Page 4 • Just bought my first iMac! • Non-Gaming • Apple, Mac, and iPod • Eurogamer.net

nickthegun 3 May 2011 15:26:44 87,712 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

New imacs are out, for anyone keeping score.

CharlieStCloud 3 May 2011 17:32:25 5,812 posts
Seen 7 years ago
Registered 11 years ago

I am very patiently waiting for an Intel Core i5 Mac mini...

Hurry up Apple!

As for those on the fence for a new iMac, wait for a couple of months (summer) as Lion OS X shall be readily available and installed with the iMac.

Phily50 31 May 2011 10:32:58 2,384 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 15 years ago

So, after much deliberation (read: convincing the missus!) I am going to get a new iMac. Probably gonna go for the smaller one (21 inch I think it is) but is it worth getting all the upgrades for it, i.e. faster processor, extra RAM etc. Been a while since I bought a new computer so I'm a bit out of touch with the spec lists. It'll be pretty easy for me to just tick all the boxes and spend thousands(!) of pounds and even though I want to future proof it to some extent, I don't really want to spend money where I don't need to.

Mostly use the internet, word processing etc. bit of music production, photo and movie editing.

Also, how much different is Lion OS to Snow leopard? Worth holding out for?

dominalien 31 May 2011 10:39:38 10,703 posts
Seen 3 days ago
Registered 15 years ago

Get the one with the 2.7 i5. Don't up the memory, 4 gigs should be fine for now and you can always up it in a couple of years for less than Apple will charge you.

Can't say anything about Lion, haven't really been following it, tbh.

nickthegun 31 May 2011 10:42:54 87,712 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

Get moar ram but get it from crucial. Apple are robbing bastards.

Personally, I would get the best one you can afford. If you can spring for an i7, get one.

1Dgaf 31 May 2011 14:38:00 5,211 posts
Seen 5 days ago
Registered 15 years ago

I've been day dreaming about owning an iMac recently, almost solely for editing my podcast and HD gameplay videos. If I was to get an i7, say the 2.84 ghz one, would there be much improvement over my core 2 quad 2.66 PC running XP? It's a few years old and has 3gb of ram.

FWIW podcast files I edit tend to be about a 1gb before compression and the videos are a similar size. Videos take a couple of hours to render, the podcast take about 20-30 minutes.

EDIT:

Just in case anyone didn't know, you cant replace the HDD in the new iMacs. That's one of the things putting me off.

Deleted user 31 May 2011 14:40:14

Yes, massively.

1Dgaf 31 May 2011 14:52:12 5,211 posts
Seen 5 days ago
Registered 15 years ago

Thanks Crispy.

ecosse,

Thinking about the iMac has made me realise I don't really upgrade my PCs, but at least the option to make changes oneself is there. Being beholden to a dealer is a concern.

nickthegun 31 May 2011 14:54:14 87,712 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

The point is that you cant replace them with an off the shelf, cheap drive of your choice because they have made the temp sensor an integral part of the drive.

For example, we used to charge about 80 quid for a 1t drive and an hour of labour to fit and test it, so it came up to around �140ish.

Because you are forced to use apples piss take drives, we have to pay �170 something for the drive before we add any margin or labour.

So, to cut a long story short, apple have just added at least �100 to the repair/replacement bill to our customers purely to try and control the parts market.

Deleted user 31 May 2011 14:57:40

Surely the parts are available somewhere?

nickthegun 31 May 2011 15:02:29 87,712 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

Not at the moment. They probably will be further down the line but they will never be as cheap as an off the shelf drive. Plus you have a unique temperature sensor per brand of drive.

At the back of the drive near where sata cable is, there is a port to physically plug the sensor in. The port is unique per brand so not only to you need a new drive, you usually need a new temp sensor.

Previously the drive sensor plugged into the main board and was glued to the top of the drive.

Its a real bitch move.

Phily50 31 May 2011 15:18:26 2,384 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 15 years ago

Are the 2 TB drives 2 x 1 TB drives or is it actually one drive?

1Dgaf 31 May 2011 15:38:54 5,211 posts
Seen 5 days ago
Registered 15 years ago

Nick

I was aware of the heat sensor thing, but hadn't realised it cost so much to replace a drive, even before.

Would you recommend going for a refurb 2010?

EDIT:

Also, is your place an Apple certified joint? If so, do you have to pay for that privelige as well as pass tests etc?

nickthegun 31 May 2011 15:54:19 87,712 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

1Dgaf wrote:
Nick

I was aware of the heat sensor thing, but hadn't realised it cost so much to replace a drive, even before.

Would you recommend going for a refurb 2010?

EDIT:

Also, is your place an Apple certified joint? If so, do you have to pay for that privelige as well as pass tests etc?

I would go for a new one, tbh. The older 21"s and 27"s had a few teething issues, plus the processor is a lot better.

And, yeah, we are apple certified. We dont have to pay but we do have to jump through a *lot* of hoops to get accreditation. Only the techs who work on machines *have* to be certified but we are all certified to do our what our specific job needs.

Im an implementation and integration engineer, so all my certs are in OS X server things and, hence the integration, ive got MS stuff too as I have to make the fucking things talk to each other.

1Dgaf 31 May 2011 15:58:47 5,211 posts
Seen 5 days ago
Registered 15 years ago

Mad

I'd better look up a Synology NAS.

Nick

Yes, I heard there were issues to do with yellow tinge on the monitor amongst other things.

It's a bit annoying that Mac don't have a powerful mac mini. I've got a monitor and I'm a bit wary of buying something expensive that's fucked if said monitor goes kaput.

Deleted user 31 May 2011 16:00:34

nickthegun wrote:

Im an implementation and integration engineer, so all my certs are in OS X server things and, hence the integration, ive got MS stuff too as I have to make the fucking things talk to each other.

Worth doing these as a career?

nickthegun 31 May 2011 16:18:31 87,712 posts
Seen 4 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

Yeah, if you can get some other fucker to pay for them.

I dunno, I kind of got into it by accident. Its good, interesting work and since not many people have the mad skillz to do both you have quite a unique skillset.

The downside is that its pretty specific work and, as i have found, if you go for other jobs that specialise in one or the other, the first thing they do after they read your cv is ask 'so, would you say you are more of a windows/apple (delete as appropriate) man?' and mentally bin you.

Deleted user 31 May 2011 19:50:57

Cheers.

BTW, do you have replacement internal screws for macbooks?

Just bought my first iMac! • Page 4