When to buy iMac?

[psycoswimmer]

Hi. I'm a teen and I need to buy an iMac for school work, and basically just a replacment for my horrible Winodws computer I have now. It's almost 5 years old and it takes open 5 minutes to open Firefox.

This would be the "family" computer for a very long time. It would still probably be used by my parents when I move out, as they only check email and occasionally go online. I'd prefer the 20" screen but if I must I'd be fine with the 17". I'd need all the Christmas money and birthday money (early 2007) I could get, and my parents would probably chip in the rest.

What I want to know is, when should I buy? This will be our computer for a long time and I want to get something that will last.

Should I wait until Leopard comes out to save the $100 of upgrading?

If I'm waiting till spring, should I also wait until Santa Rosa?

I could possibly buy in Jan. 2007 but I wouldn't if I knew Leopard was coming out in 2 months. Leopard is coming out in spring, but no one knows if that means March or June.

Any help or comments I could get would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

- Matt

 

[CrackedButter]

Now.

 

[extraextra]

#2

Now.

 

[pknz]

Now if you need it right away or wait till Leopard.

 

[psycoswimmer]

I think you kinda of missed my money situation.

I need Christmas money at the least to buy the iMac. I definitly cannot buy before Jan 2007. Maybe I wasn't clear enough... Sorry.

If I'm waiting until January anyway, (I have to), should I wait for Leopard or Santa Rosa, or buy then, in January (probably after MacWorld?).

 

[jessep28]

Psycoswimmer:

Since you have at least 3 months before you can even purchase the machine, I wouldn't even evaluate your purchasing options now as the iMacs may see improvements from today and when you make a purchase.

On waiting for the best machine for the money, you have to weigh you needs over your wants.

 

[pianoman]

if you must wait until after Christmas, check back then. we don't know what will be available then and what we do know might change how we answer.

 

[psycoswimmer]

Okay. Thanks for all the help. I can't wait to get my mac.

Also, thanks for all the quick responses.

 

[Super Macho Man]

Santa Rosa won't be here til March at the earliest. Leopard probably won't even be out til after then. The current iMac is quite nice. The upgraded model will have a speed bumped CPU and faster FSB, and may have upgraded graphics, larger RAM capacity (beyond 3GB). But the current iMac is still very fast and does not struggle at all in most non-power user software.

For a family computer, the current model will be fine for many, many years. The Core 2 Duo is fast enough that the computer will probably break down before it becomes too slow to run modern software. I just bought a 2.16 C2D for "power user" stuff (graphics, video editing, SW development) and I fully expect to be using it for at least the next 6 years. It will not be able to play modern 3D games in a few years, but that's not an issue for me.

Tiger will obviously still run after Leopard is released. Many people are still using 10.3 today. I'd say buy an iMac immediately after you can afford it, then upgrade to at least 1GB of RAM when you can afford that (after prices fall a bit), then upgrade to Leopard in 2008 or so (or skip Leopard and upgrade to 10.6 when that is released).