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(one year old) iMac 3.06Ghz for 1400€, worth it?

A

akoj

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 7, 2009
8
0
Hi.

I recently grew tired of the PC world since my Vista crashed and I've been looking at Mac's since then. Anyway long story short, I found this at an auction site: 24", 3,06Ghz, 4Gb, 500Gb, 8800GS for 1400€. It's one year old.

Is this a good deal, decent price level? Could I get more bang for my buck by waiting for the Apple Media Event coming up this fall (and hoping for new models). Are there any risks with old macs? What should I look out for if I go and look at it? Just looking to get some 2nd opinions and advice since it's quite a lot of money for me.

Thanks!
 
Ohyeah, PC's usually get a little slower after some time and installing everything again usually regains some of the lost speed. Does this happen with Mac's? Does it help to reinstall everything?
 
akoj said:
Hi.

I recently grew tired of the PC world since my Vista crashed and I've been looking at Mac's since then. Anyway long story short, I found this at an auction site: 24", 3,06Ghz, 4Gb, 500Gb, 8800GS for 1400€. It's one year old.

Is this a good deal, decent price level? Could I get more bang for my buck by waiting for the Apple Media Event coming up this fall (and hoping for new models). Are there any risks with old macs? What should I look out for if I go and look at it? Just looking to get some 2nd opinions and advice since it's quite a lot of money for me.
Click to expand...

Before you buy, go to the Apple Store website (www.apple.com/store), go to the refurbished section, and check out what they have there. These computers come with the full one year Apple warranty and are like new.

With your one year old used Mac, you don't get warranty and there is the risk that the seller wants to get rid of a computer that he isn't happy with.
 
akoj said:
Hi.

I recently grew tired of the PC world since my Vista crashed and I've been looking at Mac's since then. Anyway long story short, I found this at an auction site: 24", 3,06Ghz, 4Gb, 500Gb, 8800GS for 1400€. It's one year old.

Is this a good deal, decent price level? Could I get more bang for my buck by waiting for the Apple Media Event coming up this fall (and hoping for new models). Are there any risks with old macs? What should I look out for if I go and look at it? Just looking to get some 2nd opinions and advice since it's quite a lot of money for me.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I would also second the other poster to check the refurb section first. Having said that, the price is nice for that machine! Macs usually dont slow down like PCs as they are not as susceptible to spyware/adware etc.

I have the same model (the only difference is I have the 2.8 ghz) and LOVE IT. I would inquire to the seller to see if it was still eligible for applecare extended warranty, but if you didn't see anything in the refurb store I'd go for it.

Don't wait for the Apple event next week. They probably are not going to refresh computers then (only ipods) and you don't want to lose out on a good deal.
 
Wel its an awesome machine, but as many have said above, check the refurb section on the apple store
signature_SmileyFace.jpg
the warranty is much more 'comforting' but that computer is MINT and the price isn't too bad... A reformat would be wise and would possibly speed up the mac but not as much as what reformatting a windows computer does
 
I always buy from the refurb site

Check the refurb site as others have said, and check it often. Items there change daily, and the discounts vary as well. I've bought two laptops there in the past year and a half plus a few other items. Everything appears brand new - I would have no idea these were refurbs if I didn't buy them myself.
 
The refurb site has the same model except with 2Gb ram for 1599$, or about 1115€. I'm not sure they ship to Finland from the US store though and then there's the Finnish tax authority to worry about.

So assuming the auction iMac is in good condition, it's worth the money. Guess I'll have to drive the 300km to have a look at it.
 
If I were you I would most likely look to buy from the refurb store. It might not be a bad price compared to the 3.06ghz model now, but I bought my 3.06ghz iMac for about £1200 brand new back in March. Also if you buy from Apple you have the added piece of mind that you are definitely getting what you have bought, along with a warranty.
signature_silverapple.jpg
 
€1400 is not a bad price. It's not great, but not bad. Since your only other option is to purchase a new system, I would say that it's probably your best course of action to buy the used one.
 
leighonigar said:
What are you planning to use it for? Personally I'd just buy a new one http://store.apple.com/fi/browse/home/shop_mac/family/imac?mco=NzcwNjc1OQ unless you really can't afford any more and need those exact features. I'd rather have a 2.66 or 2.93GHz proc and a new computer than a used one and 3.06Ghz.
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Opening up a new box is fun and gives you a piece of mind, yes, but I feel like I get more future proofing with the used 3,06Ghz & 8800GS than if I were to pay 1300-1500 for a (worse) brand new one. I don't really play games that much but I don't want to rule out the possibility of doing so and I'm hoping to stick with this computer for 2-3 years so getting one that's hopelessly outdated before I even buy it would be kind of pointless. (refering to 9400M)

And I'm obviously going to get to look and test it out before I shell out the dough, if it looks pristine and works flawlessly then it's not like it's going to brake down the next day... or year..?

Thanks for the input guys, I'm leaning towards buying it. By the way, are system disks supposed to be included in iMacs? I mean, OSX comes pre-installed as far as I gather but do you get a separate disk with which you can format and reinstall the whole thing?
 
akoj said:
Opening up a new box is fun and gives you a piece of mind, yes, but I feel like I get more future proofing with the used 3,06Ghz & 8800GS than if I were to pay 1300-1500 for a (worse) brand new one. I don't really play games that much but I don't want to rule out the possibility of doing so and I'm hoping to stick with this computer for 2-3 years so getting one that's hopelessly outdated before I even buy it would be kind of pointless. (refering to 9400M)

And I'm obviously going to get to look and test it out before I shell out the dough, if it looks pristine and works flawlessly then it's not like it's going to brake down the next day... or year..?

Thanks for the input guys, I'm leaning towards buying it. By the way, are system disks supposed to be included in iMacs? I mean, OSX comes pre-installed as far as I gather but do you get a separate disk with which you can format and reinstall the whole thing?
Click to expand...

Computers can break spontaneously at any time. That said, my experience is either of things breaking when they are very new or quite old. €1400 and no warranty makes me jittery. I guess it's my aversion to loss!

Yes, all new macs come with restore disks.
 
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