What to do?

asi17

asi17

asi17

Associate
Joined
30 Dec 2012
Posts
12
Hey, its my first post and i need some help off you guys.
Apple have kindly agreed to replace my late 2009 21.5 inch iMac. They have offered me the new 21.5 inch iMac with
• 3.1GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
• 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
• 1TB Fusion Drive
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 512MB GDDR5
• Apple Magic Mouse
• Apple Wireless Keyboard (British) & User's Guide (English)
• Accessory Kit

My dilema is:confused:, is 8gb enough for me(i am a geek and if i see a spinning ball it would irritate the heck out of me) i would have to pay £160 otherwise for an extra 8gb. Or should i pay a bit extra and go for the 27 inch model(the higher spec of the two on offer. But, this would mean i wouldn't get a fusion drive and the processor would be a 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz as opposed to the faster i7. But this way I'd get a bigger screen and be able to upgrade the RAM myself at a fraction of the cost. What do you all reckon, and thanks in advance.
 
My 2010 27 inch model was damaged in a repair and they offered me a 2012 27 inch as replacement. I had a maxed out 2010 model at the time, they offered me a 2012 spec and they then let me pay to upgrade it.

So don't think your stuck with what they offer you.
 
I generally use my iMac for web browsing, docs/spreadsheets and the odd video. I'm worried that the screen on the 27 may be too big to be sat right in front of and the graphics card mediocre. The appealing thing with the 21.5 is the quad core i7 and the fusion drive, it would be pretty much max'd out spec wise.
 
If you're going to keep it for 3+ years, I'd suggest buying the RAM upgrade. 8GB is plenty at the moment for normal use but who knows what the future holds.
 
How much extra for the 27"?

The i5 would provide plenty of grunt and RAM in the 27" is user replaceable making it much cheaper to do it yourself at a later time.

I doubt you would notice the difference in the i5/i7 based on what you said you use it for. The 27" would be a much better upgrade choice if you can stretch the difference imo.
 
Get the one with the SSD or whatever they call it. IMO, the SSD will be much more viable than going from 8GB to 16.
 
Provided that your usage pattern won't be changing, I doubt that you will need anymore than 8GB of RAM. 4GB is plenty for regular browsing/productivity is plenty right now, and 8GB will be plenty in a few years time. When you say the odd video, do you mean watching out editing? If that's the case, you may want more depending on the size of your projects.

The most worthwhile upgrade here will probably be the Fusion Drive. The i7 vs i5 again depends on the video work you will be doing - it is a waste of money for regular use. The i5 will be far quicker than your current iMac anyway.
 
asi17 said:
Apple have kindly agreed to replace my late 2009 21.5 inch iMac.
Click to expand...

A little background for Mac noobs like myself - why on earth would they replace a three year old machine with a brand new one? Is this something that AppleCare does?
 
ic1male said:
A little background for Mac noobs like myself - why on earth would they replace a three year old machine with a brand new one? Is this something that AppleCare does?
Click to expand...

Nope. I'm guessing he's had several repairs, and as a gesture of goodwill their offering to replace the machine with a new model? Just a guess however!
 
Turbo-G said:
Nope. I'm guessing he's had several repairs, and as a gesture of goodwill their offering to replace the machine with a new model? Just a guess however!
Click to expand...

According to someone at my University, it's usually offered after 3 or so repairs in a short-ish space of time.
 
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