No 56k: New computer time, some questions.

otispunkmeyer

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If this has no 56k at the top then that's because I'm using tapatalk and seemingly spoilers or no 56k are the only prefix options. No, having nothing is not an option apparently.

Anyway, I want a new computer and was set on moving back to windows with the new dell XPS 15. Chiefly because for ?130 you can spec one of the best 15 inch 1080p displays going. It also had decent design, great 2.1 speakers by JBL and awesome spec. And I could of had the full beans core i7 for just over a grand.

Without any notice, that 1080p screen option is now gone. Leaving only the standard run of the mill 768p display as found on literally every 15 inch notebook going. With that loss then so too is one of the major reasons for choosing the dell. If I can't have that screen I ain't buying.

So now I'm trying to decide between a 21.5 inch iMac with a 3.6Ghz core i5 or a 27 inch iMac with a slower core i3 at 3.2 Ghz.

What's the differences between the i5 and i3? Will I miss the extra power of the i5 more than I'll miss the stupefying level of desktop real estate of the 27"?

I should mention main usage will be Internet, emails and heavy document and photo editing.

I would like a new mac book pro but the cost of those things compared to what you get inside them just don't do it for me and I can't have another 1440x900 screen it's too small and the 1680x1050 upgrade makes them overly expensive.
 
iMAC 27" in is brilliant! If you can run to it then that would be my choice for the home doing what you are doing - hell I nave the previous version myself.
 
Save your money by not buying an i7, get an SSD instead.


*runs*

Do iMacs even have multiple drive bays?

Anyway the cost savings in this case would go towards screen. For the usage described the 27" would be my choice assuming you do actually like the huge screen (some people may find it overwhelming or that they sit too close to it).
 
Also, 27" is a great screen size if you have a large-ish desk - mine is 75cm deep plus a bit for the keyboard drawer underneath, the 27" screen is as far back as possible and works well at that distance.
Remember, you always look at your screen. You rarely check whether your box under the desk has a pricy rotting apple on it or not.
If it is one of those integrated deals, even worse (=expensive) for upgrades or maintenance.
 
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I could decide not to buy an iMac, but I just can't do without OSX. There are obviously cheaper ways to get OSX like a mac book, mini or whatever but they still sell those with the now old hat C2D.

Anyway I spec'd a good DIY rig with a good IPS 24" screen and well it's just as expensive as the iMac because the screen is about half the cost! Either way I look, it's going to make me poor lol. But as I'm a PhD guy now, full on academic discount!!! Got a mate who works for apple too, see if he can get me one on his massive staff discount.
 
Heres a quetion

Apple refurbs, can you also get the HE discount on these? the refurb store offers some tasty machines for a lot of money off, but if you cant get the HE discount on top of that then its basically the same price New vs Refurb

also, what are the refurbs like? anyone had experience?
 
You do realize you can run OSX on a regular computer right? Because for the same price as an iMac, I'm building a damn nice computer that has more than one drive bay and more than 4 usb ports. I'd suggest the same for you.
 
Yeah but as it is popular to "hate" on them, (most) times Macs just "work" without any more special installations or tuning.

As far as refurbished stuff, I haven't had any experience with Apple prods, but my general rule with any technology is to never buy refurbished. Most technology is too complex and finiky, and too many people treat them like tards, to waste money and time on something that might likely bite your ass months or even years down the line.
 
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PC's just work if you do it right. I mean if you really want to get a Mac for a desktop go for it, but for that money you could build an impressive rig.
 
You can get some damn fine 27" monitors for ?500/?423 over here, that would leave you with over a grand to build a rig which can get you an i7-950, HD 6870 or GTX 470, at least 6GB of RAM and enough money for a decent MB, PSU, HD and keyboard + mouse.
 
pfff well

At the moment I'm looking at the 27" incher, I spent along time in the apple store yesterday trying out the 27" and 21.5" and theres just no comparison. The extra resolution on the bigger screen is just magnificent. The next question was core i3 vs core i5:

Now, in the shop, they only had an i3 3.2Ghz and the Quad core i5 at 2.8Ghz (though it can turbo to 3.33Ghz). I played around in word and photoshop and scrolled some of the big image threads on this site because that always gets FF to work hard. I have to say I was pushed to really notice any difference, they both felt just as smooth as each other. what I really want to do of course is compare the i3 to the i5 upgrade, which nets you the 3.6Ghz Core i5-680 (turbos to 3.86Ghz)

I looked up some benchmarks last night comparing the two, and while the clock speeds suggest performance increases between 12.5 and 20% based on clock speed increases (since they are identical architecture wise) judging by the performance of the i5-660 compared to the i3, the i5-680 is going to be around 10-12% faster in the real world (the 660 was arouns 2-8% faster).

I know the core i3 is supposed to be the bottom of the bin, but its quite highly clocked and really only lacks turbo mode and some Mhz.

But before I do anything, I really should look at building my own rig. Where can I find a 24-27inch IPS based monitor? comparable to the iMacs? the only one I can find is the Dell UltraSharp and its over ?800 on its own!
 
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I don't think there are any monitors that have a resolution of 2560 x 1440 except the Dell and the Mac.
The iMac is far from a bad computer, but it's hard to ignore the fact that for the same amount of money you can build a pc with far better specs save for the display.
There are some pretty good 27" monitors by LG and Samsung, but they only have a resolution of 1920x1080.
 
The H-IPS U2711 model can be had now for 689?, that's the one with 2560x1440 resolution (at dell.de: 832?).
The H-IPS U2410 model can be had now for 474?, that's the one with 1920x1200 resolution (at dell.de: 713?).
 
Going to try spec a rig with the Dell monitor. Saddly ?800 odd is the going rate here, so basically that leaves about ?400 to make the rest of the computer.

I know people say Mac's are expensive, but seriously, sometimes you try matching what they put in their boxes and you end up quite suprised.
 
Didn't know you could get a 27" iMac for >?1300 in the UK. Over here they sell for ?1500, that's quite a difference.
 
^ HE discount my friend, 12% discount on iMacs and 15% on Laptops. The machine I'm looking at is pretty much the base 27" incher.

3.2GHz i3
4GB Ram
1 TB hard drive
ATi 5650 or some such GPU

RRP is ?1399

With the discount its ?1259 I think, and to sweeten the deal you get 3 full years of warranty and for an extra ?50 full on Apple Care.


Anyway, Im just spec'ing a rig for windows. I can save on the case and OS since I have a decent enough case already and I have a copy of Win7 64bit. Whats a good motherboard to go with the Core i5 -760? (this is the Quad core i5, 2.8GHz. Turbo to 3.33Ghz which will be the same performance as the 3.2 i3 but hopefully should be better in properly threaded stuff)

so far, this is what I got

Dell UltraSharp 24" IPS 1920x1200 (I know, this is a concession of rez, but its half the price of the 27")
4 Gig of ram
700w OCZ ModStream
60GB Sandforce powered SSD
1 TB Samsung HDD
Gigabyte UD3 mobo
Intel Core i5-760 2.8Ghz Quad core.

All that is bang on ?1000.

Though I will need to spec a mouse and keyboard
 
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