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What should I get dilemma. :(

V

VietlOtUs

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 5, 2008
39
0
Initially, I wanted a Mac Pro then I downgrade to a MacBook... and now I am thinking of an iMac. :p

I am not willing to spent more than 1700.

Considering my situation/preferences/usage, what should I get? Help!


1. Web browsing
2. Music
3. Movies
4. Words(whatever else relates to school; no heavy graphics necessary; I am a biologist)
5. Photography (photo editing)
6. Refurbished or New ?

Do I take my laptop everywhere I go? Probably not. When I was living on campus I do take my Sony laptop with me to the library a lot. It's basically for writing papers. That's about the only time I take my laptop out of my room.


Few questions about the iMac, I am thinking of the 24" with 2gb memory.

Q1: Can I upgrade (install) more memory later on my own?

Q2: What is the estimated life span of an iMac, considering I will be using it very conservatively meaning I will use it with cautious?

Q3: My work place is having an Apple closeout, so the 24" is being discounted to 1300 (however no free ipod touch nor printer). What should I go for? Through Apple store or through my work place?
 
You can always upgrade the RAM. An iMac would last between 4 and 7 years. It doesn't matter where you get it, as you get the same warranty.

TEG
 
get the 2.8ghz iMac it will fit your needs and then some. its the cheapest 24" you can get. Unless you find a refurb.
 
VietlOtUs said:
Q1: Can I upgrade (install) more memory later on my own?

Q2: What is the estimated life span of an iMac, considering I will be using it very conservatively meaning I will use it with cautious?

Q3: My work place is having an Apple closeout, so the 24" is being discounted to 1300 (however no free ipod touch nor printer). What should I go for? Through Apple store or through my work place?
Click to expand...

Q1 = Yes
Q2 = I have two Mac SE/30's from 1989, an iMac from 1999 and an iMac from 2003. All working fine.
Q3 = Get the best price.
 
Neil321 said:
2 3 to possibly 5 yrs
Click to expand...
Where did you dig that crap up from?

OP, if you are intending to enter any kind of serious photography then a glossy screen is the last thing you want.

Why did you buy a Mac Pro in the first place? Not to be rude but it sounds like you have more money than sense if all you are doing is general work plus some light photography.
 
nick9191 said:
Where did you dig that crap up from?

OP, if you are intending to enter any kind of serious photography then a glossy screen is the last thing you want.

Why did you buy a Mac Pro in the first place? Not to be rude but it sounds like you have more money than sense if all you are doing is general work plus some light photography.
Click to expand...



The boyfriend said we can get a cheap LCD later... if I will be taking photography seriously. He also said that Apple's screen is one of the highly rated...

The work option does not give me an ipod touch, which I reallyyyyyy want to own one. (forgot to mention it has 3 years warranty).

I seriously need to weight my options out... does it matter that much if I don't get an Ipod with my purchase... is the question I ask myself. :(
 
The work option does not give me an ipod touch, which I reallyyyyyy want to own one. (forgot to mention it has 3 years warranty).
I seriously need to weight my options out... does it matter that much if I don't get an Ipod with my purchase... is the question I ask myself. :(
Click to expand...

Cost of 3 Year Warranty > Cost of iPod. Just buy the iPod separately, as it is cheaper than 3 years of AppleCare.

TEG
 
VietlOtUs said:
The boyfriend said we can get a cheap LCD later... if I will be taking photography seriously. He also said that Apple's screen is one of the highly rated...
Click to expand...
The 24" screen is highly rated, but not for photography. Its a glossy screen, meaning that the screen makes colours look more vibrant than they are. Its just a selling feature and is rather pointless despite looking nice. Apple incorporates it into their consumer computers so poor feckers like you will have to buy the more expensive pro stuff :(

You don't want to buy a cheap LCD either. That will be just as bad as the iMac display (although not glossy) as it will use a cheap TN panel, whereas the iMac uses a higher quality S-IPS panel. If you can stretch to it at some point in the future, the only display to have is a 20" or 23" Apple Cinema Display. Yes they are expensive, yes they are the best, and you will find it a small investment if you do become a serious editor.

