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Thinking about getting an iMac

joecool85

joecool85

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 9, 2005
1,355
4
Maine
Specifically a refurb 1.8ghz 17" w/superdrive. I had originally wanted a mac mini speced out. But I really want 1.7 ghz or faster (doubly what I have now) 64mb vram or more and a dvd burner. And guess what? This refurb has it! The only thing is, in general I don't like refurbs...but Apple does put a 1 year warranty on them. The other thing is that I've heard people complain about their slot drives spitting out discs randomly and the big one, over heating! Is it really a big issue with these iMacs overheating or is it just that the unlucky people that have one that does complain on here about it? btw, the reason I need those specs is because I want to do home videos on it and stuff. I'm a New Media Major at UMaine, and a lot of our program uses videos for presentations and things like that, so if I could make them here in my apartment rather than go on campus and use their power macs (which are fun btw) it would make it easier.

**edit**
Not sure why the link isn't working, but it was a 17" iMac, 1.8ghz w/super drive.

**edit again**
My campus just got 20 of them for the lounge (17" 1.8ghz, 1gb ram w/10.4.2) and wow! I love it! Makes me really think twice about wether I want to wait for the mini to be updated to that kinda power or just get an iMac now...
 
**bump**

btw, I'd like to hear what you guys think of these iMacs. My big thing is right now I have a 15" LCD screen that I'm using with my old G3 PM and my rev a PB (I have a kvm switch), when I get my new comp the G3 will have to go because I just don't have enough room. The issues is though, that I won't have enough room for both the iMac and the LCD screen on my desktop...the PB and the iMac I could do though. But I want some opinions.
 
IMO i think you should buy a Rev B iMac G5 because the Rev A's had lots of problems.

Just my 2 cents :eek:
 
Hi, I would go with the iMac but since your in school have you looked at the discount on the rev.b? Yeah it doesn't have the SD but it does have a few trade offs for the better.
Well I've been looking into the refurbs for me and if that's all the funds I can come up with I'll grab one :p I really wouldn't worry about the lack of using the 15" screen since you can transfer any info (files) to the iMac via FW and it is a bigger screen, I think they would make a nice looking couple anyway ;)
 
*looks at my sig* *looks back up at the posts* I would highly recommend the rev. B iMacs, infact, there's a new article put up by the admins here that further talks about the high # of faulty rev. A iMac G5's. Not to mention, standard AE, BT, better graphics card, and more HD space. And I have no problems using my PB w/ my iMac.
 
I dunno. I think I might just get a 1.25ghz mini w/superdrive for $570 with edu discount and call it good till the are updated to some nice specs. I really don't have a ton of money right now, and the SuperDrive is a must. I need to start burning DVDs. Well, I could use the computers on campus but its a pain to drag in all my stuff on my fw drive.
 
Just buy new Rev B. The 17" SuperDrive model is only $1399 for college students which it sounds that you are. Add a 1GB stick of RAM and you will be all set for years to come.
 
bodeh6 said:
Just buy new Rev B. The 17" SuperDrive model is only $1399 for college students which it sounds that you are. Add a 1GB stick of RAM and you will be all set for years to come.
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Thats exactly the other option I was thinking of. I'm just not sure how much money I want to spend right now...I dunno. Something to think about.
 
joecool85 said:
Thats exactly the other option I was thinking of. I'm just not sure how much money I want to spend right now...I dunno. Something to think about.
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I wish you luck with your decision making process. The Rev. B is the best bet because of the flaw are fixed. Besides the 1 GB of RAM, I would also recommend AppleCare strongly.
 
Yeah, I've been thinking AppleCare might be a good idea also. It's just more money to tack on that's all. I think I might just wait until January when I will have more resources at my fingertips and also maybe another update of either the iMac or Mini to think about. If my courses allow me to not really need a new computer yet, I might even wait until next year around now to buy. That way I can get my hands a new Intel machine. But looks like almost definetly going to not buy right now since what I want I can't afford. I'll just make do with my old PM and my not so old PB for now.
 
I have a Rev A 17" iMac G5 and have been VERY happy with it thus far.
I know there are several reported 'bugs' with the Rev A, but sometimes it's difficult to get the true prevlance since the people with computers who work aren't posting on forums like this.
I do think you need a minimum of 512MB RAM (thought more is better if you can afford it).
I would compare what you can get at the refurb store vs. buying a new one with the education discount and base your decision on whatever suits your needs/pocketbook the best.
I did want to put in my vote on the Rev A, though, so you didn't automatically rule it out.
Good luck!
 
It is always smart to stay within your means. I have had my PM for almost 5 years. Another thing to consider about your purchase plans, often is is prudent to not purchase the Rev. A product. Let others work out the flaws. Also it should allow for third party software developers to catch up with the switch.
 
wdlove said:
It is always smart to stay within your means. I have had my PM for almost 5 years. Another thing to consider about your purchase plans, often is is prudent to not purchase the Rev. A product. Let others work out the flaws. Also it should allow for third party software developers to catch up with the switch.
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While this is true (and for the most part I agree) I do have a rev a PB that has NEVER given me problems and I've had it for 2 years now. I'm thinking I probably will wait for a second rev of Intel machines before buying one of those, so it will be a while on that one. But I think I will probably go with an iMac in January or next summer. We'll see. The current ones really do exceed what I need in a computer, I just don't see myself being able to afford it right this second.
 
That does make me a little leary of it since I do run Seti @ home constantly on all of my machines...wondering how hot it would get. I really don't need my apt. to burn down. Although, I find that pretty unlikely. I do think, however, that if I was to get it I would def. get AppleCare as well just in case.
 
joecool85 said:
I had originally wanted a mac mini speced out.
Click to expand...
Good thing too. I think the Mac minis have the worst price/value ratio of any of the Macs. For one thing, putting in laptop drives for a desktop machine is simply absurd. You'll run into so many limitations with the mini, that the low price is a mirage.
 
Lacero said:
Good thing too. I think the Mac minis have the worst price/value ratio of any of the Macs. For one thing, putting in laptop drives for a desktop machine is simply absurd. You'll run into so many limitations with the mini, that the low price is a mirage.
Click to expand...

But at least they don't overheat and cause fires...
 
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