MP, iMac for heavy photo editing - budget constrained

[robotkiller]

I don't know your use case, but for me - I'm being constrained because of a lack of memory, and not CPU speed.

I have a similar iMac (Late 2006 20 inch screen, 2.16 C2D, 2GB RAM) running Leopard and a Unibody MBP (17 inch, 2.66, 4GB RAM), and I'm dealing with the same lack of RAM with photo editing on both.

The iMac will cost 350$ to get you to the 8 GB level, and God only knows how much for the 16 GB zone. What is making me think of a hackintosh or MacPro is the ability to add RAM in the amounts that I need.

The 27" can be bumped to 8GB with a $117 kit from OWC.

 

[Vantage Point]

Very good point on the Dell. My only concern for the Dell vs the NEC right now is that supposedly the Dell is having some profile problems at the moment.

Are you referring to the profile it comes with, or the profile when properly calibrated with a good calibration kit like Eye-One Display 2? If it is the former then it is not a concern for color conscious people like photogrpahers that calibrate their monitors. If it is the latter then there is a serious problem.

Dell also has a nice 24" U2410 which is a wider gamut monitor for a very competitive price of $525 - $599 - less than a refurb 24" AC 😉

 

[nanofrog]

Is this a 2008?

http://store.apple.com/ca/product/FB451LL/A?mco=MTA4MjcxNDQ

This is the older architecture without hyperthreading and turbo boost correct?

Yes, it's a 2008 model. Those CPU's do NOT have hyperthreading or turbo boost, as that wasn't introduced until the Nehalem architecture (2009 models and carries over to the 2010 units as well).