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Author Topic: When to buy an iMac?  (Read 4259 times)

Offline Raven

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When to buy an iMac?
« on: July 14, 2009, 02:54:51 PM »
Perennial question, right?
I'm using a dual G4 with OS10.4.11 for design work. Been thinking about an iMac for 6 months. Just dread the whole upgrade/transition process. Everytime I undertake this, glitches occur.

Is now the time to buy a 24", 2.6gb iMac, or has Apple got something coming out bigger and better very soon?
Thoughts?


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Offline Xairbusdriver

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When to buy an iMac?
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2009, 03:22:17 PM »
QUOTE
has Apple got something coming out bigger and better very soon?
Absolutely! It will be available about three months after you buy whatever Mac. laughhard.gif

As far as upgrading/transition, the longer you wait the more difference there will be. If you buy before Snow Leopard comes out, you'll have Leopard installed. That means you can still run most PPC apps, although slower. After Snow Leopard (or soon afterward) new machines will have the newer OS installed and, as I understand it, will support only Intel apps. Your biggest expense, of course, will be getting upgraded software that will be able to read/use your current file formats.

The transition itself, should be pretty painless, especially from 10.4 to 10.5. I've heard good reports about Migration Assistant and, as long as you old machine is working, the transfer of most data and personal info is quite easy.

My general rule for getting a new machine is to do so when I see that I can get more done, with less hassle than with the current machine I have. Speed increases are always nice, but you may not actually see them as much as you think unless you are doing highly cpu intensive tasks. Drives are almost always larger, that's never bad. Any machine will last only a certain number of years, obviously, a new machine will be covered, automatically, by the new warranty - one less worry. wink.gif

The one thing I recommend against is, letting ads convince you that what you want is what you need. Think about what you are doing, how long it takes and what you might want to do in addition. Will the computer be used for a business? Can your work with it pay back your capital investment in a reasonable time (less than a year)?

I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice here, but remember, it's your money that will be paying for this new Mac! And some advice, especially mine, is sometimes not worth the electron used to get it! blush-anim-cl.gif laughhard.gif
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Offline Mayo

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« Reply #2 on: July 14, 2009, 03:49:40 PM »
MacRumors is "neutral" regarding buying an iMac now because we are in the middle of a release cycle.

I personally prefer buying a discontinued or refurbished Mac. Good deals on discontinued models occur soon after new models are released, but there can be units available months later. MacMall is one place to check for discontinued iMacs. Refurbs can be an excellent deal just about anytime... I have saved up to 50% on iMacs by forging the current models. Everymac.com is the place to go to compare models and find out the current value of various Macs.

The base model CPU on the iMacs is the way to go; the negligible increase in CPU speed and drive space is not worth the extra cost of the other models. (Check Barefeats.com for tests that illustrate this...) It's better to spend the money on AppleCare (Do a search of TS to find the awesome eBay deals discussed a couple of weeks ago. If eBay doesn't pan-out then the next best place is the L.A. Computer Company.) and an external hard drive if you don't already have one.

When I upgraded from a G4 Mac there were no glitches. I just transferred all my data using Migration Assistant. I had to spend maybe 30 minutes manually configuring a few things and installing a third-party application or two that didn't make the transfer... The fact that you are already running 10.4 means that the upgrade process should be painless, or nearly so.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2009, 03:52:06 PM by Mayo »
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Offline Paddy

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« Reply #3 on: July 14, 2009, 08:24:07 PM »
http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac - some good deals to be had right now.

We bought my son a refurbed 20" iMac last summer. Son #1 got a refurbed MacBook this spring. One stuck pixel on the iMac (not noticeable except on a black background) and other than that, both were absolutely flawless. And you can get a stuck/dead pixel on a non-refurb too - they won't take it back for just ONE. wink.gif
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Offline Raven

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« Reply #4 on: July 14, 2009, 08:35:39 PM »
Thanks for those comments.
Where did you get the refurbs in Canada, Paddy?

I know my biggest issue will be software upgrades from holding the old ones too long (Photoshop 7!). Font management sometimes is a pain when moving to a newer OS. I'm still using my first Apple Select Laserwriter 360 with an ethernet adaptor. It's an unbelievable workhorse after 14 years of use.

One more question, I did anticipate, so I purchased a Western Digital My Book Studio external HD as a back up and for archiving. Now I've read that they aren't that reliable.
Gawd, do I need a backup for my back up?



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Offline Mayo

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« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2009, 08:52:27 PM »
QUOTE
Where did you get the refurbs in Canada, Paddy?


