iMac's worth the money

[bauhaus]

I never said that you shouldn't use OS X because there are some comparable software.

I said that for the same price of a mac, you could get a PC with the same specs as well as some highend software that is comparable or better to the iLife suite. I just tried out Mixcraft and I will admit, GarageBand is easier to use. However all of the same features are still in Mixcraft.

Fair enough pal, I think that with that we can agree that there are many options for everyone in the computing world.

[Ez8]

If you want to know which type of computer is right for you

Buy one and use it if you don't like it you can return it. Just make sure the store doesn't charge restocking fees. I don't think Apple does.

So if you're curious and want to use a Mac you can do so.

[Snakehn]

i bought mine from ebay for like $800 and maxed that b!tch out qith 4GB of RAM and 1TB HDD and it performs beautiful, i am happy to say that it worth the money, ohh and i was a long time windows user.

[Subject Delta]

My friend just got a refurbished iMac for like $800 something and it looks brand new and performs wonderfully. My other friends were just shocked that it only needed one power cable and was ready out of the box with no bloatware. It just depends if people are curious about the Mac experience or are looking for it.

An iMac is not for everyone. I can certainly understand the need for a regular tower to upgrade or replace broken parts.

When will people learn that so called "bloatware" is the fault of OEM's and not Microsoft. Personally when I buy a new computer the first thing I ever do is to format it and install my own software

[Binary]

When will people learn that so called "bloatware" is the fault of OEM's and not Microsoft. Personally when I buy a new computer the first thing I ever do is to format it and install my own software

Who mentioned MS? :huh:

[Subject Delta]

The term "Bloatware" is always indicative of a stab at Windows based computers

[Binary]

The term "Bloatware" is always indicative of a stab at Windows based computers

I wouldn't say always, and still, no one said anything about windows at all.

Of course it's the OEMs that install the crapware.

[Macalicious]

When will people learn that so called "bloatware" is the fault of OEM's and not Microsoft. Personally when I buy a new computer the first thing I ever do is to format it and install my own software

When will people learn that it is crapware not bloatware that is preloaded.

Bloatware are applications or games which are proportionally larger than they need to be given what it can accomplish - in otherwords, simply an application that is large doesn't meant that it is bloated. Office is large but it isn't bloated when you consider the capabilities of it.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I own an iMac (20" Aluminium / C2D / 4GB RAM / 2600HD). My personal opinion is not to bother - just buy a Dell or something.

Yes, it looks nice and pretty but frankly it just doesn't have the kind of horsepower that the same kind of money would get you from any other vendor. I'd say if you want something that looks nice / upmarket, or space is at a premium, or you don't want a seperate display and base unit - get the Mac. For anything else, just buy a PC.

I'd be willing to sell you mine if you have your heart set on an iMac tho... :)

[majortom1981]

Just keep in mind for $1600 you can get the dell studio xps with core i 7 processor and 24 inch monitor . A top of the line imac will cost $2500 and only has a core 2 duo.

It all depends if you think OSX is worth the higher price.

[Macalicious]

I own an iMac (20" Aluminium / C2D / 4GB RAM / 2600HD). My personal opinion is not to bother - just buy a Dell or something.

Yes, it looks nice and pretty but frankly it just doesn't have the kind of horsepower that the same kind of money would get you from any other vendor. I'd say if you want something that looks nice / upmarket, or space is at a premium, or you don't want a seperate display and base unit - get the Mac. For anything else, just buy a PC.

I'd be willing to sell you mine if you have your heart set on an iMac tho... :)

Why do you have a hardware performance fetish? what are you doing that an imac can't accomplish?

[yakumo]

Why do you have a hardware performance fetish? what are you doing that an imac can't accomplish?

If that's your attitude to working out value for money then I'm honest jon and I have a bunch of pentium 3's to sell you 'cheep' (cough) ...

[Davie]

I love my iMac :)

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Why do you have a hardware performance fetish? what are you doing that an imac can't accomplish?

How about being able to play some video games in Windows (under Bootcamp) that are newer than Diablo 2?!? The Radeon 2600HD GPU stinks - can barely run Battlefield 2 at native resolution and Test Drive Unlimited runs like crap even at low resolution.. I won't even bother trying any newer stuff.

I absolutely don't have 'performance hardware fetish' mate - I use a Wintel PC with the same Core 2 Duo at work every day and it is more than up to the tasks I throw at it - it's a superb processor. But with the iMac restricted to lousy graphics cards (unless you're willing to pay an excessive premium) then it just can't compete against systems from say Dell where you can spend ?50 and have graphics capabilities that smash those in the iMac.

Edited April 2, 2009 by Chicane-UK

[Macalicious]

How about being able to play some video games in Windows (under Bootcamp) that are newer than Diablo 2?!? The Radeon 2600HD GPU stinks - can barely run Battlefield 2 at native resolution and Test Drive Unlimited runs like crap even at low resolution.. I won't even bother trying any newer stuff.

I absolutely don't have 'performance hardware fetish' mate - I use a Wintel PC with the same Core 2 Duo at work every day and it is more than up to the tasks I throw at it - it's a superb processor. But with the iMac restricted to lousy graphics cards (unless you're willing to pay an excessive premium) then it just can't compete against systems from say Dell where you can spend ?50 and have graphics capabilities that smash those in the iMac.

Considering that they aren't designed as juiced up machines to play games - the point is moot to begin with. You're running something on there for which it was never designed.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Sorry but I totally disagree. Yes, they're not supposed to be 'juiced up games machines' - but Apple iMacs are designed to be home computers. As far as I'm concerned, a function of a home computer is playing video games.

Can I just re-iterate that I'm not talking about bleeding egde games here (like Crysis, etc) - I certainly wouldn't expect an iMac to be capable of running bleeding edge stuff here. But the system I "upgraded" from (at significant cost) ran games better - and the specs were very modest. And that was a year ago.

