imac 21.5" configuration help

beachBOYken

beachBOYken

beachBOYken

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Hi

In the next month or so I plan to get an Imac. I'm replacing a windows desktop computer which is starting to play up after a good run, think its almost 8 years!

Main uses:
emails/internet/office(word), pretty much it, nothing to intensive basically for use as a family computer but no games.

Would like some advice on configurations, I was thinking about the 2.9ghz 21.5" mac with the dedicated graphics card at £1199, with a few custom tweaks.


But I dont play games or plan to on the imac so am leaning towards the 2.7ghz with the integrated graphics. Although I would change it to 16gb ram and a 1tb fusion drive.

Would you say the 2.7ghz is a better choice for me.

thanks
 
lamboman said:
Not entirely true, because the 21.5" Iris Pro model with the upgrades comes out to £1369, whereas the 27" comes in at £1609 without the RAM upgrade (which you'd do yourself for around £40-50 all in once you've sold off the old stuff).

OP, I'd be asking yourself the following questions:
  • Are you sure you won't need a dedicated graphics card in the long run?
  • Are you sure you need 16GB of RAM? (why do you need this?)
If the answer is "Yes" and "No" respectively, then I'd consider the 21.5" with a second monitor if you ever need more real estate. The 27" from a specifications perspective may come out on top as better value, however that's of little use if you aren't taking advantage of whatever extra it offers. I can't think of an area where the 21.5" iMac with 8GB of RAM wouldn't be sufficient, even running a Windows VM for Office it would be more than adequate (heck, my MBA is more than enough for that).

Also, the 1GB of VRAM is going to be pretty useless unless you'd like to game at all on lower resolutions and/or older games. So really, for a "gaming" capable iMac you're looking at the 780M or 5K iMac.
Click to expand...


I'm pretty sure I don't plan to play games or anything that requires the dedicated graphics card.

As for the ram I thought it would be best to go highest possible as this is not user upgradable
In the 21".

Im still deciding maybe 8gb of ram would be better for me.
 
thanks for your replies everyone, I will perhaps think about just getting 8gb of ram but I do like the sound of the 1tb fusion drive after reading up on it.

So this is what I might get soon.

21.5" at 2.7ghz
8gb ram
1tb fusion drive

£1209
 
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lamboman said:
Good choice. The 1TB Fusion drive comes with a 128GB SSD, not some horrible 8GB cache or something (it's all done in software, it's simply two separate drives), so you're absolutely making the right choice. It's very unlikely that any user on their "office" system needs 256GB of data on an SSD.
Click to expand...

I read that basically the fusion drive arranges everything for you depending on what you use the most to make it faster, is that correct.

Cheers
 
Hi


Thread resurrection!

I held off getting an imac but my windows pc is playing up more so now.

I originally planned on the 21.5 2.9ghz spec but as I don't game or do intensive tasks I think the middle imac will do me just fine.

Im thinking

21.5 imac 2.7ghz With 16gb ram and fusion drive.

It may be a bit extreme for my basic needs but I plan on keeping my imac for a long period as possible.

I have decided waiting on a refresh is not really a big deal for me, after all tech is changing all the time anyway.

I did get some suggestions before but it was a while ago, what do you guys recommend for email client and office program's?

Thanks
 
Many thanks, will try the bundled software first then. As for the retina display, the 27" 5k imac is to big for my work area.
Are the non retina diplays really that bad?

Thanks
 
Thanks for the informative reply.

The 27" really is a no go for me, it's just to big for my work area and would look out of place in the room I want it in.

As for the hdd, I may consider the 256gb ssd as our current pc has 1tb of space and I don't think we have got close to 150gb yet over the 8 years. Saying that, with the added ipad/Ipod synced that may take more space with music,photos and such.

Although if i got the 1tb fusion, I would have plenty of space and I think ssd speed performance if I keep within the refinements of the ssd storage implemented on the drive?

I'm also considering the trackpad.


Thanks:)
 
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This is what I'm getting guys.

Imac 21.5 @2.7ghz
Iris pro graphics
16gb ram
512gb ssd

I get a slight discount of just over £100 as I qualify for the employee purchase programme.

The ssd is expensive, but what the heck, it's a one off and I'm not going to be buying another computer anytime soon!

Think I might get the trackpad instead of the magic mouse, what do you guys get on better with?
 
crinkleshoes said:
Good choice... you won't regret the SSD - they use really good quality and quick units, so it'll be nice and fast compared to what you're used to. Only other option I might suggest is to go back to the 256GB SSD and use the spare money to buy a 3-4TB external drive to store your music/videos/iphone sync files (easily configurable in itunes to use external drive).

Definitely track pad... the gestures work really well and it's a lot less laggy than the mouse. The mouse is horrible to use... neither me nor my wife can get one with it (and it's not just one mouse or one computer - they're all the same).

If you're in doubt... go down to the apple store and check them both out to see for yourself.
Click to expand...

Thanks I did post in the software forum, do you have any advice on account setup, I'm a bit lost with it all.

There will be 2 users using the machine, I was thinking about setting up the admin account first and then using 2 standard accounts for day to day use?
 
crinkleshoes said:
Nice and simple... quite like windows in a way.

First account you setup is the primary admin user, then you can add additional accounts. You can set it to open at login screen, or you can have one of the accounts log in automatically.

Personally, I have my account as the primary admin user. My wife is also setup as an admin so that she can install software.

But the choice is yours, you can set it up as you have suggested.
Click to expand...

Is it possible to update/install apps from the administration account which sync across to all standard users?

Also is it not possible to Install apps and update with in standard accounts, don't they just require administration password?

Sorry for all the questions I was just hoping to use the administration account as a place to install apps and update apps and change settings, but only if it meant any changes synced with the standard users, otherwise I guess it's pointless.

Cheers
 
I think I maybe complicating things so I may just set 2 admin accounts.

It's only because I read something about apple suggesting using a standard account.

In windows when I installed programs as an admin user I would get a message about how I would like to share the program or not.
How do I go about installing apps for just me or sharing them across all users, is it the same concept for mac?
 
I've hit the buy button! cant wait now. I've been wanting an imac for so long.

I ordered the trackpad instead of the magic mouse, bit of a blind buy that, but it seems the trackpad gets good reviews compared to the magic mouse.
 
Seems that sleep mode is the way to go with imac, rather than turning off if I use it every day.

Is it best to use display sleep or the other mode where it sleeps the hdd also.

I'm thinking display only?

Also what kind of maintenance should I do, with windows I did a defrag, and a regular check using programs like malwarebytes, I take it this sort of thing is not needed anymore?

Sorry for all the questions!:o

Thanks
 
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