Neil321 said:
Well if you know better tell me ???
Click to expand...
You've just basically said that every Mac in the world will fail within 3-5 years of its production date.
 
nick9191 said:
You've just basically said that every Mac in the world will fail within 3-5 years of its production date.
Click to expand...

Well I'm sorry but that's not what i meant,yes i know Mac's last for ages blimey i have a old performa 450 knocking around somewhere that still works Ok' ish sorry but i let personal thought into it , i wouldn't use a machine for work purposes thats past around 3yrs but like i said that's just me
 
wow, glossy screens arent much better than matte screens. both screens have special coating procedures. the matte is worse, since light from the lcd panel is actually filtered in a way, also light coming in gets reflected off in different angles, eliminating the glare and reflection. for any pro photographer, matte is the last thing they want, it distorts color saturation, and also causes blur. glossy lcds wont affect external light, therefore a bit better than matte, which screws up both internal and external lighting. which photographer would use matte, when it was designed for anti-glare purposes? use a TFT hardcoat, that is untreated and gives the most accurate view.
 
Neil321 said:
2 3 to possibly 5 yrs
Click to expand...

I think that this is about right. But not from a reliability point of view. More from a "gee, look at those shiny new iMacs that can do things that I wish my 3-5 year old Mac can't do so well."

My iMac G5 is about three years old now. I desire an Intel iMac. I am waiting for Core i7 next year - whenever. I can make it and the transition time will be just about right. That will place me at the 4-5 year point. That's pretty good considering that it was towards the bottom of the iMac line when I got it.

The kids will use it to replace the iMac G3 DV SE that they have been using for awhile. Of note though, it's CD/DVD player is broken, although the rest of it works.
 
So if the DVD/CD player broke, can i replace them on the iMac?

3 years of Apple warranty worth that much huh?


Here is the complete spec of what my work place is offering:


24" Apple iMac, was $2199, NOW $1218 with 3 year AppleCare Warranty!

-MA322LL/A

-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz

-24" Glossy LCD with Built-in iSight

-500GB Hard Drive

-2GB RAM

-SuperDrive

-Bluetooth

-Airport Extreme



More inputs please?
 
VietlOtUs said:
So if the DVD/CD player broke, can i replace them on the iMac?

3 years of Apple warranty worth that much huh?


Here is the complete spec of what my work place is offering:


24" Apple iMac, was $2199, NOW $1218 with 3 year AppleCare Warranty!

-MA322LL/A

-Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz

-24" Glossy LCD with Built-in iSight

-500GB Hard Drive

-2GB RAM

-SuperDrive

-Bluetooth

-Airport Extreme



More inputs please?
Click to expand...


If I were you, I'd go for 4GB of RAM as well.
You can buy 2x2GBs over at Crucial pretty cheap and you can sell the 2x1GBs you got in your iMac then.
 
If you can operate a screwdriver you can replace the RAM on the iMac. Anything else requires removing the glass panel (i.e. even the mini is easier to service).

To give you an idea on life span: My father's ~5 year old 1.25 GHz
G4 lampshade iMac still does what you want reasonably well. A roughly 8 year old G3 clamshell that I just resurrected for the kids to bang on is fine for docs and music but painfully slow for web browsing and no good for video. Macs pretty much last forever so if you're not pushing the envelope with what you want them to do and are happy not having the latest and greatest expecting 5+ years of service is not unreasonable.

With what you want to do even the mini is a plausible option (though I wouldn't advise getting a new one until they are upgraded) The choice between the iMac and macbook really comes down to: Do you want to spend your money on portability or more computer?

Do a search for matte vs. glossy and photography and you'll find more than you ever wanted to know about the pros and cons of each. Speaking as a serious albeit rank amateur photographer, I don't hate the glossy screen on my new 24" iMac nearly as much as I thought I would. I do however have a mate screen as a second monitor. If you do decide to get a second get a good one (~$500). A cheap matte monitor will likely be worse for your photographs than the iMac's glossy. Also, get a color calibrator; a properly calibrated monitor is more important than any other spec.
 
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