Contemplating an iMac

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My pc died this week and I am thinking of making the switch to a 20" iMac. I use the computer for internet, email, and online classes mostly with games being very minimal. My question is whether the 1 GB RAM is adequate. I am unfamiliar with Apple's OS and I am unable to get a clear answer searching the internet. Since Apple chose to use 2 x 512Mb sticks it makes upgrading much more expensive. I think this was a bad decision on Apple's part. If anyone has comments on the amount of RAM I would love to hear them.

Thanks, Lee
 
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1 Gb would be alright if you just use it for internet and mail, you'll be fine. If you plan on installing Windows or gaming, I would recommend looking into 2Gb. I started out with 1Gb, just doing pretty average stuff, and then I decided I needed 2 gigs. I just got mad at the load times. It made a huge difference though. I guess you would have to weigh the cost vs. performance you want out of it.

Edit: I wasn't thinking, and forgot that iMacs have graphics cards. I am used to my MacBook with shared RAM for the graphics. You would probably be better off than I made it sound. Sorry, I had a senior moment. :)
 
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I think a gig will be more then adequate. I am an experienced PC user but new to Mac. However Mac's o/s is MUCH tighter then Windows could ever be as far as memory usage. You'll be fine with that.

My PC was a pretty powerful box but I only had a gig. I was big into playing World of Warcraft which needs some horsepower. The gig was fine. I think you're making a good move to the 20 iMac. It has a decent graphics card that can handle casual to moderate gaming. I have the same card in my HP work laptop and WoW runs fine.
 
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I just got the imac 20' 1GB on Friday. I mainly use it for e-mailing & surfing the net. It is so fast & the moniter is so clear. I love it
 
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I say get as much ram as you can afford. You'll always find that since Mac OS X runs a lot cleaner than Windows, you can leave more apps open and multi-task a lot better without your system slowing down (unless you're using high-resource apps like Photoshop or Final Cut).. And besides, who says you will not need that extra 1gb of ram in the next 6 months to a year from now?
 
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I think that the 1gig would be fine, I own a Macbook Pro with a 2.16 Ghz core duo processor and 1 gig of ram, and it runs great. last night, i had Microsoft word, Photoshop, Google Earth, Limewire, iChat, and 15 different Firefox windows, and my computer ran smoothly.

When it comes to RAM usage, OS X is extremely efficient.
 
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My son has a 17" iMac with 512MB. It runs OK for what he wants to do -- IM, Safari, and writing an occasional paper for school.

For basic stuff, I'd guess that you'll be comfortable with 1gig. Of course, more is always better!

If money is tight and since you don't seem to want to to a whole lot of stuff with photos and video, you might want to give 1G a try. You can always upgrade later and memory prices fluctuate but generally fall over time.

Another option - go to an Apple store or retailer and give it a try. Find one with 1G and see how the apps feel.

Have fun.
 

cwa107


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Apple's memory prices are usually very high. My recommendation would be to get it with the least amount of memory possible and purchase a memory upgrade from a solid vendor (I like Crucial, but there are many other options). Adding memory is a very straightforward process - even if you've never done it before - and it does not void you warranty.
 
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CWA107 raises an EXCELLENT point!!
 
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Apple's memory prices are usually very high. My recommendation would be to get it with the least amount of memory possible and purchase a memory upgrade from a solid vendor (I like Crucial, but there are many other options). Adding memory is a very straightforward process - even if you've never done it before - and it does not void you warranty.

Pardon my ignorance, I am a future Mac user as soon as Leopard comes out. Can you easily upgrade the memory in an Imac? Was not sure if you could even open those.
 
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Yes, it's easy to upgrade.
 

cwa107


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Pardon my ignorance, I am a future Mac user as soon as Leopard comes out. Can you easily upgrade the memory in an Imac? Was not sure if you could even open those.

You might be waiting for a while if you wait for Leopard. It's not due out until late Spring. Even then, it will likely be a few months before some of the initial bugs are worked out. But I digress...

It's a very straightforward procedure, all you need is a screwdriver:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303084
 

cwa107


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Thank you very much MacHeadCase. First post to you forum and a great start at that. I am very much looking forward to trading my Dell in for an iMac. I can't wait for Leopard.

Just curious - why wait for Leopard? Is there some killer feature you're looking forward to? It might be some time before Leopard is released and considered to be stable.
 
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Just curious - why wait for Leopard? Is there some killer feature you're looking forward to? It might be some time before Leopard is released and considered to be stable.

Well, basically my computer is still working and I only update computers every 4 years or so. I would hate to buy an iMac now only to have something become "newer" in the near future. Plus, I would like to have the boot camp feature in the OS. That and all the new cool features Leopard is sporting like Time Machine look too good not to update. I figure there is a good chance they will also upgrade the iMac when Leopard comes out given that it is nearing the end of its product cycle in another month.
 

JRV


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Just curious - why wait for Leopard? Is there some killer feature you're looking forward to? It might be some time before Leopard is released and considered to be stable.

I was thinking of waiting for Leopard to come out too but then I realized that Leopard may be buggy at first and that Tiger is probably at its best right now. I will probably not wait after taking that into consideration.
 

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