iMac Purchased/ Should I Cancel it

[karino1]

Hi All,
I'm new to this forum and wanted to share my dilemma. I purchased an iMac 21.5 inch, 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel i7, 8GB, 2T serial ATA drive. I was super excited bc I have an old PowerBook G4 10.5 from 6yrs ago. I couldn't upload any vid's from my camcorder bc the computer was so old. I was told that I would be able to use my iPad1 by purchasing to connector which would allow me to download my vids to my iPad. Will thats not working out so well.

Anyway, I want to cancel my order bc I heard that Apple will be making some upgrades to the iMac's is the next month or so. Now, I want to cancel my order. Any feedback as to weather this is true. Thanks !

 

[Icaras]

Hi, welcome to the forums

Killer system, but with an update so imminent, I would cancel and wait for the update, unless you really need the machine now. But that's me.

 

[NextGenApple]

Please read this page, you have a beast of machine on order, the gains in CPU are minimal with new iMacs due out soon, if you want usb 3 or faster GPU then wait, but if your spending that much on a iMac i would just buy external thunderbolt HD and keep it moving. That machine will/would last you years. Check out this link to see the minimal improvements v SANDY BRIDGE


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1283464/

I'ts all marketing by companies to make you feel like you have a rubbish machine due to new hardware. Bare in mind Sandy Bridge is now perfected after early issues when released, another reason to buy now and get a redesigned iMac a year or 2 after released os so not to be a guinea pig. I use this philosophy for cars also, never buy in 1st year. Thats Just me

 

[karino1]

Hi, welcome to the forums

Killer system, but with an update so imminent, I would cancel and wait for the update, unless you really need the machine now. But that's me.

Thanks for the welcome. I'm leaning towards canceling. Whats a few more weeks...

----------

Please read this page, you have a beast of machine on order, the gains in CPU are minimal with new iMacs due out soon, if you want usb 3 or faster GPU then wait, but if your spending that much on a iMac i would just buy external thunderbolt HD and keep it moving. That machine will/would last you years. Check out this link to see the minimal improvements v SANDY BRIDGE


https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1283464/

I'ts all marketing by companies to make you feel like you have a rubbish machine due to new hardware. Bare in mind Sandy Bridge is now perfected after early issues when released, another reason to buy now and get a redesigned iMac a year or 2 after released os so not to be a guinea pig. I use this philosophy for cars also, never buy in 1st year. Thats Just me

Thanks for sharing that. I also thought they were doing something to make the screen better. That's what I was hoping was true bc I going to be on the computer a lot and from what I hear the gear is a problem.

I agree with you on the point of gettng a new product in the first year but I think this is different bc they will be fixing some of the current problems that currently exist with the iMac. If is the introduction to a totally new product then I would be in the same mind set ...to your point.

Thanks,again for the link and feedback. That was helpful.

 

[farmermac]

No doubt it's a Powerhouse machine

The only think you'll really gain from waiting for the 2012s is a discount. A few hundred bucks at best.

 

[thekev]

Hi, welcome to the forums

Killer system, but with an update so imminent, I would cancel and wait for the update, unless you really need the machine now. But that's me.

Bleh.. you guys need to be realistic on the range of possible release dates. It may not be out until some point in the summer. You really don't know. Intel tends to rush things more when AMD is on their ass, but that's not necessarily a good thing. The reason being that this can mean rushing buggy hardware to market.

Hi All,
I'm new to this forum and wanted to share my dilemma. I purchased an iMac 21.5 inch, 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel i7, 8GB, 2T serial ATA drive. I was super excited bc I have an old PowerBook G4 10.5 from 6yrs ago. I couldn't upload any vid's from my camcorder bc the computer was so old. I was told that I would be able to use my iPad1 by purchasing to connector which would allow me to download my vids to my iPad. Will thats not working out so well.

Anyway, I want to cancel my order bc I heard that Apple will be making some upgrades to the iMac's is the next month or so. Now, I want to cancel my order. Any feedback as to weather this is true. Thanks !

