Dilemma: Buying an iMac

[db]

after months of talking about it, i thought i was finally ready to buy an imac.. apple are doing a "back to school" promo at the moment, where you get a free ipod touch when buying any mac.. "great," i thought - now was definitely the time to take the plunge..

now i hear that new imac models are around the corner, and they could have all sorts of new bells and whistles, such as blu-ray, usb3.0, quad-core CPUs, better graphics, etc.. not only that, but the next revision of OS X, snow leopard, is supposed to be a massive overhaul of the code base, and it will surely be optimised for whatever new architecture apple has planned for the new macs..

if it were up to me, i think i'd forgo the ipod and wait for the new imacs to appear.. the problem is, the ipod was gonna be for the missus, and she has her heart set on it now, bless her.. and it's entirely possible that when the new imacs do come out, the hype will be for nothing and it turns out it's just a minor speed bump or something, in which case i'll feel like a plum for not taking the free ipod!

whatcha all reckon?

 

[Wookie]

Get an Alienware.

 

[db]

Get an Alienware.

if i wanted a PC, alienware would be about the last thing i'd buy lol

let's not turn this into "mac vs. pc", that debate has been done to death.. i'm buying a mac and that's the end of it lol.. i just don't know whether to blag me sen a free ipod touch and risk having an instantly outdated mac, or whether to wait a bit and risk losing a free a ipod for something as bland as a slightly newer cpu!

 

[Wookie]

Sorry; yes, let's leave the holy wars behind.
What spec's the iPod? According to the Rev Stu Campbell (formerly of Amiga Power), the Touch could be the future of gaming.

 

[db]

What spec's the iPod?

well, you get one "free" by way of a £145 rebate, so you can actually buy whichever ipod you want - it just means if you want one of the larger ones, you have to pay some extra on top.. i'd only be looking at yer basic 8GB one though, so it would near enough free..

as i say, it's for the missus.. if it were up to me, i'd just wait and get the latest imac, but i've been banging on about this for months now so she's got her heart set on the ipod :/

 

[shoes]

Well I think the new macbook pro's are out now, but I am waiting until next month just in case they release ones with a bit more power. If not then no worries the current macbook pro 15 is lush!

Re the iMac - it's been a while since the last update so I would imagine it would be quite an improvement, not to mention it will also then ship with snow leopard which will utilise the 64 bit capabilities very nicely indeed

Edit: Re Mac vs PC - my mac can run leopard and windows, can your pc?

 

[db]

Well I think the new macbook pro's are out now, but I am waiting until next month just in case they release ones with a bit more power. If not then no worries the current macbook pro 15 is lush!

i'm pretty sure they won't be updating macbook pros in september (they only just refreshed them in june), but i guess it won't hurt to wait.. unless you're in the market for one right now, in which case if you buy it through me i can get you a free ipod touch with it until 8th september!

Re the iMac - it's been a while since the last update so I would imagine it would be quite an improvement, not to mention it will also then ship with snow leopard which will utilise the 64 bit capabilities very nicely indeed

yeah, but that means giving up a free ipod touch just to get snow leopard.. i'll be able to download it from TEH DARKNETZ anyway - i'm more concerned about any significant hardware changes i might be missing out on..

 

[djstaffs]

What, you get all this...

now i hear that new imac models are around the corner, and they could have all sorts of new bells and whistles, such as blu-ray, usb3.0, quad-core CPUs, better graphics

On this?

No wonder my wife spends so much time doing her legs :

 

[db]

and now it looks like apple will release a new ipod touch on 7th september - which is the day before the "free ipod" promo runs out!

that may well be the dealbreaker.. if i can squeeze one of these new all singing all dancing ipods in, then i guess i better just go for the freebie and hope my shiny new imac doesn't become hideously outdated the following week

 

[shoes]

and now it looks like apple will release a new ipod touch on 7th september - which is the day before the "free ipod" promo runs out!

that may well be the dealbreaker.. if i can squeeze one of these new all singing all dancing ipods in, then i guess i better just go for the freebie and hope my shiny new imac doesn't become hideously outdated the following week

Thats one helluva risk in my opinion dude. If you're paying upwards of a grand for a computer I'd want the bee's knees hardware. Also a legitimate suite of sotware too - not sure I'd like to pay that much and then hack the newer OS.

