Replacement for C2D mid 2007 alu iMac?

[trifona]

Yes...she's almost 10 years old! Only Yosemite has managed to slow her down. Upgraded to 4GB of ram and replaced the 320GB drive with a 2TB drive 5.5 years ago. It sure was fun using the glass puller to tear down the machine...geez!

Been thinking about a new 27" model for awhile now.....I love the 24" screen i have now. Great for watching videos on Youtube!

Current uses: Web, music / itunes server, tax records (turbotax & excel), document retention (Adobe PDF). I still collect CD's so a superdrive is a must for me - Disappointed to see them ditch the drive so as to keep the bezel thin - maybe i can duck tape a superdrive behind the screen ??

In all seriousness....any reason I should avoid a new iMac? This machine has been so durable I would think I would not be able to reproduce that if I instead bought a Macbook and tried to use it connected to large desktop display.



Appreciate any thoughts you guys may have...been a long time since I checked into these forums :=) If there are better options for my intended uses, fire away!

 

[dictoresno]

I had a 20 inch mid 2007 iMac that I just sold to a friend and put that money towards a new 2015 iMac. Did I need to? Nope. Want to? Yup.

In all reality, the mid 2007 with my 2TB internal drive and 4GB RAM was plenty for my needs. I do the same exact things you do: document storage, iTunes for my 12,000 song library, browse the net and emails. Realistically, the computer performed very well given its age and honestly didn't seem slow at all for what I did on it.

However, I decided to treat myself and move on to a newer faster machine that was more future proof.

So I guess you really don't need to replace it as long as it performs the way you need it to for what you do on it.

 

[trifona]

Well said... My 3 main complaints right now....

1) Bogs down during video play, and Lightroom
2) I don't have a backup currently. - My OWC Thunderbolt drive died a couple of years ago.
3) Turbotax warned me that I would I need to update the OS again for next year's release! haha

 

[MadDane]

You mention Lightroom - how much do you use that? Either way, any new 27" iMac should do it. The only thing I would say is to get the 2TB Fusion Drive at the bare minimum, better yet an SSD. If you feel like Apple charges too much for an internal one you can always get an external SSD and boot from that.

And remember to take a back-up of your current iMac before something happens

 

[dictoresno]

There is a thread on here where people are updating the mid 2007 internals to be able to run macOS Sierra. Think it's just a wireless card and maybe the processor just for the hell of it. I forget which components aren't compatible. But for like $50, you can make the mid 2007 macOS compatible and if you also then add an SSD and max out the RAM at 6GB, you should have a brand new machine. Up to you though. It's pretty involved if your not familiar with breaking the machine down, but all in around $225-250, you could have a rejuvenated and much faster 2007 iMac.

 

[ch02ce]

Yes, see the thread here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/upgrade-mid-2007-imac-worth-it.1617759/

I went on eBay and followed the same advice, got a newer processor and wireless card coming. Honestly, just to tinker. I am not expecting to be blown away.

My 24" is still a fantastic computer for every-day needs. If you want to keep it in tip-top shape however I would ditch the spinning drive for a SSD. By far the most noticeable upgrade.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"I don't have a backup currently. - My OWC Thunderbolt drive died a couple of years ago."

Nearly 10-year-old iMac?
NO backup?

Is there anything on the internal hard drive that's important to you?

If so, you better get a USB3 hard drive and get backed up immediately!
I'd suggest using CarbonCopyCloner (or SuperDuper) to create a bootable cloned backup.
If the internal drive fails, you can boot and work from the backup.

The 2015 iMacs (especially the 27") look great. Nothing wrong with getting one of them as a replacement.
Check ebay. Right now there seem to be a few resellers that have been granted the privilege by Apple of "moving out" large quantities of 2015-era Macs. I picked up a new 2015 MacBook Pro from one of them last December, good deal.

Search on "ebay electronics valley store". No financial interest here.

If you can keep going with what you have, new iMacs are supposed to be coming this year, but as of yet there are no substantial rumors of when they'll be released. Some are saying March/April or thereabouts. This could be why Apple is pushing out old stock (see above).

For optical media you'll want an external USB drive.
My recommendation is, DON'T buy Apple's.
Instead, get something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Exte...8-1&keywords=samsung+usb+CD+DVD+bluray+M-Disc
I've never had "a bad burn" with mine.

 

[trifona]

Lots of good advice here. Many thanks.

Obviously I have a typo above, my OWC drive that died was a FW800 drive that I bought in 2008, not thunderbolt. For next gen, do I want USB 3.0 or loook for thunderbolt only? I was wavering on owc's mercury elite single drive since it lacks thunderbolt. 4gb would cost $250. Is the premium worth it versus cheaper drives from WD or seagate?

Interesting in the potential to upgrade the 2007 iMac; just not sure about it since th machine is nearly 10 years old already. If I go down this route I feel that I may find myself in a similar upgrade dilemma in the near future.

I was doing research on the core dilemma last night of iMac versus MBP. I finally discovered that Thunderbolt docks exist! Still think I would prefer a new iMac (when the 2017's finally come out)

 

[TallManNY]

Well said... My 3 main complaints right now....

1) Bogs down during video play, and Lightroom
2) I don't have a backup currently. - My OWC Thunderbolt drive died a couple of years ago.
3) Turbotax warned me that I would I need to update the OS again for next year's release! haha

Ha, my Mom's computer is the same 2007 and she got the same warning on her turbo tax software. I will probably do her taxes on my computer this year and have her hold off for the next iMac. I'm hoping new ones are out by April. Great computer though. It was mine until 2011 and then she inherited it. I think I will get her a 21-inch with 4k screen when new ones come out though. I'm doing fine on my 2011 booting off an external SSD. The external SSD is just a bit fiddly so I'm not going to hand it down.

 

[trifona]

Ordered a 4TB Mercury Elite Pro from OWC this morning. So as long as I can make it through the next 2 days without a catastrophic failure, I'll be protected again. I'm still amazed how well she has aged and been completely reliable since day 1.

Also, I cant say that I'm not at least a little bit concerned about the state of the Mac from what I've been reading over the last few days in regards to feedback on the late 2016 MBPs, Apple's form over function approach to nearly everything, and lack of a sense of direction about the iMac roadmap coming from the user community. Oh yeah, and the prices of these new machines once you spec them up is enough to take your breath away!

 

[trifona]

Some good news to report....

Everything is now backed up via Time Machine on a new 4TB drive in an OWC FW800 / USB3 enclosure.

More importantly....I was able to upgrade OSX to El Capitan! I was mistakenly under the impression that Yosemite was the end of the road for me since the App store never recommended El Capitan as an optio, only Sierra. I only found this out after reading some threads in the Mac OS section of the boards. As soon as my drive finished backing up this morning, I upgraded to El Capitan, and so far so good. It even feels a bit faster running full screen youtube vids and the like.

At a minimum this buys me time before I have to consider a replacement, and perhaps even puts it off for awhile given that this machine has been rock solid reliable for almost years now.

PS - Next year's Turbotax will support El Capitan...yay!