You really need to stop rumor sites seriously. People get hopeful that it's coming soon. It could be a month or two. It could be July. It depends on Intel, and personally I wouldn't buy the first one off the line. I usually wait for feedback on bugs and other issues. If you really want to nitpick, next year may be a far greater update.

Thanks for the welcome. I'm leaning towards canceling. Whats a few more weeks...

----------

If I'm unsure about a purchase, I cancel it. Buyer's remorse just sucks, but remember that it could be more than a few weeks, and none of these guys have any real idea. They're basing this off what they want to see rather than what is realistic in terms of shipping dates of components that Apple is likely to use. Personally I'd suggest if you're waiting, you figure it could be a few months, especially while you ensure that any complaints are addressed. Imacs don't always get quick fixes either. Some of this stuff just sits if not enough users are affected to create bad PR.

 

[harcosparky]

I just bought my iMac because of the impending update.

I don't want to experience the problems 'early adopters' sometimes have to put up with.

One example would be WIFI with LION for those who updated. I have had no issues with WIFI and LION because I did not 'upgrade'.

Will the new ones be any better than what I have?

Perhaps, but not enough to make a difference to me.

 

[Icaras]

Bleh.. you guys need to be realistic on the range of possible release dates. It may not be out until some point in the summer. You really don't know. Intel tends to rush things more when AMD is on their ass, but that's not necessarily a good thing. The reason being that this can mean rushing buggy hardware to market.

You're right, we really don't know, but if you're not computer-less and you don't need any mission critical work done that you're dying over it, then waiting for an update is reasonable in my opinion.

I know the opinion about waiting vs buying now is drawn down the middle here at MR and it's a very subjective issue. Summer is just 3 months away. That might be long for you, but not long for someone else. Just depends on your situation.

 

[thekev]

You're right, we really don't know, but if you're not computer-less and you don't need any mission critical work done that you're dying over it, then waiting for an update is reasonable in my opinion.

I know the opinion about waiting vs buying now is drawn down the middle here at MR and it's a very subjective issue. Summer is just 3 months away. That might be long for you, but not long for someone else. Just depends on your situation.

I wasn't saying it was a long time. I was saying that the OP shouldn't feel that they have a concrete date established and become angry if an updated version is not available by that time. If Apple announces something then pushes that date back, they can become annoyed, but Apple rarely does such a thing. The speculation is basically pointless until Intel starts shipping this stuff.

 

[philipma1957]

hi all,
i'm new to this forum and wanted to share my dilemma. I purchased an imac 21.5 inch, 2.8ghz quad-core intel i7, 8gb, 2t serial ata drive. I was super excited bc i have an old powerbook g4 10.5 from 6yrs ago. I couldn't upload any vid's from my camcorder bc the computer was so old. I was told that i would be able to use my ipad1 by purchasing to connector which would allow me to download my vids to my ipad. Will thats not working out so well.

Anyway, i want to cancel my order bc i heard that apple will be making some upgrades to the imac's is the next month or so. Now, i want to cancel my order. Any feedback as to weather this is true. Thanks !

cancel cancel cancel pleaseeeee cancel why do I say this ?

you ordered it with 8gb ram. that is simply tossing money into a toilet and flushing it away.


apple charges 200 dollars for 8gb ram. buy the machine with 4gb ram save 200 dollars. then order 8gb after market ram for 40 bucks add it to the 4gb. you have 12gb ram total for 160 dollars less

 

[TopToffee]

I'm sort of in the same boat as the OP

Haven't actually PLACED an order yet, but I really do want to

The processor bump isn't really a big consideration for me (jump isn't going to be huge with Ivy Bridge)...

The things which are really giving me pause for thought are:

1: The possibility of a larger (30"?) screen being available with the new iMacs
2: The possibility of a higher definition (retina?) screen being available, as rumoured for the new MacBooks. (less likely, given the physical size of the iMac screens, I'm guessing)
3: SSD possibly coming as standard, or at least much cheaper than the current ridiculous prices charged by Apple for the upgrade.

 

[karino1]

I just bought my iMac because of the impending update.

I don't want to experience the problems 'early adopters' sometimes have to put up with.

