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Should I buy a used iMac (Mid 2007)?

I

iapple12399

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 21, 2015
15
0
So quick question for those who can help it will be much appreciated. On a tight budget, have the chance to get a used 20" iMac 2007 (Mid 2007) 1gb RAM, 320GB HD, 2.4ghz for about $200. I can easily upgrade the RAM to Crucial 4gb for a cheap price (but don't plan on spending for an SSD). So do you think it's worth getting? I plan on having this as an everyday family computer for simple tasks like web browsing, checking emails, etc. and I want it to last for a few more years. Anytime I bought a PC it would act up after a year, but with Apple their products are solid. Unless if anyone has any other solid computers in mind? Anyway please let me know, thanks!
 
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The price sounds OK, I recently sold that model iMac for $220, however with 4 Gb RAM installed. The person who bought it seemed pretty happy with the deal.

My parents still have a 2007 iMac and it works fine for them. It has been a particularly good model for longevity. It actually still runs the latest version of OSX, which is pretty remarkable.

It can do the things you mention, however it is slower than a more modern computer. Doing things such as scrolling through an iPhoto library can feel slow. On my old iMac, I was editing family videos in iMovie up until the end. It could do it, but that also felt slow.

I've since moved to a 2012 Mini which is much faster. It's a great budget option if you have a keyboard, mouse and monitor already.
 
iapple12399 said:
So quick question for those who can help it will be much appreciated. On a tight budget, have the chance to get a used 20" iMac 2007 (Mid 2007) 1gb RAM, 320GB HD, 2.4ghz for about $200. I can easily upgrade the RAM to Crucial 4gb for a cheap price (but don't plan on spending for an SSD). So do you think it's worth getting? I plan on having this as an everyday family computer for simple tasks like web browsing, checking emails, etc. and I want it to last for a few more years. Anytime I bought a PC it would act up after a year, but with Apple their products are solid. Unless if anyone has any other solid computers in mind? Anyway please let me know, thanks!
Click to expand...

I think you can get newer for only marginally more. I just sold my late 2009 21" for about 300$ and it worked perfectly. I had just upgraded to a rmbp.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! But also, aren't these specs better than most modern computers? Plus it does have a nice 20" display.
 
It's already pretty old and will age even faster. Might do you for now, but the life expectancy is getting near its end, I'd think.
 
I don't think this is a good price. On the used market in Sweden you gett a 2009 version for the same spend.
 
There's a lot of doom and gloom about the 2007 iMac, but I can only speak from experience. I've had that exact model since Day 1 (came with Tiger) except I've added 6GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD along with a 1TB Firewire 800 drive, and also now runs Yosemite. Anyway, I absolutely love it and it is still my main computer. I do all the normal everyday stuff along with a lot of Garageband X. If anything caused me to get a new computer it would be running into CPU issues with Garageband, but I'm not a professional and haven't gotten there yet, and even if I did I know how to lock tracks among other workarounds And yes, the monitor is still pretty great IMO.

Point is my computer is worth far more to me that the $200-250 I would get for it. Even if Yosemite is the last supported OS, there will still at least be security updates 2 1/2 years from now, which isn't bad at all for the price. Would it be a good buy to me? Absolutely. I think of it this way: if you only spend $200 or so on a computer, and it can perform for a couple years, especially with the build quality/ease of use of Macs, then it was well worth your money.

Now with the proposed model, you'd definitely have to add RAM, and an SSD would be nice, but I don't think that one is required unless you want quicker boot up times and quicker times for opening apps.

But thattttt being said, if you have a keyboard/mouse/monitor, a current gen refurb Mini proposed by the OP would be a fine choice as well.
 
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peglegjack said:
There's a lot of doom and gloom about the 2007 iMac, but I can only speak from experience. I've had that exact model since Day 1 (came with Tiger) except I've added 6GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD along with a 1TB Firewire 800 drive, and also now runs Yosemite. Anyway, I absolutely love it and it is still my main computer. I do all the normal everyday stuff along with a lot of Garageband X. If anything caused me to get a new computer it would be running into CPU issues with Garageband, but I'm not a professional and haven't gotten there yet, and even if I did I know how to lock tracks among other workarounds And yes, the monitor is still pretty great IMO.

Point is my computer is worth far more to me that the $200-250 I would get for it. Even if Yosemite is the last supported OS, there will still at least be security updates 2 1/2 years from now, which isn't bad at all for the price. Would it be a good buy to me? Absolutely. I think of it this way: if you only spend $200 or so on a computer, and it can perform for a couple years, especially with the build quality/ease of use of Macs, then it was well worth your money.

