iMay buy an iMac; Thoughts / Opinions?

[Derek™]

I'll preface this by stating the obvious: pretty much all Apple hardware is atrociously overpriced.  That's a given.  I grew up with Windows, but have always been impressed and pleased with OSX.  So three or four years back, I worked with a good friend to build a Hackintosh.  Money was tight, and he convinced me that I could have a machine that ran just as good as the latest iMac line, but at a fraction of the cost.  I was all about it... and in fact, that's what I've been [happily] rolling with since '08 or so.

 

But times are a'changin', and my system is finding itself dated.  I've often dreamed of a seamless system: one that synced flawlessly with my phone, allowed for painless OS updates, and optimized full functionality with my various devices.  This is to say, I know that no Hackintosh system is perfect, and that some sacrifices must be made.  And I've dealt with them... until now.

 

I know that I technically could build another system, but I think I'm honestly done with all the headaches at this point.  I'd love a legitimate, all-in-one iMac.  Complete with the latest OS and a glorious 27" screen.  After doing some research, the latest [thin panel] models seem to be getting rave reviews.  Outside their lack of an optical drive, though, which hardly deters me.

 

They're pricey as hell, but I'm on the verge of wrapping up my remaining student loans -- something that's taken a few years, now.  That's a huge portion of my paychecks (if not the majority) that I'll be seeing, from here on out.  I figured it'd be entirely appropriate to celebrate the slaying of debt with a robust computer upgrade.

 

I'm looking to my tax return to determine how soon it will happen, but in the meantime I figured I'd ask around VC to hear from anyone who owns an iMac.  How have you enjoyed it thus far?  Has it held up over the years?  Would you recommend springing for extra RAM?

 

I'll restate that I've been using OSX for the past four years or so, and absolutely love it.  I don't do any gaming on my PC -- I primarily use it for music, graphic design, and schoolwork.  I'm looking at going with the new 27" model, and customizing it with a 1 TB Fusion Drive.  [3 TB is excessive for the amount of data I have, coupled with my external drive.]  Has anyone heard anything noteworthy about the Fusion?  Reviews make it out to be a huge plus, and worth springing for.

 

Since the new iMacs are borderline impossible to upgrade down the road, I'm looking to get all the fixin's upon date of purchase.  Which is mostly just a RAM upgrade.  I'd like this thing to last me a good while.  It will be going to another college with me, somewhere down the road... and I imagine I'll have it for the start of a career.  I'll also add that I much prefer to go the desktop route over a Macbook... especially since the new iMac is so lightweight and easy to relocate.

 

Any advice?  Suggestions?  Mac horror stories?  I'd be interested to hear them before biting the bullet early next year.

[Dashhax]

Clever topic title.

[oxxo]

I'm a Mac user myself, and the iMacs are perfect for the type of work you're doing, but be forewarned, the hard drives that ship in iMacs from Apple contain firmware that also controls fan speeds. You can Google the Mac forums to see how many problems users have had trying to do their HDD upgrades with non-Apple hard drives who then suffer loud, continuous fan noise. 

 

Also, the process of removing the HDD requires pulling the glass face out of the iMac using suction cups, so watch some YouTube videos beforehand to get familiar with the pitfalls.

[kforkevin777]

If you have the cash and really want one, go for it. Apple desktops/laptops just aren't too good for someone on a tight budget. If you're not gaming, that's an even better reason to get one. How much RAM does it come with? If its more than 4GB, I wouldn't spend the extra cash on the upgrade, especially with how expensive upgrading anything on a Mac is.

[Derek™]

oxxo: man, you've lost me.  Apologies if my initial post was cryptic -- I won't be doing any tampering on the machine.  I've had my fill of that over the years, and I'd like to get a legitimate setup that plays by the books.  When you order from Apple.com, you can specify part upgrades for an additional fee.  They offer the ability to ship the machines with the Fusion drives built in, right out of the box.  I definitely don't feel like doctoring up a $2,000+ machine.

