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06/24/2008 07:32:21 PM · #1 |
My wife told me the other day that she has been tucking away a little cash every now and then and that she wants me to put it towards a new computer. (So she can have this one all to herself) Isn’t she AWESOME!
I have decided on an iMac with the following
iMac, 24-inch, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x2GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive (and later pickup a mybook 2TB for backup)
Options I would like some Advice/Opinions on
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO w/256MB GDDR3 or NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS w/512MB GDDR3
I know my Adobe product don’t use video card memory so they don’t make a difference there, and I wont play games on it, Is CS4 going to benefit from the added video memory or will that card be obsolete by the time CS4 is out????
and can a second monitor be added later and is one card better then the other for that? can’t really find any definite answers online.
stander 1 year PP or Upgraded 3 year PP
(never had luck with extended protection plans before is Macs' worth the $200)
Please any feedback would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Scott
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06/24/2008 08:25:11 PM · #2 |
I am not an expert on the cards, but zeuszen is I will tell him you want to know, and have him post in a bit.
I would go for the NVIDIA, I would also call apple and ask them what they recommend, they have great customer service.
on the apple care, I would say it really depends on your computer skills, only 2x in 15 plus years have I known hardware problem (both laptops where they replaced the cord, the comp itself is fine, my immediate family has owned at least 12 macs). BUT before I met my guru husband and when I was new to computers I would call them for software stuff.... like hi I am an idiot, I don't know how to.... and they would walk me thru it, I found that tech help invaluable at the time, now I am much much better at using the comp. I still get the apple care, just in case.
I would also recommend getting a mac.com account, you get a web site, blog, on line storage, a bunch of other stuff that is fun. it is about 100.00 a year.
Message edited by author 2008-06-24 20:29:48. |
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06/24/2008 08:54:39 PM · #3 |
| Don't know about the video card but as for the extended Apple Care I'd definitely do it... I just used mine and got a new keyboard, new cover (around the keyboard and touchpad) and a new display on my 2 yr old MacBook Pro. That made it worth buying the extended warranty! |
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06/24/2008 09:52:49 PM · #4 |
| Same specs with the NVIDIA card just ordered for a Architectural client. Doesn't hurt to get AppleCare. Enjoy the new Mac and what a wonderful wife you have. |
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06/24/2008 10:07:34 PM · #5 |
A few notes-
Apple has that model iMac available as a refurb with the Nvidia 8800 for $1899 (it carries the same warranty as a new Mac). You can also get discounts on new ones by buying through the Apple Store for education (if eligible) or from some retailers like Amazon. If you ARE eligible for the education discount, you can get a free iPod Touch with your already-discounted order. The Mac.com account ellamay mentioned is called MobileMe now, and it's $30 cheaper if you order it with the computer. Do not buy additional memory from Apple! They're standard RAM modules and you'll save a ton by going with a 3rd party memory supplier like owcomputing.com or direct from crucial.com (installation is easy).
CS4 will benefit from video card hardware, but either card would accelerate Photoshop beyond its already fast speed and you may not notice the difference unless you routinely work on HUGE files. Either card will handle a second monitor up to 30"- just plug and play. I'm running my old 20" Cinema Display as a second monitor off the Radeon 2600 and it works great.
AppleCare for the iMac is $169 (on the refurb page, or you can get it from lacomputercompany.com for $120). It's helpful to have for tech support or hardware issues, but Macs are pretty darn reliable and it would take a few paid calls to equal the cost of AppleCare- up to you. I think you can add it later when the existing warranty is almost up, but you'd only have toll-free tech support for 90 days until then. Note also that you can get Aperture pre-installed for $149 if ordered with the computer. Hope that helps- happy shopping! |
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06/24/2008 10:55:11 PM · #6 |
The mac.com account is worth a lot more than the $100 that it costs a year. I am not sure about the apple care thing, mine has never broken anything yet.
My old 1.8 G5 is jealous now, but it is still ticking along just fine. : )
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06/24/2008 11:27:16 PM · #7 |
Thank yous all around.
I looked into the referbs $1999 on apple.ca + $199 for applecare plan. Still saves $300 bucks. Enough for the other 2GB ram and a good wireless router setup.
I dont think i'll be getting to sleep anytime soon way too excited (I feel just like when I got my Commodore 64 back in grade2) I’m going to take a day off next week and drive to one of the Apple stores in Toronto and check it out.
