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Good deal for 2008 24" iMac?

J

joshuarobi

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 7, 2009
123
0
Arcata, CA
My local :apple: reseller has a refurbed early 2008 24" iMac for $599.

intel core duo 2.8ghz
500gb hard drive
2gb ram

90 day warranty non :apple: (this store only)

What do you guys think? I just might have to pull the trigger on this one, but are there any major drawbacks to a 5 year old iMac?
 
That may be slightly high for that iMac. But it does have the 2.8Ghz CPU in it. Do you know what GPU it has in it? For a five year old Mac, that and the 2007 model are still rather peppy. They may not be able to do HD video editing as well as a newer one, but they can still chug through it. The only major drawback is its maximum ram and Apple not supporting it for much longer. May I ask what you're planning on using it for?
 
joshuarobi said:
My local :apple: reseller has a refurbed early 2008 24" iMac for $599.

intel core duo 2.8ghz
500gb hard drive
2gb ram

90 day warranty non :apple: (this store only)

What do you guys think? I just might have to pull the trigger on this one, but are there any major drawbacks to a 5 year old iMac?
Click to expand...

For $600?? That's USD, right? That's way too much, IMO.
 
I too believe that this is a bit high; if it was in near perfect condition I believe that it would interest me at ~$500.

FWIW, I'm looking for a 24" iMac to hang on a wall in a 2nd bedroom to stream movies and play DVDs...
 
I bought one 2008 iMac for $50 sand two 2007 iMac for $50 ea - 24"

I got a slightly good deal - a used Mac store around me is selling that same Mac your interested in for $420- 320GB HD
 
dyusem said:
I too believe that this is a bit high; if it was in near perfect condition I believe that it would interest me at ~$500.

FWIW, I'm looking for a 24" iMac to hang on a wall in a 2nd bedroom to stream movies and play DVDs...
Click to expand...

That's still way too much. There isn't a way to check the hours on the display, and eventually that display will look ugly or experience problems. You would also want to look at the logic board and graphics chips used to ensure that it is not a problematic generation. Then of course there's the issue of the condition of the hard drive and possibly inability to run the latest software. My issue isn't as much performance as it is wear and tear or machine condition after 5 years. The 90 day warranty cushions it a little, but it's still a lot to spend on old hardware. At that price point, a refurbished base mini + a decent 24" display would be a much better purchase.
 
thekev said:
That's still way too much. There isn't a way to check the hours on the display, and eventually that display will look ugly or experience problems. You would also want to look at the logic board and graphics chips used to ensure that it is not a problematic generation. Then of course there's the issue of the condition of the hard drive and possibly inability to run the latest software. My issue isn't as much performance as it is wear and tear or machine condition after 5 years. The 90 day warranty cushions it a little, but it's still a lot to spend on old hardware. At that price point, a refurbished base mini + a decent 24" display would be a much better purchase.
Click to expand...

If the hard drive in it is still the original one, you can see how many hours are on the the display by checking the power up time in the hard drive's SMART. The 20" and 24" aluminum iMacs don't really have bad display problems like the later 21" and 27" models. That iMac can run Mavericks and everything that Mavericks brings with it. If it has the Nvidia GPU, it will even have OpenCL (even though the ATI 2400/2600 has it as well Apple never supported it).
 
Intell said:
If the hard drive in it is still the original one, you can see how many hours are on the the display by checking the power up time in the hard drive's SMART. The 20" and 24" aluminum iMacs don't really have bad display problems like the later 21" and 27" models. That iMac can run Mavericks and everything that Mavericks brings with it. If it has the Nvidia GPU, it will even have OpenCL (even though the ATI 2400/2600 has it as well Apple never supported it).
Click to expand...

The displays still shift quite a bit over time, as all displays do. Some are better than others in that regard, but it's inevitable. Good catch on the SMART status. I hadn't thought of that. I still think the price is high considering the potential need to service old components.
 
thekev said:
The displays still shift quite a bit over time, as all displays do. Some are better than others in that regard, but it's inevitable. Good catch on the SMART status. I hadn't thought of that. I still think the price is high considering the potential need to service old components.
Click to expand...

The 24" models have the higher quality IPS display that reduces any display shifting or aging. Even decade old IPS screens still look extremely nice and produce accurate and sharp colours.
 
Spink10 said:
How is this done?
Click to expand...

Use smartctl and query the drive's SMART info. Look for power on hours. That's how many hours the drive has been spinning and on. Other SMART programs than smartctl can read it as well. Most if not all SMART drives keep a count of their time on. Even the older ones from the 1990's.
 
Intell said:
The 24" models have the higher quality IPS display that reduces any display shifting or aging. Even decade old IPS screens still look extremely nice and produce accurate and sharp colours.
Click to expand...

There are several components to this. First of all there's a half life to the backlight, which is somewhat different depending on its setting. I'm assuming that the brightness controls on Apple displays actually do reduce the hardware backlight. These older ones used CCFL. It does provide a nicer quality overall in many ways, yet the brightness degradation is worse. Is that what makes you regard them as sharp and accurate? I frequently experienced the discoloration over time around the top edge on these older ones, as well as image persistence of text around that portion. These things didn't exist for the first few thousand hours. They were only problems later in the display life. Can you explain what you mean about higher quality? The panels were from the same brand (LG) as they use today. I've personally seen far fewer problems related to inverters and supporting electronics on the newer cinema displays compared to the older ones. I'm aware of the gradual cheapening of panels overall due to the hunt to cut costs on the larger sizes. Maybe 5-7 years ago the best 21" displays without going into the extremely specialized ones remained in the $1000-2000 range.
 
Even 13+ year old CCFL tubes used in schools and other always one places still maintain their colour spectrum rather well. Apple's are no different. Their acrylic Studio Displays still have very evenly lit and coloured screens despite being around ten years old. The 20" and 23" IPS panels are exceptionally good for their age. They're higher quality than the TFT panels used in the 20" iMacs. When I say higher quality I mean better image reproduction.
 
SlCKB0Y said:
Just got it - it's 100% functional and has 4GB of RAM. I just need to install an SSD now and it should be good to use for a few years.

It's running Mavericks pretty well! I think I got an absolute bargain. :D
Click to expand...

Just installed a SSD in a 24" 2007 and 24" 2008 iMac the last two days. Very fun!
 
joshuarobi said:
My local :apple: reseller has a refurbed early 2008 24" iMac for $599.

intel core duo 2.8ghz
500gb hard drive
2gb ram

90 day warranty non :apple: (this store only)

What do you guys think? I just might have to pull the trigger on this one, but are there any major drawbacks to a 5 year old iMac?
Click to expand...

That price is way to high. 400 bucks max.
 
SlCKB0Y said:
I realise they are only SATA II but did you see a good boost in performance?
Click to expand...

Yes and No

The reason I say no is because one of the SSD drives I put in has old firmware. Suppose to be able to update firmware on Mac but have been unsuccessful. Other drive that has the crucial m4 is doing amazing. The other one is snappier - but could do better I believe.
 
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