One example would be WIFI with LION for those who updated. I have had no issues with WIFI and LION because I did not 'upgrade'.

Will the new ones be any better than what I have?

Perhaps, but not enough to make a difference to me.

You are much more computer savvy then I am. I just get frustrated with buying something to only have it be improved upon in such a short period of time. So, I thought I would just wait and if I don't think the upgrade is worth it then I will just purchase the non-graded one. What's to loss? I could even save a few bucks from what I understand.
From what I heard it will have thinner screen with less glare.. but how knows.

----------

cancel cancel cancel pleaseeeee cancel why do I say this ?

you ordered it with 8gb ram. that is simply tossing money into a toilet and flushing it away.


apple charges 200 dollars for 8gb ram. buy the machine with 4gb ram save 200 dollars. then order 8gb after market ram for 40 bucks add it to the 4gb. you have 12gb ram total for 160 dollars less

That's a great recommendation. I didn't realize it was so inexpensive to add it myself. I hope its an easy process to add it...but its worth a shot to save $160. Do you know if its worth the one on one sessions Apple offers to help in transferring info from my old Powerbook G4 to the new iMac is a waste of $?

----------

I'm sort of in the same boat as the OP

Haven't actually PLACED an order yet, but I really do want to

The processor bump isn't really a big consideration for me (jump isn't going to be huge with Ivy Bridge)...

The things which are really giving me pause for thought are:

1: The possibility of a larger (30"?) screen being available with the new iMacs
2: The possibility of a higher definition (retina?) screen being available, as rumoured for the new MacBooks. (less likely, given the physical size of the iMac screens, I'm guessing)
3: SSD possibly coming as standard, or at least much cheaper than the current ridiculous prices charged by Apple for the upgrade.

That's what I'm thinking is worth the wait for me..the higher definition screen bc of the number of hours I'm in front of the computer. Will see on Wednesday what Apple will announce.

 

[NextGenApple]

You are much more computer savvy then I am. I just get frustrated with buying something to only have it be improved upon in such a short period of time. So, I thought I would just wait and if I don't think the upgrade is worth it then I will just purchase the non-graded one. What's to loss? I could even save a few bucks from what I understand.
From what I heard it will have thinner screen with less glare.. but how knows.

----------



That's a great recommendation. I didn't realize it was so inexpensive to add it myself. I hope its an easy process to add it...but its worth a shot to save $160. Do you know if its worth the one on one sessions Apple offers to help in transferring info from my old Powerbook G4 to the new iMac is a waste of $?

----------



That's what I'm thinking is worth the wait for me..the higher definition screen bc of the number of hours I'm in front of the computer. Will see on Wednesday what Apple will announce.

May i ask you who told you higher definition screen? If you don't mind, if you mean retina iMac its not going to happen, do you know how expensive that would be? A buy to order maybe (highly doubt it) Its seems like you already know what you want to do.

 

[karino1]

May i ask you who told you higher definition screen? If you don't mind, if you mean retina iMac its not going to happen, do you know how expensive that would be? A buy to order maybe (highly doubt it) Its seems like you already know what you want to do.

Yes, I did decide to wait. It's not that big of a deal once I gave a few min's to thinks about it. If I don't like the upgrades I will just buy the current iMac and save a few $.
I heard it here MR and on YT that there will be improvements bc of the current issue with glare on the screen. No I wasn't referring to Retina.

 

[fgullama]

I'm sort of in the same boat as the OP

Haven't actually PLACED an order yet, but I really do want to

The processor bump isn't really a big consideration for me (jump isn't going to be huge with Ivy Bridge)...

The things which are really giving me pause for thought are:

1: The possibility of a larger (30"?) screen being available with the new iMacs
2: The possibility of a higher definition (retina?) screen being available, as rumoured for the new MacBooks. (less likely, given the physical size of the iMac screens, I'm guessing)
3: SSD possibly coming as standard, or at least much cheaper than the current ridiculous prices charged by Apple for the upgrade.

