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First time Mac buyer would like to be sold on the idea of switching

S

sharpend

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 16, 2010
4
0
I currently have a Dell XPS 600 P4 3.8GHz, 250GB, 1GB RAM...about 6 years old! It still works pretty well (especially for a 5+ year old PC), but is getting slow and my hard drives are filling up. Also my 20" monitor is showing signs of old age and is bound to die soon.

So, I'm looking at an iMac and I'm convinced a refurb is the best way to go. Just want to make sure I pull the trigger on the right one. I can't get a 27" inch b/c I don't have the desk real estate to make it happen. I am limited by what is in the apple store and it appears that the new 21.5", i3 with 1TB might be the best bang for the buck. Should I wait till a 21.5" i5 finally gets added? I understand that could take awhile too. Anyway, I need to be sold on simply upgrading and looking for some advice from folks who are like me...operate a home office and when you have time you'll convert home movies (Hi8) to DVD, or rip DVD's to iPad (Wondershare on the PC is excellent by the way) and organize pictures.

Thanks for advice.
 
It sounds like you need a new computer. However if you can wait a few months there is always something better coming along.

The i3 is probably fast enough for what you're doing now. If a 6 year old computer with 1gig is ok, then a new i3 with 4 gig will be great.
 
sharpend said:
Anyway, I need to be sold on simply upgrading and looking for some advice from folks who are like me...operate a home office and when you have time you'll convert home movies (Hi8) to DVD, or rip DVD's to iPad (Wondershare on the PC is excellent by the way) and organize pictures.
Click to expand...
Do you live near an Apple Store? They have non-commissioned employees that exist solely to answer questions like the one you've posted above.

If you don't, I'm sure you'll get a lot of replies to your post, but if you do, seeing the product in action while someone explains possible solutions is usually a lot more rewarding.

If you do live near an Apple Store, check out this page:
http://www.apple.com/retail/personalshopping/
 
I would love to get the 27" but I really don't have space. The right side of the machine would sit about 2 inches from solid wood of my office desk hutch. If the slots were on the left I could do it...

I live near multiple apple stores and to be honest all they talk about about is, "Have you heard about Apple Care?!" WTF is it with Apple Care...the live chat reps, telephone reps, they all talk about Apple Care w/in 10 minutes of the conversation! So much so that they've offered it to me at a $20 discount!!! Anyway, I like going to the stores, but those are Apple employees. I'm looking for someone who hasn't OD'd on the Apple brand to say, yeah it's worth it...or someone who will say, well for what you do it would be a waste of money (sic).

Thanks.
 
If the Mac is for general use, office use, and ripping DVDs every now and then, I'd say the Core i3 iMac is more than enough. It's a nice little machine, will probably run less hot and with less noise than a Core i7 iMac 27".
 
21.5" Refurb. Great machine for your needs, and good price. I have an older 20", going on 2 1/2 years old and runs as good as the day we bought it.
 
sharpend said:
I would love to get the 27" but I really don't have space. The right side of the machine would sit about 2 inches from solid wood of my office desk hutch. If the slots were on the left I could do it...

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It's only the superdrive slot. Easy enough to give the iMac a little turn when you need to access it, which, if you're like me, isn't very often. But then I'm a fan of bigger is better.
 
I made the same move very recently. Went from a 4 year old Compaq PC to a 21.5" i3 iMac. I use it for general computing stuff like email, browsing etc and photo and video editing - just home use, nothing too serious. Am using Handbrake to rip DVD, iMovie for video editing and iPhoto for photos and it flies compared to the PC. Love it.
 
Just going to add a tidbit of information. The 27" iMac can be mounted on the wall with a VESA kit. I was just looking at one on the online store, and iirc it's about $35. Probably not going to be the solution you're looking for, but it would be ironic if you got something smaller to fit, and then regretted it when you found out the big ones can be wall mounted.

I endorse the refurb store option. Sold "as good as new" with the added benefit that an actual person has gone through the entire system to check it. "Refurb" is not "used". If you should happen to get one with cosmetic damage, send it back (or get a discount on something else) - they are supposed to arrive pristine.

Good Luck
 
Great to see other people feel so positive about the refurb route! Thanks for the comments.

As for the 27" I would love, LOVE, to get that one but I physically can't fit it without buying a new piece of furniture...what I have isn't disposable either as it is very nice from Ethan Allen.

Thanks again. I am 95% sure I'll buy it today.
 
sharpend said:
Great to see other people feel so positive about the refurb route! Thanks for the comments.

As for the 27" I would love, LOVE, to get that one but I physically can't fit it without buying a new piece of furniture...what I have isn't disposable either as it is very nice from Ethan Allen.

Thanks again. I am 95% sure I'll buy it today.
Click to expand...

Yeah.... that's too bad. I want my wife to get one too, but the furniture makes it impractical. Even more so than your situation. Her home office desk is part of one of those 'mid-century' (i.e. 1960s - but mid-century has a nice ring to it, eh?) modular rosewood wall units. The entire wall has these panels with vertical tracks, and then the cabinets and shelves and desk unit hang off the tracks. Upgrading that desk would mean chucking the entire wall unit. I need the Mac Pro I have, so I can't get a 27" iMac either..... sigh.

But they are lovely units.

Check the refurb store compulsively (i.e. several times a day) and you will get a feeling for what is a good deal... and then you can pounce on it.
 
I pulled the trigger on a "new" iMac...at least to me it's new. Refurb 3.2GHZ i3 + Apple care and rebate printer (which I'll end up making $4 on! ha). Should have it next week.

I need to add Office to it, which I'll buy at Amazon or something. What else do I need to buy for it? iPhone dock? Do they make a dual purpose iPad/iPhone dock?
 
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