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iMac Before or After September

What do I do?

  • Buy an iMac now and sell the iPod and printer so I can start enjoying now

    Votes: 6 54.5%

  • Take a chance that there is a price cut,buy if there is, dont if there isnt

    Votes: 4 36.4%

  • Make do with a mac mini or something instead

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Total voters
    11
N

neil1980

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 1, 2008
424
19
Right here's the deal... I don't actually NEED an iMac but I do want one... I'm in no particular rush mind as I'm still in love with my MacBook :)

I was planning on waiting for the next update and ordering pretty much on launch but here's the thing... I'm guessing that the next update looks October time going off previous history so that would rule out the ipod and printer deal. I don't actually need the ipod or printer but they would be sold on to help finance the iMac, without these it makes it a little too expensive for me.

I know that they reckon that there will be a price drop but after getting excited at the first unibody MacBook price drop (where it went up in price in the UK!) I'm kind of sceptical that it will happen.

So what would you do? buy an Imac before the ipod rebate offer but then have an update straight after orrr wait and hope for a price cut but if there isn't have a change of plan and not bother with the iMac?
 
I kind of agree but I miss having a desktop computer as well... for the last 10+ years I've always had a desktop and laptop (windows) but since moving to OS X I haven't touched my desktop as its just well...meh

I guess I could make do with an mac mini for what I'd use it for (office, web, email, aperture) but when taking into account I'd want a nice monitor for the mini or if I had the ipod/printer to sell witht he iMac... there isnt much between them finance wise.
 
Depending on your needs/wants ;) and usage, I'm going to disagree with the above poster and say that I don't think an iMac is a waste of money.

I bought both an iMac and a MBP 13" recently which admittedly might seem a little crazy. But I do need a portable machine for university, and I travel home to visit my folks and need a computer with me there (work never stops; I'm at university all summer too and also do some web design and maintenance for actual paid work too).

I bought the iMac first though. I grew tired of my old Windows setup - I had a 17" laptop on a cooling pad, hooked up to a 20" screen and a keyboard and mouse. I wasn't comfortable just working (and gaming) on the laptop all the time, and it all seemed to take up too much room. Hence the iMac. I do love how compact it is - even though it's an immense 24" screen, and I've been away from it for just over two weeks and I can't WAIT to get back working on it.

I do love my MBP too though, don't get me wrong. But I definitely miss the screen real estate that the iMac offers - having two Word (sadly I started writing my clinical portfolio in Word this year and I didn't want to change formatting at all so no Pages for me yet :( ) windows open side by side to reference between the two. And for websites; having iWeb on one side with Finder on the other so I can drag and drop.

But of course, you can't really use two computers at once. Well you could, it's just a bit OTT. So when I'm back at my place, with my iMac, my MBP will sit quietly away until I'm next travelling or next have a class. But the great thing is it will have all my documents up to date on it without me doing a thing - MobileMe is really fantastic for this.

As to whether you should buy now or later, well, that's personal of course :) I went for now because the iMac I got is of such a good spec that I don't see much point waiting for a slight speed bump. I've got the base 24" and it absolutely flies, and the hard drive is huge so I'm very pleased with having decided to buy now! I think it is a really good machine as it is now.

You already own a MacBook - are you feeling bitter about the updates since you bought yours or are you just happy with what you have? Same with your iPhone? I have a 3G too and I couldn't care less about the 3Gs being out now - and my iPhone is only a few months old.
 
Good points!

I'm not bitter as such about the MacBook or iPhone... but then I had them both a while before the updates, if it was only a few months later I may feel differently but as it stands I'm fine with it.

I guess if its just a speed bump then I'm fine with the older model...knowing my luck they would add bluray or something just to piss me off lol.
 
Yeah I totally know how you feel. But, you must fight the urge to buy that beautiful iMac now, as there will most definitely be a HUGE price drop very soon.

From my own experience, I bought my first iMac G5 the week before the first Intel iMac Core Duo was introduced in Macworld in January. That was a stupid thing for me to do. Why? Not because I didn't know there was a Macworld coming up, but because I thought: "I NEED a mac now!"
 
isaaclimdc said:
Yeah I totally know how you feel. But, you must fight the urge to buy that beautiful iMac now, as there will most definitely be a HUGE price drop very soon.
Click to expand...

On what evidence do you say this? Recently the prices have been going UP in the UK at least when Apple have changed them, not down. But that's what our weak pound gets us.

You had a bad experience - in recent times the switch to Intel was pretty immense - but I don't see anything quite like that happening in the future; i.e. Macs changing in the next six months to the point that new software and things will start requiring the new hardware in the same way.
 
suekitch said:
On what evidence do you say this? Recently the prices have been going UP in the UK at least when Apple have changed them, not down. But that's what our weak pound gets us.

You had a bad experience - in recent times the switch to Intel was pretty immense - but I don't see anything quite like that happening in the future; i.e. Macs changing in the next six months to the point that new software and things will start requiring the new hardware in the same way.
Click to expand...

Well, what with the massive yet unusual price drops in the recent notebook line (MB, MBP and MBA), and also the falling demand for desktop PCs. Apple has got to make the price difference between its desktop line and notebook line even more prominent.
 
isaaclimdc said:
Well, what with the massive yet unusual price drops in the recent notebook line (MB, MBP and MBA), and also the falling demand for desktop PCs. Apple has got to make the price difference between its desktop line and notebook line even more prominent.
Click to expand...

Well that's the thing; the unibody MB was going up in price here, and bumped up a little bit more when it became a 13" MBP.

(The OP seems to be in the UK too).
 
isaaclimdc said:
Oh really? That's weird... then I'm not sure. I was assuming price drops would occur internationally.
Click to expand...

Just the sorry state of our currency at the moment :) Nothing immense - as an example the white MacBook went up by about £15 in January, £30 in May.

One thing I do find interesting is here the cheapest MBP is £50 cheaper than the cheapest iMac - but they're both the same price on the US store.
 
Yeah I am from the UK.

And yes I noticed that when Apple announce a price cut usually it still goes up in the UK too :(

I guess the sensible option is to wait till right before the ipod deal is over and see if there are any more rumors about. I'm guessing it will just be a speed bump but I suppose pricing is anyone's guess for the UK.

Actually... is it possible to buy from the HE store, keep it unopened but return it after X days without handling charges etc? I guess that way if I timed it just right I'd have a bit of a safety net
 
neil1980 said:
Yeah I am from the UK.

And yes I noticed that when Apple announce a price cut usually it still goes up in the UK too :(

I guess the sensible option is to wait till right before the ipod deal is over and see if there are any more rumors about. I'm guessing it will just be a speed bump but I suppose pricing is anyone's guess for the UK.

Actually... is it possible to buy from the HE store, keep it unopened but return it after X days without handling charges etc? I guess that way if I timed it just right I'd have a bit of a safety net
Click to expand...

There's a 14 day returns policy. On your receipt it'll have your return date on it, i.e. the day you can return it up till no quibbles if it's unopened.

The thing is they'll always be updating. Granted if you don't need the computer now it's worth waiting, but you get little bumps every six-nine months or so usually.

It depends how much the factors bother you..

Would saving £50 in a few months be a big deal to you? How about spending an extra £50; like you said anybody's guess! :)
Would not having the latest chip be a big deal? Harder to answer when you don't own one but at least from my perspective, the current base 24" is amazing and I can't see how a slightly faster chip will increase my productivity with what I do.

If you buy online and decide to return though I imagine you'd have to foot the bill for shipping it back to them - that won't be too cheap?
 
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