I've been a mac user for 3 years now and must say it was the best switch I ever made. I have a mac pro (I believe it's the mid 2006 version) - basic setup. I have never really understood the inner workings of a machine, I just put my trust in the fact the pro would do the job for me and it did. I thought pehaps I might end up adding to it and upgrading but it never happened. I work as a freelance designer and have pretty basic needs from it. Photoshop is open pretty much all day, on a slightly more tasking day perhaps a small flash animation or reasonably small print document (30 pages). On my worst day I might have a DVD of home movies someone wants me to rip, edit down the videos and add them to their website. That's it. Sometimes I play games in the evenings with my friends such as World of Warcraft.
About 2 months ago my graphics card died on me, I was a bit heartbroken as the machine I thought to be the invincible beast had apparently fallen over at last. I began to look for a replacement (and someone to fit it, because as I said I know nothing about how the inside works) and struggled, as most places told me that the graphics cards weren't made for it anymore. I found someone with an old one and snapped that up so I could continue working. However I am still experiencing problems as the new card is evidentally actually quite old and overused.
So rather than looking for another card I began wondering if it might be time to buy a new machine. That way I can repair the old pro as parts pop up on ebay that look decent and have it as a backup machine to a new shiny mac. As one thing I learned the hard way this time is things look quite grim without a backup. Luckily I had the cash to grab the quick repair but I don't want to be in that position again. So I automatically looked at the new pro but since then I have been quite seduced by the new imacs.
My question is, with the work I do what is going to be the best option for me:
21.5 imac (3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo + 8gb ram + ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256MB)
27 imac (2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 + 8gb ram +ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with 512MB)
Or the basic mac pro
I suspect the pro should be ignored as I didn't upgrade the last one and likley wouldn't with this one either. That is unless someone can suggest a reason why given my needs it would still be the better buy? Is the 27 overkill for what I need?
I was also wondering - I'd read that applecare doesn't need to be taken until just before the 12 months is up (I didn't take it at all for the pro). Effectively giving 4 years coverage, is this correct, or a I misunderstanding?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. There are no mac stores around this area just some PC World's and I'm worried if I ask this kind of question in there they might just try and oversell to me. So any help people can give me would be genuinely appreciated.
About 2 months ago my graphics card died on me, I was a bit heartbroken as the machine I thought to be the invincible beast had apparently fallen over at last. I began to look for a replacement (and someone to fit it, because as I said I know nothing about how the inside works) and struggled, as most places told me that the graphics cards weren't made for it anymore. I found someone with an old one and snapped that up so I could continue working. However I am still experiencing problems as the new card is evidentally actually quite old and overused.
So rather than looking for another card I began wondering if it might be time to buy a new machine. That way I can repair the old pro as parts pop up on ebay that look decent and have it as a backup machine to a new shiny mac. As one thing I learned the hard way this time is things look quite grim without a backup. Luckily I had the cash to grab the quick repair but I don't want to be in that position again. So I automatically looked at the new pro but since then I have been quite seduced by the new imacs.
My question is, with the work I do what is going to be the best option for me:
21.5 imac (3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo + 8gb ram + ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics with 256MB)
27 imac (2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 + 8gb ram +ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with 512MB)
Or the basic mac pro
I suspect the pro should be ignored as I didn't upgrade the last one and likley wouldn't with this one either. That is unless someone can suggest a reason why given my needs it would still be the better buy? Is the 27 overkill for what I need?
I was also wondering - I'd read that applecare doesn't need to be taken until just before the 12 months is up (I didn't take it at all for the pro). Effectively giving 4 years coverage, is this correct, or a I misunderstanding?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. There are no mac stores around this area just some PC World's and I'm worried if I ask this kind of question in there they might just try and oversell to me. So any help people can give me would be genuinely appreciated.