External harddisk and/or extra RAM?

Heya guys,

I'm thinking of buying an iMac, but there are some things I worry about for the future before buying it yet,

First of all, I will use my Mac over a year for my study, but I am not sure if it is quick enough to manage all the stuff I want to do, or simply just takes too long, that won't be great at all, so I have a question:
WOuld it help to buy, over a year!, extra RAM, and how do you connect that to the iMac?

Second, the new iMacs come with a standard of 320 GB, well that sounds fair enough for the start, but when I need more space, is it just as simple to go to a shop (does it matter which?) to buy a harddisk with like 500 GB for 100 euro or what ever it costs, and connect it simply to my iMac, (which port?)


When this all gets way too difficult I might save more money to buy a much better iMac a bit later on, so I can have a iMac which goes faster and better.

Thanks for your reply!

If you buy a current model iMac then you will enjoy life. There are no issues with speed. If you need Windoze then buy Parallels. It will more than satisfy.

As for extra stuff - buy more RAM to start (1.5GB at least) and you are good to go. As for the external - watch for FIREWIRE if possible as it is faster than USB 2. 300+gb is loads of storage so you have some time before you fill it;D

Perhaps if you are unsure look into leasing the Mac for the year.

Thanks for your reply!

Do you suggest the iMac will not slow down at all while you use it year after year? should be the first PC I've heard about that does not ;-)

Second: how do you connect the RAM to your iMac, is it by USB, or firewire?

Greetings,

and P.S. I will not lease one, I am sure I will buy one, but just not sure when and how much I will spend on it

We don't take kindly to Macs being called PCs... That's what we call Wintels.. Anyway, no it won't slow down.

Uh, no buddy. The RAM goes INSIDE the iMac. You unscrew a single screw on the bottom and slot it in or out. Much easier than with a PC where you gotta open it up, find the RAM, slot it in etc.

Chilbear said:

watch for FIREWIRE if possible as it is faster than USB 2.

Click to expand...

Really? I thought USB 2.0 was as fast or even slightly faster than Firewire (400mb/s). I just bought a 500GB external HDD, only compatible w/ USB 2.0 only b/c I thought it would be equally as fast
I guess I should have throwed the extra $25 for Firewire... Oh well...

But well, you have 5 USB ports, and only 1 FIREWIRE 400 and 1 FIREWIRE 800, might need them for something else?

Compatible with both would be the best I would say/