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Penryn iMacs Next Tuesday?

My theory on the new iMac

Let's just say that Apple has an unusually high supply of alum iMacs that were sent back for issues related to glare (perceived or not), quality of the 20" screen and other issues. They fix the issues, discount them in the refurb section and tempt many of us to buy a new iMac. No doubt that at least two of the four iMac models have sold well in the refurb section.

Wouldn't it be smart by Apple to wait 14 days after the bulk of the refurb supply is sold before they unveil an updated iMac? This would prevent the potential for refurbs to be sent back by folks who decide they want the latest model.

:D
 
Dream computer

jonswan said:
Besides my 2.0 ALU iMac is already my dream computer so the thought of changing is non existent.
Click to expand...

I know the feeling. The 2.4GHz 20" iMac is pretty much perfect for what I want and need. The previous line of iMacs had the 256MB VRAM video card as a BTO option, but the model I want has it by default. Very nice. :)
 
Karpaasi said:
Let's just say that Apple has an unusually high supply of alum iMacs that were sent back for issues related to glare (perceived or not), quality of the 20" screen and other issues. They fix the issues, discount them in the refurb section and tempt many of us to buy a new iMac. No doubt that at least two of the four iMac models have sold well in the refurb section.

Wouldn't it be smart by Apple to wait 14 days after the bulk of the refurb supply is sold before they unveil an updated iMac? This would prevent the potential for refurbs to be sent back by folks who decide they want the latest model.

:D
Click to expand...

i don't believe this is what's happening. Apple charges a 10% restocking fee (plus shipping?) on all returns that are not DOA.

but if you are right, i guess we should all keep an eye on the "special limited offer" refurb on their online store...

i'm just dying for some real front page iMac rumors to surface...
 
Help: Refurb vs. New

Hi. I'm making the jump from 8 years in MSPrison(TM) to an iMac. I was wondering what your thoughts are on refurbished vs. new iMacs. I'm currently looking at the 2.4 24" model. Of course, I've been waiting along with the rest of you due to this rumor before taking the plunge. (As an aside, I was at the local apple store on Saturday to oogle; the salesladey...err, genius...told me that they'd just received a shipment of iMacs that morning, fwiw.)

What makes an iMac refurbished and how does their reliability stack up? Should I be hesitant to buy a refurb, or is doing so asking for trouble? I've dealt with enough from Windows and am looking forward to some trouble-free productivity time.

Thank you for your advice/opinions!
 
Refurbs are fine, in reply to the above poster.
I'm currently weighing up the MBP vs. a new iMac - I don't really ever use the portability of a MBP and the iMac is cheaper/better spec-wise.
Decisions, decisions..
 
LoganT said:
That's really not how it works. It's two processing cores running on 1 die (I think).
Click to expand...

Yeah that's right. It's two cores on one chip. Saves power and makes the parts smaller.

When the G5 went from dual processor to dual core the efficiency sky rocketed and the heat generation went down.
 
it would totally eat if we had to wait until june for an iMac update... i'm under the impression that the summer updates will be more significant, but is there really a possibility that Apple will leave the MacBook to have a faster processor, etc. than the iMac until the summer? or is an imminent speed bump to penryn (with hopefully a 2GB Ram base and perhaps better videocard) pretty much a sure thing?
 
Darkroom said:
it would totally eat if we had to wait until june for an iMac update... i'm under the impression that the summer updates will be more significant, but is there really a possibility that Apple will leave the MacBook to have a faster processor, etc. than the iMac until the summer? or is an imminent speed bump to penryn (with hopefully a 2GB Ram base and perhaps better videocard) pretty much a sure thing?
Click to expand...

Well judging on how aggressively Intel is phasing out Merom processors, I couldn't see why it would take till June to update the iMacs. It might take a couple of weeks, but I couldn't see it taking more than a month IMO. And again, this is just my opinion, so there's absolutely no authority behind it whatsoever.
 
Refurbs

manofbread said:
What makes an iMac refurbished and how does their reliability stack up? Should I be hesitant to buy a refurb, or is doing so asking for trouble? I've dealt with enough from Windows and am looking forward to some trouble-free productivity time.
Click to expand...

