New iMac - Best use of $200

[Haugiz]

Anyway, the idea of a 27" has crossed my mind, but I had thought, and have read, that sitting in front of such a large screen can be overkill. And since I wanted fusion drive, it pushed the price to $2K, so I settled my mind around the 21". Based on everyone's comments, I'll reconsider.

Just thought I'd chime in on this. I've been using a 21" for three years, and wanted to go for a new 2012 21". But when the specs came out I knew I had to go for the 27", even though I felt it would be waay to big for my desk. Now, I can't believe I sat behind that tiny 21" screen for three years. Everything is the same size - there's just more of it!

 

[Flyswater]

Well it depends. Fusion drives will be quicker when starting up, moving/opening/saving files, and the overall experience will feel "snappier" but applications will not perform any better. Additionally the "Fusion" part does not work when in Windoze, it just acts as a regular drive. So if you don't gripe about this right now and want to save money there is no need to get one, better to spend the money on either the larger machine or RAM.

As for the size, when you first get the 27" it seems enormous, but after a relatively short period of time you not only get used to it, you miss it when working on other, small machines. At least thats been my experience.
Especially when working on visual stuff, like drafting etc., the larger work area is a blessing.

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Good catch, I knew AutoCAD did and when I went to the site to confirm I missed the "Windows on the Mac" header over Revit.

Just thought I'd chime in on this. I've been using a 21" for three years, and wanted to go for a new 2012 21". But when the specs came out I knew I had to go for the 27", even though I felt it would be waay to big for my desk. Now, I can't believe I sat behind that tiny 21" screen for three years. Everything is the same size - there's just more of it!

Now that I've been reading everyone's advice, I'm starting to get excited about the idea of the base 27". (and yes, I can come up with the extra $50) I sit in front of a dual monitor setup at the office every day. Couldn't be any smaller than a single 27" at the house. Plus, I can add RAM if needed. Wouldn't be the first time. I'd have to give up the fusion drive tho'. How is the performance of the 7200 RPM HDD compared to the fusion drive? Can I live without it? I'm starting to think this is the right direction for me. Thanks for everyone's input....

 

[mrjose]

This may or may not help your decision as only you can forecast how you will use the computer...

I was on the fence quite a bit on the 21.5 versus 27 inch iMac. After going to look at them both at the Apple store, my wife and I believe that the 21.5 will be fine, particularly for a computer that isn't used for full-time work. Since she will use this for graphics (CS Photoshop, etc.), I definitely am going with 16GB RAM and Fusion to better edit large files and video. She also likes to run dozens of apps at the same time. This is priced at ~$1750, and it would certainly meet our needs.

But, I've also decided to spend the $400 more for the i7 and better video card. I've justified this as follows...If I assume that this upgrade will make it faster, a 10% reduction in time seems reasonable. If we use the iMac 1 hour a day doing complex work for its 3 year life, it saves about 100 hours. $400 divided by 100 hours works out to $4/hour. It seems like an investment I'd want to make. There's also the potential where she may do some deadline projects. The speed obviously would help there as well.

Some have said updating the processor also provides some more future proofing. It's a fairly loose benefit in my opinion, that I can't really use to justify spending more. If this were the only reason, I would probably buy the $1299 one now and then start saving for a new iMac if/when the future demanded it.

 

[SDH3BLK]

Honestly you just can't beat the 27. very few 21 fans out there (no disrespect) but for the money you will be spending, you are going to want that extra screen space. I work in autocad as well and have an extra 19" monitor set up, it's nice but I can't see my self buying a machine not too much bigger than this.

Although I will not be working cad on my iMac, I do video editing and its annoying editing this stuff with multiple windows open on a smaller screen, you have to dig through windows to find what your looking for! The 27 gives you so much workspace it's insane! The way I like to say it is, I'd rather have an artboard then and clipboard to do my work.

Also the fact that you can upgrade the RAM on your own in the future is big! You can get 32GB if you wanted and it would still be cheaper then apples 16GB upgrade! Whatever you get on the 21 your stuck with unless you truly want to go through the hassle of someone tearing it apart in the future to keep it up to date down the line. I love swinging my autocad to my 19" I can't imagen what a 27" would be like! But my IMac is only for my personal use, no job work will touch it! Hope this helps you! I have the benifit of seeing a mid 2011 27 iMac with all the bells and whistles and a base model 21 and the difference is huge. The 21 is slow, and truly a pain to work with, uploading videos? Forget it! But with the 27, 10 min. videos upload in 3 minutes or less!

 

[Flyswater]

Thanks for everyone's input. All the feedback I've received has all but convinced me that the base model 27" is the way to go. I get the better specs, plenty of screen real estate for CAD, plus I can upgrade RAM whenever. I had thought the Fusion Drive is a must-have, but I can likely live with a 7200 RPM HD in order to keep the cost under $2K. Besides, I've read other posts that say I can create my own "fusion" drive with an external SSD. I WILL likely use mine for partially for work, as I can VPN into my office and work from home. Beats staying late at night at the office, and besides I think some will agree that working at home doesn't seem so much like work when you have a nice scotch to sip on...

 

[Confuzzzed]

If you find a good reliable VNC client platform, please share it. Am on the lookout

 

[Flyswater]

If you find a good reliable VPN software, please share it. Am on the lookout

OK, this may sound like a dumb question, but I assume I can set up a VPN network connection using OSX similar to being able to do it in windows. Is that right, or do I need to obtain additional software? This is going to be something I'll need almost right away. Thanks.....

 

[50voltphantom]

And this is why I'm looking to replace my aging iMac with an i7 Mac Mini with a Fusion Drive for $1049. I can upgrade the RAM at my leisure and pair it with a nice IPS display for hundreds less than a comparably-equipped iMac.

 

[iSayuSay]

And this is why I'm looking to replace my aging iMac with an i7 Mac Mini with a Fusion Drive for $1049. I can upgrade the RAM at my leisure and pair it with a nice IPS display for hundreds less than a comparably-equipped iMac.

True .. But only if you can live with Intel HD4000.

 

[50voltphantom]

True .. But only if you can live with Intel HD4000.

Yep. Not a problem. Web/iPhoto/iMovie/Handbrake encode = discrete GPU not too big of a deal.

 

[tears2040]

And this is why I'm looking to replace my aging iMac with an i7 Mac Mini with a Fusion Drive for $1049. I can upgrade the RAM at my leisure and pair it with a nice IPS display for hundreds less than a comparably-equipped iMac.

I guess you forgot the Imac has a graphics card which the Mac mini does not. I bought a 2012 Mac mini and returned it as my 2011 iMac was faster for the work I do.

Now I'm currently looking to buy the iMac 27" model....