iMac 27" - Late 2009 model, good for photo edit

[kevinnho]

Hi,
I'm looking to buy Late 2009 Model. iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) iMac11.1.

Quad Core Intel i5 processor 2.66ghz
16Gb of RAM (compare to 4Gb in standard configuration)
3 TB Ultra Fast Hard Drive (compare to 1 TB in standard configuration)
10.8.4 OSX

Asking price $1150.

My question would be. Is this a good deal? Also will this work for my photo editting? I'm not hoping to spend $1700+ for a brand new model. This is the price range I want to stay in.

 

[RedReplicant]

I bought one a couple of weeks ago:
$850
2.66 i5
8GB Ram
1TB Drive

I spent $96 on two 8GB sticks to bring it to 20GB, $120 on a 120GB SSD, and $9 on an optical bay caddy.

 

[Bear]

...
Asking price $1150.

My question would be. Is this a good deal? Also will this work for my photo editting? I'm not hoping to spend $1700+ for a brand new model. This is the price range I want to stay in.

It would work ok for photography, however, I feel the price is yoo high.

I would suggest this Apple refurbished model as a possible alternative. You would get a full warranty and the option to buy AppleCare. Specs:

• 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 (2 or 3 generations newer processor)
• 8GB memory (Get a memory kit for the 2 empty slots from a third party)
• 
1TB hard drive
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M with 512MB
• $1,499.00

And you would get USB 3.0 ports and Thunderbolt so you could have fast external drives.

 

[bobtennis]

Hi,
I'm looking to buy Late 2009 Model. iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) iMac11.1.

Quad Core Intel i5 processor 2.66ghz
16Gb of RAM (compare to 4Gb in standard configuration)
3 TB Ultra Fast Hard Drive (compare to 1 TB in standard configuration)
10.8.4 OSX

Asking price $1150.

My question would be. Is this a good deal? Also will this work for my photo editting? I'm not hoping to spend $1700+ for a brand new model. This is the price range I want to stay in.

Assuming you are doing "typical" hobbyist photo work, meaning using current Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, iPhoto, or Aperture with a typical DSLR class size file, and you are not doing the complex operations a graphics pro would do where you are processing deep layers or converting a very large number of files simultaneously, you should be fine with this configuration.

I would even say if you were doing more complex operations, you could still do them with this machine, it just might take a little longer to complete complex tasks, but they will eventually be done. If your business as a pro depends on fast turnaround and speed, then you would benefit from the latest technology. But, your budget seems to be a concern.

To put this in perspective, in 2009, when this machine was new, lots of great complex Photoshop images were produced with equipment with far less capability than this computer has. It is a question of balancing wants and needs. It has lots of memory with 16gb, the processor is still considered relatively fast, and you have a lot of storage (3tb).

I think it would work out fine for "typical" photo processing, but if I am wrong and you find it lacking in some aspect, you could sell it and recoup most if not all of your investment (I know, that would be a hassle!).