My point to the original poster still stands. Just because Apple (and you) feel that people don't need quad cores or i7's in their home computers doesn't mean jack. Realistically, no-one needs any more than a 1.0 litre engine in their car but people continue to buy 2,3,4,5, or 6+ litre cars? Are they wrong as well? Apple were stupid to have stuck to the C2D and pants graphics cards with the iMac refresh.

Oh - and please don't take my opinions too personally mate.. just good to have a bit of healthy debate now and then :)

[Macalicious]

Sorry but I totally disagree. Yes, they're not supposed to be 'juiced up games machines' - but Apple iMacs are designed to be home computers. As far as I'm concerned, a function of a home computer is playing video games.

Can I just re-iterate that I'm not talking about bleeding egde games here (like Crysis, etc) - I certainly wouldn't expect an iMac to be capable of running bleeding edge stuff here. But the system I "upgraded" from (at significant cost) ran games better - and the specs were very modest. And that was a year ago.

My point to the original poster still stands. Just because Apple (and you) feel that people don't need quad cores or i7's in their home computers doesn't mean jack. Realistically, no-one needs any more than a 1.0 litre engine in their car but people continue to buy 2,3,4,5, or 6+ litre cars? Are they wrong as well? Apple were stupid to have stuck to the C2D and pants graphics cards with the iMac refresh.

Oh - and please don't take my opinions too personally mate.. just good to have a bit of healthy debate now and then :)

Its all about buying the right tool for the job; what you choose is a personal choice which suits your circumstances.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

And thusly the points I made in my original posts also still stand.. assuming performance or price isn't of any concern to the OP, the only other deciding factors were those I put in my post - how nice the enclosure is, and space used..

[markwolfe Veteran]

Sorry but I totally disagree. Yes, they're not supposed to be 'juiced up games machines' - but Apple iMacs are designed to be home computers. As far as I'm concerned, a function of a home computer is playing video games.

...

While I am sure that there are a subset of users for whom high-detail gaming is an important feature.

Not for me. Not for my wife.

Yes, for my 14 year old. Less so for the 11, 8 and 7 year olds. A mid-range GPU can play games well enough.

Different strokes requirements for different folks.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

While I am sure that there are a subset of users for whom high-detail gaming is an important feature.

Not for me. Not for my wife.

Yes, for my 14 year old. Less so for the 11, 8 and 7 year olds. A mid-range GPU can play games well enough.

Different strokes requirements for different folks.

No - that's fair enough mate. I think the point I'm trying to make is that I'm not suggesting that there should be a ?350, top of the line graphics card in the iMac.. just something reasonable. I was trying to say that a ?50 graphics card would perform better than what is in the iMac currently and that the GPU that is in it doesn't even deserve to be classed as mid-range. And, subsequently, given the price of the system, it's a bit of a joke!:):)

[Subject Delta]

Why do you have a hardware performance fetish? what are you doing that an imac can't accomplish?

How is life there in the RDF? Losing touch with reality yet?

Considering that they aren't designed as juiced up machines to play games - the point is moot to begin with. You're running something on there for which it was never designed.

Maybe not, but that doesn't change the fact that if someone wants a gaming machine that a mac is largely useless to them, unless they pay the rediculous price premium for a mac pro

Its all about buying the right tool for the job; what you choose is a personal choice which suits your circumstances.

Precisely, so why do you need to keep trolling people who are suggesting that non-apple computers may be better suited to some people's personal circumstances?

[bob21]

Remember

• Apple doesn’t make Processors.
  
• Apple doesn’t make Motherboards.
  
• Apple doesn’t make Graphics Cards.
  
• Apple doesn’t make RAM.
  
• Apple doesn’t make Hard Disks.
  
• Apple doesn’t make PSU’s.
  

Let’s summarise the basic parts of any computer

• Processor
  
• Motherboard
  
• Graphics Card
  
• RAM
  
• Hard Disks
  
• PSU's
  

An "IMac" is nothing more than an overpriced MicroATX system, and none of the internal components have been produced by Apple. Is it worth the money? It’s nothing special at the end of the day the exact same components will go into the other AIOPC's out there for a lot less.

So yes you really are paying 500 bucks for a badge , I recommend alienwares AIOPC if your looking for a high end system

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

So yes you really are paying 500 bucks for a badge

No. No no no no.

I kept saying in my previous points that the design of the enclosure go some way towards justifying the increase over a beige box. It's only fair to compare iMac's to cheaper boxes if (and only if) the enclosure / design of the product don't matter to you. If having a beige box absolutely is of no importance to you, then that is one thing.. but to dismiss the design and all-in-one nature of the machine is not fair - compare the iMac to other all-in-one systems then it's comparatively (or even competetively) priced.

[bob21]

beige box what the hell are you talking about , Its an AIOPC jst like all the others . Same components same motherboard standard , Fact of the matter is 4GB of ram dos'nt cost 200$ on any computer . Its the over inflated component prices im talking about .

Edited April 2, 2009 by bob21

[Subject Delta]

No. No no no no.

I kept saying in my previous points that the design of the enclosure go some way towards justifying the increase over a beige box. It's only fair to compare iMac's to cheaper boxes if (and only if) the enclosure / design of the product don't matter to you. If having a beige box absolutely is of no importance to you, then that is one thing.. but to dismiss the design and all-in-one nature of the machine is not fair - compare the iMac to other all-in-one systems then it's comparatively (or even competetively) priced.

Apple are one of a very small number of companies that make AIO boxes, therefore making a comparison in that sense is pretty hard, as most people will be comparing a mac and a PC, as that is what, on the whole, the market offers as a choice I still believe it is a fair comparison to make.