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Refurb iMac 24" vs. New iMac 24"?

A

AluminumMB

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 11, 2009
170
5
Refurbished iMac 24-inch 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
24-inch glossy widescreen display
2GB memory
320GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB memory
Built-in iSight Camera
$1399

iMac, 24-inch
Part Number: MB418LL/A
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
640GB Serial ATA Drive
Apple Mighty Mouse
Apple Keyboard (English) + User's Guide
COUNTRY KIT,IMAC 24
$1655CAD with employee discount

Which is a better deal? Should I wait till the prices drop? Sort of aching to get a mac because I am using a white macbook at the moment. Also, is there a difference in lcd quality between the both? Thanks
 
I don't think there's a difference in the LCD, but honestly those two look pretty even to me. I might lean towards the $1655 CAD model because of more RAM and larger internal hard drive already installed. If you did this yourself on the cheaper model you'd probably end up spending close to the difference in price.
 
$1655 is a good price for that machine. At regular pricing the refurb would win hands down, but as miles says, adding HDD and RAM to the refurb would likely cost nearly as much as the price difference. And the newer machine has more RAM capacity, so you could go to 8GB in the future if you wanted.

That said, it comes down to your needs. If you're just doing Word, email, and the internet, there's really no point in spending the extra money, since both machines will do those tasks equally well.
 
leading towards the refurb since its cheaper but that video card must be crappy (the ati one)

These are the things I will be using the iMac for:

- web browsing
- email
- word processing
- dreamweaver cs4
- photoshop cs4
- light gaming (left 4 dead possibly)
- everything else
 
if price is a bigger priority for you, get the refurb. I think it's a great machine and it's a really good price too.

For what you stated you'll be doing, the refurb will handle those tasks easily. The ATI card isn't as bad as you think. Ram and HDD get be upgraded further down the road for cheaper. A 1 TB drive can be got for 99 canadian easily
 
I just bought a refurb 24" 2.4GHz for only $1049 and I love it! Actually I paid $1299 a few weeks before the new models came out but Apple very quickly refunded me the $250. I added 4GB memory for $36 and I'm happy. I have the same iMac with 2GB at work.
 
Cboss said:
What card would you have in the new one? The 9400m? If so, I don't think the 2600 is that bad.
Click to expand...
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/660899/

According to some teports at that link it looks like the Ati 2600Pro is far above the Radeon 9400m, although I don't think there is any direct comparison between the 2 so that comparisons can be difficult. However, the 2nd post says that the 940m and 2400xt are about the same, and the 2600Pro is "a lot better" to "twice as fast". I am perfectly satisfied with my iMac, esp. for the price. I don't want any of the miniDP mess right now either, so that leaves out the new version for sure.
 
wow didn't know the refurb gpu was better than the current model! im going to order the $1399 version this week (wish it was like $1300 or $1349.99 though). And too bad employee discounts are not made on refurbs

I rather have a nvidia card than an ati one though :(
 
i got a deal for $1558 (not including taxes) for the new 24" imac. great deal but i passed still leaning on an imac refurb
 
got a deal on craigslist for a new imac 24" (current model) for $1560CAD flat
going to pick it up tonight
 
AluminumMB said:
got a deal on craigslist for a new imac 24" (current model) for $1560CAD flat
going to pick it up tonight
Click to expand...

Nice! I am hopefully going to go pick up a new 24" iMac on Wednesday.

Anybody want to buy a 20" iMac G5 w/iSight????
 
Nice choice, I'm very excited for my iMac 24" - 2.93ghz, 4GB RAM, 640GB HD, nVidia GT130. Can't wait to experience the huge screen. Should be here next Monday.
 
Wow. Just wow. I got a great deal on the new iMac 24" at $1560CAD flat. I am very impressed with the size of the screen and its resolution. Truly epic. However, my neck does sort of ache. I pushed it as far back as I could.

The screen resolution makes me feel so much more productive as well. I get things done more efficiently and faster.
 
AluminumMB said:
Wow. Just wow. I got a great deal on the new iMac 24" at $1560CAD flat. I am very impressed with the size of the screen and its resolution. Truly epic. However, my neck does sort of ache. I pushed it as far back as I could.

The screen resolution makes me feel so much more productive as well. I get things done more efficiently and faster.
Click to expand...

You also got a terrible video card which gives about half the performance of the one in the refurb.
 
AluminumMB said:
Wow. Just wow. I got a great deal on the new iMac 24" at $1560CAD flat. I am very impressed with the size of the screen and its resolution. Truly epic. However, my neck does sort of ache. I pushed it as far back as I could.

The screen resolution makes me feel so much more productive as well. I get things done more efficiently and faster.
Click to expand...

Very cool man. Makes me more anxious to get mine! I might be able to go pick it up tonight after work. Glad you are enjoying it thus far!
 
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