New mac how to decide

[trevoristight]

Ok, well I'm leaning towards the 20" imac either 2.4 or 2.66.
I know montevina is coming but the imacs have the best parts of montevina already. Then there is nehalem coming sometime in the beginning of 2009. But then westmere, then sandy beach and I could always be waiting forever.

I'm going to be using interent, ilife, office, final cut express 4.0, Toast 9.0, roller coaster tycoon 3 for sure.
I like to have a browser, word document, iphoto or imovie or FCE, downloading music open at the same time using spaces and expose.

So i wanted to know which imac I should get what processor, video card, and memory? I don't really care about screen size.
I know an awesome processor is coming and it would great to have a very powerful processor withbrand new technology but more and more I'm thinking what I use won't even test the current imacs, so I wouldn't need even more processing power even though it would be great to have. I think any current imac can handle what I throw at it and handle it smoothly

Let me know what you think.

 

[neiltc13]

Ok, well I'm leaning towards the 20" imac either 2.4 or 2.66.
I know montevina is coming but the imacs have the best parts of montevina already. Then there is nehalem coming sometime in the beginning of 2009. But then westmere, then sandy beach and I could always be waiting forever.

I'm going to be using interent, ilife, office, final cut express 4.0, Toast 9.0, roller coaster tycoon 3 for sure.
I like to have a browser, word document, iphoto or imovie or FCE, downloading music open at the same time using spaces and expose.

So i wanted to know which imac I should get what processor, video card, and memory? I don't really care about screen size.
I know an awesome processor is coming and it would great to have a very powerful processor withbrand new technology but more and more I'm thinking what I use won't even test the current imacs, so I wouldn't need even more processing power even though it would be great to have. I think any current imac can handle what I throw at it and handle it smoothly

Let me know what you think.

The cheapest model will perform all of those tasks admirably.

 

[macintosh tech]

Here is what you do:

1. Decide what model you want, this is general: iMac or Mac Pro, etc.
2. Figure out where in the cycle the product you have chosen is: Just released, few months old, mid-cycle, end of typical cycle?
3. Depending on where in the cycle the computer is make a decision to buy or wait.
4. 3 is dependent upon your *NEED* for the computer.

In your case, you have chosen an iMac. It is fairly new. So the question is, do you need the computer right now? If yes, buy. If no, decide whether you want to wait and if you decide to do that, set a cut off point. You will buy when the machine has "X and X."

It makes sense to ask these question if you do no need it or if it mid-cycle. In this case, the product may not see an update for awhile. So I would buy.

I waited a long time for the Mac Pro to be updated. When it was, I bought right away. If I was thinking about doing it right now, unless I needed it I would wait.

Anyhow, just ask the right questions and answer them honestly. No one here can tell you when to buy something that is what you have to decide.