How do you justify your lavish spending on a fully-loaded 27"

[DDaddyx2]

I got the 27" with i7, 16gb RAM and Fusion drive. I justified the 27" because I am switching from a Dell with two monitors. So I'm used to having that extra screen real estate. As for paying more for the Mac, it came down to wanting the best integration with my iOS devices and Apple TV. Plus the wifey hates Windows 8. Interestingly, I compared the iMac to that 27" Dell all-in-one and the prices were pretty close.

 

[shortie8512]

I justified the cost of my fully loaded 21.5" by selling kids from the local orphanage to large pharmaceutical companies for drug testing. On your head be it Tim Cook... ;-)

 

[OlMighty]

I'm buying one because I want one.

I could justify it by the amount of hours of use it'd have, or that my current mac is slow, or even that it'd last long enough to pay for itself. But it's just because I want one.

I'm more put off by the lack of an optical drive than I am about the purchase price.

 

[comatose81]

I justify my maxed out 21.5" by saying "everyone else is in debt, so there's nothing wrong if I am."

 

[12dylan34]

You'd pay 2400$ for a high end Machine like this: (AMAZON)

Not too big of a deal, but you forgot the camera and microphone. Add like $50 to $70 to that, then.

 

[masp84]

Not too big of a deal, but you forgot the camera and microphone. Add like $50 to $70 to that, then.

You're right! all in all the new iMac is a killer deal despite the BTO tricks, their software is the best out there and the price is a bargain just comparing to amazon pricing with free prime shipping. Also notice I added an Asus IPS not a cinema display which costs more. I wish I hadn't gone wild and got a PC, I'ma sell it as soon as I can and get the 2800$ iMac, keeping the 8GB and adding 16GB gives me 24GB of total RAM, Plenty enough.

The advantages are that you get to keep the monitor meaning a further refresh would be way less cheaper and all the legacy ports support and expansion flexibility standard PC offers. If you can live without that, the new iMac i7 27" is the best priced pc out there right now. There're some heat and noise reports due as for performance, but in general the specs and the pricing is really fair.

 

[tonyy]

Was really tempted to get the latest iMac after it was announced. But decided to use the money on a vacation to Hawaii with the wife.

Then bought a couple years old iMac instead. Not the latest, but it will do.

 

[7enderbender]

I can't justify that. Over 2K for something that is still a compromise for what I need is not going to happen. 800 for a Mac Mini and then some for a really good screen seems money better spent.

 

[masp84]

I can't justify that. Over 2K for something that is still a compromise for what I need is not going to happen. 800 for a Mac Mini and then some for a really good screen seems money better spent.

Yea I spent around 1100$ bucks for the same PC as I already have a 32" LCD hanged on my wall. It's kinda all in one too as I only have the keyboard and mouse on my desktop while the case sits in a corner with a plant on top lol. Mac mini is very serviceable and you can add ram yourself, if it wasn't for storage issues, heat and noise it'd be a good compromise for my work (audio)

 

[7enderbender]

Not too big of a deal, but you forgot the camera and microphone. Add like $50 to $70 to that, then.

And that's why I like a modular type system much better. There are people like me who don't want or need web cams, microphones of the tiny little speakers they squeeze into those things. Complete waste. Same with the silly little keyboard and wonder-mouse or whatever. Don't want that either.

 

[Razorhog]

And that's why I like a modular type system much better. There are people like me who don't want or need web cams, microphones of the tiny little speakers they squeeze into those things. Complete waste. Same with the silly little keyboard and wonder-mouse or whatever. Don't want that either.

Then why are you even in the iMac forum?

 

[12dylan34]

Then why are you even in the iMac forum?

I was about to type the same thing. Nice.

 

[7enderbender]

Then why are you even in the iMac forum?

Because the question was raised: "how do you justify..." to which I said "I don't". I'm sure I'm not the only one who had high hopes for the new iMac just to find out that it's a designer toy. Not really a newsflash but like I said, I was willing to shell out up to 2K for one if things had worked out. They didn't.

