New Mac Quandry

[nedlah]

Facing dilemma in regard to upgrading my mac to new machine.

Until this morning I was full steam ahead for upgrade to 2010 MacPro quadcore nehalem...until I picked up the thread of display card problems on this forum and elsewhere.

Already considered iMac and MacMini - yellow tint, storage expandibillity difficulties, the heat&length of life of parts amongst other things would concern me with these.

Now I’m not so sure. I’m a glass half empty sort of guy - like to get my head around problems if possible before they arise... I know...this is not always the best approach...thought MacPro was a bit of a no brainer though since I can afford one, but the outlook is looking a bit gloomy after discovering the macpro display issue.

Waiting for new MacPro doesn’t appeal a lot - wouldn’t be keen to buy before the initial wave of use passes - which could put my upgrade out a long way from now. Also I was going to go via refurb anyway for the 2010 model rather than buy from my local apple store but maybe it’d be a better option to buy it thru the local store (they dont deal in the refurb models) - that way much easier to take it in if there are any warranty issues - and by the by I wonder how many of the refurb 2010 macpros would have come in precisely because of the display problem issue? Is it reasonable to think there’s a good chance a refurb will have a new card? Who knows I guess? but it doesn’t guarantee there wont be a display problem in any case.

Anyone else facing similiar dilemma? Any thoughts welcome.

 

[maflynn]

Unless you need the expansion possibilities of a Macpro, I'd get an iMac. I wouldn't let some threads here scare you off. The clear majority of iMacs are defect free and no yellow tint

 

[snberk103]

Facing dilemma in regard to upgrading my mac to new machine.

Until this morning I was full steam ahead for upgrade to 2010 MacPro quadcore nehalem...until I picked up the thread of display card problems on this forum and elsewhere.

Already considered iMac and MacMini - yellow tint, storage expandibillity difficulties, the heat&length of life of parts amongst other things would concern me with these.
... Any thoughts welcome.

Buy from the refurb store. Use the $$ you save to buy AppleCare. Now you have 3 years of guaranteed happy computing. In the very very unlikely case you get a faulty machine, Apple looks after the repair.

Get obsessive about checking the refurb store.... several times a day. Despite what other's have posted, I can find no real pattern as to when machines pop up... other than not usually on weekends. And sometimes there are some really good deals. But the really good deals go fast... that's why you need to check regularly, and then pounce. If you have some flexibility on timing you can wait for a really good deal to appear.

Luck

 

[nedlah]

Thanks for the suggestions. Actually in the time since I posted I have started to think along the lines of iMac...

 

[powerbook911]

Thanks for the suggestions. Actually in the time since I posted I have started to think along the lines of iMac...

You do have to watch out for the yellow tint. I've tried at least three maybe four since they went to 16x9 displays nearly two years ago, and they all had the yellow.

I wouldn't buy Apple Care until you knew you were keeping it too. If you got one with Yellow, you might just want to return it and find something else.


I love iMacs. They are a classic Apple product and my mid-2007 machine is still running pretty nice. However, iMac hard drives are one of the most difficult to replace, which is why, alongside yellow tint, I have become slightly nervous about them.

 

[nedlah]

I've drawn the conclusion that it's the chance of getting into the yellow tint iMac nightmare as against the flaky MacPro videocard one with the minimac making a late bid....perhaps...

Luckily my existing machine is going great though it's old(G4 eMac) but I cant rely on it for that much longer.. hopefully long enough to see what refreshes there are with the macs next year...that's how it seems to be heading for me.