 

Kevin: you're right.  The simple RAM and HDD upgrades on Apple's site are nothing short of highway robbery.  I was on a tight budget when I had to build my Hackintosh in '08, but I'm now at a point where I'll be financially liberated.  At least for a while.  The "standard" RAM for the model I'm looking at is 8 GB.  I'm contemplating on going for 16, especially since I won't be able to upgrade, say, three years from now.  I'd have to buy an entirely new setup.  I guess that's how they get you.

[Dashhax]

oxxo: man, you've lost me.  Apologies if my initial post was cryptic -- I won't be doing any tampering on the machine.  I've had my fill of that over the years, and I'd like to get a legitimate setup that plays by the books.  When you order from Apple.com, you can specify part upgrades for an additional fee.  They offer the ability to ship the machines with the Fusion drives built in, right out of the box.  I definitely don't feel like doctoring up a $2,000+ machine.

 

Kevin: you're right.  The simple RAM and HDD upgrades on Apple's site are nothing short of highway robbery.  I was on a tight budget when I had to build my Hackintosh in '08, but I'm now at a point where I'll be financially liberated.  At least for a while.  The "standard" RAM for the model I'm looking at is 8 GB.  I'm contemplating on going for 16, especially since I won't be able to upgrade, say, three years from now.  I'd have to buy an entirely new setup.  I guess that's how they get you.

 

 

Derek nothing you could do with the machine could justify 16gb of ram, save your money buddy. *8 gb ddr3 is plenty.

[Derek™]

You think so? I run Photoshop, iTunes, Firefox, and a few other apps routinely, on the norm. And I think I'd like to get into video editing and additional Adobe apps, down the line. But if 8 GB can handle all that, I'll gladly save the $200.

[abovetheearth]

I run CS5 and editing crap on 8gig constantly. Never even a hiccup.

[kforkevin777]

Derek nothing you could do with the machine could justify 16gb of ram, save your money buddy. *8 gb ddr3 is plenty.

Exactly what this man said. Unless you're going listen to music, watch a movie, edit in Photoshop, edit a video, browse the web, and play a MMO, literally at the same time, you'll never use 16GB of RAM. And $200 is insane, even for the extra. Most computer-savvy people say you generally won't use more than 4GB in everyday use, so 8GB is a good bet.

[batman]

I just bought a MPB two days ago (had never had a Mac before) and LOVE it so far. Went with the 13" with the 2.9 gHz processor, 8 GB ram, and 750 GB hard drive. I would've gotten the retina one but I really wanted the CD drive and I couldn't justify the cost difference. Anyway, good luck! I'm thoroughly impressed so far and just trying to learn all of the tricks now haha.

[billya]

Is nobody going to point out the use of the word "runned" in the original post?!

[Derek™]

Hah, good catch, Billy.  I typically pride myself in that there English business... but I suppose that's a ramification from trying to type while being distracted with work.  You win this one.

 

Batman: nice.  What compelled you to make the jump, if I may ask?  Not to sound spoiled, but after having OSX for so long, I really can't imagine myself going back to Windows.  I don't think I've bothered with their OS since... Vista [?].

 

I read that they plan on giving the Mac Pro a makeover later on in 2013, since it hasn't seen a new design for a handful for years.  But the latest iMac seems to be the latest design they'll be rocking for a while.  I was initially going to hold out and see if Retina display would make its way onto a 27" monitor, but I don't think it'll be happening anytime soon.

[midnightcity]

Hell, I run Photoshop, Final Cut, rdio, Chrome and Skype... at once on 4 gigs (late 2010 Core i5)

 

Can't complain. Will I get 8 on my next upgrade, sure.

 

Point is 8 gigs - more than enough.

[Guest]

4 gigs on a mbp, and it's rare that it needs any more than that before it gets overwhelmed.

and i constantly have 8 essential apps running.

[BuzzersonKillwell]

New iMacs have a slower HDD due to the size. I ran a iMac for a while but now I run MacBook Pro with cinema display and keyboard when I'm stationary. I'd do that again for sure.

I'm pretty much 100% interactive design right now. I've worked on some shit in the past that these machines couldn't handle but unless your doing vehicle graphics or working with PSDs over a gig in size any machine should be fine.

[turnstiles]

I just bought a MBP with cinema display for my Christmas present. You cannot go wrong with Apple products, they cost a lot, but they'll run forever. I'm currently typing this from a 2004 iMac. 

