote desktop to my 1 windows based Dell and 1 macbook.
3. I play a resource hugging game - Football Manager - often and I want something that can run this game smoothly. Other s/w's such as Word, Excel are something that I hope to run seamlessly on my new machine.

From the three requirements I shortlisted my choices to two IMACS.

1. Refurbished iMac 24-inch 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

24-inch glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
500GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512MB memory
Price = 1899 + tax

2. iMac 24-inch 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

24-inch glossy widescreen display
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
640GB Serial ATA Drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB (upgraded)
Price = 2519 + tax

Is the higher price for the new iMac justify the superior specs as shown above.

Also is it possible for me to open up an iMac like a windows based desktop and add h/w upgrades such as graphics card, memory and hard disks easily?

 

[Gaelic2]

Personally, I'd buy the refurbished iMac. The nearly $700 difference doesn't justify the small gain in speed or the slightly larger HD. I would use the difference to buy at least 2Gb of memory and an external firewire HD for backup. Memory is easily installed but not the HD or video card. I hope this helps a bit.

 

[J&JPolangin]

...were are you, those prices are higher than the US?

 

[aritwik]

Located in Canada - prices in CAD.

My other big reason for the new iMac was the video card - which is, from what I've read, the latest-n-greatest ie future-proof.

 

[TSE]

From benchmarks around the internet, the 4850 is only about 10-15% faster than the 8800 in the previous iMac. I would buy the previous generation, and spend the money saved on more RAM and save the money for the next computer you are going to buy.