I was in the same boat as you regarding upgrading or waiting, although this was back in November. The main thing I was worried about was missing out on USB3. So far, that has been a non issue for me. If we had a concrete date as to when the refresh was going to happen and it was soon, I'd say wait for sure. At this point it's all up the air, and last I read there were delays with Ivy Bridge: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/27/intel-delays-ivy-bridge-launch-june/

The way I figure it, get the best deal you can when you are ready to purchase and sell and upgrade when necessary. Don't lament too much, as there will always be a newer better option around the corner. The 2011 iMac is a very nice machine. The thing that made my decision easier was when I started looking at the resale value of Apple's stuff... You can't really get in too much trouble!

Frank

 

[Melbourne Park]

For Video, don't go the 21"

For video work, you need all the screen you can get.

Go the 27" ...

By the way, the benefits of the i7 are in video rendering ... if you do lots of that, then the i7 is worth it. And also, an i7 will render the final movie a fair bit quicker. But for your eyes, the 27" is hugely worth it. Especially for video.

 

[KingJosh]

cancel for sure and get the 27"

 

[karino1]

For video work, you need all the screen you can get.

Go the 27" ...

By the way, the benefits of the i7 are in video rendering ... if you do lots of that, then the i7 is worth it. And also, an i7 will render the final movie a fair bit quicker. But for your eyes, the 27" is hugely worth it. Especially for video.

omg, I'm mow confused. I was told that the 21.5 inch is better on the eyes..??? I'm not a professional however I am taking photography courses this Spring. I did cancel so lets see what announced tomorrow. I just want to get rid of this 6 year old Powerbook G4.

 

[AppleDApp]

If you are in a hurry to get rid of your computer buy a current generation iMac. New iMacs will not be announced tomorrow. If it helps buy a refurb unit.

 

[MacOG728893]

...the gains in CPU are minimal with new iMacs due out soon, if you want usb 3 or faster GPU then wait, but if your spending that much on a iMac i would just buy external thunderbolt HD and keep it moving

A faster more energy (cooler) efficient GPU is highly welcomed for games in bootcamp. Yes, TB is 2x as fast as USB 3.0, but keep in mind it cost about 5x more. FW800 is okay with me, so USB 3.0 should be a huge increase over that, plus it's way cheaper and I just got my new caldigit 3.0 external So basically an improved GPU and USB 3.0 are awesome upgrades and are some of the main reasons I am dumping my first gen 27 in the coming months.

By the way, the benefits of the i7 are in video rendering ... if you do lots of that, then the i7 is worth it. And also, an i7 will render the final movie a fair bit quicker. But for your eyes, the 27" is hugely worth it. Especially for video.

I still kick myself in the shin for getting the first gen 27 i5.. But with 16GB of RAM and a brand new HDD, this thing is still rocking!

But regardless, when the new imac comes out, I am getting the top of the line BTO iMac minus the upgraded RAM of course.. So stoked!

 

[doktordoris]

I went through this dilemma in december. In the end I thought sod it, and ordered a 27inch 3.4 i7, 2gig GFX, and 8gig of mem iMac.
I reasoned that the machine I ordered was as powerful as an iMac could be, so the performance gains to be had by waiting for a refresh would be fairly small. Perhaps if you are desperate for USB3 it may be worth the wait, but apart from that I think the months of being macless are harder to live with than the slight disappointment of a marginally faster machine come refresh time. ALso bear in mind that ivy will just be a TICK, not a revolutionary TOCK like the shift to sandy was.

 

[coolspot18]

omg, I'm mow confused. I was told that the 21.5 inch is better on the eyes..???

The 27" is a great screen, you'll appreciate the extra real-estate.

 

[ChadJK]

Processors have rarely been the performance bottleneck on any machine (PC or Mac). So, waiting on a slight higher processor clock rate is rarely worth the delay. It's usually the hard drive and motherboard slowing everything down. Especially on iMacs where you basically have a desktop monitor, desktop hard drive, and pretty much everything else in the machine is a laptop component.

Me, I usually wait. But then, I'm one of those douche bags that just likes the bragging rights of having the latest thing (no matter how short-lived).

