Details on my new iMac, your help and opinions??

[Joe888]

So i just found out that my grandparents bought me a new iMac for Christmas..its a 20 inch 2.4 GHz, 4GB memory, 320 GB hard drive...it will be my first mac! I know that Macworld is like 3 weeks away but hey, if im gettin a new iMac for free im pretty sure i can deal with this generation How long do you think this iMac will last?..some people say you only get about 3 years out of your Mac before it becomes slow and starts to lag? Your opinions/help and suggestions are appreciated! thanks.

 

[richard.mac]

who said it would lag? OS X wont slow down unless you fill up the whole hard drive or install lots an lots of applications that take up all your RAM slowing down your computer.

you wont need a new Mac until the components die which could be up to 3/4 years or even more if you look after it. or you will want newer faster technology which you cant put a time limit on.

 

[notquiteanewbie]

The question will always be, what are you planning on using the computer for now and in 3 years? An upgrade is not always necessary. For the average user or even the guy that fires up photoshop once a week for simple edits, most computers today are overkill. If you plan on always upgrading to the latest OS or application software of course you'll see an advantage. The new software is designed to take advantage of it. If the old software really meets all your needs is an upgrade necessary? The 'need' for an upgrade is really up to you.

I say this because like you I recently bought a new iMac, 20" 2.6ghz core 2 2gb 320gb so similar setup.

I previously had my 2.4C Ghz Pentium 4 overclocked to 3ghz with 2gb ram, sata hard drives ect ect. (4 years old) I certainly didn't 'need' to upgrade to the iMac. I could have easily thrown in a faster processor, some more ram and faster hard drives for less than half the price of the iMac. I upgraded anyway because it was right for me.

To answer the other question if it will lag in a few years, most operating systems will. Great time to back up, reinstall the os and do maintenance and spring cleaning, your system will be as good as new again.

 

[rick3000]

There will probably be slight speed bumps at MacWorld, but nothing that will affect daily useage. I have had both my iBook and eMac for 4.5 years, the average life span of a Mac seems to be about 4 before it starts to get outdated by the software and noticeable slower than new computers. Some people upgrade more often to have the latest and greatest (not me).

I actually know a few people that still use colored iMacs (8 years old). I'll also add, that since I got eMac in April 2004, my parents have gone through 3 PC's. I have finally converted them and their next computer will be a mac.

Congrats on a free iMac!

 

[Joe888]

thats true, i should be fine with the one im getting im only using it for surfing the web and school work...another question i have is..is there any way you could hook up a wireless bluetooth headset that you would use for a cellphone to your iMac and use it with iChat and things like that?

 

[Cboss]

I don't see why it wouldn't work since iMacs have bluetooth built in unlike some PCs. If you are just using it for iChat I find that the built-in mic on my Macbook works great and you probably wouldn't need the headset.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

You'll get 5 years out of it no problem. The only reason the machine would slow down in the future is because software requirements will be too much for it. Don't worry about that, I still have a number of Macs 5+ years old running Tiger and still doing a fine job.