> On Apr 22, 2015, at 1:09 PM, Bill Spencer <wspen...@jhu.edu> wrote: > > Hi there: The tax refund came through and I have been given permission to > replace my trusty elderly Lion machine (purchased new in September 2006; see > end of this message) with a new iMac. It's obviously been a long time, so > what do I look for? My needs are not especially taxing or unusual, I think, > but I'd like to have a sense of where I could be a bit on the entry-level > side and where I should focus on getting as much as I can. For example, I > suspect that top-of-the-line processor speed would be less important than > maxing the memory, and I don't think I need the more than the basic screen > size. > > One of the things I could definitely use input on is the type of HD to > get--they're showing something called a Fusion drive, and the little I've > read about it makes it sound like a good thing, but...well, you get the idea. > > Let's set a ballpark price limit of $1,250 or so. > > My thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions! > > > Bill Spencer in Maryland > IMac Core 2 Duo 1.83 ghz/2 g RAM/Lion (10.7.5)
Bill, In addition to seconding Bruce Johnson’s comments today, I’d like to underscore his parting words about the refurbished iMacs in the Apple Store online. Here’s a link to that site, where Apple offers all kinds of Apple devices for direct sale. <http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/imac/21> Most items are one to two generations old; occasionally near the end of a particular device’s product cycle you will find a current model, but not often. All items come with Apple’s standard one-year warranty, to which you can add the extended AppleCare. I’ve bought all kinds of refurbished Apple products from the online Apple Store, and I’ve also bought lots of new products directly from Apple that way too. Aside from packaging differences, I’ve never been able to discern any difference between new and refurbished, so thorough is the Apple reconditioning process. And shipping is free. You may or may not have to pay sales tax; I don’t know Maryland’s laws in this regard. Otherwise, buy with complete confidence and save lots of $$$. Be aware that each item for sale is available until someone buys it. So if you see something you want, don’t hesitate, just buy it right then. I’ve missed several items over the years because I waited. Sometimes an identical or near=identical items pops up quickly, sometimes the wait drags on for weeks. It all depends on what items are returned to Apple. Current iMacs have a form factor that goes back to late 2012. Aside from physical size, 21.5-inch models and 27-inch models are identical in that the fused cover glass/LCD assembly is glued to the case with black stickum tape similar to that used to bond automotive windshields to bodies. Since there is no external access to RAM slots in the 21.5-inch models, as there is in 27-inch models, make certain you can live with whatever RAM is installed in the smaller form factor. The same holds true for storage media. Also realize that all iMacs since late-2012 models do not have an internal optical drive; Apple offers a $79 USB SuperDrive that works just fine however. It is possible to open up a late-2012 and newer iMac to upgrade the storage media or, in the case of the 21.5-inch model, the RAM. But it’s not a do-it-yourself job for most people, and doing so may well void the AppleCare warranty if not done by an authorized Apple tech. As for Intel processors, avoid the i3 because it’s much, much slower than a quad-core i5 or i7 processor, even for routine tasks. An iMac with i5 cpu, 8 GB of RAM and a 1 TB standard hard drive should meet your needs. Since i7 processors cost lots more, I’d stick with an i5; I’ve had experience with all three, and I don’t think there’s a lot of difference except price between an i5 and an i7 for most people, most of the time. Of course, the more VRAM or video memory you can buy, so much the better, particularly as your iMac ages and video demands increase. Most standard Apple rotating disk hard drives are 5400 rpm units, which are reliable but noticeably slower than a 7200-rpm unit. A Fusion drive combines a 128 GB SSD (solid state drive) with a 5400-rpm spinning platter drive, using Apple’s proprietary drive software. The theory and intent is to load the most-used applications and operating system on the much faster SSD and to use the SATA hard drive for storage. My experience with a 1.28 TB Fusion drive in a late-2012 27-inch iMac is that it compares favorably to the 2 TB 7200-rpm hard drive I installed in a mid-2010 iMac, as well as a “hybrid” (SSD + hard drive) 7200-rpm 2.5-inch unit I’ve used in a couple of late model 13” MacBook Pros. Where storage is concerned, be aware that any late-2012 or newer iMac has four USB 3.0 ports, as well as two Thunderbolt ports. This means really speedy read/write access to really huge external storage devices. I’ve played around with a 240 GB SSD inside a USB 3.0 Mac with a 3 TB external hard disk drive, and the combination can’t be beat as a speedy, inexpensive consumer-level setup. So you might want to consider an iMac with at least a 240/256 GB SSD, to be augmented with an inexpensive ($100 or so) 2 or 3 TB USB 3.0 external drive. Most people don’t need an internal hard drive in a desktop larger than 256 GB for the OS and applications anyway. But if you’re like me and have pretty big photo, music and video collections, it makes no sense to store them on an internal hard drive with 1 TB or less space. That’s why my next iMac will have a 512 GB internal SSD, and I will use an external USB 3.0 or better RAID setup for storage. Have fun picking your next iMac! Jim Scott Eureka, CA -- -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. 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