Which iMac to purchase ??

I am a PC person been working on computers since the dawn of man. Started with a TI99, learned programming in 1981 on an IBM mainframe, worked on an MAI Basic4 system and in 1985 started with an IBM XT. In 1990 I bought my first PC for 3k, a 286 with 20mb hard drive. In a real IT position since 1990. Very little Mac experience but I am tired of PC's, my current job has me working 9+ hours a day and when I go home the last thing I want to do is get on this Lenovo thinkpad. Picked up an iPad this year and love it, looked at the iMac and fell in love with it.

I am looking at a 27" iMac with the i7 processor. On average I keep PC's for 4-5 years since or until I can't stand them any longer. So I am expecting this Mac to last at least 5 years without becoming the dog my PC's have. The iMac will need to run VMWARE Fusion 3 with Windows 7 since I have a lot of Windows software and can't afford to upgrade everything at once. I have Corel X4, Adobe CS2, Office 2007 and a bunch of graphics applications that I really want to get into using again. I also have a large collection of pictures and slides that need to be scanned and cataloged. I have a flat bed scanner as well as a dedicated professional slide scanner. Sold my 35mm Minolta years ago and am looking at a digital camera and get back into taking photographs.

Here is what I have come across... do I buy a less than year old used

iMac 27" with 2.93ghz i7, 8gb RAM, 256gb SSD & 2TB SATA

or do I buy new

iMac 27" with 3.4ghz i7, 8gb RAM, 2TB SATA, AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5

I realize these may be overkill but I'm 55 and tired of building PC's, I want something that will get me through 5 or more years and won't wonder if I made the right choice. I also have a daughter who is a gamer and I know when I get one she'll be the first to test that out! So any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks, Joe

I would buy the most budget will allow because hard drive and ram will be the only
upgrade you can make on these hardware wise. I would also consider using Bootcamp
besides VM in case you need to do some heavy use on the Windows side.

osxx said:

I would buy the most budget will allow because hard drive and ram will be the only
upgrade you can make on these hardware wise. I would also consider using Bootcamp
besides VM in case you need to do some heavy use on the Windows side.

Click to expand...

I agree with osxx. Bootcamp is far and away the better way to go. That said I just bought the new 27 iMac, stock specs only and for what you need it for that setup should be more than enough. If you can afford the new one then go for it because the graphics cards are far better. Also be sure to invest in Apple Care at some point- will warranty the thing for 3 years which will be really helpful in the event that any of the internals/screen malfunctions.

Your second option (the new iMac) is exactly the model I just got a few days ago. I'm with you: When I buy a machine I want it to last for 4-5 years. A used (or the refurbished section of the Mac Store) are nice, but I think I'd rather spend a bit more and get the latest processor, graphics, ...

So if you can afford the brand new iMac, I'd vote for this option!