Thinking of getting a iMac...Would like some advice!

[Keayai]

Hey everyone, I was thinking of getting a Macbook...but thought 13inches wouldnt really be enough for movie editing...it might be..but I'd think a 20inch would have enough room. Anyways...Im thinking of getting a iMac. Here are the specs...and then I will list what I would be using it for. It would also be nice if anyone could point out if I needed to upgrade anything for what I'd like to do.

iMac, 20-inch, 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Apple Keyboard (English) + Mac OS X
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Accessory kit
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Apple wireless Mighty Mouse
320GB Serial ATA Drive

I'd be using it for...

• Movie Editing with iMovie(Maybe Final Cut later down the road.)
• Talking to friends. (Chat- Adium-Thanks for the correct spelling psychofreak >_>)
• Browsing the Internet.
• Storing Photos.
• And a couple of other things that I can't think of right now.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and maybe even reply!

 

[72930]

Looks great

P.S. Its Adium...

 

[Keayai]

Ah thanks. I did pretty bad on that spelling. I also found I spelled internet wrong >_> Anyways... Thanks!

 

[risc]

The 20" base iMac will be great for what you want. I say go for it.

 

[teflon]

Depending on much movie editing you're going to do and how many movies/footages you're planning to store on the iMac, you might find a bigger hard drive would be useful down the line. But you can always upgrade later or get an external. Unless you prefer to store everything on the internal hard drive.

 

[Keayai]

Ah yes, I was thinking of gettting a external harddrive down the road. I'll probably only be doing vlogs and a couple 10minute movies for youtube. But I might get more serious down the road, which is when I'll get a external harddrive. I'll probably be keeping my dell for storage purposes if I can transfer ...say movies from a mac to a windows.

 

[kis]

• Movie Editing with iMovie(Maybe Final Cut later down the road.)
• Talking to friends. (Chat- Adium-Thanks for the correct spelling psychofreak >_>)
• Browsing the Internet.
• Storing Photos.
• And a couple of other things that I can't think of right now.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and maybe even reply!

the 20" iMac would certainly be powerful enough for your needs - the question is just if the glossy screen will be suitable for video editing - I personally wouldn't think so. I've been evaluating two new iMacs (a 20" and a 24" model) and have come to the conclusion that the new screens are unusable for anything that requires a certain degree of color accuracy - like movie- or photo-editing.

I had more than 60 iMacs in the budget for 2008 but am converting those to HP workstations because of the screen. The glossy screen iMacs are hard as heck to calibrate (Hueys won't work at all, Spyder will work to some degree but only if used in a completely dark room).
In office environments, because of the lighting situation (ceiling lamps that can't be turned off while people work in the offices), the screens reflect light sources very badly. After having talked with the person responsible for work-place ergonomics, we have decided that the new iMacs can't be used in our offices.

If I were you, I'd go to your nearest Apple dealer and get a 20" white iMac (the previous model). Has a better graphics board (which might even be beneficial to your needs) and is only about 10% slower than the new model - but comes with a great non-glossy screen. They're also quite cheap right now.

peter

 

[Keayai]

From just the few replies I have gotten so far. I think I'll put it on the top of the list for my next thing to buy. The iMac! Anyways...feel free to keep posting. Would like to see if there is anything different I should do.