Now with the proposed model, you'd definitely have to add RAM, and an SSD would be nice, but I don't think that one is required unless you want quicker boot up times and quicker times for opening apps.

But thattttt being said, if you have a keyboard/mouse/monitor, a current gen refurb Mini proposed by the OP would be a fine choice as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks this was helpful! I know there a ton of threads about this but have you ever tried/do you think Yosemite would work well with 4GB RAM?
 
It will work fine with 4gb of RAM

iapple12399 said:
Thanks this was helpful! I know there a ton of threads about this but have you ever tried/do you think Yosemite would work well with 4GB RAM?
Click to expand...

depending on what you are doing, check here for info it's just as relevant to all macs.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1756865/

However Yosemite, and to some extent mavericks, really does seem to prefer SSD's.
 
Nope.

iapple12399 said:
Thanks for the replies everyone! But also, aren't these specs better than most modern computers? Plus it does have a nice 20" display.
Click to expand...

No, it does not have the same specs as most modern computers.

It may work just fine now, but to buy a computer that is EOL'ed OS-wise while expecting it to work for a few more years seems irresponsible.

But that's a great deal for what you're getting, so if you lower your expectations slightly, you should be fine.
 
iapple12399 said:
Thanks this was helpful! I know there a ton of threads about this but have you ever tried/do you think Yosemite would work well with 4GB RAM?
Click to expand...

Given your requirements, I don't see why it wouldn't.

I very rarely use above 5 myself. I think the CPU would be more of an issue at that point.
 
iapple12399 said:
So quick question for those who can help it will be much appreciated. On a tight budget, have the chance to get a used 20" iMac 2007 (Mid 2007) 1gb RAM, 320GB HD, 2.4ghz for about $200. I can easily upgrade the RAM to Crucial 4gb for a cheap price (but don't plan on spending for an SSD). So do you think it's worth getting? I plan on having this as an everyday family computer for simple tasks like web browsing, checking emails, etc. and I want it to last for a few more years. Anytime I bought a PC it would act up after a year, but with Apple their products are solid. Unless if anyone has any other solid computers in mind? Anyway please let me know, thanks!
Click to expand...

As many other have said get a Mac mini from your story it seems you have atleast a keyboard and monitor laying around from past computers and if not it's worth the investment the Mac mini will last you years 07 is a little to old to be thinking as a 3-5 year computer its 7 years old already trying to push 10-13 years on it is a little tasking and will show its age
 
I had bought a used 24" iMac 2007 (Core 2 Extreme model) for my parents approx 2-3 years ago. It was great for a year, serving their needs (email, web, literally nothing). After that, it was all down hill. I had upgraded ram, etc. But the main thing was the display went bad, yellowed, lines, backlight problems. Very common with the 2007, although my biggest gripe was that from Apple fixing it would be x2 what I paid for it, and couldn't find any parts for it online to even fix it myself without being x2 the cost of it.

In the end, I bought them at 2013 27" and I think that may suffice them for a while.

I'd at least get a 2009 or newer.
 
I was explained that iMac is suffering on heat to the display and board. These affects the lifetime of them, which will be expensive / hard to replace. This is what happen to my iMac as well.

Mac Mini would be better option, but you will miss stereo speaker and camera.

troy14 said:
I had bought a used 24" iMac 2007 (Core 2 Extreme model) for my parents approx 2-3 years ago. It was great for a year, serving their needs (email, web, literally nothing). After that, it was all down hill. I had upgraded ram, etc. But the main thing was the display went bad, yellowed, lines, backlight problems. Very common with the 2007, although my biggest gripe was that from Apple fixing it would be x2 what I paid for it, and couldn't find any parts for it online to even fix it myself without being x2 the cost of it.

In the end, I bought them at 2013 27" and I think that may suffice them for a while.

I'd at least get a 2009 or newer.
Click to expand...
 
in 2020, I am still using my iMac 24in mid-2007 as my main computer. Specs: Core 2 Duo Extreme 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB SSD with the obsolete MacOSX 10.11.6 El Capitan. It's the last OSX version compatible with my processor. My screen shows 15 dead pixels (they are hard to find though). Sometimes the shadow of previous windows still appears very faint, you really have to watch carefully to discern it. I can no longer update certain software like MAMP, Parallels Desktop. I am seriously considering installing a Linux distro to get a decent OS again. Otherwise, it's a remarkable machine overall.
 
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