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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Buying an iMAC please Advise.

Ketch Rossi

Ketch Rossi

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Hey guys,

as currently I use the 24" LED Apple display connected to my 17" MBP, is getting kind of a pain to leave the house with NO computer when traveling with the MBP, and also the 24" display is kinda of small for my needs, so I need to buy an iMac.

Questions I have are in regards to which is better to buy as far as good money spent on the system it self, we all know that we can add a lot of stuff but much is useless most of the time.

Uses wil be for Cine-X light work and CS5, possibly some FCS for editing, but Towers will be available at the Studio for heavy Editing.

HOwever since I'll keep one Epic-X as personal camera for both Stills and Motion, I like to also prepare with a House system for it.

If you think that an iMAC will be good in off for it then please advise on best choice of configuration and Model amongst the 27".

If you think is a waste of money all together then I'll get a Tower for the house as well.

Thanks Much
 
You should definitely go with the i7 27' version with 8 - 16 GB of RAM. The upgrade from the i5 is only $200, and it does make a difference. I think it's a great computer. I don't think you really need the 2TB drive, but keep in mind that you don't have any eSATA connectivity, so make sure you have some FW800 drives ready.
 
I just bought the i7 iMac and it also has the cool feature that it works standalone as a 27" monitor for your MacBook Pro with the correct cable or adapter (if you have an older MBP without displayport native on its motherboard), which is definitely a nice feature.
 
Thanks guys, then if I do end up with the iMAC I'll be sure to make it an i7.

I do have the Unibody MBP so I think that the iMAC will connect just the same as the LED display, no need for adapters, I think, whoever the upgrade form the i5 is $300, not $200 as it sales for $1,999.
 
Everything you need to know has already been said. The i7 27" is the way to go. Don't bother with the 2TB drive, they're pretty slow and all around sucky compared to the 1TB drives. Unless you absolutely need the extra capacity. Get at least 8GB of RAM, 16GB is better.

Buy the computer with the base 4GB and then order the RAM from OWC (macsales.com), as this will save you $400 or so if you plan to go for 4GB modules or the full 16GB. You will get the best memory performance if you have all four memory slots filled with matching modules.

The 27" makes an awesome second monitor for a macbook pro.

Apple may offer an update to the iMac sometime soon here. They have not updated since October and Intel has some newer CPU offerings out there as well as some possibilities for the newer nVidia GPUs.

The weakest part of the iMac is the external connectivity. For external storage, you're limited to gigabit ethernet or firewire-800. Both are similar in performance for most real-world applications. If Apple were to incorporate USB3 or eSATA that would make a huge difference. I suppose LightPeak is coming up, but is probably still a year away. Firewire 3200 has been finalized, but it seems to be dead in the water as a standard. I doubt we'll actually see it used.
 
Thanks Jeff, as always great to have you pop in this type of question as I respect your knowledge quite a bit on this stuff.

Connectivity is also what bother me the most, as I happen to have two E-sata drives and i know will need to make good use of them with Epic-X for sure.

But not sure if this is in off to spend the extra amount of money for the Tower plus monitors which we don;t have a 27" LED any way.

But the difference is however significant to have an additional tower at home, even so is also to consider that will be significant the added power as well and possibility of multiple monitors.
Decisions decisions, ;~)

For the sake of choices, IF I was to go with the Tower instead, is the 8-Core worth the additional $1,200??
 
Whatever you do, I think you should wait to see if something happens in terms of updates on June 7 @ WWDC. I'm thinking of buying an iMac myself and I really hope to see some updates on external connectivity.
 
Sure thing - I would love to dive in and buy an i7 myself tomorrow, but well, June 7 is fairly soon and maybe if we get lucky we end up with an iMac with USB 3. Not likely, but hey, you never know... :)
 
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