Should i buy an i7 iMac or wait?

[Paulywauly]

Hi Everyone,

My beloved late 2006 iMac has suffered hard disc failure and i should really buy a new one. I have managed to get it booting from a USB external hard disc as a workaround but i'd really like to buy an iMac with and i7.

I'm not sure if i should just go out and buy the i7 now or keep booting from the external hard disc until the next refresh?

I've heard a few horror stories about the i7 iMacs but im also worried about the reliability of booting from an external drive over a period of time, especially considering how much usage it gets day and night e.g. media server, video encoding etc.

Any advice would be appriecated, cheers!

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I'd say you're due for a new Mac. The problems with the Core i7-based iMacs have been fixed - at least as far as I can tell, so don't let that hold you back.

 

[AdamA9]

I've been reading all over this forum that another reason Macs are so expensive is due to the durability of them, and the fact you wont have to replace it every couple of years. This is not the first thread I've read about someone doing it 3/4 years after getting their Mac. I guess they're not as durable as I was lead to believe when I bought mine?

I would check up on the iMac problems at the moment - they're not fairing too well. If you can, go into a store and open it up there and then to check it

 

[Hellhammer]

I would replace the HD in that iMac to make it usable again. That costs less than 100$ but you're still in need of a new computer I think. There are still yellowing in iMac so it's not 100% "safe buy" but I wouldn't worry about that so much, if it has yellowing, return it, it's that simple.

 

[techwhiz]

Keep The iMac

A new 500GB HD is less than $100.
Have someone install it. Probably $100.

If the machine you own is working.
Don't go out and spend money unless you have to.

 

[witness]

Failed hard disk sounds like an excuse for a new computer.

If you want a new one, then get one, but first fix the old one so that you can sell it. As said before, hard disks are cheap and easy to replace.

 

[Badger^2]

I've been reading all over this forum that another reason Macs are so expensive is due to the durability of them, and the fact you wont have to replace it every couple of years. This is not the first thread I've read about someone doing it 3/4 years after getting their Mac. I guess they're not as durable as I was lead to believe when I bought mine?

I would check up on the iMac problems at the moment - they're not fairing too well. If you can, go into a store and open it up there and then to check it

Jeessus. A dead drive ≠ a failed iMac. Thats just stupid.

If a dead drive = a new computer then there would be millions of perfectly good PCs/Macs just being thrown away everyday.

Why dont I just buy a new car when the tires wear out too?

Pop in a new drive.

If its too technically challenging for you then find a local place that will. Probably about $50-90 to do an install.

And then your perfectly good iMac will work just fine.

Booting from an external drive doesnt cause any undo wear or tear on anything. Its just going through an external USB cable rather than the internal SATA cable, the iMac and OS X could care less which one you use.