[troymess]

I've been all Apple for each one of my devices since 2006. I bought an iMac in 2007 and it still runs incredibly. Definitely recommended. Every Apple product has outlasted any similar competitor's device that my friends have owned.

[batman]

Hah, good catch, Billy. I typically pride myself in that there English business... but I suppose that's a ramification from trying to type while being distracted with work. You win this one.

Batman: nice. What compelled you to make the jump, if I may ask? Not to sound spoiled, but after having OSX for so long, I really can't imagine myself going back to Windows. I don't think I've bothered with their OS since... Vista [?].

I read that they plan on giving the Mac Pro a makeover later on in 2013, since it hasn't seen a new design for a handful for years. But the latest iMac seems to be the latest design they'll be rocking for a while. I was initially going to hold out and see if Retina display would make its way onto a 27" monitor, but I don't think it'll be happening anytime soon.

It was totally an impulse buy. I just started a new job where I don't really need Microsoft Office at home, so I was looking for more of an entertainment laptop. I've owned two Sony Vaio's over the last 8 years, and just wanted something radically different. I loved my old computer and there was nothing really wrong with it--had been 4 years and I was ready for an upgrade.

[thebiglebowski]

I am not sure I would pay for an OS at all. Save $100+ and install a linux system. It takes a little getting used to but it can do 99% of what an OSX or Windows computer can do, and for the other 1%, you can use the emulators that let you run windows/OSX software. For example, unless someone is a professional photo editor, Gimp can do 99% of the job of photoshop and is totally free.

 

If my little blurb has even made you consider it a little bit, you should partition your hard drive, install linux right next to your Windows OS and choose which one to boot. It's all really automated and easy. Just google "Install Ubuntu Linux on a Windows computer". Backup your data first and you have no reason to worry about fucking anything up (which shouldn't happen anyways).

 

And I sometimes run mathematical solvers that run on a cluster and use 64 processors and 50+ GB of RAM. That's a pretty specialized situation, though.

[midnightcity]

lol, linux.

 

[thebiglebowski]

Don't get that comment. It does everything a Windows/Mac computer does, is free, is the most secure from viruses, and it took a little time getting used to because I was always a windows guy, but I actually prefer the interface now.

[Derek™]

lol, linux.

 

 

But in all seriousness, there was a week or two prior to my OSX installation that I was using Linux on my [soon to be] Hackintosh.  It ran well enough -- I don't have any gripes with it.  But I also don't have the patience or desire to take full advantage of everything that it offers, in terms of customization.  I think I'd prefer to have a network of Apple software and hardware that weaves together without a hiccup.  Plus, I'm a sucker for the screen estate that comes with those 27" monitors.  Yes please.

 

I think you guys have talked me out of a 16 GB upgrade, though.  I'll read up a bit more, but it's sounding like 8 GB should suffice for current and future applications without breaking a sweat.

[thebiglebowski]

If you tried Linux and don't like it, cool. I just mentioned it because most people don't consider it an option. I like it a lot.

 

The problem computer hardware at the moment is that you really can't make processors any faster with current materials (they will overheat, we have pushed them about to their breaking point) and adding more than 4-8 processors only helps in some applications. Some jobs just can't be done in parallel (the classic example is finding the Fibanocci numbers). So if processing power is limited to about 8 processors for non-industrial purposes, why would you need a ton of memory? You aren't processing enough to use it all. The era of Moore's Law is over. Now it is about making smaller computers, not faster ones (to a certain point, not in 100% of cases).

[isavedlatin54]

I run CS5 and editing crap on 8gig constantly. Never even a hiccup.

i run lightroom and cs5 with 4gigs and still no hiccup 

[cymbalism15]

I have a macbook pro and an iPhone 4S and I can tell you that having everything work together is fantastic. I would do it if you can afford it.

That being said, you design right? I think the next iMac will have a retina screen and it may even be as soon as spring or fall this year. I personally would hold out for that if possible, retina photoshop is sweet. You can practically print preview on a screen that pixel-dense.

 

Either way, it's worth it to have a full Mac system, just be careful with the upgrades, external harddrives are your best friend.