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Just got my first iMac

safetyobc

safetyobc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 6, 2007
480
27
Arkansas
Just placed an order for my first iMac. I'm replacing my aging 2007 MBP.

I'm excited to get it. I don't care if they upgrade em tomorrow! I already ordered 8GB more of RAM to put in it when it gets here. Excited to jump from 15" screen to the 21".

I went with the 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB (two 2GB) memory, 1TB hard drive and ATI Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB.
 
safetyobc said:
Just placed an order for my first iMac. I'm replacing my aging 2007 MBP.

I'm excited to get it. I don't care if they upgrade em tomorrow! I already ordered 8GB more of RAM to put in it when it gets here. Excited to jump from 15" screen to the 21".

I went with the 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB (two 2GB) memory, 1TB hard drive and ATI Radeon HD 6770M with 512MB.
Click to expand...

good for you. enjoy. with each day that passes a 27" refurb for $1419 sounds great lol.
 
Congrats. If you're not a "hardcore" gamer, chances are you'll never notice any difference from this and future models.

I've been saying this for years - the new processors are almost overkill for 99% of computer users and what they use their computers for. Just think about the % in gains year over year. It's 10-35% in any given chip cycle. Even 4+ iterations ago in the early "Core 2 duo/quad" series, the higher end chips would demolish 20+ running windows of word processing, internet surfing, and have a movie running. Now, that kind of performance can be had in some of the bottom end Celeron-class chips that are so cheap that Apple doesnt even put them in their computers. We're living in the age-o-plenty with CPU power. (HDD and GPU = another story depending on specific use)

You do have a thunderbolt drive. While that's not cost-savvy to use as an expansion right now, when prices EVENTUALLY come down, you'll be able to inexpensively hook up a external SSD and perhaps use that as your boot drive. That'll give you another 5 years of tip top performance.
 
Congrats! Hope you enjoy your new computer. I'm happier every day that I pulled the trigger last December. I'd still be waiting. Now I've had the better part of a year to enjoy it.
 
Way to go. You are going to love the machine. Bought my new iMac in March and do not know what I did without it. I got the 27" due to eyes going with age but have 20"inch that is older model 2008 and it still works as good as the day I got it.
 
xkmxkmxlmx said:
If the iMacs are released within the next 2 weeks, will you try to exchange it for a new one? Or you just don't care that much?
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I don't care at all. I like the specs I got. I've got 9 GB of space left in my MBP on my 320 GB drive so I have stopped buying media. I look forward to the 1 TB drive!! I knew the chance I was taking. I have been putting money into a savings just to buy this computer. I made up my mind that once the money was there, I'd pull the trigger on whatever iMac was there. I'm not a gamer on the computer at all. Mostly web, iPhoto, Word, etc. so I know the i5 will be perfect for me for the next several years. There have only been a few times recently where my 2007 MBP was so slow that it irritated me. I was just ready for a desktop model since my MBP NEVER leaves my desk.

Besides, I would rather get a computer I know is out than wait for one that may or may not come out for weeks or months.

I'm satisfied that I will get an awesome machine that will serve my families needs for several years.

Just a side note, I got AppleCare. I bought it with my MBP and am so glad I did. Literally 2 months shy of my AppleCare expiring (2 years 10 months) the logic board failed. An $800 repair at the time. When I sent it in, they not only replaced the logic board but also the super dive and gave me a brand new battery!!
 
mojothemonkey said:
You do have a thunderbolt drive. While that's not cost-savvy to use as an expansion right now, when prices EVENTUALLY come down, you'll be able to inexpensively hook up a external SSD and perhaps use that as your boot drive. That'll give you another 5 years of tip top performance.
Click to expand...

Thunderbolt would be better but even connecting an SSD via FireWire 800 and booting off of that would still be a big upgrade.
 
firedept said:
Way to go. You are going to love the machine. Bought my new iMac in March and do not know what I did without it. I got the 27" due to eyes going with age but have 20"inch that is older model 2008 and it still works as good as the day I got it.
Click to expand...

I thought hard about the 27. However, I looked at them in the Apple Store and really think that 21" will be more than enough for what I do. Going from the 15" laptop to the 21" desktop should be a nice upgrade!
 
Agreed. I was just stating I went with 27" for my eye sight. Not as young as I once was. I am also usually running several programs at once so it is nice to have the real estate. 21" will be great and I know you will be amazed with it's size. I have a 20" older iMac which family uses and says it is more than enough for them.
 
motrek said:
Thunderbolt would be better but even connecting an SSD via FireWire 800 and booting off of that would still be a big upgrade.
Click to expand...

Actually no. Firewire 800 has a theoretic maximum (it's going to be less in real life) of 780 Megabits per second. A typical 7200 HDD in 2010 (they are higher density and faster now) could read at 1050 Megabits per second. SSD drives that are much faster than this are still going to be capped by that 780Mbit limit.

So, there is not going to be any appreciable advantage in going external SSD with firewire 800 vs. the standard internal HDD. Lets not forget any bus latency, which is sure to be slower than the SATA standard used inside the machine.

Thunderbolt is much more advanced and is said to cut down on some of these communication latencies, making it's negative impact on seek time much less of an issue.
 
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