 

[AcesHigh87]

That's a great recommendation. I didn't realize it was so inexpensive to add it myself. I hope its an easy process to add it...but its worth a shot to save $160. Do you know if its worth the one on one sessions Apple offers to help in transferring info from my old Powerbook G4 to the new iMac is a waste of $?

Not challenging at all. In fact I was going to say cancel for the same reason. Apple has instructions on their site for how to upgrade the RAM and it has no effect on the warranty. The process takes about 5 minutes (took me longer to find a screwdriver)

1. Turn off computer and discharge static (basically just touch the aluminium after it's unplugged)
2. Lay the iMac down, screen first, on a soft surface. I used my bed that has a nice soft comforter on it.
3. Tilt the stand up to reveal a cover with three screws.
4. Remove the three screws (they don't come out, they stay attached to the plate)
5. You should now see the RAM bays. If you are only adding 2 extra sticks don't worry about the top two bays, they are filled with your default RAM.
6. Push the new RAM sticks into the bottom two bays firmly. It takes more pressure then you think at first to be sure they are seated properly.
7. Put cover back on, pick up computer, plug it in and turn it on. Under your "About This Mac" section it should now say that you have more RAM (depending how much you insert)

Apple's site has some pictures to go with the instructions and places like OWC sell the RAM and have step by step video guides for adding it.

For your second question, not sure. I don't know how much they charge. I wouldn't imagine it would be too tough though. I transferred all my data from my 2008 macbook to by iMac through my time machine backup with no problems at all. I can't imagine it being that different but the G4's certainly aren't the same as their Intel counterparts. I think if you look up online though you can probably find some explanations about how to transfer everything easily.

So yeah, I'd say cancel to save yourself that $160 if nothing else. As far as waiting for the upgrade is concerned, it's hard to say. There isn't really going to be a huge performance jump in the CPU but the GPU's will likely get better (I expect to see the 6970m's in the 21.5" iMac's) and USB 3.0 will be supported. But, as mentioned, you may run into some problems with the new line. At the end of the day it's your choice.

Whatever you decide to go with, enjoy the machine

 

[karino1]

Not challenging at all. In fact I was going to say cancel for the same reason. Apple has instructions on their site for how to upgrade the RAM and it has no effect on the warranty. The process takes about 5 minutes (took me longer to find a screwdriver)

1. Turn off computer and discharge static (basically just touch the aluminium after it's unplugged)
2. Lay the iMac down, screen first, on a soft surface. I used my bed that has a nice soft comforter on it.
3. Tilt the stand up to reveal a cover with three screws.
4. Remove the three screws (they don't come out, they stay attached to the plate)
5. You should now see the RAM bays. If you are only adding 2 extra sticks don't worry about the top two bays, they are filled with your default RAM.
6. Push the new RAM sticks into the bottom two bays firmly. It takes more pressure then you think at first to be sure they are seated properly.
7. Put cover back on, pick up computer, plug it in and turn it on. Under your "About This Mac" section it should now say that you have more RAM (depending how much you insert)

Apple's site has some pictures to go with the instructions and places like OWC sell the RAM and have step by step video guides for adding it.

For your second question, not sure. I don't know how much they charge. I wouldn't imagine it would be too tough though. I transferred all my data from my 2008 macbook to by iMac through my time machine backup with no problems at all. I can't imagine it being that different but the G4's certainly aren't the same as their Intel counterparts. I think if you look up online though you can probably find some explanations about how to transfer everything easily.

So yeah, I'd say cancel to save yourself that $160 if nothing else. As far as waiting for the upgrade is concerned, it's hard to say. There isn't really going to be a huge performance jump in the CPU but the GPU's will likely get better (I expect to see the 6970m's in the 21.5" iMac's) and USB 3.0 will be supported. But, as mentioned, you may run into some problems with the new line. At the end of the day it's your choice.

Whatever you decide to go with, enjoy the machine

Thanks, for the instructions. Sounds easy enough. I will certainly give it a shot.
Mean while I will research whether I need to have the one on one at Apple. It will save me $100. However, I would have one on one sessions for one year. Anyway, thanks again! Very helpful