I know what you mean about the macbook pro's - although by refreshing them what they've actually done is taken the (absolutely gorgeous)1 13" macbook and turned it into a pro via the wonders of adding the word 'pro' below the monitor. They overcame the problem of no longer having a 13" basebook to sell by reverting to the old shape (the one I have but in black) with the current 13" macbook hardware inside.

A pretty crappy upgrade if you ask me.

As for USB 3.0 / bluray etc. apple are renowned for stalling on new technology (the 1.1 macbooks (2006) were the first ones to have dual layer DVD-RWs as standard IIRC) so I am not optomistic about that in the books or the desktops.

As for the current iMac though - saw one the other day and they look lush!


EDIT: Also I am indeed in the market for a macbook pro although I'm getting it through my company because I will be using it for work and they're contributing half which means I'm looking at under £700 for one of the 15" Pros with 4GB memory and a dual graphics card setup

 

[db]

Thats one helluva risk in my opinion dude. If you're paying upwards of a grand for a computer I'd want the bee's knees hardware. Also a legitimate suite of sotware too - not sure I'd like to pay that much and then hack the newer OS.

software won't be a problem.. i'm on some serious mac trackers and will want for nothing.. also, apple currently operate on the "honour system", and don't cripple their software with convoluted anti-piracy measures, so there would be no hacking/cracking involved.. OS X doesn't even use a serial number, you literally just need to borrow the installer DVD once and boom, you've got a "legitimate" copy installed!

the only thing i'm worried about is if the hardware is significantly different.. if the new models are just a slight CPU speed bump, etc. then i wouldn't be too fussed.. but if the new models come out and they're 5mm thick with LED screens and 500GHz CPUs i'll be mighty miffed!

I know what you mean about the macbook pro's - although by refreshing them what they've actually done is taken the (absolutely gorgeous)1 13" macbook and turned it into a pro via the wonders of adding the word 'pro' below the monitor. They overcame the problem of no longer having a 13" basebook to sell by reverting to the old shape (the one I have but in black) with the current 13" macbook hardware inside.

A pretty crappy upgrade if you ask me.

yeah, i see what you mean, but current signs defo don't point to another upgrade any time soon:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#MacBook_Pro

As for USB 3.0 / bluray etc. apple are renowned for stalling on new technology (the 1.1 macbooks (2006) were the first ones to have dual layer DVD-RWs as standard IIRC) so I am not optomistic about that in the books or the desktops.

yeah, jobs famously described blu-ray as a "bag of hurt" and said apple wouldn't be getting involved with it any time soon due to the ridiculous licensing issues.. that being said, the blu-ray consortium changed the licensing structure a while ago (partly as a result of jobs' derision) so you never know!

As for the current iMac though - saw one the other day and they look lush!

they certainly do.. i can't decide which size to go for though.. 24" sounds nice, but it may actually be too big, if there is such a thing.. i mean, the TV in my bedroom is only 22", and it's 10' away at the end of the bed and still looks big.. i think sitting 3' away from a 24" screen might just be cumbersome!

 

[shoes]

Agreed about software, I think the way they see OSX is the fact you have a mac MUST mean you have a licence. For the same reason its impossible to install macbook pro OSX on the macbook and vice versa because the 'licence' is the hardware.

All the books now have LED screens so I would be suprised if the new iMacs don't. Surely there isn't much room for making them smaller? I say that every time though lol

As for the screen, I use a 22" daily at home and occasionally use some of the 19's at work (I use the macbook as a work machine too as its easier to take work home, which i invariably do) and I can honestly say I am never going to go for a screen smaller than 22" again. If you use the space well (which leopard lends itself to) then its amazing what you can do with it. The one i was looking at was a 24" and i wouldn't think twice about it if I were in the market for a desktop. Totally subjective thing of course.

