Bought Refurbished 20" (early 08) for $849 - Maybe bad idea?

[Night81nrw]

Hi,

Today I ordered an refurbished iMac 20" at Apple.COM for $849.
It's with 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD and ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT with 128MB dedicated RAM. My plan is upgrading it to 4GB (max supported Memory)

My actual idea was getting the current Mac Mini with 2.26GHz, 1GB RAM and 250GB HDD and than buy 4GByte of RAM somewhere else and upgrade it. But the guy at the local Apple Store (Pleasenton, CA) recommended the refurbished iMac for $849 since I get more for the bucks (faster CPU, probably faster or at least similar graphic performance and keyboard & mouse). And he said I will be even fine for Snow Leopard. I ordered the iMac right in the store.

Now I'm reading some threads that the ATI HD 2400 XT is like really bad. I mean it should be fine for some minor picture and video editing, is it? It's more the every day system. And for some kids games like Wal E or Kungfu Panda and maybe for the the Sims game. For "hardcore" gaming I do have a PS3 and at AMD Phenom X4 9850 (my multimedia entertainment system). Or would be the Mac Mini the better choice?

Niels

P.S. And with the iMac I get a Canon PIXMA MP480 printer (I actually don't need it) for more or less free (after MIR) ;-)

 

[fletch33]

well you didnt mention what processor is in the iMac you bought?

some options:

- here is a 2.66, 256 DDR3 video card, and 2GB ram for $999 from Apple

- here is a 2.66 with a 256 video card, 4GB Ram, 320GB HDD, and Apple Care until July 2011 from a seller with 100% rating for $1000 Buy It Now but you might be able to get it for a little less. to me this is a MUCH better deal. you get a better video card and Apple Care. the Apple Care alone is going to add a couple hundred dollars to the one you ordered from the Apple Store.

i think for the same money or a little more you can get more.

good luck

 

[Alexis]

Don't worry, the Radeon 2400 is fine for what you want to do. Should be fine with less demanding games like The Sims.

 

[Night81nrw]

Oh ... Right... It's the Intel Core2Duo with 2.4 GHz.

20" iMac (refurbished)
2.4GHz Intel Core2Duo w/ 6MB L2 Cache
1GB DDR2 800 SO-DIMM
250 GB SATA 7200RPM
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT w/ 128MB DDR3

Price: $849 (+tax) and "free" $100 Printer

 

[Night81nrw]

Don't worry, the Radeon 2400 is fine for what you want to do. Should be fine with less demanding games like The Sims.

Thanks
I just was very confused since the 2400 XT doesn't get a lot of love in the Mac forums ( especially for Gaming)

 

[Night81nrw]

Now $799

Just went on the Apple Webpage and saw that they lowered the price on that refurbished model to $799.
I called the Apple sales and they corrected the price in my order from $849 to $799.