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Returning New iMac. Confused about what to replace it with.

M

Mr. Funsocks

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 31, 2007
207
0
Hey I recently returned a 2.4Ghz 20" aluminum imac due to the washed out TN display. I do graphic work and the display was unacceptable. I'm at a loss of what to get next. It needs to have a high quality matte display. So I was looking at the old white 24" as a refurb model. But I don't want to downgrade unless I know it can do what I want it to do. It needs to be able to run Flash, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop very well. I also wish to do some casual gaming. Bioshock, Halo 2, Valve games on boot camp. A macbook pro is not out of the question, but the portability is not a must for me.

Here are the specs of the refurb 24":

Refurbished iMac 24-inch 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SuperDrive
24-inch widescreen display
1GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight camera

Would that do what I want it to do as far as design and maybe the casual gaming I do as well? What kind of a speed difference would there be from the 2.16C2D and the 2.4C2D with the santa rosa chipset. Also would I be better off waiting until the macworld event in mid january? I know they are doing a macbook pro update but would they maybe offer a matte option on the new imacs? I'm very confused at this point please any help would be a godsend.
 
It needs to be able to run Flash, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop very well. I also wish to do some casual gaming. Bioshock, Halo 2, Valve games on boot camp.
Click to expand...

That refirb wont run any new games well
so you have
2 choices:

1) buy a MBP, and external monitor

2) buy a PC, since it will do all of that for less money
 
shoulin333 said:
That refirb wont run any new games well
so you have
2 choices:

1) buy a MBP, and external monitor

2) buy a PC, since it will do all of that for less money
Click to expand...

It won't run games at all? Not even on a low resolution? I thought I read in a macworld article that the older imac actually got a higher FPS than the new imac while playing quake 4. Also I'm not getting a PC. That's out of the question.
 
Mr. Funsocks said:
It won't run games at all? Not even on a low resolution? I thought I read in a macworld article that the older imac actually got a higher FPS than the new imac while playing quake 4. Also I'm not getting a PC. That's out of the question.
Click to expand...
It will run games just fine. No, you won't be getting Crysis on high settings, but casual gaming will be just fine.
 
akonradi said:
It will run games just fine. No, you won't be getting Crysis on high settings, but casual gaming will be just fine.
Click to expand...

So I can run games like bioshock on medium settings? Also how does it compare speed wise to the new 20"? Like how much slower will it be? Also what's your advice on waiting? Should I wait for the macworld event? MBP or old imac? (Yes the prices are very important to me. I'd much rather get the imac if it can run what I want it to.)
 
Mr. Funsocks said:
So I can run games like bioshock on medium settings? Also how does it compare speed wise to the new 20"? Like how much slower will it be? Also what's your advice on waiting? Should I wait for the macworld event? MBP or old imac? (Yes the prices are very important to me. I'd much rather get the imac if it can run what I want it to.)
Click to expand...
I'm really not into games, but I know that as long as it's nothing extreme, you'll be able to play it on pretty good settings. The iMac has basically the same specs as my older macbook pro. I had no problems with casual gaming on there.

Speed wise, the new one will of course be somewhat faster, especially where the FSB is pushed. If you upgrade the ram on the old iMac, you should be fine. Keep in mind though, that you are suggesting some ram-hungry apps. The macbook pro can use up to 8GB, while the older iMac will max out at 3.3GB. Also, if you need the video card for anything, you will see significantly better performance on the laptop compared to the iMac.

If you wait until after MacWorld, the prices on the 2.2 refurb macbook pros will be pretty good ($1699 now). I would expect a price drop of $200 (maybe more) so that might help. I think that both are very capable systems, but the macbook pro will obviously have the speed advantage.
 
Sorry, but dumb question... did you self-calibrate the display of your AL iMac? Mine looked terrible using the default Leopard calibration. I would use exactly the words "washed-out". Doing the "Expert Mode" Display Calibration took about 5-minutes on my AL 24" and it looked perfect afterwards.
 
Mr. Funsocks said:
It won't run games at all? Not even on a low resolution? I thought I read in a macworld article that the older imac actually got a higher FPS than the new imac while playing quake 4.
Click to expand...

That's with the optional nVidia GPU. Also, keep in mind that running low settings on a 24" monitor will be a less than pleasurable experience.
 
Mr. Funsocks said:
Hey I recently returned a 2.4Ghz 20" aluminum imac due to the washed out TN display. I do graphic work and the display was unacceptable. I'm at a loss of what to get next. It needs to have a high quality matte display. So I was looking at the old white 24" as a refurb model. But I don't want to downgrade unless I know it can do what I want it to do. It needs to be able to run Flash, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop very well. I also wish to do some casual gaming. Bioshock, Halo 2, Valve games on boot camp. A macbook pro is not out of the question, but the portability is not a must for me.

Here are the specs of the refurb 24":

Refurbished iMac 24-inch 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SuperDrive
24-inch widescreen display
1GB memory
250GB hard drive
8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce 7300GT with 128MB GDDR3 memory
Built-in iSight camera

Would that do what I want it to do as far as design and maybe the casual gaming I do as well? What kind of a speed difference would there be from the 2.16C2D and the 2.4C2D with the santa rosa chipset. Also would I be better off waiting until the macworld event in mid january? I know they are doing a macbook pro update but would they maybe offer a matte option on the new imacs? I'm very confused at this point please any help would be a godsend.
Click to expand...