 

[db]

Agreed about software, I think the way they see OSX is the fact you have a mac MUST mean you have a licence. For the same reason its impossible to install macbook pro OSX on the macbook and vice versa because the 'licence' is the hardware.

yeah, the oem versions are "bios locked" (or the mac equivalent), but i'd be getting the retail versions, which will install on anything and still don't use a serial number! in fact, the gold master (i.e. the RTM version) of 10.6 was posted yesterday, for the very eager

All the books now have LED screens so I would be suprised if the new iMacs don't.

yeah, you may well be right.. i've just been chatting to the missus, and she (begrudgingly) agrees that spending a grand on a computer only to have it superseded the following week is daft, so i think i'm safe

As for the screen, I use a 22" daily at home and occasionally use some of the 19's at work (I use the macbook as a work machine too as its easier to take work home, which i invariably do) and I can honestly say I am never going to go for a screen smaller than 22" again. If you use the space well (which leopard lends itself to) then its amazing what you can do with it. The one i was looking at was a 24" and i wouldn't think twice about it if I were in the market for a desktop. Totally subjective thing of course.

i know what you mean, they really are beautiful.. i use 19" (standard ratio) at work and could easily make use of bigger, but 24" widescreen just seems so big.. still, now the pressure is off and i can wait for the new models, i guess we'll just have to see what they will offer

 

[shoes]

Well played in making common sense prevail!

I think it looks big because you're used to looking at a 4:3 19" and its the same height, just 4" or so wider and as such looks obscene. Mine did too when i got it (upgraded from a 17" 4:3) but after a while i got used to it and now 17/19 regardless of aspect just look small.

I wasn't aware of that RTM release, I'm off to torrentshire right now...

EDIT: In fact I didn't realise there was a difference between the OEM and retail versions I thought you had to buy the retil version for your mac - that was of course an assumption made on absoultely no research whatsoever - but thats good to know

 

[shoes]

I'm sure you have already seen this, but snowleopard appears to be significantly faster (and smaller) than leopard 10.5. See here.

 

[tek-monkey]

I used to own a DVD called search for the snow leopard, it was like a hardcore channel 5 film....

 

[John Marwood]

a man in a pub said

if u buy apple computers as a student u save quite a few quid

 

[shoes]

This is very true!! And as DB was saying, you can also get a free ipod thrown in too via rebate.

Just been discussing my new mac with the boss - looks like I'll be getting the VAT off it anyway which I think is the same as the student discount. Work are also contributing towards it as it use it primarily for work.

Just played with the calculator - turns out i'm going to be paying 63% of the overall retail (inc. VAT) price. Result!

 

[shoes]

Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Programme
Mac OS X Snow Leopard refines the elegant Mac OS X user experience with lots of little touches and performance improvements that will make using your Mac even more enjoyable. It also includes a few big foundation technologies designed to tap the power of today’s computer hardware and provide a strong base for innovation. If you’ve purchased a qualifying computer or Xserve on or after June 8th, 2009 that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can upgrade to Mac OS X Snow Leopard for £7.95.*

This programme ends December 26th, 2009. Your completed order form must be postmarked within 90 days of the date of your purchase of a qualifying computer or Xserve (described in this offer) or by December 26th, 2009, whichever is earlier.

Expected Product Availability: September 2009

Think I'm going to order mine today then, I can take the hit of £8 next month I think

 

[db]

I'm sure you have already seen this, but snowleopard appears to be significantly faster (and smaller) than leopard 10.5. See here.

no, i hadn't seen that, ta

a man in a pub said

if u buy apple computers as a student u save quite a few quid

yeah, i work for an educational establishment, so am lucky enough to get the ridiculous discounts this entails