I'm going to checkout the mac.com accounts too.
And to boot my Success entry just hit 5.9949 the highest I've seen it and my best score to date "COMMON 6!!".
"MY WIFE IS THE BEST" |
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06/24/2008 11:54:14 PM · #8 |
| Yeah she is .. do something special for her in return ;) |
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06/24/2008 11:59:43 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by Katmystiry:
Yeah she is .. do something special for her in return ;) |
It’s not an iMac but we picked her up a new PalmE2 today with folding keyboard. But your right...and I'm thinking jewelry. |
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06/25/2008 12:01:40 AM · #10 |
| I've had to use AppleCare a couple of times, and each time the service was prompt, professional, and they did whatever was needed to fix my problem (had to replace *both* processors and motherboard on my G5, and my LCD went wonky on my MBP). |
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06/25/2008 12:12:48 AM · #11 |
That sounds like a very good plan .. and maybe surprise her with it over dinner at her favorite restaurant!
Originally posted by DarkRider:
Originally posted by Katmystiry:
Yeah she is .. do something special for her in return ;) |
It’s not an iMac but we picked her up a new PalmE2 today with folding keyboard. But your right...and I'm thinking jewelry. |
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06/25/2008 10:52:02 AM · #12 |
| I've heard good things about the apple care program. I just got a mac and got the extended AppleCare on it. |
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06/25/2008 10:55:27 AM · #13 |
I've purchased Applecare on all my macs for the past few years and it just came back to reward me when my aging iMac g5 iSight (20 inch) needed a new motherboard. Total cost for the service, $0.00.
I've never used .Mac but Waddy's comments make me wonder... |
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06/26/2008 03:32:15 PM · #14 |
.Mac is becoming MobileMe and will be like having Exchange for the rest of us. It looks to have some great features with Push technology. Change an appointment on your iPhone and your iMac and Windows computer get updated automatically. Works with documents/file on the iDisk up in the so called cloud and with photos and addresses. Probably does more but I have to get busy with my day. Here is a link to MobileMe. As an added bonus you will get MobileMe for $30.00 less for the first year by purchasing a new Mac. Here's the link. //www.apple.com/mobileme/
Here is a link to the Keynote Address, //events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/0806wdt546x/event/index.html , where MobileMe is presented by Phil Schiller. The MobileMe part is about the beginning of the last third of the Kenote. Also worth looking at is what is happening with the iPhone and the SDK applications being built by 3rd parties.
Message edited by author 2008-06-26 15:41:00. |
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06/28/2008 09:53:11 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by ellamay:
I am not an expert on the cards, but zeuszen is I will tell him you want to know, and have him post in a bit.
I would go for the NVIDIA, I would also call apple and ask them what they recommend, they have great customer service.
on the apple care, I would say it really depends on your computer skills, only 2x in 15 plus years have I known hardware problem (both laptops where they replaced the cord, the comp itself is fine, my immediate family has owned at least 12 macs). BUT before I met my guru husband and when I was new to computers I would call them for software stuff.... like hi I am an idiot, I don't know how to.... and they would walk me thru it, I found that tech help invaluable at the time, now I am much much better at using the comp. I still get the apple care, just in case.
I would also recommend getting a mac.com account, you get a web site, blog, on line storage, a bunch of other stuff that is fun. it is about 100.00 a year. |
Hi there :)
I see you want 4 GB of RAM. Well... Photoshop will use more than 1,8 GB if your OS is superior to the 32 bits version, this mean you should have a 64 bits version of your OS. The problem with the MAC is that Adobe must write almost the whole Photoshop, because it doesn't fit with the new MAC's... AS far as I know, Photoshop CS4 will not be able for MAC and they say it will be 1 year later than the Photoshop CS4 for windows. Photoshop CS4 will use Video Card memory and processor, as far as I know.
By the other hand, more RAM doesn't mean faster image processing, it only means that you can work with bigger images. The Processor will speed your work. Actually, I have a Pentium IV 3.40 GHz, 2 MB of cache and 4 GB of RAM. I preffer Microsoft due the availability of hardware and software, and the price, of course, plus that, in these days, MAC and Microsoft is the same thing (except the price). It's like Nikon and Canon...
Hope my comment was useful for you :)
Have a nice day, bro! :) |
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