Q's about the imac - your thoughts appreciated

[Ashmanspice]

I like many others have held off from buying an imac in case of an update today. However, thinkin im gonna just buy one tmrw and just get on with it! Ive just got a couple of questions first, as I am a complete newby and this will be my first mac.

If i buy the current one will it be compatible with new stuff comin out in the relatively near future ie. Snow leopard and watever else may be iin the pipeline. would like this comp to last me 2 or 3 years at least..

I will be using it for general stuff like work, music etc however do a bit of autocad work from time to time, which spec would you recommend? I have no need for a big screen but what abt everything else ie. graphics (i dnt kno anythin abt technical stuff!)

thanks for any help

Ash

 

[MacDawg]

Snow Leopard? Yes, when it comes out
2-3 years? Yes, no problem

My rule of thumb, buy the best you can afford
You will rarely regret buying better, but you will often regret buying less

Upgrade the RAM with 3rd party RAM

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[neiltc13]

The cheapest iMac will be fine for you, just upgrade to 2GB RAM and you'll be all set.

 

[skubish]

Here are the requirements for AutoCAD

For 32-bit AutoCAD 2009:

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor or AMD Athlon®, 2.2 GHz or greater
or
Intel or AMD Dual Core processor, 1.6 GHz or greater
Microsoft® Windows Vista™, Windows® XP SP2 operating systems
For Microsoft Windows XP SP2:

1 GB RAM
750 MB free disk space for installation
1,024 x 768 VGA with true color
Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6.0 (SP1 or higher)
For Microsoft Windows Vista or 3D modeling:

Intel Pentium 4 processor or AMD Athlon, 3.0 GHz or greater
or
Intel or AMD Dual Core processor, 2.0 GHz or greater
2 GB RAM or greater
2 GB free hard disk available not including installation
1,280 x 1,024 32-bit color video display adapter (true color) 128 MB or greater, OpenGL®, or Direct3D® capable workstation class graphics card. For Windows Vista, a Direct3D-capable workstation-class graphics card with 128 MB or greater is required.

I would say the video game is suitable for light work.

 

[ayeplussjr]

I'm in the same boat with you...I'm about 80% sure I might just pull the trigger tomorrow morning and purchase an iMac. I'm tired of waiting....on the other hand, I've waited this long, and I might be able to squeeze a little bit of life out of my PC

I'm hoping since iLife is shipping with the iMac's at the end of the month maybe there might be an update to the iMac at that time as well...who knows, but I might at least wait until the end of the month.

 

[Ashmanspice]

Cheers for your help, I do have to do a bit of 3D modeling, do you think I would needs a better graphics card for this?

I'm in the same boat with you...I'm about 80% sure I might just pull the trigger tomorrow morning and purchase an iMac. I'm tired of waiting....on the other hand, I've waited this long, and I might be able to squeeze a little bit of life out of my PC

I'm hoping since iLife is shipping with the iMac's at the end of the month maybe there might be an update to the iMac at that time as well...who knows, but I might at least wait until the end of the month.

Its a tuff one for sure! Ive waited a couple of months and really fighting the urge to go out tmrw morning like you. The current iMac is probably plenty good enough for what i will use it for but does it really offer value for money until it gets an update?

 

[pktojd]

I bought a new 2.8/24 in December. I Read all of the rumors/wishful thinking/speculation about a new one being released at MW '09, and most of that was about a shorter chin, or a new enclosure, or a matte screen, i.e. nothing going to the guts of it. I ended up buying refurb and got the 500g 2.8 for $500 less.

Yes, when a new one is released, yours will not the be newest. But the next one is not likely to make the current gen obsolete (like Intel chips and osX did to my laptop) or be that much of a jump in speed. And, if the mac book is a predictor, it may even lose firewire. (Another reason I bought when I did.)

Buy now. Use it. Enjoy it.

 

[neiltc13]

Cheers for your help, I do have to do a bit of 3D modeling, do you think I would needs a better graphics card for this?

No! Unless you're doing extremely high poly models (which I doubt you are if you're just doing a "bit") then you'll be fine with the base model.

 

[ayeplussjr]

Its a tuff one for sure! Ive waited a couple of months and really fighting the urge to go out tmrw morning like you. The current iMac is probably plenty good enough for what i will use it for but does it really offer value for money until it gets an update?

I think the current iMac is plenty enough for me too, but I talked to my brother a few minutes ago, and he made a good point. Here we are about to drop $1500-2000 maybe on a current iMac, then a few months down the road Apple updates the iMac's. Now we just paid some good money for an outdated system. Like one of the previous posts stated, the change will probably not make the current iMac's obsolete, but I might be a little pissed off in a few months knowing I spent my loot for an outdated computer. I wish there could have been something, just anything about a release date. I'm just a bit upset because I was excited to buy my first iMac, but whatever....s**t happens!!!!