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Currently own a 2008 24" iMac, 2.8 or 3.06 Core 2 Duo, 320GB, 7200 drive, 4GB memory.

Up till last week I was set to buy the 21.5" iMac at £1,149 add the Fusion Drive and up the memory to 16GB this was costing £1,469, now £1,369, now I'm wondering about the cheaper model at £899 with no options.

I'm wondering if the £469 saving is worth it, I'm planning to keep this new purchase for 4-5 years, though with the saving I could decide to upgrade earlier.

Machine only gets light use 4-5 times a month - office apps, mail, safari, iTunes and light photo work in iPhoto and occasion home working using Microsoft RDP to connect to work server.

I originally thought that a higher spec meant it would last longer but I'm now thinking given the light use might as well save the cash and upgrade earlier if need be.

I reckon even the basic iMac will be better than I currently have.

Thanks

It's a difficult question because you can't upgrade any of the parts and the really strange thing is the i5 in the £899 iMac isn't a budget part at all - it's a processor designed for ultra low power in the likes of Ultrabooks where batterylife and thermals are key which are not an issue in the iMac chassis.  I've not read any hands on reviews so I don't know what difference the ULV i5 makes in practice, because it's such a low power processor it may mean the fan runs quieter and should keep the internal components run cooler but the main desktop core i5 processors have decent thermals these days so I can't see that being an advantage.  The only reasonable explanation I've seen for the choice is to use up stock from Macbook Air inventory.

 

Personally I'd spend the extra £100 to go up to the next model, you get a much quicker processor and a better graphics card (although it's still integrated, it's better than the one in the base iMac) plus double the hard drive space - 500GB isn't much at all these days and while you can use external storage it's more convenient having it internally.  I know you're wanting to future proof the machine but if trying to save pennies I'm not convinced the 16GB ram upgrade is worth it, for a while ram requirements kept increasing and if you didn't have enough it would be crippling but over the last few years I think it's levelled off.  My last desktop had 8GB ram (gaming/workstation) and when I bought the current one (at least a couple of years ago now) it came with 8GB as well but I've found no need to upgrade it, even when I've been pushing it hard (1440p gaming with twin graphics cards, video editing, blu-ray ripping, Lightroom exporting) it hasn't needed more than 8GB.  I'm not saying no-one needs more than 8GB, there's certainly specific needs such as running a network of VM's or working with large 3D models but it doesn't sound like you're going to be doing any of that.

 

John

As above, you cannot even upgrade the memory in the new "cheap" Mac, as it is soldered directly to the motherboard.

 

As with all Macs, you are paying for the name - the components only cost £100-£200 if bought for a PC.

As with all Macs, you are paying for the name - the components only cost £100-£200 if bought for a PC.

 

What components are you including in those prices?

Just getting Office software on a PC will cost you at least £60 a year or around £150 to purchase outright. Pages, Numbers and Keynote are included in the price of an iMac.

 

This is from an article discussing how much the parts in a 2006 iMac cost...

 

 

iSuppli Corp. on Thursday released a breakdown of the materials contained in the new US$1,299 Intel iMac, coming to the conclusion that it contains $873 worth of parts. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive item is the Intel Core Duo processor, estimated to cost $265, with a $45 Intel mobile 945 core-logic chipset supporting it.

Source http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/iSuppli_Intel_iMac_Carries_873_Worth_of_Parts

 

 

If it was me I would go for the highest spec you can afford. I am still running a 12 year old G4 Mac tower and it loads and runs the copy of Office from about 5 years ago faster than the newer machine with the newer versions.

I'd sell the current one and put the money towards the higher end model.

 

Same with everything really, buy the best you can afford!

Now I dont know the EXACT cpu being used, but a quick google has found (after ignoring the ebay resellers) a components store selling brand new 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo E6320s for under £40.

 

I havent read the article you link to, but I am willing to bet they were looking at parts that were officially allowed by Apple - as opposed to the standard PC parts that were identical, but firmware barred from working.

 

 

PS.

Office costs nothing, despite the price tag they put on it, you can get it on a sub £300 laptop these days.

I'm not convinced buying the best you can afford makes as much sense for this purchase unless there's a specific need for the additional hardware because it add quite a bit to the cost without much benefit even in the longterm.  Another prominent issue is that the Imacs, particularly the smaller 21.5in models are designed not to be in any way serviceable so there's no access to the ram (there is on the 27in models), hard drive or cooling assembly which are some of the more likely components to fail.

 

John

Depending on how adventurous you are, I bought a second hand top spec 21.5" previous model (the thicker one) that had AppleCare on it (it still has 18 months warranty left), took the screen off and fitted an SSD in place of the HDD. Boosted the ram to 16gb too. So now I am expecting it to last me years for the total cost of about £750.

 

The current 21.5" iMac's are essentially unserviceable. With the mid and top-end you can in theory dismantle it to add RAM, but it is a serious serious job. In the entry level you cannot even do that. Only the top spec has space to add your own fusion drive and it uses a proprietary connector so the cost is ludicrous and may as well be specced in with the original order.

