I am buying an imac, but I want to upgrade it, need help...

[inertialmacer]

Hey folks,

I want to buy a new imac, but I don't want to spend the "apple money" for more ram, HD, etc.

What third party components would work best for upgrading the new imacs, and where is a good tutorial for taking apart the new imacs...?

Also, what is the best option for just buying one?

 

[BlueRevolution]

Any memory that meets Apple's specs (800MHz DDR2 SDRAM) and any 3.5" SATA hard drive will work in the new iMac.

Memory is designed to be user-installable, but leave the hard drive to the pros. Trying to install it yourself will void your warranty, and you need industrial-strength suction cups to even get in there.

 

[inertialmacer]

Okey dokey

So what services do you think are economical and wont void the warranty?

 

[BlueRevolution]

Go to your local Apple Store or Apple Certified retailer, hard drive in hand.

 

[inertialmacer]

Go to your local Apple Store or Apple Certified retailer, hard drive in hand.

any idea of the cost?

 

[belvdr]

Any memory that meets Apple's specs (800MHz DDR2 SDRAM) and any 3.5" SATA hard drive will work in the new iMac.

Memory is designed to be user-installable, but leave the hard drive to the pros. Trying to install it yourself will void your warranty, and you need industrial-strength suction cups to even get in there.

The new iMacs use DDR3 1066Mhz SO-DIMMs.

 

[belvdr]

any idea of the cost?

Here's a link to Crucial:

http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...z Intel Core 2 Duo (24-inch - DDR3) MB419LL/A

for the 2.93 Ghz model. Strange they don't show 2GB sticks, but you can use the specs they list to find other manufacturer parts.

 

[inertialmacer]

any idea of the cost?

what bout for the hard drive installation?

 

[belvdr]

what bout for the hard drive installation?

Install - I'm guessing about $100 + cost for the drive. I have no idea what Apple charges, so that's only a guess.

 

[BlueRevolution]

It'd probably be $75-$100. Personally, I'm ambitious, so I'll be manually upgrading my aluminum iMac when my warranty expires this summer.

 

[Consultant]

Go to your local Apple Store or Apple Certified retailer, hard drive in hand.

Apple store don't perform upgrades.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Ah, okay. Thanks for the correction. Certified retailer it is.

 

[bigjnyc]

RAM is really easy to upgrade, but when it comes to the hard drive i strongly recommend paying the extra money because its really difficult and you can mess up your computer. plus lugging a 24" iMac around to have it upgraded is costly and not worth the hassle IMO