Have reached point of insanity trying to decide between iMac Refurbs

[SD-B]

Ok, was settled on a macbook air but have changed my mind and am going to upgrade my present Fall 2011 MBP with more ram + an sad drive if i can

BUT, looking at iMacs as I don't take computers out of the house ad have finally I believe worked it down to one of two..
/Sighs, I so hate having to compromise though ;(

Cant afford the 27" and actually the 21" inch would be better for my space so...........and money is tight right now


I can go NEW at

21.5-inch: 1.4GHz for $1,199.00 Canadian
21.5-inch: 2.7GHz for $1,399.00 AS HIGH AS I would like to GO but would prefer less

so I look at refurbs to see if i can get higher for less


Refurbished 21.5-inch iMac 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 $1,019.00

like the price of the one above, and also like that its only a few months old from June of this year........dont like that its only 1.4GHz as I assume that difference I will notice??!!

Refurbished 21.5-inch iMac 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 $1,189.00

like the 2.7GHZ of this one as well as the price BUT, its from Sept 2013 so its been used longer, etc...( i assume thats what it means)



Like everyone else i am looking for the best price BUT will go a bit higher if it means a jump in power....and means i will be happy with it longer...

Ive seen someone or more say they will only consider SSD drives which this doesn't have. is this really going to be an issue for me? My present MBP doesn't have SSD although I might upgrade it to that.......


Anyhow IF you were going to buy the iMac which one would be best?

I do not edit films, Photoshop etc.
I do however run 2 email programs and 2 browsers and need about 10 browser windows open at all times.

I CAN go as high as $2,000 IF I MUST........but I really don't want to and won't feel good about doing so........BUT if by doing so I was going to end up with a computer for 7 years I might consider it

But its really not my first choice as i have a late 2011 MBP to upgrade to

 

[Mr Kram]

i thought you could only upgrade RAM on the 27, but i could be wrong.

 

[SD-B]

i thought you could only upgrade RAM on the 27, but i could be wrong.

ah............If so then that could be the clincher for not buying this and going back to just buying an AIR but again, I don't take the laptop out of my house so I was told i can get better value etc on a desktop.
But i have also never bought a computer that hasn't needed an upgrade of ram in its history

I'm beginning to see that apple doesn't have enough configurations to make everyone 100% happy ;(


CAN ANYONE VERIFY IF THE IMAC 21" CAN HAVE A MEMORY UPGRADE LATER ON?
OR id happily pay now to get it to 16gig




bUT, i COULD save money if i went with the refurb


Ive never had such a problem trying to buy a new computer I keep being thwarted at every choice I make ;(

So now if that is true, I am back to refurbished again this one IF I CANT upgrade Ram on this 21.5"
But I hate the fact that its a year old computer

http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FE088LL/A/

refurbished-27-inch-imac-
32ghz-quad-core-Intel-Core-i5
Refurbished 27-inch iMac 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
$1,649.00

 

[SD-B]

i thought you could only upgrade RAM on the 27, but i could be wrong.

Actually i just realized I can upgrade it to 16gigs Ram now when I purchase it for an extra $200

I can also I see upgrade the drive on it............i am just not sure which one to upgrade it to


http://store.apple.com/ca/buy-mac/imac?product=ME086LL/A&step=config

I must say I sure liked the base price better

 

[Naimfan]

Actually i just realized I can upgrade it to 16gigs Ram now when I purchase it for an extra $200

I can also I see upgrade the drive on it............i am just not sure which one to upgrade it to


http://store.apple.com/ca/buy-mac/imac?product=ME086LL/A&step=config

I must say I sure liked the base price better

I don't believe you can upgrade RAM or drive on a refurb. You just have to wait until one with the specs you want comes available.

I wouldn't bother with the base iMac, BTW. It's a complete rip-off.

 

[SD-B]

I wouldn't bother with the base iMac, BTW. It's a complete rip-off.

So I am discovering.
But I "think" I am having to go with the next one up, the 21" but not the basic model.
Its $1399 but then have to add $400 for 16 Ram and this Fusion drive thats new

I guess i will just buy new for i don't like the idea of buying a refurb that is 14 months old. 4 months i could deal with

But just saw this article and if true, this is really annoying

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac/it-will-give-your-mac-boost-apples-fusion-drive-rip-3413776/

With Apple about to ship the new iMac you may be wondering whether to cough up extra cash for the Fusion Drive. Following our tests of the Mac mini with Fusion Drive we concluded that Apple's Fusion Drive can make a big difference to what would traditionally be Apple's least powerful Mac, just imagine what it could do to the far more powerful iMac.

However, a report on a blog is suggesting that Apple's being "evil", their words, not ours, by forcing users to pay an additional £200 for a 128GB SSD upgrade that uses a proprietary connector and therefore shuts out cheaper third party offerings.

MacTrast's report describes Apple's Fusion Drive as an "extremely devious scheme" because Apple has combined it with its proprietary SSD connector, which means consumers can't purchase less expensive third party SSD drives.

MacTrast claims Apple is "pressuring users into overpaying for hardware", adding: "It’s an evil, anti-consumer trick veiled under the thin mask of what Apple considers innovation."

The report suggests that the "Fusion Drive, combined with Apple’s proprietary SSD connector, is essentially an anti-consumer trick designed to force users into purchasing Apple’s more expensive hardware upgrades rather than cheaper third-party parts."