Mid 2010 27" iMac

[wmukj]

While I don't post much, I have been lurking regularly since about '06 and have come to appreciate and respect the vast array of knowledge and advice shared at MacRumors.

So here is my question. I have been the happy owner of the iMac mentioned in the title. It was bought new in August 2010 as an i3 with 4GB RAM and a 1TB HDD. I have since bumped the RAM to 16GB, added a 256GB SSD and still have the 1TB HDD as additional storage (installed alongside the SSD). I have also bumped the i3 CPU to the 2.93 Quad-Core i7 and it runs great (no heat issues or anything - even when rendering video, I monitor it regularly). It is impeccable in terms of look and finish as well. As a long-time Apple consumer, I take great care of all my Apple products.

With all that being said, my question is how much do you think it is worth? From some of the Apple buying sites I get quotes of about $1000 - $1100 but I can only list one HDD (if that even matters much?). My iMac still more than adequately meets my needs, but my concern is that it is at an age where I might begin to run into issues with future OS releases (both OS X and Windows as I use both for work) and possibly software as well. In addition to it becoming too aged for a decent resale at some point in the very near future. I am not especially intrigued by the new iMacs, at least to the point where I feel I need one over my current model (my Geekbench scores are still very respectable and are attached), but I do like shiny new toys too. What are the community's thoughts? Can I do better selling outright, or are the prices being offered by sites like gazelle and SellYourMac fair prices?

I appreciate any time and advice anyone is willing to share. I have never resold an Apple product until I sold my iPhone 4 to get the iPhone 5; I typically use them until they no longer power on . I apologize for the long post, I am an over-thinker by nature which is why I don't post much,

Have a great weekend, and thanks again!

 

[wmukj]

No one? I am just looking for some confirmation is all.

 

[RedCroissant]

While I don't post much, I have been lurking regularly since about '06 and have come to appreciate and respect the vast array of knowledge and advice shared at MacRumors.

So here is my question. I have been the happy owner of the iMac mentioned in the title. It was bought new in August 2010 as an i3 with 4GB RAM and a 1TB HDD. I have since bumped the RAM to 16GB, added a 256GB SSD and still have the 1TB HDD as additional storage (installed alongside the SSD). I have also bumped the i3 CPU to the 2.93 Quad-Core i7 and it runs great (no heat issues or anything - even when rendering video, I monitor it regularly). It is impeccable in terms of look and finish as well. As a long-time Apple consumer, I take great care of all my Apple products.

With all that being said, my question is how much do you think it is worth? From some of the Apple buying sites I get quotes of about $1000 - $1100 but I can only list one HDD (if that even matters much?). My iMac still more than adequately meets my needs, but my concern is that it is at an age where I might begin to run into issues with future OS releases (both OS X and Windows as I use both for work) and possibly software as well. In addition to it becoming too aged for a decent resale at some point in the very near future. I am not especially intrigued by the new iMacs, at least to the point where I feel I need one over my current model (my Geekbench scores are still very respectable and are attached), but I do like shiny new toys too. What are the community's thoughts? Can I do better selling outright, or are the prices being offered by sites like gazelle and SellYourMac fair prices?

I appreciate any time and advice anyone is willing to share. I have never resold an Apple product until I sold my iPhone 4 to get the iPhone 5; I typically use them until they no longer power on . I apologize for the long post, I am an over-thinker by nature which is why I don't post much,

Have a great weekend, and thanks again!

That machine seems awesome but I bet you're not receiving many responses simply because of the modifications that you've made and coming up with a price for an older machine with newer specs is difficult.

Did you simply replace the i3 with the i7 but keep the same board? did you remove the ODD or do you mean that the SSD is literally installed "alongside" the HDD? If you removed the ODD, are you including it somehow in the sale?

I think your concern about future OS X updates is unwarranted because the 2009 that I had was able to run 6 versions of OS X and was still running perfectly when I sold it.

Having said that, I think you should be able to do better than what those sites are quoting you but you're going to run into problems with people that do not trust the modifications that were made and will most likely not even attempt to buy your machine.

I would price it at $1400 to see what happens and in the meantime, get some more posts on MacRumors so that you can post it for sale in the marketplace forum. You might have a better chance of selling your modified iMac to a crazy Mac person. And I mean crazy in the most respectful way possible since I am one of them.

 

[wmukj]

First thank you for taking the time to respond. I saw your response the other day and crafted a well thought out reply, only to click submit and see that I had timed out, lol. Bummer.

You bring up great, valid questions and I am going to address them the best I can to see if that helps at all.

Did you simply replace the i3 with the i7 but keep the same board? did you remove the ODD or do you mean that the SSD is literally installed "alongside" the HDD? If you removed the ODD, are you including it somehow in the sale?

I did simply upgrade the Core i3 with the Core i7 2.93, while keeping the same board. It is an upgrade in terms of spec/performance bump, but the option was offered at the time of purchase so it is not newer than the machine in terms of quad core technology. It is the maximum CPU for this particular generation of iMac.

I did a lot of research before upgrading. The power requirements are different between the i3 (75W) and the i7 (95W), but after reading a number of success stories, I followed this tutorial "Upgrade iMac Intel Core i3 CPU to Core i7" and have been happily using the i7 for almost a year now. The i7 was bought new. I did monitor the temperature and fans daily for the first month, and I have had no issues whatsoever. The fans only kick on to an audible level during heavy video rendering sessions, as is the case for most machines.

In terms of HDD, I installed the 256GB SSD alongside the stock 1TB HDD that came with the iMac. The bay already existed as the 2011 models, which were released shortly after my purchase, offered the dual SSD/HDD setup as an option. I followed this tutorial "Installing additional SSD in Mid-2010 27" iMac" and had it up and running in no time. So to answer your question, yes they are both installed inside the iMac and would be sold together.

I appreciate the feedback regarding my concerns with OS X updates. I think you are probably right and am not too concerned about this in the near future.

I only just discovered that there was a marketplace for MR members and agree that the marketplace could be a great place to sell to a fellow crazy Mac person . Thank you for the price advice and for bringing up concerns/questions that I had/have considered regarding the sale of the iMac. I appreciate your time, thanks again!