recommended iMac upgrades

we're ordering a 24" iMac and have decided on the video card upgrade, and bumping to 2 Gig on the memory.

looking at bang for the buck factor, do you think doubling the HDD for $200.00 is worth it, or just use an external drive in the future? also, is a 2.16 Ghz to a 2.33 Ghz that big of a jump in processing power? is it worth an additional $250.00?

I know that the design of the iMac means buying as much as you can afford to begin with due to to lack of upgrades afterward. I just want to make the right choices.

"I know that the design of the iMac means buying as much as you can afford to begin with due to the lack of upgrades afterward."

I could not have said it better myself..

Do the HDD upgrade and the GHZ upgrade.

after you buy your computer you can't do either though apple.

you could upgrade the internal HDD after you buy it for cheaper im sure but then you run into warranty issues..

good luck!

Digger said:

we're ordering a 24" iMac and have decided on the video card upgrade, and bumping to 2 Gig on the memory.

looking at bang for the buck factor, do you think doubling the HDD for $200.00 is worth it, or just use an external drive in the future? also, is a 2.16 Ghz to a 2.33 Ghz that big of a jump in processing power? is it worth an additional $250.00?

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Good choice on the graphics and mem upgrade. IMO an external HD is the way to go. As for the increase of .17 GHz, I don't honestly know as I have the 2.16 GHz model, but I could give an educated guess that the average user wouldn't really notice the difference unless they were totally into benchmarking.

Man, your avatar is disturbing ...

depends on what you're doing on the computer, if you're working with large amounts of video processing or audio processing or image editing then it might be a good idea to have the larger hard drive built in. If you jusut need if for storage and have the desk space then you should totally buy an external.

Pulse-8 said:

Man, your avatar is disturbing ...

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Somebody had to say it. I was thinking the same thing & your footnote made me laugh out loud.

Pulse-8 said:

Man, your avatar is disturbing ...

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Now why would you say that? Looks completely normal to me.

thanks for making fun of my wedding photo.

Digger said:

looking at bang for the buck factor, do you think doubling the HDD for $200.00 is worth it, or just use an external drive in the future? also, is a 2.16 Ghz to a 2.33 Ghz that big of a jump in processing power? is it worth an additional $250.00?

I know that the design of the iMac means buying as much as you can afford to begin with due to to lack of upgrades afterward. I just want to make the right choices.

Click to expand...

The Hard drive is really going to come down to your personal preference, as another poster suggested an external HD can always be purchased later. I personally keep my Hard Drive (PC or Mac) at or below 50% capacity, I'll back stuff up and only run/load what I absolutely need (I'm anal that way).

The difference between the 2.16 and 2.33 is negotiable, I've yet to sell an iMac with a 2.33 processor. You can't go wrong with more RAM though! Point of purchase upgrades are the way to go.