On a budget iMac

Kind of on a budget here. Would be worth buying the fairly base model iMac?
Not a pro here, just a hobbyist.
http://www.bestbuy.com …18695418256&sku​Id=5851991

I have been using a Windows machine since 3.1 I have used Mac's but never owned one, and always thought they were rather overpriced for what you got. That all said, I now own a 2012 mini and have on order a 2014 27" 5K Retina iMac.

I too am not a pro and do it just as a hobby. The reason I didn't go with a 21" imac is that I tend to be a bit more demanding on my machines and found that 4gb didn't work for me with the mac mini, so I ended up upgrading the ram to 16gb. I don't know how 8gb works.

The 21" imac cannot have the memory upgraded by yourself. So if you buy a 8gb imac, then 8gb is all you get. It probably would be fine for most, but I bought the new mac to do everything on, and run windows apps too (and virtual machines) so I needed that little bit more.

As for if it's a good price. Have you looked at the apple refurb listings. I see that currently there don't seem to be any 21" imac's but give it a week and there will be some there. You need to check the list 2 times a day as stuff comes in and gets sold pretty darn fast. I was looking to buy one of the base i7 27" imac's but ended buying a bit more upscale as I could use my wifes EPP program.

I would have zero worries about apple referb. Most likely it's a computer pulled from the production line for being out of spec, fixed but now they must call it a refurb. Nobody has used it. it will be totally new. Just a thought for you.

IMO I think you'll do OK. I have a 2009 27 inch imac 8gigs of ram that I used till a few months ago for all my editing - Lightroom and CS6. Sure. I wasn't breaking any speed records, particularly with CS6, but the machine wasn't a PITA to use either. The current machines are speed demons by comparison. The only recommendation I would make is to upgrade the RAM if you can. There may be aftermarket options that are cheaper than Apple but I'm not sure if that applies to these particular units.

I have used Mac and Windows ever extensively for editing in all Adobe products and honestly, both work. I found that the software UI bugs on Mac annoyed me, and the UI bugs on windows did the same thing. I personally had issues with the Mac but I was also in a room with Apple fanboys that it is a mighty Apple so there is no issues with it. I tend to not purchase them for reasons of I hate Apple as a company for the things they do. They are both equally quarky. I tent to stay away from All-in-One because of the lack of upgradeably down the road. I would rather do a Mac Mini and get a good monitor. You can expend it better and you have far far better monitor choices for $300-400 range for a nice 27" panel or even 4K.

The other option is to build a decent PC and you can get better bang for your buck that is for sure. You only need a decent $800 rig since you dont need a GPU for gaming but a decent low end unit.

Nick

Just like someone mentioned above definitely check the refurbished listing on the Apple site. When I purchased mine that's where I got it from and was able to save some money.

I have this same iMac in the 27" version, you will be very happy with it! I have no problems running any software with it, photoshop and iPhoto are often open at the same time.

Hello everybody,

I do hope that in the next months I can replace my "old" iMac 24" late 2007 with 4 gb ram with a brand new iMac 27".

I am wondering whether it's better to pile up a bit more money and going for a 27" 4K (the top model) or just the basic 27" 3.2 gh with Fusion Drive and I'd put 16 gb ram inside.
Please, take into account that I'd use it just for hobby.

My iMac 24" is still working fine; two weeks ago the hdd broke down and I had to replace it with a new one of 1Tb and a SSD of 120gb, making the fusion drive while installing all over again. Now everything's ok but it keeps not handling with the raw files producted by my Canon 70D. It just works with jpg at full resolution and raw at medium resolution.

Thanks in advance for any suggestion,

Fabrizio

Well, I did it, I spent a little more and went for a refurb 27" iMac, non retina. I really like it. Saved a few buck son the refurb, and at least with the 27" you can upgrade the RAM. Thanks for the input.