Diff between this refurb and iMAc?

[JVanasco23]

Hi gurus,

I desperately need a desktop - right now I'm working on an Air and I just don't have enough memory. I am looking to buy a 21 iMAc with 1T memory...I'm leaning toward the standard one with education pricing, but there is also this older, refurbished one - I don't understand how the older one's performance differs. Help? Is the newer one worth the extra $300? Does the i3/i5 divide make much of a difference? I only buy a new computer about once every 3-4 years.


New

21.5-inch: 2.7GHz

2.7GHz Intel Core i5
1920 x 1080 resolution
4GB (two 2GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
ATI Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB

In Stock
Free Shipping
$1,399.00


vs.

Old

Refurbished iMac 21.5-inch 3.2GHz Intel Core i3 processor

Originally released July 2010
21.5-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen display
4GB memory
1TB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics with 512MB memory
Built-in iSight camera

1099.00

 

[NutsNGum]

New one's a quad. Technically much better, I would go for that one, but it depends on whether you have $300 to spare.

 

[iParis]

I guess it all depends on what you're going to be using it for. But yes, if the processors were tested to the best of their abilities, you'd see a huge difference. Especially since I think the refurb model has a dual-core i3 and the new model has a quad-core i5.

 

[lamboman]

Is that from Apple themselves? Their refurb prices are always ridiculously high. I would stay well clear and just buy the new i5 model.

 

[JVanasco23]

But can you really tell?

Thank you!

In what way better, though? Faster? I'm wondering if anyone with hands-on experience has really felt a difference.

I do light video editing, a bunch of audio editing, and a lot of photoshopping

 

[416049]

New one's a quad. Technically much better, I would go for the newer one, but it depends on whether you have $300 to spare.

Exactly adding on to this the graphics card of the new one is better 5000 vs 6000 ati series.

And yes if you render anything heavier pics in photoshop or use aperture/lightroom you will definitly see a difference between i5 and i3.

EDIT: you will see a difference I5 vs i3 in video editing definitly as well as photoshop. also converting songs into diffrent formats in audio editing will be faster (in terms of time)

 

[JVanasco23]

I guess it all depends on what you're going to be using it for. But yes, if the processors were tested to the best of their abilities, you'd see a huge difference. Especially since I think the refurb model has a dual-core i3 and the new model has a quad-core i5.

OK, this is helpful, thank you!

 

[iParis]

Thank you!

In what way better, though? Faster? I'm wondering if anyone with hands-on experience has really felt a difference.

I do light video editing, a bunch of audio editing, and a lot of photoshopping

Then you will definitely want the newest model. Hell, you could get the one that's a model down and still be better than the refurb.

EDIT: Just remembered the whole hard drive thing, but other than that you're still better off with the newer one.

 

[corvus32]

Is that from Apple themselves? Their refurb prices are always ridiculously high. I would stay well clear and just buy the new i5 model.

My experience may not be typical, but when I ordered my refurbished iMac (the one in my sig) it happened to come with two unexpected BTO options that were not listed - 2GB of VRAM and 8GB of RAM. If ordered new from Apple and factoring in a 7% sales tax, this machine would have cost me $3209. Instead, I paid $2450. That's a huge savings.