 

[Razorhog]

Because the question was raised: "how do you justify..." to which I said "I don't". I'm sure I'm not the only one who had high hopes for the new iMac just to find out that it's a designer toy. Not really a newsflash but like I said, I was willing to shell out up to 2K for one if things had worked out. They didn't.

So your "high hopes" were that they would make the new iMac modular in design? Come on, everyone knows what an iMac is, and we knew what to expect.

 

[diipii]

Life is too short for all this brain bashing about "should I could I what will happen if" just get on and buy the damn thing and ENJOY IT.

 

[merlyn412]

I bought a maxed out 24" imac around Christmas 2007. It has served our family for 5 years without a problem. It cost about the same as the new 27" maxed out.

Including tax, we spent about 2900 on the computer, which is just under 600 / year.

From what I see on craigslist, I could sell the computer now for around $600.

I don't have a problem justifying the numbers above.

 

[7enderbender]

So your "high hopes" were that they would make the new iMac modular in design? Come on, everyone knows what an iMac is, and we knew what to expect.

Obviously not, but I had hoped to be able to get a relatively modern i7 machine with two hard drives for under $2000. And with a non-glossy screen suited for photo editing.

 

[aliensporebomb]

Ah!

The absolutely very last thing on earth I want to do when I come home from work and want to use my computer is mess about with it, worry about software updates breaking it, have to assemble it in the first place.

The £1640 I spent on my 27" iMac with 680MX (edu pricing) is well worth it for me. I will run OS X, it will run modern games (in OS X and via bootcamp) and will be with me for at least 5 years. It is replacing a 2006 iMac that I spent £1100 on all those years ago. For the price per year of the "genuine" machine, for me there is simply no question that it is totally, totally worth it.

----------



Very few people need hyperthreading.

The only real benefit of the i7 over the i5 is that slightly higher base clock speed.

For the price delta for the i5>i7 upgrade ($200), it's simply not worth it. By contrast, the delta between the 675MX and 680MX GPU at $150 is a marked increase in performance, as is the performance increase for the money to get the fusion drive.

Very few people really need the i7, and the cost saving for leaving it out still gives you almost the same performance unless you are doing very specific things that take heavy advantage of HT or constant high workloads on all 4 cores.

I'll tell you it sure helped me out. When running big sessions in Logic Pro you get a little meter like this:

Basically some of those sessions nearly max out all eight meters. I could not have run some of the sessions I do on a machine without it.

Also, there are quite a few apps out there that take advantage of this - a popular one is Handbrake for some users.

There are a number of them but the capability is most welcomes in my neck of the world.

 

[MacDarcy]

I want to get the new 27" iMac. I plan to use it for photography as well as some light video editing.

I decided on the 1TB fusion drive.

But what I want to know is what is the main reason for the $200 price diff btwn the base 2.9ghz 27" iMac ($1,799) and the base 3.2ghz 27" iMac($1,999)??

Besides the slight diff in ghz(they are both 3.6ghz with turbo boost by the way)...I only notice that the $1,999 iMac has a faster GPU with 1gig of VRAM as opposed to 512mb.

They are both i5 and identical in every other regard. Is the GPU worth the extra $200 for what I am doing?

What would be more beneficial for photo & video editing? Bumping up to an i7 for $180 more? Or bumping the GPU to the 680mx with 2gigs of VRAM for $135 more?

Thanks!

Can't wait to order mine.

 

[mapleleafer]

But what I want to know is what is the main reason for the $200 price diff btwn the base 2.9ghz 27" iMac ($1,799) and the base 3.2ghz 27" iMac($1,999)??

The packages that Apple offer are determined by the money people (whose job is to maximise profits), not the computer people (who would probably prefer to maximise customer satisfaction).

 

[raymond lin]

I use it for photography work so it's a 3 year rotation capital spend.

It has been saved and budgeted for.

It is tax deductible.

It was planned.

I need it for work.

I don't want to buy a new computer to surf the net, my iPad can do that, I do need it.

On a side note it is pretty so can't complain!

