FredT

Hi,

I'm going to buy a new iMac because

1) My whole family is currently using the MacBook in my house (no one wants to use the Windows machine ) and it would be nice to have a second decent computer

2) I'd rather get the desktop because I already have the portability of the MacBook and I want the extra screen space an iMac provides

Now here is the problem. I am currently debating on which iMac to get. First off, I will be using the computer for a lot of web design and programming. I'm not a pro or anything like that though, I'm a high school student and I use web design to make a little money. I am using all the web related CS3 programs to do that stuff. I also use Final Cut Express on occasion for school projects or just fooling around with my friends on some videos. Those are the most strenuous things I will be doing, the rest of it just the basic Safari, Mail, Word, etc.

I would really like a 24" screen because I often run out of room on my little 13" MacBook (in Final Cut, Flash, and Illustrator in particular) and that really annoys me. After checking the iMacs in the Apple Store, I thought the 20" was a nice size, then I looked at the 24" and after that the 20" always looked small . My mom wasn't a fan of the 24" because she thought it would be too large for the room we are going to put it in. But that is irrelevant, what I am really concerned about here is the screen size vs. the specs for the price. I want to stay around (or below) $1500. In addition, my dad gets a discount at the Apple store so he is a state employee. That generally knocks off about $100 or $150.

I have narrowed my selection down a little, but I would really like to know how much of a difference fractions of a gigahertz make. For example, the baseline 20" computer has 2.4, but one level up from that has 2.66. Then to 2.8 and 3.06. How much of a difference would there be between 2.4 and 2.66 gHz? Also the video cards, 128 vs 256 mb...

To keep my hopes alive for ever being able to afford a 24" iMac, I turned to the refurb area of the Apple website, which contains some excellent deals.

Here are the three main computers I am comparing at this point:

Brand new 2nd level 20" iMac:
2.66 ghz
6 meg cache
2 gig ram
320 gb hd
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256 mb

vs.

Brand new 1st level 20" iMac w/ upgraded hd:
2.4 ghz
6 meg cache
1 gig ram that I'd upgrade to 2 myself
250 gb hd
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128 mb

vs.

Refurbished 24" iMac:
2.4 gHz
4 meg cache
1 gig of ram that I'd upgrade to 2 myself
320 gb hd
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256 mb

Option 1: The beefiest of the three comps, slightly more expensive than option 3

Option 2: The money saver if you tell me the difference in specs between options 1 and 2 are not going to show much of a difference in performance

Option 3: The in-between spec wise computer, but with the 24" screen.

For options 1 and 2 it wasn't even worth it to get their refurb equivalents... with my dad's discount there wasn't that much of a difference in price (only like $100 and I would rather have a brand new computer rather than a refurb for just $100 more).

Well, sorry for my excessively long post... here is what I'm trying to get at: how much of a difference in performance am I going to see between these three computers and what do you recommend?

Thanks!!!

qbawl

My personal choice would be the refurb 24" machine. The larger size screen more than makes up for the slight advantage the new 20" machine has in oomph, IMO.

AFAIK, refurbished Macs have full warranties, and they certainly look brand new; I've seen two refurbs and couldn't tell the difference between them and new computers.

sinclair_tm

From that list I'd get the refurb iMac, and not up the RAM to 2, but instead max the RAM (from OWC). I doubt that you'd notice the difference between the 2.4 and 2.66 CPU, but the difference between the 2600 with 256 VRAM and the 2400 with 128 VRAM is rather big.

FredT

Ok, thanks for the advice. When I get on the OWC website, there are two options for the iMacs in the RAM section... I'm not sure which one I'd be getting with the refurb, the older one that takes 667 mhz ram or the newer one that takes 800mhz ram

Here's what I'm talking about

FredT

Nvm, it has to be the older one because 24" = 2.4 gHz