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Specs for the iMac I am seconds away from purchasing. THOUGHTS?

I'm sticking with 4GB for now. I'm sure prices won't drastically increase in the future if I feel I need more than that.
 
I don't see any future proofing benefit from the larger HD. It will not necessarily be more reliable / longer lasting than the smaller drive. Some people prefer drives with lower density or fewer platters. But who knows if this makes a practical difference? Since Thunderbolt promises very fast connectivity, you can upgrade by simply adding external drives for more storage space.
 
7thMac said:
I don't see any future proofing benefit from the larger HD. It will not necessarily be more reliable / longer lasting than the smaller drive. Some people prefer drives with lower density or fewer platters. But who knows if this makes a practical difference? Since Thunderbolt promises very fast connectivity, you can upgrade by simply adding external drives for more storage space.
Click to expand...

You think so? Apparently the 2TB combo is faster, though...
 
I didn't. I've had the CONFIGURE page on the Apple website up all day. I'm still stuck over whether or not to get the 1TB or the 2TB.
 
Just ordered mine today. I have been pondering about getting a new HP Elitebook Workstation. But decided to try a Mac (first Mac ever :))
See if I can get used to it ...

Just went for the 4Gb, 1TB + SSD option and the 2GB GPU option. In the mean time 16Gb original Samsung is lying around here already for a few weeks .

If I had the option to order the 512Gb SSD I would have skipped the HD.
Didn't go for the 1Tb as I'm about to go for an upcoming Synology DS2411+ which can be hooked up to my network.

Will be fun to hook an addtional adapter on the thunderbolt port and run an aggregated link to the NAS :)
 
An Apple rep suggested I go for 256SSD because 2TB SSDs will be cheap and available by the time I need one... but 256 is rather small and SSDs eventually die out, don't they? Or they degrade significantly over time?

I'm all hesitant over getting the 2TB. Argh. I have a 1TB portable HD but it's got a Time Machine copy on it, so... should I spring for the 2TB or will 1TB suffice? Will my machine be slower if I get the 1TB?
 
Amnesiac1 said:
An Apple rep suggested I go for 256SSD because 2TB SSDs will be cheap and available by the time I need one... but 256 is rather small and SSDs eventually die out, don't they? Or they degrade significantly over time?

I'm all hesitant over getting the 2TB. Argh. I have a 1TB portable HD but it's got a Time Machine copy on it, so... should I spring for the 2TB or will 1TB suffice? Will my machine be slower if I get the 1TB?
Click to expand...

2tb ssd?


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
 
Psilocybin said:
2tb ssd?


Sent from my iPhone 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

He sad that a 2TB SSD will be coming... as in released by some company other than Apple. He recommended I get a 256SSD only and then upgrade by picking up a second party 2TBSSD from some other company a few years down the road.
 
Okay, so you know you want the SSD, right? So why don't you just get the SSD and add an external HDD later?

When I'm ready to make my purchase, I'm going to order the SSD option without an internal HDD. One less moving part to worry about. If I decide I need more space later, I can expand using an external drive.
 
Amnesiac1 said:
An Apple rep suggested I go for 256SSD because 2TB SSDs will be cheap and available by the time I need one... but 256 is rather small and SSDs eventually die out, don't they? Or they degrade significantly over time?

I'm all hesitant over getting the 2TB. Argh. I have a 1TB portable HD but it's got a Time Machine copy on it, so... should I spring for the 2TB or will 1TB suffice? Will my machine be slower if I get the 1TB?
Click to expand...

One small question. What are you going to do with 2Tb disk space ? I never filled up my 512Gb laptop disk with stuff worth keeping.
 
I got the 1TB model based on numerous posts about the 2TB WD Black's being some of the noisiest drives around. There is a good chance of getting a relatively silent Seagate Barracuda if you order the 1TB model.

Besides...i have all my important data on my NAS, and really just want a SSD like i have in all my other machines to boot and execute probrams from, but i don't want to pay a crazy amount of money for a last generation SATA 3gbps drive, when i can get a blazing fast 120GB SATA 6gbps OCZ Vertex 3 for much less.

The 256GB is an odd size i think, it's too small for all your stuff, and a waste of unused space for OS and programs (in my case) I would much rather use a 120GB and put it in a Thunderbolt enclosure when they (hopefully) soon hit the shelves, and then be able to upgrade the size along the way if needed.
 
KasperH said:
I got the 1TB model based on numerous posts about the 2TB WD Black's being some of the noisiest drives around. There is a good chance of getting a relatively silent Seagate Barracuda if you order the 1TB model.

Besides...i have all my important data on my NAS, and really just want a SSD like i have in all my other machines to boot and execute probrams from, but i don't want to pay a crazy amount of money for a last generation SATA 3gbps drive, when i can get a blazing fast 120GB SATA 6gbps OCZ Vertex 3 for much less.

The 256GB is an odd size i think, it's too small for all your stuff, and a waste of unused space for OS and programs (in my case) I would much rather use a 120GB and put it in a Thunderbolt enclosure when they (hopefully) soon hit the shelves, and then be able to upgrade the size along the way if needed.
Click to expand...

