Was gonna buy an iMac today but...

[2Shae]

So I was gonna buy an iMac (20") today but I'm afraid of an upgrade.
Since nothing happened at MWSF '07 but with Leopard very close too, I really have the feeling that there going to release iWork, iLife, Leopard and upgraded iMac's at the same time and I don't want to miss any of these.

And according to the Buyer's Guide:
Days Since Update: 129 (Average = 189)

It's very close, but I think it's gonna happen in April.

So should I wait or buy now?

 

[Xander562]

It's the same old, "If you need it right now, buy it, if you don't, wait."

 

[2Shae]

Never mind I've already decided to buy it today.

another switcher for Apple

 

[Cabbit]

i would wait, i am anyway the graphics card in the iMac are below low end. The amount of addressable ram is also pretty low and the processor is a laptop part when the iMac could have a core2duo desktop or even a core2quad. Apple are seriously crippling the current iMac with no good reason. Theres always the Macpro but for what i need a properly kitted out iMac would do if they just used it properly. Note the 7600 upgrade available for the 24inch iMac is what is considered a low end card and should be the base spec with upgrade options to 7900, 8800's witch all have mobile versions and basically are pin swappable and use the same driver. Im keeping my mini till ether the iMac gets some power behind it, or the Macpro gets a GeForce 8800GTX, or Radeon X2300HD(name form the linux driver).

What the iMac could be:
Core2Quadro Q6600 2.4GHz
2GB ram as standard (max 4-8 GB) (no dought Leopord will love ram)
GeForce 7600 256 MB base with upgrades(7800 512MB,7900 512 MB,8800 640MB,8800GTX 764MB) (or Radeon's)
same 17,20,24 inch screen selections
built in iSight and Bluetooth and Wireless N
250GB hard drive base (500,750,1000GB upgrades)
24X DL Superdrive (HD-DVD/Blu-Ray upgrade options)

I know the above may seem a little of topic but it is what we sould expect and demand form apples high end consumer model and with shipping PC's form everyone else matching the above you have to wonder why pay the apple tax, the only model that shouts out value is the MacPro but its not exactly a consumer product.

 

[BoyBach]

Never mind I've already decided to buy it today.

another switcher for Apple

You wont regret the purchase.

You can always buy the iLife upgrades and OSX Leopard when they're released and have a nice box and DVD to show for it!

 

[Kevin83165]

Should get the 24" iMac! It is well worth the extra $500 bones believe me!

 

[FFTT]

The most important upgrade you can make is buying 2 GB RAM
and maybe upgrade the video card if possible.

The 20" is very nice, but the 24" rules, so give it some thought.

If upgrading to the 24" might take you another month of saving
then, that's the way I'd go.

You might also want to ask the store manager about Leopard/iLife '07 upgrade coupons IF either is released within the next 30 days or so.

 

[2Shae]

Should get the 24" iMac! It is well worth the extra $500 bones believe me!

can't cuz I'm already spending €800 for a HDTV


And BabyjenniferLB...I agree with you about the graphic card. I have no idea why Apple isn't updating that old card. Actually that's the biggest reason why I want an upgrade. Not that I'm going to anything really graphical real soon but still...
The current X1600 256mb is not suppose to be in a €1700 pc.
And I really, really, really don't like that you're not able to upgrade the card your self.


EDIT;
What I am going to use my iMac for is:
-making movie dvd's with all the extra's such as menu's
-encoding .avi files to DVD (hope this is possible)
-some very basic photoshop
-and all the basic stuff such as music, watching downloaded tv-shows,downloading, office, chatting
-NO gaming
-I also might need the Apple TV for streaming downloaded tv-shows to my HDtv

 

[eXan]

i would wait, i am anyway the graphics card in the iMac are below low end. The amount of addressable ram is also pretty low and the processor is a laptop part when the iMac could have a core2duo desktop or even a core2quad. Apple are seriously crippling the current iMac with no good reason. Theres always the Macpro but for what i need a properly kitted out iMac would do if they just used it properly. Note the 7600 upgrade available for the 24inch iMac is what is considered a low end card and should be the base spec with upgrade options to 7900, 8800's witch all have mobile versions and basically are pin swappable and use the same driver. Im keeping my mini till ether the iMac gets some power behind it, or the Macpro gets a GeForce 8800GTX, or Radeon X2300HD(name form the linux driver).

