Which imac and no beach balls

[ms.annette]

Hi all!

I am interested in a new imac but I want to know what's the best way to configure it so that I minimize beach balls. Currently I own an early 2011 (I think?) MBP with 8gb of ram. It gives me plenty of beach balls I can barely work iMovie and iPhoto. I'm a teacher I do basic stuff but even then I get beach balls constantly.

What imac specs do you all recommend?

Thank you!

 

[thesimplelogic]

Hi all!

I am interested in a new imac but I want to know what's the best way to configure it so that I minimize beach balls. Currently I own an early 2011 (I think?) MBP with 8gb of ram. It gives me plenty of beach balls I can barely work iMovie and iPhoto. I'm a teacher I do basic stuff but even then I get beach balls constantly.

What imac specs do you all recommend?

Thank you!

That's strange that you are getting constant beach balls on your MBP, (other users, correct me if I'm wrong) but I think that the 2011 MBPs did not have the greatest graphics cards. :roll eyes: The beach balling is probably caused by either the graphics card or if your HDD is becoming full.

It depends on your budget as well, and what screen size you want.

One iMac that would probably work well for your needs would be the high end 21.5 inch. I doubt that you would need a CPU upgrade, but I would definitely recommend getting the Fusion Drive and a RAM upgrade, since that can't be done in the future.

 

[p3ntyne]

What imac specs do you all recommend?

I would suggest the 21.5 inch iMac with the 2.7GHz i5, 8 or 16 Gb's Ram (16 would be preferable), Iris Pro and a 256 or 512 Gb SSD depending on your storage needs and budget. This would be great unless you are set on the 27 inch iMac for which you should get the 3.4GHz i5, 8 Gb's RAM (since it's upgradable), GT 755M and the 256 or 512 Gb SSD.

Either way, you'll love it

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Add an SSD to your MBP and see it fly.

 

[p3ntyne]

Add an SSD to your MBP and see it fly.

That would work although it does not turn it into an iMac.

 

[yjchua95]

Hi all!

I am interested in a new imac but I want to know what's the best way to configure it so that I minimize beach balls. Currently I own an early 2011 (I think?) MBP with 8gb of ram. It gives me plenty of beach balls I can barely work iMovie and iPhoto. I'm a teacher I do basic stuff but even then I get beach balls constantly.

What imac specs do you all recommend?

Thank you!

Keep your MBP and buy a 512GB SSD for it. Then watch it boot up in just 11 seconds and watch it fly.

 

[scaredpoet]

Hi all!

I am interested in a new imac but I want to know what's the best way to configure it so that I minimize beach balls. Currently I own an early 2011 (I think?) MBP with 8gb of ram. It gives me plenty of beach balls I can barely work iMovie and iPhoto. I'm a teacher I do basic stuff but even then I get beach balls constantly.

What imac specs do you all recommend?

Thank you!

As others have suggested, if you would want to keep your MacBook Pro, get an SSD drive for it. I did this for my 2010 MacBook Pro which was a bit on the slow side, and the difference was night and day. It went from beach balls all over to keeping up easily with the new MacBook Air I had bought to replace it.

As for buying a new iMac, if you want to avoid beach balls, your best bet would be to configure your new iMac with a fusion drive. Or, if you really want to splurge, go with a full SSD drive. This will really speed up this access on the on the iMac and eliminate most of the beachballs.

 

[ms.annette]

Thanks for the great advice everyone.

I'm ready for a bigger screen so the imac 21.5 is a go. I think I will max out the ram and go for the fusion drive.

Perhaps in the future I will also upgrade my MBP. It's still in very good condition and I can use that one in my classroom.

 

[ms.annette]

Is there a huge difference between the 1299 iMac and the 1399 iMac? I'm planning on upgrading either one to 16GB ram and to the fusion drive. The higher end one totals to about $200 more than the 1299. Is it worth the extra money?

 

[brdeveloper]

Hi all!

I am interested in a new imac but I want to know what's the best way to configure it so that I minimize beach balls. Currently I own an early 2011 (I think?) MBP with 8gb of ram. It gives me plenty of beach balls I can barely work iMovie and iPhoto. I'm a teacher I do basic stuff but even then I get beach balls constantly.

What imac specs do you all recommend?

Thank you!

Well, you can't blame your laptop after you probably have upgraded it to Mavericks (which is known to be SSD-dependent). Install a SSD on your MBP and be happy. The beach ball happens even on Haswell iMacs, but they blink so fast that wouldn't annoy you since they're equipped with fusion drives.

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That would work although it does not turn it into an iMac.

Unless you add a cheap IPS display which probably matches ACD quality (which use consumer, inexpensive IPS panels too).

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Is there a huge difference between the 1299 iMac and the 1399 iMac? I'm planning on upgrading either one to 16GB ram and to the fusion drive. The higher end one totals to about $200 more than the 1299. Is it worth the extra money?

It depends how much time you plan keeping your iMac. Is your MBP a 13" one? If so, it doesn't suffer from the Radeongate, so it would be pretty safe keeping and upgrading it.

1TB SSD (Samsung 840 EVO): ~470,00
16GB RAM (2x8GB 1333MHz modules): ~150,00
Screwdrivers needed: ~10-20
Total: 630,00

No beach balls and I included a big SSD. With a 750GB or 500GB SSD the overall cost would decrease to $400.

 

[capathy21]

Hi all!

I am interested in a new imac but I want to know what's the best way to configure it so that I minimize beach balls. Currently I own an early 2011 (I think?) MBP with 8gb of ram. It gives me plenty of beach balls I can barely work iMovie and iPhoto. I'm a teacher I do basic stuff but even then I get beach balls constantly.

What imac specs do you all recommend?

Thank you!

I agree with the others in saying you need to upgrade your drive to SSD in your MBP regardless of whether you get an imac or not. With 8GB of ram, you should never have beach balls with simple programs like iMovie and IPhoto. I have 4GB of ram and I have yet to experience any beach balls even when multitasking quite heavily.

If you get an imac, I would definitely go for the SSD upgrade. It is more important than going from 8 to 16 on the ram. You would see faster overall performance from a SSD with 8GB of ram vs a HHD and 16GB of ram.