I am a graphic designer and use all of the programs your using. I have the 24" Aluminum iMac however.

All programs run very acceptable. The Glossy Screen is totally the best I have ever used. My studio has 5 floor to ceiling windows, and glare is NOT an issue! Matt screens are disappearing mate, you need to move on....lol!
 
jwt said:
That's with the optional nVidia GPU. Also, keep in mind that running low settings on a 24" monitor will be a less than pleasurable experience.
Click to expand...

yeah, what you need to find is a 24" white imac with the nvidea 7600. Unfortunately, that's a rare bird these days.
 
I'd say a MBP and you can get a good quality external display. Or you could get a nice refurb Mac Pro and an external display. If money is some what tight, you could look at the used market for these. You should be able to find the latest models for a few hundred off.
 
eRondeau said:
Sorry, but dumb question... did you self-calibrate the display of your AL iMac? Mine looked terrible using the default Leopard calibration. I would use exactly the words "washed-out". Doing the "Expert Mode" Display Calibration took about 5-minutes on my AL 24" and it looked perfect afterwards.
Click to expand...

Yes I did a calibration using SuperCal and I even downloaded some calibration files. It helped but it was still noticeable. It was enough that doing acurate color work wasn't possible.
 
DesignerOnMac said:
I am a graphic designer and use all of the programs your using. I have the 24" Aluminum iMac however.

All programs run very acceptable. The Glossy Screen is totally the best I have ever used. My studio has 5 floor to ceiling windows, and glare is NOT an issue! Matt screens are disappearing mate, you need to move on....lol!
Click to expand...

You obviously don't know much about displays. You cannot get accurate color on glossy displays. Sure it looks nice but it's not accurate. Why do you think the ACDs are matte?
 
synth3tik said:
I'd say a MBP and you can get a good quality external display. Or you could get a nice refurb Mac Pro and an external display. If money is some what tight, you could look at the used market for these. You should be able to find the latest models for a few hundred off.
Click to expand...

For now I'm going to take everyones advice and wait until macworld and then take another look at the MBP. Thank you everyone for your kind words and advice, as this is my first thread I feel very welcomed into the MacRumors community.
 
Mr. Funsocks said:
You obviously don't know much about displays. You cannot get accurate color on glossy displays. Sure it looks nice but it's not accurate. Why do you think the ACDs are matte?
Click to expand...

Sorry you incorrect, I know a lot about displays. I had 3 ADC monitors, all matt! Expensive but not what they were cracked up to be. I edit photographs etc, on my new Glossy iMac and I do mostly print media! No difference in what the original pictures look like on screen with the matt ACD or the iMac glossy monitor, even after I review the printers proofs!
 
DesignerOnMac said:
Sorry you incorrect, I know a lot about displays. I had 3 ADC monitors, all matt! Expensive but not what they were cracked up to be. I edit photographs etc, on my new Glossy iMac and I do mostly print media! No difference in what the original pictures look like on screen with the matt ACD or the iMac glossy monitor, even after I review the printers proofs!
Click to expand...

Wow it is possible to this kind of work on a glossy display I'm sure ACDs are better for it. I'm sure the 24" imacs can be properly calibrated but this is not so with the 20". It uses an inferior TN display instead of an IPS panel.
 
Well, I waited until macworld and saw no MBP update. Do you think I'm ok to buy a MBP now? Are they going to upadte it any time soon? Or would I be better off getting something else entirely?
 
now go get the best display-for-the-money in the universe:

...a true s-ips, 20 inch, for under $300 after rebate! (more like $250 and free shipping is you look around).....

HP's LP2065

edit: or is it an AMVA?, darn guess I'll see when mine get delivered. It is still going to be better than a TN, though.
 
doug in albq said:
now go get the best display-for-the-money in the universe:

...a true s-ips, 20 inch, for under $300 after rebate! (more like $250 and free shipping is you look around).....

HP's LP2065

edit: or is it an AMVA?, darn guess I'll see when mine get delivered. It is still going to be better than a TN, though.
Click to expand...

Let me know on that one. I desperately need a good display.
 
Mr. Funsocks said:
Let me know on that one. I desperately need a good display.
Click to expand...

Sorry It took a while to respond. I like my new display very much. Not sure what it is (s-ips or A-MVA, I think it is an A-MVA), but it is working great for me. Once I get back my $50 rebate, this display will have only cost me $270. No, it is not widescreen, but I have a widescreen display just to the left of it (imac screen). No more gradient. I use my imac display as my second display for palettes, watching DVD's, and gaming. I use the HP for all my main stuff now like photo editing and artistic image creation....I like my imac again.

I actually love my 20 inch imac now. It is the cheapest way to get power/speed in the mac lineup...the $1,199 imac has a faster benchmark than almost, if not, all the mac laptops.
 
I don't know what your budget is but have you thought of a CTO Mac Pro with only four cores. That's the same price as a top of the line iMac. And you can get a non apple display to go with it.
 
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