07-20-2006, 10:12 PM

I recently got a job, and my parents are going to give me a loan to get my first Mac (A 20 inch iMac!).

I'm having second thoughts about spending $2540.18 (Including tax) on a single item...
But then again, I desire to buy nothing, other than an iPod (whitch I can live without), and maybe a video game here and there (Not for the mac or PC)...



Any one think I should just blow 4 months of pay checks on this beastly computer?


Sorry if this is the wrong board.

07-20-2006, 10:22 PM

How in the **** of all things is your iMac costing that much? Boy, you don't need so much juice!

07-20-2006, 10:24 PM

Originally Posted by mayo

I recently got a job, and my parents are going to give me a loan to get my first Mac (A 20 inch iMac!).

I'm having second thoughts about spending $2540.18 (Including tax) on a single item...
But then again, I desire to buy nothing, other than an iPod (whitch I can live without), and maybe a video game here and there (Not for the mac or PC)...



Any one think I should just blow 4 months of pay checks on this beastly computer?


Sorry if this is the wrong board.

Go for it! You will love it.

07-20-2006, 10:25 PM

Why are you making the kid drown his dollar notes ?

07-20-2006, 10:26 PM

Yeah, that is mighty pricey for an iMac. I would tone things down a bit. Base model w/AppleCare should only cost a bit over $1800. No need to get all those bells and whistles right off the bat.

07-20-2006, 10:27 PM

Psh, if you are going to buy a computer, go all out. I learned that the hard way.

07-20-2006, 10:39 PM

Well, I do a good amount of 3D desiging, and graphics stuff.
And a lot of multitasking. (Which my Pee Cee can barly handle >.<)

And the $2540.18 is after 7% tax; with out tax, it's $2,374.00.
Unless Apple doesn't charge tax.

07-20-2006, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by mayo

Well, I do a good amount of 3D desiging, and graphics stuff.
And a lot of multitasking. (Which my Pee Cee can barly handle >.<)

And the $2540.18 is after 7% tax; with out tax, it's $2,374.00.
Unless Apple doesn't charge tax.

Even so, you will find the base model 20" iMac is more than capable of those sorts of tasks. Don't get RAM from Apple, get it from third party and install it yourself, don't get the HD upgrade as you can always get an external down the line if you still need the space, the stock 128MB of VRAM is plenty for 3D designing and contrary to the popular beliefs...more VRAM is not going to make your 2D designing any 'better' or 'faster'.
Basically, you can lop off about $500 of that and still have a highly capable workhorse of a computer.
More bells and whistles does not always equate to "better".... no matter what anyone tells you. I have been using Macs for 20 years and I have done much more with much less. Up until January of this year, I was still using a 333Mhz G3 Lombard PowerBook with 512MB of RAM for heavy Photoshop and Illustrator work. You don't "need" all the accouterments added on to make your computer do what you think it should do. Sure, they are nice, but by no means are they necessary. :black:

07-21-2006, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by D3v1L80Y

Even so, you will find the base model 20" iMac is more than capable of those sorts of tasks. Don't get RAM from Apple, get it from third party and install it yourself, don't get the HD upgrade as you can always get an external down the line if you still need the space, the stock 128MB of VRAM is plenty for 3D designing and contrary to the popular beliefs...more VRAM is not going to make your 2D designing any 'better' or 'faster'.
Basically, you can lop off about $500 of that and still have a highly capable workhorse of a computer.
More bells and whistles does not always equate to "better".... no matter what anyone tells you. I have been using Macs for 20 years and I have done much more with much less. Up until January of this year, I was still using a 333Mhz G3 Lombard PowerBook with 512MB of RAM for heavy Photoshop and Illustrator work. You don't "need" all the accouterments added on to make your computer do what you think it should do. Sure, they are nice, but by no means are they necessary. :black:

OK, you've convinced me to downgrade my HDD & RAM, but I'm keeping the 256 MB VRAM!


And for RAM, which should I get, the 1 GB stick, or just the 512 MB stick?
Also, can I replace the internal HDD with a bigger one later on?

07-21-2006, 03:37 AM

Originally Posted by mayo

OK, you've convinced me to downgrade my HDD & RAM, but I'm keeping the 256 MB VRAM!


And for RAM, which should I get, the 1 GB stick, or just the 512 MB stick?
Also, can I replace the internal HDD with a bigger one later on?

When I bought my iMac I bought it with 1GB and bought another 1GB stick. You might save a little more money if you buy it with 512MB and buy 2gb elsewhere, but it's up to you. As for replacing the internal HDD, it's technically possible but it will certainly void any warranty you have and it's not very easy to get in there. The only user-serviceable item on the iMac is the RAM

07-21-2006, 04:55 AM

Don't you qualify for student discount?

I got my 20" iMac 250GB HD ans 128 VRAM for 2'200 Swiss francs (1760$) totally.
Check my Specs. I installed my own RA additional to the stock 512MB.

If you are so professional that you'll need a 256 MG VRAM, then you should also get a PowerMac.

With these specs:

250GB HD
256MB VRAM
512 MB RAM
Wireless Keyboard/Mouse
AppleCare
Student Discount

the iMac costs just $1840.
Go figure.

07-21-2006, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by yogi

How in the **** of all things is your iMac costing that much? Boy, you don't need so much juice!

My iMac G5 17" was 1814.15 USD and I the 1gig ram I bought cost me 241.8 USD. So 2056.03 USD if I calculated it the right way. Macs in Estonia cost way more than they do in other places ...

07-21-2006, 03:37 PM

Yeah if you are going to do 3D and graphics stuff go ahead and max it out. But how did you get $2540.18. And as yogi said don't you qualify for a student discount?

07-23-2006, 01:20 AM

I say get whatever you want. I just ordered a loaded 15.4" MacBook Pro. My first Mac but I wanted all the options, not really that much except for Ram and HD speed.

07-24-2006, 12:23 PM

Be careful when switching. You should be aware that Adobe CS2, Macromedia Studio, and the majority of 3D apps (Cinema 4D aside) will be slow because there are no universal binary builds as of yet. No one warned me so I'm just giving you a heads up since you mentioned you'd be doing that stuff.

Other than that, Apple has some great stuff going on with them Macs..