I've bought a number of refurbished items from Apple and I have had pretty good luck with them. I've purchased a refurbished PowerMac, iBook, iMacs, 3 variants of iPods, and an Apple Display. Of all of that hardware, only one iPod (3rd generation) started having problems within the first 90 days, and went sent it back to Apple and had a replacement w/i a week. All of the other equipment I've bought is still running (and some of this equipment is 8-9 years old).

Plus, you can buy AppleCare insurance. I'm planning on doing so for my next purchase, especially for the iMacs. $169 isn't too bad of a price, it's the laptops that get expensive for insurance!
 
flopticalcube said:
That would be too fast! Hardly enough time to let the MacBook and MBP absorb the limelight.
Click to expand...

I am dying to upgrade my iMac, especially given that I only have 1 GB of RAM in it and things are starting to slow down...starting Word 2008 takes a few more seconds than I feel like waiting. I don't want to spend $300 for 2 GB of RAM when I could put those $300 towards the purchase of a new iMac...

However, it would take at least a BD-ROM drive upgrade in an iMac before I upgrade. I cannot fathom why they have waited so long to produce one. Even better if they could come out with a BD-RW drive iMac so that we can burn our home HD videos to Blu-ray.

Especially with HD-DVD turning into HD-DED, there is no reason for Apple to wait anymore.

Alra111
 
alra111 said:
I am dying to upgrade my iMac, especially given that I only have 1 GB of RAM in it and things are starting to slow down...starting Word 2008 takes a few more seconds than I feel like waiting. I don't want to spend $300 for 2 GB of RAM when I could put those $300 towards the purchase of a new iMac...

However, it would take at least a BD-ROM drive upgrade in an iMac before I upgrade. I cannot fathom why they have waited so long to produce one. Even better if they could come out with a BD-RW drive iMac so that we can burn our home HD videos to Blu-ray.

Especially with HD-DVD turning into HD-DED, there is no reason for Apple to wait anymore.

Alra111
Click to expand...

$300 for 2GB??? Most places sell 2GB sticks for $50 or less. You could pick up 4GB for less than $100! Don't buy memory from Apple!

Penryns have been shown to give little or no performance improvements in the MacBooks and MacBook Pros so I think the same will go for the iMacs.
 
alra111 said:
I am dying to upgrade my iMac, especially given that I only have 1 GB of RAM in it and things are starting to slow down...starting Word 2008 takes a few more seconds than I feel like waiting. I don't want to spend $300 for 2 GB of RAM when I could put those $300 towards the purchase of a new iMac...

However, it would take at least a BD-ROM drive upgrade in an iMac before I upgrade. I cannot fathom why they have waited so long to produce one. Even better if they could come out with a BD-RW drive iMac so that we can burn our home HD videos to Blu-ray.

Especially with HD-DVD turning into HD-DED, there is no reason for Apple to wait anymore.

Alra111
Click to expand...

Exactly, you can get 4gb of RAM for $99, I don't know if you're a bit out of touch...

And as for Blu-Ray, I think you might be waiting a looong time, think middle to end of next year. Blu-Ray drives are still too expensive for mass installation into the whole product range.
 
JaySoul said:
Exactly, you can get 4gb of RAM for $99, I don't know if you're a bit out of touch...

And as for Blu-Ray, I think you might be waiting a looong time, think middle to end of next year. Blu-Ray drives are still too expensive for mass installation into the whole product range.
Click to expand...
Think again... HP, Dell, Toshiba, and Gateway were putting Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, or hybrid drives in there laptops and desktops for a while now and they cost about $1000.00... I thought I heard a little rumor that Sony couldn't provide a particular drive that Apple wanted and that's why we haven't seen them yet.
 
Synthetic said:
Think again... HP, Dell, Toshiba, and Gateway were putting Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, or hybrid drives in there laptops and desktops for a while now and they cost about $1000.00...
Click to expand...

The use of BD forces a company to reduce spendings on other components. Apple doesnt want to do that.

And by the way, have you ever seen a slot-loading BD that is as thin as necessary to install in the current form-factors of Apple Computers (aside from Mac Pro)?
 
eXan said:
The use of BD forces a company to reduce spendings on other components. Apple doesnt want to do that.

And by the way, have you ever seen a slot-loading BD that is as thin as necessary to install in the current form-factors of Apple Computers (aside from Mac Pro)?
Click to expand...
Ya got me there. ;)
 
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