Is buying this iMac a good idea?

[LOLZpersonok]

I found an Intel Core 2 Duo iMac (2006) on Kijiji for $90. Since I've been wanting an Intel Mac to do video editing stuff this seems pretty good, however, there's a problem.

The seller says "The unit does not start up" but it does have all it's internals and comes with a power cord. Since I know that the iMacs from around 2005-2008 had some issues like this I'm not too sure it would be a good idea to buy it as I don't know if I'd be able to fix it for cheap because for all I know the Logic Board could be toast.

I just emailed the seller asking to clarify whether the machine will not turn on or boot up. In the meantime, is it a good idea for me to buy this?

It's an Intel Core 2 Duo iMac, 2.13GHz, 1GB of RAM, 20" screen and 250GB hard drive. It's a 2006 model.

 

[firedept]

I would not touch it. You do not know what is wrong with it, so it could cost you more than it is worth. And even if you can fix it, still not worth it. Would be slow for video editing as well, especially if they were large videos. I have a 2007 C2D 3GB RAM which is slightly better specs and no longer use it for work like that.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

I would not touch it. You do not know what is wrong with it, so it could cost you more than it is worth. And even if you can fix it, still not worth it. Would be slow for video editing as well, especially if they were large videos. I have a 2007 C2D 3GB RAM which is slightly better specs and no longer use it for work like that.

Alright, thanks. I'll take the advice. I just got a response and the seller says the machine won't turn on. Since this is most definitely a logic board issue (unless the power button is weird) how much could a replacement logic board cost?

And, how well was video rendering on your 2007 iMac? I want a dedicated video editing machine and I've been wanting a Mac for that. That's honestly why I bought my Power Mac G4 but it isn't that quick, especially if I use it on my 21.5" 1080p LG monitor. This might sound stupid, but would something like that iMac be capable of the latest version or near-latest version of Final Cut Pro? I've been wanting to "get up there" in video editing and eventually apply CGI effects in video. If I had a job I'd save for a modern MacBook Pro (Non-retina display, they lack CD drives) or modern iMac for that, but because I'm jobless, I have to settle for a very cheap used machine, which are hard to come across.

 

[firedept]

If it is the logic board, then it is definitely not worth it. My 2007 was okay for rendering, but I was using Adobe CS 5.5 programs for rendering. Not FCP. Not sure if my 2007 could run FCP X, but believe it could run FCP 7. Someone here will correct me if I am wrong about that.

 

[Mr. Dee]

I notice you have two older PowerPC Macs. Are you able to access websites with those considering that popular web browsers no longer support PPC. I ask, because I assume you could have used your iPhone to post your message.

Sorry to hear about your job situation, hope things work out for you soon and in the coming year. I sympathize with your situation, because a couple years ago, I was in your situation and had to depend on freelance writing to get by each month. Its tough, been in a stable job as a sys admin for the past couple years and my appointment has been recently approved.

Planning to purchase my first Mac later this year along with an iPad and iPhone. So things are looking quite up. Will be appreciative of them, considering there are persons who would love to be able to afford new stuff, but cannot.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

I notice you have two older PowerPC Macs. Are you able to access websites with those considering that popular web browsers no longer support PPC. I ask, because I assume you could have used your iPhone to post your message.

Sorry to hear about your job situation, hope things work out for you soon and in the coming year. I sympathize with your situation, because a couple years ago, I was in your situation and had to depend on freelance writing to get by each month. Its tough, been in a stable job as a sys admin for the past couple years and my appointment has been recently approved.

Planning to purchase my first Mac later this year along with an iPad and iPhone. So things are looking quite up. Will be appreciative of them, considering there are persons who would love to be able to afford new stuff, but cannot.

Don't sympathize with my situation haha. I'm still in high school so it's no real big deal.

I actually didn't use my phone to post the original message. I'm on my Power Mac G4 right now.

My iMac G3 is quite slow on most websites. Only on websites that are mostly text based is it somewhat fast. Not only that but websites for the most part don't render correctly no matter what browser I use. Gmail will automatically switch to the HTML version which works quite well, actually.

My Power Mac G4 is much faster. On text based websites such as MacRumors it performs perfectly fine and even YouTube isn't too much of a hassle. YouTube on it is slow until it loads all the way. Tumblr, surprisingly isn't that bad, until you start scrolling down farther. Gmail, however, loads it's regular version and honestly performance is similar to my 500MHz Celeron Compaq Deskpro. For the most part, however, it's a good Internet machine.