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new emac or refurb imac

S

shopokane

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 9, 2005
3
0
hello,
I am a pc user. My son wants a mac for his birthday/middle school graduation. He will have about $1,000 when all his money is combined with his gifted money.
He can buy a new emac for under $1000. or he can purchase a refurbished imac 1.8 for about the same amount.

I, being a pc user I have no idea which is the right way to go.

I did see some threads elsewhere that said the macs were installed with bad capacitors that were blowing up, I am not sure if this has been fixed across the board yet. . . I am also not clear if that was all mac products or only certain ones. But I did see that some people had problems as far back as 2002 and as recent as this year.

So, having heard about the above problem, my concern about the refurbished imac, could we run into problems, are there still bad capacitors in the system? :confused: even though they are refurbished, is it still more risky than buying new.

My son is 14 is an artist. He would like to use this computer to develop in graphic art, using a drawing tablet etc.........

any input would be greatly appreciated.
thank you
 
Don't worry about any problems quality wise. If you do happen to run into anything bad, yell really loudly and Apple will come running to replace it. I'd go the iMac route over the eMac. It's got a faster/better processor, better screen, faster RAM etc.

I haven't really heard much about this capacitor problem, but I'm assuming that if Apple sold you a faulty iMac, irrespective of whether it's refurb, they'll fix it/refund your money if something backfires.

Either machine is great though IMO.
 
imac capability for graphic artist?

I am trying to get up to speed on the MAC world, as I only know PC's. My son wants to buy a apple/mac. He is an aspiring graphic artist and wants to further his graphic artist/artisitic abilities. Will the imac provide adequate capability with graphic artist type programs? I don't know what these programs would be yet. I did read a post that there's no PCI slots to add additional hardware capability. Is it better to wait and get a Power mac, instead of the imac g5?
thanks in advance.
 
shopokane said:
I am trying to get up to speed on the MAC world, as I only know PC's. My son wants to buy a apple/mac. He is an aspiring graphic artist and wants to further his graphic artist/artisitic abilities. Will the imac provide adequate capability with graphic artist type programs? I don't know what these programs would be yet. I did read a post that there's no PCI slots to add additional hardware capability. Is it better to wait and get a Power mac, instead of the imac g5?
thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
There are no graphic design programs that require any additional hardware. As long as you have a fast CPU (check), fast HD (check), and lots of RAM (you can add over time), you're fine. Really the only industry that consistently require add-on hardware is pro audio.

The only possible objection to getting the iMac is that it uses an LCD screen that may not be quite up to snuff as far as color accuracy goes. But it's not a deal breaker, in my opinion, especially for a "kid" who's starting to learn graphic design.
 
shopokane said:
I am trying to get up to speed on the MAC world, as I only know PC's. My son wants to buy a apple/mac. He is an aspiring graphic artist and wants to further his graphic artist/artisitic abilities. Will the imac provide adequate capability with graphic artist type programs? I don't know what these programs would be yet. I did read a post that there's no PCI slots to add additional hardware capability. Is it better to wait and get a Power mac, instead of the imac g5?
thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

I am a graphic artist and have a Powermac G5, before that I owned a G3 Powermac and 2 G4 Powermacs, I never did anything more than add more Ram and maybe a HD or 2, but External drives are just as good, I never had a thought about the PCI slots, IMO it's an overrated option. The G5 iMac will probably be a better bet, however I would definitely recommend a newer one as the gpu is double what it was and the 512 ram standard is a lot better, with graphics the more ram the better (especially photoshop). If he can wait and you can spend the dough go with a dual processor G5 tower, however if thats too much $$ than go with a new iMac.

EDIT: As far as the capacitors blowing up, your the first person I've heard it from. I think your chances of a capacitor failing in a mac are the same as if you got any PC.
 
Hi, I'm an artist myself and I would go with the iMac (refurb). You should have no problems with apps. as long as the ram is added (about 1 gig as others have stated). I use a tablet (new 6x8 Waccom) no problems, so he should be happy with the iMac.
One other thing is the iMac saves space and "it weighs less". I have an eMac and man is it heavy (well my desk thinks so). Anyway hope your son enjoys :D
Since he is in school you may want to call Apple and see about the EDU price for an iMac since there is a K-12 or Higher EDU prices. Try the Apple web site, go to edu discount, enter his school and see if you/your son can qualify for the discount.
 
thanks for info

Thank you for all your helpful insight into the Imac. I think we are going to go by the local apple store Friday to check out the imac g5 up close. What is your opinion on getting the Apple Care Warranty? Thanks again!
 
Artful Dodger said:
Since he is in school you may want to call Apple and see about the EDU price for an iMac since there is a K-12 or Higher EDU prices. Try the Apple web site, go to edu discount, enter his school and see if you/your son can qualify for the discount.
Click to expand...
Apple recently started a $100 rebate program for college students. Your son could qualify. With that $100 discount, you can get the 17" 1.8 ghz iMac for $1099. It's a little more than what you budgeted but you'll get a faster CPU, bigger HD, more base RAM, and way better GPU. Search the forum for the rebate.
 
Refurbished iMac G5 a good bet.

Both of my computers are refurbished. I saw a nice deal on those 1.6 G5 iMacs at apple's special deals section. 899.00! I wish I could trade in my powerbook for one. I tried to get my parents to switch. But they insist on buying the cheapest computer they can find at walmart. It really is driving me nuts!

Anyway, your iMac g5 will be under a warranty for one year. I wouldn't buy applecare untill you are close to the one year anniversary. If you don't have any hardware problems by then, you probably won't.

A iMac G5 would be sweet!
 
dongmin
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artful Dodger
Since he is in school you may want to call Apple and see about the EDU price for an iMac since there is a K-12 or Higher EDU prices. Try the Apple web site, go to edu discount, enter his school and see if you/your son can qualify for the discount.
Apple recently started a $100 rebate program for college students. Your son could qualify. With that $100 discount, you can get the 17" 1.8 ghz iMac for $1099. It's a little more than what you budgeted but you'll get a faster CPU, bigger HD, more base RAM, and way better GPU. Search the forum for the rebate.
Click to expand...

Just found that rebate today and what a deal that will be :D
Apple care is a nice choice with the EDU discount.
 
er....mmm....IMAC!!

no contest

Don't worry about quality control, every product line gets its share of 'lemons' beit RollsRoyce or Apple. I've been using Macs since 1990 and never had one issue with the hardware.
 
Definately go with the iMac - just bump the RAM up to at least 512mb and it'll be great for graphics programs. (although I use a Wacom tablet on my PowerBook G4 and it works well)
 
Welcome to MacRumors shopokane. Your son is very lucky that you are allowing him to purchase a Mac. You won't be sorry. That is a good idea to visit your local Apple Store. The refurb iMac G5 would be the best idea, it will be capable of doing all that your son is interested in doing. I have been thinking about getting a refurb iMac myself.

I would highly recommend AppleCare, it will cover the Mac for three years. It also will give your son to call IT for the full three years also.

Hopefully you will allow your son to join this forum. He will be able to gain a lot of knowledge.
 
I've been going back and forth between getting a new emac, a refurbed 1.8 imac or an unrefurbed 1.8 imac from amazon, all the same price. Capacitors have been quite an issue as a quick google search shows, but seems to be for imacs made last year. I haven't a clue if the refurbs or amazons are that old or if Apple fixes capacitors on refurbs even if they weren't the problem. Capacitors break under warranty, but being w/o a computer while it's being fixed is a pain in the neck.

I saw an article a couple years ago that said CRT's are preferred by top graphic artists. I'm not sure if that's still the case.
 
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