Your input on a new iMac purchase

I am currently in the market for an iMac. I have narrowed my choice down to an iMac based on what I will be using it for....that being email, some web surfing, picture storage and more basic video editing.

I do have a budget...I am not looking to spend NO more than $1,100 when all said and done. With this said, I am focusing on refurbished models. The 21.5" screen with i5 processor is sufficient.

Some websites tell people to wait as there very well might be a new model coming out Sept/Oct 2012. Given my budget and given how I'll be using it, I question whether there is any added value in me waiting to see what the new model might add. The bottom line is, my budget needs to stay at $1,100, so I will always be looking for a refurbished model.

Can the potential new model really have something the current model has that would make a day and night difference for what I'll be using it for?

I'd be interested in hearing others' opinions on this matter.

Welcome to Mac-Forums

With your budget, you'll definitely find what you are looking for in the refurbished store and if you look at Apple's history of updates, they improve the offering generation by generation, but in MOST cases you can safely go with the previous generation of a product and not feel like you were robbed of some feature..

The newer iMac's will definitely have faster processors, but apart from that not sure what else might coming..

Either way, in your case you don't need to wait since you wouldn't be purchasing a new iMac anyway..so keep an eye on the refurbished store and buy the MOST Mac you can buy with your budget..

Raz0rEdge said:

Welcome to Mac-Forums

With your budget, you'll definitely find what you are looking for in the refurbished store and if you look at Apple's history of updates, they improve the offering generation by generation, but in MOST cases you can safely go with the previous generation of a product and not feel like you were robbed of some feature..

The newer iMac's will definitely have faster processors, but apart from that not sure what else might coming..

Either way, in your case you don't need to wait since you wouldn't be purchasing a new iMac anyway..so keep an eye on the refurbished store and buy the MOST Mac you can buy with your budget..

Click to expand...

Do you feel it's worth the extra $250 to go from a refurbished 2.5GHz model (with 500 Gig hard drive) to the 2.7GHz model (with 1 TB drive and faster graphics card, I presume)? I already have a 500 Gig Lacie external drive, so I don't feel the hard drive should be a factor.

The reality is, I will probably generate about 2-3 family movies/year at most (I have to transfer mini-dv tapes I've been collecting over the year). I don't expect to push whatever I purchase to it's limits.

Also, the company I work for offers somewhat of a discount where I could go with the lower 2.5GHz model with an 8 gig memory upgrade for just over my budget...would it make sense to consider this option? I'm not sure if going from 4 to 8 would make video editing/processing any quicker.

If you already have an external drive, then the upgrade to 1 TB isn't needed and going from 2.5 to 2.7 will increase performance by a little bit. Upping the RAM to 8 or more will get you the most bang for your buck.

When I bought my iMac it had the standard 4GB and things were fast but when I ran multiple applications (especially my VMs), things began to slow down..so I upgraded to 12GB of memory and just that alone has improved the overall performance of my machine significantly..

Memory is very useful when you intend to do video/photo processing/manipulation..