The link Paddy provided is for the Canadian Apple Store, so I assume that is where she got the refurbs...

QUOTE
I know my biggest issue will be software upgrades from holding the old ones too long (Photoshop 7!).


 oops.gif  Too late for the upgrade price...

QUOTE
I'm still using my first Apple Select Laserwriter 360 with an ethernet adaptor.


Me too... I bought mine new in 1995 for $1350. Works like a charm via Airport; it's our primary printer. I really appreciate the generic toner cart companies...

QUOTE
One more question, I did anticipate, so I purchased a Western Digital My Book Studio external HD as a back up and for archiving. Now I've read that they aren't that reliable.


Since it's your back-up drive I don't see any reason to replace it or supplement it until it dies, because it's a copy of the data on your Mac. But if you store one of-a-kind data on it like I do (my iTunes library...), then a second drive is a really good idea.
« Last Edit: July 14, 2009, 08:54:24 PM by Mayo »
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Offline Raven

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« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2009, 09:18:03 PM »
Thanks Paddy.
Just ordered the refurb iMac from Apple.ca at $1529. Free Shipping. Good deal. Soon the fun begins. I may be back for help! ;-)


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Offline Paddy

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« Reply #7 on: July 14, 2009, 10:10:14 PM »
Glad to help! biggrin.gif I'm sure you'll enjoy your new iMac!

And don't forget to register for the Snow Leopard update - you'll be able to get it for a mere $13 CDN.

http://www.apple.com/ca/macosx/uptodate/
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Offline krissel

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« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2009, 03:29:27 AM »
Have to add to the info regarding the Western Digital drive...

Do not rely on that drive other than as basic file storage. Western Digital no longer supports their own drives for booting any computer. PPC Macs were one of the first to experience the problems that now are recognized as widespread with all platforms. WD only recommends its drives as internals for booting.

QUOTE
While it may be possible to boot your computer to an external hard drive, Western Digital does not provide technical support for booting your computer using an external hard drive. If you intend to make a copy of your boot drive, or install your operating system, please use a second internal drive (EIDE or Serial ATA), rather than an external drive.


http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/ph...hp?p_faqid=1059

http://forums.bombich.com/viewtopic.php?p=54234#54234


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Offline sandbox

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« Reply #9 on: July 15, 2009, 06:50:10 AM »
Kris I have a new WD http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD64...0620&sr=8-2
drive purchased in January that has worked flawlessly, is this a Leopard Issue?
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Offline Paddy

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« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2009, 06:57:22 AM »
Wow...that's pretty lame!!! There is more info in a thread linked to the CCC discussion about the cause of the problem:

http://forums.bombich.com/viewtopic.php?p=44639#44639
QUOTE
Quote:
Cause:
This issue is a Macintosh bug cause by the Mac ROM code of the computer and how it attempts to boot from the first SCSI LUN it detects (LUN 0). In the case of the aforementioned hard drives, the LUN 0 device is dedicated to the button board and safe removal tools of the hard drive case and not the internal hard drive, thus causing booting to be impossible.

What they're really saying is we've got our little controller set up as LUN 0 so we can run our crappy button board and safe removal tools, instead of directing LUN 0 directly to the internal HD. That's also why they can't disable their disk sleep feature.


Nothing like doing a non-standard thing that makes the drive useless as a clone/startup drive. Who the *&^% at WD came up with that idea? Sort of like having a spare tire that says "caution - may unexpectedly completely deflate if used on a car."

I'm glad I never bought one of their external drives. I've always been an assemble-it-yourselfer when it came to external drives - cheaper, I get the drives I want with the longer warranties and I've got 3 cases that more or less match my MacPro in design.
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Offline dboh

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« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2009, 07:27:15 AM »
Re: font management. This Apple document will tell you exactly what to do with your fonts. It's never failed me.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=607630
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Offline Paddy

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« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2009, 09:10:59 AM »
Actually not an Apple doc, but one by Kurt Lang, who has a business retouching photos and doing prepress work.

Wonderful document on font management though, dboh - I've added it to our TS collection of useful links! smile.gif
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Offline dboh

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« Reply #13 on: July 15, 2009, 11:21:45 AM »
You're right. I'd forgotten that he switched over to his own site. I guess I should have waited for the page to load. whistling.gif

Here's the direct link: http://www.jklstudios.com/misc/osxfonts.html
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Offline kimmer

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« Reply #14 on: July 15, 2009, 11:44:18 AM »
Thanks for the link re: font management. Just what I've been needing.
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