 

One thing I would explore is student/teachers discount. 14% on all iMacs is definitely worthwhile! 

 

 

Office is most definitely NOT legally free, despite what you say. I'm not going to wade into the PC vs Mac component cost argument. The OP wants an iMac (sensible man) so that is off topic.

Edited 23 June, 201412 yr by Oli3000

Thanks all, as it happens I can get the discount as per above.

 

One thing though, is there anything that could improve the performance of my current one to eek another year or so out of it, esp as I'm looking at Yosemite come its release.

 

i.e would a clean install of Yosemite when it comes out help or are there free utilities to free up orphan files, rouge links in the system anywhere?

 

Thanks again.

Thanks all, as it happens I can get the discount as per above.

 

One thing though, is there anything that could improve the performance of my current one to eek another year or so out of it, esp as I'm looking at Yosemite come its release.

 

i.e would a clean install of Yosemite when it comes out help or are there free utilities to free up orphan files, rouge links in the system anywhere?

 

Thanks again.

 

You are maxed out with RAM, so that can't be boosted. If you are brave you can fit an SSD (https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+Intel+24-Inch+EMC+2134+and+2211+Hard+Drive+Replacement/8968). It's essentially the same as what I did to me 2011 21.5". It looks scary, but it isn't that bad. The worst bit is trying to keep the screen & glass dust free for reassembly!

 

I always do a fresh install when new operating systems come out. What are you running at the minute? If it is Snow Leopard or above I would just do a time machine backup, wipe the machine and install from scratch by creating a bootable USB key, then restore from time machine backup.

Thanks all, as it happens I can get the discount as per above.

 

One thing though, is there anything that could improve the performance of my current one to eek another year or so out of it, esp as I'm looking at Yosemite come its release.

 

i.e would a clean install of Yosemite when it comes out help or are there free utilities to free up orphan files, rouge links in the system anywhere?

 

Thanks again.

The IOS version of CCleaner does a good job. Not quite as good a job as it does with Windows, but then Windows does get a lot messier...

 

Office is most definitely NOT legally free, despite what you say. I'm not going to wade into the PC vs Mac component cost argument.

 

I was not talking about dodgy downloads; Office costs the computer MAKERS next to nothing; M$ almost give it away to stop people trying other alternatives - same as they were doing for years with Internet Explorer, and the same way PC makers in the 90's used to advertise their PCs as having "THOUSANDS OF POUNDS WORTH OF SOFTWARE INCLUDED FOR FREE !!", when the software bundles cost THEM about £10 per pop.

 

It is only the poor smucks who buy it on its own that have to pay the stupid money for it; as I said, installed as standard on a mates £299 Toshiba laptop from Currys (Windows 8.1 and slower than a dog with 3 legs missing).

 

As for the PC v Mac component cost argument, there IS no argument, many of the components are identical - but Apple put codes into the computer firmware so that only parts containing the same firmware codes will work; this was shown YEARS ago and lead to the setting up of the HACKINTOSH company (since shut down by Apple).

 

Since only the Apple coded parts will work with an Apple PC, Apple can charge what they like for them - ie 2-4 times the cost of the non-coded part.

It's unusual for a Microsoft Windows PC to come with a fully functional non-time limited version of Office installed aside from Windows RT machines, I've seen Office installed on most OEM PC's but a feature and/or time limited version.  All the cheap Toshiba laptops on the PCWorld site are listed as having the trial version of Office installed.

 

I'm not arguing in favour of an iMac as I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole but that's not what the OP was asking.

 

John

A time limited version is all I have seen in the past, but this year I have seen several PCs, Laptops and Tablets with the full Office package installed by default.

 

As I said, I suspect M$ might be worried about the gains other products are making and trying to forestall people trying them by giving system makers a licence at a few % of what they charge muggles.

 

I touched an iMac once - it took hours of scrubbing my hands with an old bar of kitchen soap before I was sure I hadnt caught anything.

It's unusual for a Microsoft Windows PC to come with a fully functional non-time limited version of Office installed aside from Windows RT machines, I've seen Office installed on most OEM PC's but a feature and/or time limited version. All the cheap Toshiba laptops on the PCWorld site are listed as having the trial version of Office installed.

I'm not arguing in favour of an iMac as I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole but that's not what the OP was asking.

John

Several £300 laptop models I was looking at on Tesco and currys boasted about coming with office "home edition". Spend another £100 and it became the "professional" version.

For occasional 4-5 times a month use £800-£1200 seems a bit steep.

That would buy a lot of PC, which could be upgraded if necessary. You can get iTunes and either direct versions from Apple of other apps, or free versions that will integrate with Apple apps/cloud etc.

As above your paying the premium for the Apple badge and OS. The hardware is the same in most medium spec computers

What did you do?

I was looking at the iMacs but couldn't dedicate any desk space to one so had to get a laptop instead. I'm pretty much a layman but my usual choice is something mid range rather than the top or bottom spec