I think for 256Gb is far then enough for most things. Programs etc tend to grow in size :) I would have preferred the 512Gb option. I would have left out the HD altogether ...
 
Amnesiac1 said:
Maybe I'll purchase this. Anyone have any success with this type of RAM?

Does Newegg even ship to Canada?
Click to expand...

I have the same system minus the Factory SSD. I am planning on getting a 512GB Crucial M4 installed by an authorized Apple repair facility. I use it with a side by side 27" LED cinema display.

For memory, I ordered 16GB of Crucial Memory - no issues whatsoever. Under $200 (there are often Crucial coupons to be found on the NET - search before purchasing)
 
Amnesiac1 said:
I will be using it for word processing, gaming, recreational tasks like listening to music and watching HD content from iTunes, watching DVDs, etc. However, I am an inordinate multi-tasker and often have A LOT of windows, tabs, programs, etc. open at once.

I am also trying to 'future proof' this machine. Although, a cantankerous reply from someone like Badger will likely inform me that 'future proofing' is impossible.
Click to expand...

I've ordered the same spec, but without the batteries and remote (won't be using it as a TV and the battery charger, as with Apple's RAM prices, is silly).

I understand your thinking for "future proofing"; I've bought the top spec for effectively the same reason. Although I do quite a lot of photo and video work, I doubt I'll ever need or indeed fully utilise all the capabilities of the system. However, in three year's time when we're on OS X 10.9 "Mr Tinkles*" I don't want to be all "Oh, I wish I'd spent the extra few quid on the i7". My thinking is that when you've sprung for the SSD, ignoring the i7 and 2GB GFX really does seem silly. It's like ordering a bacon double cheeseburger, large fries, two apple pies, 12 chicken nuggets, chocolate muffin, and then getting a diet coke.

Basically, if you can afford it, why not? I doubt Jay Kay or Chris Evans has ever walked out of a Porsche dealership saying "Actually, I just remembered the speed limit's only 70mph, I'll just get a nice Ford Fiesta". I appreciate it may look like I've contradicted my earlier comment about Apple's RAM and battery charger prices, but it is different - I have a choice about where to buy my RAM and batteries; I can only buy an iMac from Apple.

One thing, though - this is the second post of yours I've seen recently where you've asked for input but, at the same time, dissed one of the people you're asking advice from. I'm not sure that's the best way to go about things. Well, unless it's a "you only pull the ponytails of the girl you fancy" thing, in which case, just get a room already.

Oh, and as for a 2TB HDD, I don't want to have to think about being frugal with disk space. Right now I'm on a 500GB drive in my MBP (which, at nearly 3 years old and with only 4GB RAM, runs CS5 acceptably) and I have to limit the amount of video I keep in the iTunes library. My Aperture library is currently running at 100GB, iTunes is at 200GB, source files are another 40-80GB or so - it's just a hassle trying to keep at least 10% free space. With 2TB of data space I don't need to worry. However, the current iMacs do mean that you can happily wait to get a second drive until you need it - Thunderbolt makes that possible. Assuming it lives up to the promise, of course...


* Obviously they'd save the baddest cat of all until last...
 
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Steamrunner said:
I've ordered the same spec, but without the batteries and remote (won't be using it as a TV and the battery charger, as with Apple's RAM prices, is silly).

I understand your thinking for "future proofing"; I've bought the top spec for effectively the same reason. Although I do quite a lot of photo and video work, I doubt I'll ever need or indeed fully utilise all the capabilities of the system. However, in three year's time when we're on OS X 10.9 "Mr Tinkles*" I don't want to be all "Oh, I wish I'd spent the extra few quid on the i7". My thinking is that when you've sprung for the SSD, ignoring the i7 and 2GB GFX really does seem silly. It's like ordering a bacon double cheeseburger, large fries, two apple pies, 12 chicken nuggets, chocolate muffin, and then getting a diet coke.
Click to expand...

Right.

Steamrunner said:
One thing, though - this is the second post of yours I've seen recently where you've asked for input but, at the same time, dissed one of the people you're asking advice from.
Click to expand...

I never intended to do this, though.

Steamrunner said:
Oh, and as for a 2TB HDD, I don't want to have to think about being frugal with disk space. Right now I'm on a 500GB drive in my MBP (which, at nearly 3 years old and with only 4GB RAM, runs CS5 acceptably) and I have to limit the amount of video I keep in the iTunes library. My Aperture library is currently running at 100GB, iTunes is at 200GB, source files are another 40-80GB or so - it's just a hassle trying to keep at least 10% free space. With 2TB of data space I don't need to worry. However, the current iMacs do mean that you can happily wait to get a second drive until you need it - Thunderbolt makes that possible. Assuming it lives up to the promise, of course...
Click to expand...

Tell me more about that Thunderbolt option...
 
Amnesiac1 said:
An Apple rep suggested I go for 256SSD because 2TB SSDs will be cheap and available by the time I need one... but 256 is rather small and SSDs eventually die out, don't they? Or they degrade significantly over time?
Click to expand...

Yes, they degrade over time. Don't expect it to last longer than 20 years with only moderate use.
 
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