What the iMac could be:
Core2Quadro Q6600 2.4GHz
2GB ram as standard (max 4-8 GB) (no dought Leopord will love ram)
GeForce 7600 256 MB base with upgrades(7800 512MB,7900 512 MB,8800 640MB,8800GTX 764MB) (or Radeon's)
same 17,20,24 inch screen selections
built in iSight and Bluetooth and Wireless N
250GB hard drive base (500,750,1000GB upgrades)
24X DL Superdrive (HD-DVD/Blu-Ray upgrade options)

I know the above may seem a little of topic but it is what we sould expect and demand form apples high end consumer model and with shipping PC's form everyone else matching the above you have to wonder why pay the apple tax, the only model that shouts out value is the MacPro but its not exactly a consumer product.

Ohh you can dream cant you?

By the way, I'm sure its pretty hard to fit all those goodies in the current iMac form-factor, keeping the noise level low.

 

[FFTT]

The 24" iMac's display is HD and you can upgrade the video card, so if video performance is important to you, I strongly recommend going for the 24" model or going for the Mac Pro and a good display.

I'm still running my 24" Dell off the default 64MB GPU in my G5 with no issues.

 

[jkaz]

The 24" iMac's display is HD

can someone verify this as fact? The only time I have ever seen an apple display advertised as HD is in the 23 and 30 inch models of their cinema display.

I understand that some of the default capabilities might qualify the 24 inch as HD, but what are the specifications that must be met to qualify and why isn't the 24 inch imac advertised as HD?

thanks

 

[psycoswimmer]

can someone verify this as fact? The only time I have ever seen an apple display advertised as HD is in the 23 and 30 inch models of their cinema display.

I understand that some of the default capabilities might qualify the 24 inch as HD, but what are the specifications that must be met to qualify and why isn't the 24 inch imac advertised as HD?

thanks

I'm pretty sure the 23" ACD and 24" iMac have the same resolution, making them both HD. The iMac's pixels are just bigger.

 

[jkaz]

I'm pretty sure the 23" ACD and 24" iMac have the same resolution, making them both HD. The iMac's pixels are just bigger.

they are both 1920x1200

it is my understanding that the 1200 is what needs to be compared to the 1080 in 1080i. it is also my understanding that i stands for interlaced and that 1080 lines of resolution in an interlaced image is what is required to be considered HD in interlace fashion. (i believe 720p is the # of lines of resolution for a progressive scan display)

is it the case that the imac by default is an 'i' type screen (as opposed to p) and that the 1200 is greater than the minimum required lines of resolution in an 'i' setting to be able to be considered true HD ?


thanks

 

[Cabbit]

Ohh you can dream cant you?

By the way, I'm sure its pretty hard to fit all those goodies in the current iMac form-factor, keeping the noise level low.

they would fit in the formfactor fine, they fit in laptops just fine why not a imac that has a lot more room inside. most things are just swaping out the chips like the GPU, as for a core2quadro remember the imac did have a G5 in it at one time. i will fold on the optical drive as laptop drives are normally quite a bit behind desktop drives but there is no reason not to use the processor nor the graphics card. Using a laptop processor and graphics card cost more money the a destop chip and laptop graphics card. remember there are smaller laptops with SLi and two hard drives. There is a lot more room inside a iMac.

 

[adamyoshida]

they would fit in the formfactor fine, they fit in laptops just fine why not a imac that has a lot more room inside. most things are just swaping out the chips like the GPU, as for a core2quadro remember the imac did have a G5 in it at one time. i will fold on the optical drive as laptop drives are normally quite a bit behind desktop drives but there is no reason not to use the processor nor the graphics card. Using a laptop processor and graphics card cost more money the a destop chip and laptop graphics card. remember there are smaller laptops with SLi and two hard drives. There is a lot more room inside a iMac.

It's not very likely that the iMac will have a Core Quad chip in it all that soon - the present ones use the Merom, rather than the Conroe line of chips to which the first Quads are going to belong.

Heck, the Mac Pro's not going to go up to Quad until mid-Spring.

I'd be looking for a Quad-Core in, oh, the fall - or for Christmas '07.