High priced i3?

[crylic]

I'm in a similar situation as a couple people on here lately. I've found a 1 year old, 21.5 inch i3 3.6 with 16gb of ram for 1100 dollars used, seems very high though. I'm considering offering him 800 for it. Seem fair to anyone? Should I offer less?

I should also say, I'll be using it mainly for Photoshop illustrations and using the Unity game engine as well as some light gaming via Steam (mostly indie stuff on a smaller scale). Is there any other questions I should ask aside from what I have already (found out it's got the Radeon 4670 and 55gb HD and used for less than a year). Seems like the i3 should suit my needs well as right now I have 2.16 Core 2 Duo with 4gb ram.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Why does the HDD only have 55 GB of storage capacity, or is that meant to be "free capacity"? Are applications still installed on that Mac?
Have you thought about buying a refurbished iMac with an actual quad core CPU and better GPU for less, as 16 GB RAM can be had for less than 80 USD?

 

[stevelam]

That's a pretty crappy computer for $1100.

 

[xmnj]

Why does the HDD only have 55 GB of storage capacity, or is that meant to be "free capacity"? Are applications still installed on that Mac?
Have you though buying a refurbished iMac with an actual quad core CPU and better gPU for less, as 16 GB RAM can be had for less than 80 USD?

I was just about to post the same thing, you're better off with the refurb, where you will have more power with the quad core, and a 1 year warranty and you can purchase applecare if you decide before the 1 year is up. The Ram upgrade you can probably find for less if you do some searching on the web.

 

[crylic]

Sorry, i meant to say 500gb hdd, not 55. Okay, so it sounds like I was right and that this is pretty high for this computer. Any ideas on what I should offer him? What is a reasonable price for this imac?

 

[derbothaus]

Less than 800.00. That GPU is so sad though. You'll be bummed if you like steam. Even the indie stuff. As stated before, get the refurb they have a quad core i5 for 1100.00 and both the GPU and CPU smoke the i3. It's clock speed boosts to 3.3GHz for single thread work (Games etc) AND has 4 Real cores. A 4870 512MB is barely enough these days and a 4670 is waaaaaay slower.

 

[leman]

Get a refurb 2011 model, there should be no discussion about it...

 

[crylic]

Yeah, I can see what you guys are saying. Right now all I can really afford is about 750, which with the already 16gb of ram coming with the computer is about all im willing to spend. I can get this now, if he's willing to go with that price or just hold out and get the refurb. Thanks for all the help!

 

[MrNomNoms]

Yeah, I can see what you guys are saying. Right now all I can really afford is about 750, which with the already 16gb of ram coming with the computer is about all im willing to spend. I can get this now, if he's willing to go with that price or just hold out and get the refurb. Thanks for all the help!

I'd go $700-750 if it includes AppleCare but without AppleCare I'd offer $600-650. At the end of the day the seller needs to be realistic about what it is actually worth in the market vs. what he think it is worth based on some sort of ideal outlook he might have.

 

[MacOG728893]

Yeah, I can see what you guys are saying. Right now all I can really afford is about 750, which with the already 16gb of ram coming with the computer is about all im willing to spend. I can get this now, if he's willing to go with that price or just hold out and get the refurb. Thanks for all the help!

Make sure you remind him how cheap RAM really is. People online try to hack up prices thinking that you're dumb enough to believe they bought the RAM as bto from Apple, so it justifies it.

Give him a link and remind him so that it may help lower the price.

 

[SirYossi]

i3 Priced Hight i would say so

I think any older imac priced over the $800 is to high unless it is maxed memory or a higher speed one.
I would get a refurb imac current generation which can be had from apple at a decent price. I recently got mine a week before christmas the 21.5" 2.7 model and saved $250 off the store price. I know it is a refurb so i ran the serial number to see when it was really made and it said it was made between Dec 4 - 10th of Dec 2011 and i got the computer in the mail on the 17th. So i got a newer computer from apple refurb then what i could have bought in the local apple store.
I not bought a new mac since i bough my LCIII most after that were used or Refurbs or just given to me. I am happy with it. Ram for the new imacs just had a price drop on MacSales.com (OWC) so u can upgrade to 16gig for under $50 with the recent price drops (granted u start with the base 8gig ram).

 

[crylic]

Thanks for all the input, i went ahead and got the re-furbed i5 and will upgrade the ram as soon as i get it.

Cheers!