 

[scottsjack]

You'd pay 2400$ for a high end Machine like this: (AMAZON)

Mobo: Unibeast for ML support
Gigabyte Intel Z77 Dual Thunderbolt ATX Motherboard with BT4.0/Wi-Fi (GA-Z77X-UP5-TH) - Gigabyte
$239.99

CPU: ML Native Support
Intel Core i7-3770K Quad-Core Processor 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155 - BX80637I73770K - Intel
$314.99

Display: ML Native Support
ASUS PB278Q 27-Inch WQHD LED-lit Super-IPS Professional Graphics Monitor - Asus
$678.00

Graphics: ML Native Support
EVGA GeForce GTX680 SC SIGNATURE+ 2048 MB GDDR5 DVI DVI-D HDMI DisplayPort 4-Way SLI Ready Graphics Card, 02G-P4-2685-KR - EVGA
$503.31

RAM: ML Native Support
(32 GB) 2 x Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (CMZ16GX3M2A1600C10) - Corsair
$140$

SSD Storage: ML Native Support
SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SDSSDX-240G-G25 - SanDisk
$163.16

HDD Storage: ML Native Support
Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003 - Seagate
$69.99

PSU:
Corsair Enthusiast Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Power Supply Compatible with Core i3, i5, i7 and platforms - TX650 - Corsair
$89.99

Mouse: OSx Drivers
Logitech Wireless Marathon Mouse M705 With 3-year Battery Life
$37.99

Keyboard: OSx Drivers
Logitech Wireless Solar Keyboard K750 - Logitech
$58.35

Case: SILENT CASE, REALLY QUIET
Corsair Obsidian Series Black 550D Mid Tower Computer Case
$119.99

GRAND TOTAL + SHIPPING: 2.414,42$USD

---------------------------------------------------------------------

New iMac 27" Similar config: 3200$USD
BTO's:
i7
32GB RAM
1TB FD
680MX
The price could come down to 2800$ if I add the RAM myself
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Adding the OS it'd be 250$ minus, so you'd be saving 540$ or so and Although a PC gives you way more legacy support and flexibility I have to admit the new iMac is priced right for an All-in-One Machine.

Because a desktop PC is so radically different than an iMac it is not fair to compare between them. They are so completely different it reminds me of when someone posts a question like "should I get a mini or a Mac Pro" on a forum.

 

[Yamcha]

And then it would kernel panic every 5 min after the next OS update Been there, done that...

Lies, I've built 6 Hackintosh's since 2008, and as long as you buy the most compatible hardware they do not kernel panic at all..

So this notion that Hackintosh's are not stable or fast is not true at all. If you experienced issues you did something wrong. The issue could either be poor hardware choice or you incorrectly installed the wrong drivers using MultiBeast..

There is no way anybody would consider a Hackintosh If there were constant crashes, that would be insane.. I certainly would not have built 6 Hackintosh's over the few years if they were crashing or would perform poorly..

Also you have to realize that Mac's today use the exact same hardware as PC's do, infact under most circumstances PC Motherboards (ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI etc) today are designed to take more stress then the generic boards found on Dell, HP & Apple computers, because they are designed to handle overclocking & high voltages..

 

[Biggs88]

I justify it buy having it parked next to a 15inch Retina MacBook Pro.

 

[masp84]

Because a desktop PC is so radically different than an iMac it is not fair to compare between them. They are so completely different it reminds me of when someone posts a question like "should I get a mini or a Mac Pro" on a forum.

I have something to tell you that you don't know yet

The iMac is a desktop personal computer (Desktop PC)
The concept changed because of apple moving towards to a more mobile design for no reason but still, it's a Personal Computer sitting on a Desktop. About comparing hardware, why can't you do that? I'm running Lion on the hardware list you quoted above with no hiccups. That would be the equivalent of a maxed out iMac 27", although mine has way better storage performance and I didn't get the fancy display. About the mini and a Mac Pro the analogy is way off, the logical answer is to wait until the MP gets refreshed. MP is for professionals while mini is intended for core consumers.