20" or 24"

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Hi,
I have a choice to make........

A
20" 2.16GHz iMac
with following specs
2Gig RAM
500GB HD
Graphic card 256
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse

Or
24" 2.16GHz iMac
1GB RAM
250GB HD
Graphic Card 128MB
Standard Keyboard and mouse

The price is about the same

The HD size may no be a problem as I'm thinking of an Extern HD anyway.
I Know the 24" has an 800 firewire port (I presume it's faster than the 400 version and that the screen is 30% brighter.

If I choose the 24" with the above specs can I upgrade at a later date ?

Can I do this myself (I'm a technician in Automatic systems)

Am I sacrificing spec for "Bling" ?

I will use the iMac for Photo work and hobbies that I have

Any input would help

Thanks
 
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I had the same dilema... I chose the 20". I could not be happier with my choice. Once I got the 20" in my house, I was still saying... "oh my, this is BIG". The 24", for me anyway, would be WAY too big, and really look out of place in my home. Don't get me wrong, I think the 24" is very nice, but simply not practical for me. It really boils down to what you are really wanting. I had thought "If I get the 20", I'll always be wondering if I should have got the 24"... This was simply not the case, I am thrilled w/ the 20", and am so glad that I didn't get the 24".

I hope my rambling helps you a bit.


:)
 
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Its your choice, based on the specs above I would probably say the 20" is the choice for you. However you can upgrade the RAM yourself, everything else is pretty much not upradable (or less you want to open the case and void your warranty). The 24" resolution is very nice, however the 20" is a great machine and if you can get more spec for your money out of the 20" then that I probably the machine to go for.

Best of luck making up your mind.
 
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Marl Huss said:
However you can upgrade the RAM yourself...

This is true... BUT... For the price, I think you are much better off, buying the upgraded RAM from APPLE, having it pre-installed, and showing up at your home/office read-to-go.

The prices Apple USED TO charge for the upgraded RAM were outrageous... BUT the upgrade prices NOW seem to be very reasonable. Plus you won't have two unused sticks of 512mb RAM sitting around.
 
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Personally, I'd go for the 20". I have a 20" Core Duo and I've been more than happy with the screen size. While I'm sure the 24" is fantastic, I'd rather have more storage and more System and Video RAM.
 
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sursuciofla

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I'd buy 20" and upgrade the ram myself. Save a little dough! But that's just me.
 
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I guess I'm the odd one out. I would go for the 24" iMac. Large high resolution screens are awsome. It will be something you can appreciate everyday. If you aren't doing any really heavy work on the system, 1GB of RAM is enough. How much HD space are you using in your current computer? 500GB would probably be overkill. Go for the big screen! It will hold its value longer than the other upgraded components.
 
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Avid6eek said:
I guess I'm the odd one out. I would go for the 24" iMac. Large high resolution screens are awsome. It will be something you can appreciate everyday. If you aren't doing any really heavy work on the system, 1GB of RAM is enough. How much HD space are you using in your current computer? 500GB would probably be overkill. Go for the big screen! It will hold its value longer than the other upgraded components.

Thats very much the reason I went with the 24".

The work I intend to do on my iMac means that the bigger the screen (and better the resolution) the easier it is for me to be productive, I can never really have too much screen space. However programs like Photoshop etc probably do not need as much space because they have more set sizes.

I decided that the 250GB of HDD inbuilt is very good (I still have not filled my 160GB I use ATM), and of course you can store stuff that you do not want clutering your HDD externally.

Conversly you may believe that for the work you want to do you will not need as much screen space (photoshop, final cut pro) but would want the extra RAM, HDD etc straight away.
 
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RIDE said:
This is true... BUT... For the price, I think you are much better off, buying the upgraded RAM from APPLE, having it pre-installed, and showing up at your home/office read-to-go.

It really doesn't take much to upgrade the RAM on these machines not to mention the costs savings is fairly significant IMO. To each their own however. Personally, if I could pull it off, I'd get the 24" :)
 
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Mattlike said:
It really doesn't take much to upgrade the RAM on these machines not to mention the costs savings is fairly significant IMO. To each their own however. Personally, if I could pull it off, I'd get the 24" :)


I agree that it is simple to upgrade the ram yourself... and I would have agreed on the cost savings comment, prior to the latest releases... But now, the upgrade to 2GB (2x1GB) is only $175 direct from apple... While ordering the same set-up from Crucial is $360.. http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...Mac+2.0GHz+Intel+Core+Duo+(20-inch)&submit=Go

Unless, I'm missing something here...

But you are correct... to each their own. :)
 
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RIDE said:
I agree that it is simple to upgrade the ram yourself... and I would have agreed on the cost savings comment, prior to the latest releases... But now, the upgrade to 2GB (2x1GB) is only $175 direct from apple... While ordering the same set-up from Crucial is $360.. http://www.crucial.com/store/listpa...Mac+2.0GHz+Intel+Core+Duo+(20-inch)&submit=Go

Unless, I'm missing something here...

But you are correct... to each their own. :)

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/53DR2SPAIR2G/
:black:
 
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Thanks for the input Guys I'll keep you posted. I'll have another visit to the Apple store in my local town . Hopefully I can see them side by side.However I'm leaning towards the 20" at the moment.

Maybe if I just take the 2GB RAM and better video card then Use my 60 gig iPod as extern disk for a while I don't relly need the wireless key pad and mouse
 
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I have to chime in with my opinion. Get the 24" model. Go big. You didn't mention that you play games. You do not need the 256mb card if you don't play games. You can always get a nice external drive and utilize the FW800 port if you fill the 250GB. And since the BT is built in, you can always get the wireless keyboard down the road. It is simple for me. I just sold my 20" iMac and will get the 24". The screen size makes up for it. Having a large canvas to work with is VERY nice. The other stuff is not that important.

But just save a little longer to max out the ram.
 

Jem


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Sorry to back up the 24" guys but I agree with them. Buy the 24" because you can always upgrade the RAM when you feel you're not getting the performance you need. And you can always buy an external drive if you run out of disk space, but you can never buy a 24" display for a 20" iMac... and I guess you can't buy a Firewire 800 port for a 20" iMac either.

I'm not sure why people are hung up on having 2 x 512MB memory modules lying around doing nothing. They get a good price on eBay - I just sold my original 512MB for 30 GBP (I guess about $50) on eBay that helped finance the 2GB I bought from Omni for under $200. If you aren't getting those sort of prices on eBay USA, send 'em over here and I'll sell 'em in the UK for you :D :D
 
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Kilted1
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No I don't play any games ..Just some internet time wasters now and again.

My son is the gamer He's next in line for a Mac maybe a mini after Xmas.

The Dell laptop I have is a 1 GB RAM However my Card is a ATI Radeon 1400x with 256 MB and I feel I'll be taking a step down If I get a Mac with a smaller Graphic card
 
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Thanks for the link I think I know which way to go now :mac:
 
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Jem said:
I'm not sure why people are hung up on having 2 x 512MB memory modules lying around doing nothing. They get a good price on eBay - I just sold my original 512MB for 30 GBP (I guess about $50) on eBay that helped finance the 2GB I bought from Omni for under $200. If you aren't getting those sort of prices on eBay USA, send 'em over here and I'll sell 'em in the UK for you :D :D

Exactly. ;)
 
D

darcyl

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One other thing to point out with the 24": The video card architecture is different, and in theory could be upgradable. Of course, from what I've read, you still can't really do it yourself (need to crack the thing open to access the slot), but its still a better upgrade option than those of us with soldered on graphics cards.

D
 

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