I have a late 09 27" iMac which has just had the HD replaced and has 16GB ram and is working good. I want Windows and Parallels for my business and not sure if it is worth spending the $300 on it or get a new one and pass this one onto my son. Surely i would get a few more years out of it?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $25/year with no ads, private forums, and more!
iMac 09 Worth Spending on?
- Thread starter Robster3
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Thanks, yeah it does do all i want and for the money you should get 5 years , if i do put windows and parallels on it are they transferable if i did get a new one later?
The only thing i don't like about it is hot.
Sorry wrong section for this.
Hot is right. I have an i7. Recent new drive and LCD compliments of Apple made me rethink. I'm adding an SSD in hopes of pushing the life down the road another year. Don't know if it will help the heat issue, but it's still a good machine with a respectable benchmark compared to the 2012 I installed for a client. I'll admit, I'd love to have USB3. Dressing up a new one gets into a 3000.00 range, so I'm being frugal with a 223.00 upgrade and waiting to see what happens with the next gen.
Good luck with yours
I have the same machine and still consider it a screamer. Just got a 16GB (1333Mhz) RAM upgrade for it from Best Buy for $90. I anticipate another 2-3 years out of it, easily.
From a practical point of view, yes. The licenses are another issue. If I remember correctly the Parallels license just states it can be installed on a single machine (at one time). The Windows license is a bit hazier -- it would be "yes" for the full version but "no" for the OEM version which isn't supposed to be used in the first place in virtual machines.
Cant stand the heat anymore buying a new one. Tossing up between a base 3.2Ghz model which i can get for 10% off locally at a retailer, or the top i7 model with the works from local reseller who also does repairs where i got my current. So the difference is $1273.
My main uses are iPhoto, iMovie for iPhone/camera video, ms office, web, email, tv, may put windows on it.
I wouldn't mind the fusion and would hopefully get a few more years from this one but not sure if its worth the extra now.
How would a late 09 3.0gh core duo with 16gb ram compare to a new 3.2 ghz with 16gb ram?
Also if i put my mac on sleep most of the time would fusion benefit me.
Cheers
My main uses are iPhoto, iMovie for iPhone/camera video, ms office, web, email, tv, may put windows on it.
I wouldn't mind the fusion and would hopefully get a few more years from this one but not sure if its worth the extra now.
How would a late 09 3.0gh core duo with 16gb ram compare to a new 3.2 ghz with 16gb ram?
Also if i put my mac on sleep most of the time would fusion benefit me.
Cheers
Is C2D quad?If not,the performance increase will be huge. If it is,then you will still be able to see a difference with your relatively heavy uses. Fusion benefits you if you like space,but need speed for a few files and movies and things that you use a lot. It will benefit you in sleep no more than having 100 GB RAM sleeping-- you need to use it to see the difference.
Also, go base model since the i7 is for really power users--you are not as much. Save some money too. And if you cn afford fusion, definitely go for it since it combines speed with space.
It is the 3.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB
How would they compare.
I can get 5% off with Apple online but it would be $400 more for the fusion comparing the 2 discounts.
Last edited:
Sure it'll be faster but you really want to drop $$$$ on new machine that you use for surfing the web, emails and occasional photo management?
Typical forum advice to replace your perfectly working machine with new one, this amazes me. Each to his own what he/she does with hard earned cash but this behavior is just pure consumerism.
I have 2009 Macbook Pro that I bought second hand, I do live AV sets with it (video mixing in real time) and sometimes even edit HD videos on it for christ sake. I put 8 gigs of RAM in there and it runs Mountain Lion just fine, I have Adobe CS5 on it that works OK.
Your iMac is beautiful, 27 inch machine that will easily run for another few years. Sure, maybe you won't be/shouldn't be upgrading to the latest OS when it comes out but you can still use it as you're using it now (hello 10.6 users).
Your computation needs could be met with a very cheap and old PC for that fact, you don't need core i7 and great graphics card. If you want to make your iMac feel younger and snappier, replace the hard drive with SSD, it will feel like a brand new computer after the upgrade.
Some of the forum members are just ridiculous with their advice.
Typical forum advice to replace your perfectly working machine with new one, this amazes me. Each to his own what he/she does with hard earned cash but this behavior is just pure consumerism.
I have 2009 Macbook Pro that I bought second hand, I do live AV sets with it (video mixing in real time) and sometimes even edit HD videos on it for christ sake. I put 8 gigs of RAM in there and it runs Mountain Lion just fine, I have Adobe CS5 on it that works OK.
Your iMac is beautiful, 27 inch machine that will easily run for another few years. Sure, maybe you won't be/shouldn't be upgrading to the latest OS when it comes out but you can still use it as you're using it now (hello 10.6 users).
Your computation needs could be met with a very cheap and old PC for that fact, you don't need core i7 and great graphics card. If you want to make your iMac feel younger and snappier, replace the hard drive with SSD, it will feel like a brand new computer after the upgrade.
Some of the forum members are just ridiculous with their advice.
I agree with you there is nothing wrong with it, has new HD now 16gb ram and it is fast and dead quiet. My main problem is the HEAT, i have a small office and it is a heater even with air con on. Like today was 26c in the house and 30c in my office, you can feel it radiate off it. I know i have put up with it for 3 years. I have to keep putting it to sleep to cool it down.
If i lived in the snow would be great lol.
I dont own iMac myself but I know that its normal for iMacs to be pretty hot. Unless the heat from the computer bothers you (not just the fact that its hot) I wouldbt worry about it much, it is normal design.
Dont think so from seeing ones in a shop that have been running for hours, and reading owners pets on here.
Its taken me 3 years to figure out putting on sleep cools it down
Its when you get a run of 30 plus celcius days is when it is a pain. I dont know maybe i might get a mbp or wait and see what the new mbpr are like.
----------
We have 2 09 imacs a 21 and 27, the 21 gets hot but is in a big room so is ok, but the 27 is in my office and works as a heater.
Dont think so from seeing ones in a shop that have been running for hours, and reading owners pets on here.
Its taken me 3 years to figure out putting on sleep cools it down
I dont know maybe i might get a mbp or wait and see what the new mbpr are like.
----------
We have 2 09 imacs a 21 and 27, the 21 gets hot but is in a big room so is ok, but the 27 is in my office and works as a heater.
thats shame. I still think it's not a good reason to replace machine like this, I'd probably just put a fan next to iMac or sth
It's normal for pre-2012s. The 2012 idles extremely cool, whereas my 09 27" was a toaster. My 2012 i7 I can't even tell is on when it's idling/screen off when I touch the casing.
I'm running my 27" iMac I7 with the LCD and front glass removed and its always cool and quiet. I wonder if just taking the front glass off would help with overheating.