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techdummyy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 12, 2015
8
0
My friend is selling an imac mid 2011 with a 21.5 inch screen and a 2.5 ghz with 500GB on the hard drive and 4GB of RAM for $350. It comes with a mouse and keyboard and a couple other programs. Is this worth the buy? I don't really need any new features. Won't be doing anything that's really high tech.
 

rkaufmann87

macrumors 68000
Dec 17, 2009
1,760
39
Folsom, CA
My friend is selling an imac mid 2011 with a 21.5 inch screen and a 2.5 ghz with 500GB on the hard drive and 4GB of RAM for $350. It comes with a mouse and keyboard and a couple other programs. Is this worth the buy? I don't really need any new features. Won't be doing anything that's really high tech.


Thats a good price, it's a starter machine but if it runs OK it should be fine. If you get it the first thing to do is an erase and install so you are starting with a 100% clean computer. Please ensure he provides you with original install media and any install DVD for apps he claims come with the computer.
 

Richdmoore

macrumors 68000
Jul 24, 2007
1,959
357
Troutdale, OR
The 2011 iMac had a firmware update to allow for an Internet recovery, as long as that firmware has been installed it should not be an issue if they can't locate the install discs for OS X. (Of course, any other apps would still require them for reinstall.)
 

toddzrx

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2012
725
263
My friend is selling an imac mid 2011 with a 21.5 inch screen and a 2.5 ghz with 500GB on the hard drive and 4GB of RAM for $350. It comes with a mouse and keyboard and a couple other programs. Is this worth the buy? I don't really need any new features. Won't be doing anything that's really high tech.

Sounds like a good deal to me. I'd throw an SSD in there, and add another 4GB of RAM. You will have a very capable machine for about $500.
 

kgian

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2011
187
8
Sounds like a good deal to me. I'd throw an SSD in there, and add another 4GB of RAM. You will have a very capable machine for about

That's exactly what I have. Imac 2011 21.5 with 12GB ram and an internal SSD. It is a very capable and durable machine. A very fast, stylish, almost silent computer. I would grab it.
 

jacksam101

macrumors member
Dec 27, 2006
82
2
Crewe (UK)
Yes it makes an excellent base - I have the same model and upgraded to 12gb ram and swapped the superdrive for a 256gb SSD and the HDD for a 4TB HDD and now have a great, still speedy machine that houses all my media
 

dogslobber

macrumors 601
Oct 19, 2014
4,670
7,809
Apple Campus, Cupertino CA
My friend is selling an imac mid 2011 with a 21.5 inch screen and a 2.5 ghz with 500GB on the hard drive and 4GB of RAM for $350. It comes with a mouse and keyboard and a couple other programs. Is this worth the buy? I don't really need any new features. Won't be doing anything that's really high tech.

Goes for 5-600$ on eBay and this is the last 21.5" model that can go up to 32GB of memory. With that amount of memory and an SSD to boot, you won't need to buy another computer this decade!
 

redheeler

macrumors G3
Oct 17, 2014
8,574
9,161
Colorado, USA
My friend is selling an imac mid 2011 with a 21.5 inch screen and a 2.5 ghz with 500GB on the hard drive and 4GB of RAM for $350. It comes with a mouse and keyboard and a couple other programs. Is this worth the buy? I don't really need any new features. Won't be doing anything that's really high tech.

Stick an SSD in there and you'd have an ok machine at a relatively inexpensive price. I suppose another 4 GB of RAM would be a good idea as well, although depending on how you use the iMac it may not be completely necessary.

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Goes for 5-600$ on eBay and this is the last 21.5" model that can go up to 32GB of memory. With that amount of memory and an SSD to boot, you won't need to buy another computer this decade!

The OP does not need 32 GB RAM, nor will they for years to come. Recommending they get 32 GB RAM now is just silly.
 
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