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Apple iMac 27" (2000€ Budget)

Tags:
  • Macintosh
  • Computers
  • Apple
  • iMac
Last response: in Computer Brands
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November 29, 2013 10:40:24 AM

My father is looking for a workstation iMac. He mostly works with Adobe inDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat as well as QuarkExpress. And sometimes needs to run Windows 7 in Parallels. So my big question is, what should I be looking for? Graphic card performance shouldn't be that much of a hassle, should it? I mean, sure Photoshop, Illustrator and inDesign probably use graphic processing, but isn't RAM a more important factor int hem running smoothly? And what about CPU core number?

I'm probably looking for a used/refurbished one on ebay. Are used/refurbished ones good or should they be avoided? We live in Croatia so, shipping could be a problem, although, Germans offer nice shipping rates on their ebay.

Many thanks in advance.

P.S. No he does not want a PC. It is his arch enemy, per say.

P.P.S. I think I have maybe posted the same thread in the wrong subforum? (System) Is this the right one?

More about : apple imac 2000 budget

November 29, 2013 10:58:35 AM

an iMac is NOT a workstation, period. I mean no offense, but if you look at the specs sheet, you'll see that it uses a MOBILE (read laptop grade here) CPU and GPU.

if he must go with apple, get a mac pro. the difference in ability for content creation is not even on the same scale
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November 29, 2013 11:01:53 AM

someone correct me if im wrong, but if your out looking to buy an imac you only need to choose between a 21.5 and a 27 inch model?
get the 27in model and change the CPU from an i5 to a i7 and RAM from 8 to 16 gb
with that budget just get a new one and the best of everything.....
there is not much choosing or customizing you can do when your shopping for a Mac
its just the (not so) cheap one and the more expensive one
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November 29, 2013 11:09:22 AM

Well, he translates books, so he doesn't do a lot of picture related tasks. But he still does use them here and there when he has to.
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November 29, 2013 11:11:02 AM

in that case, go with Tomate2's suggestion, and go with the 27" model
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November 29, 2013 11:18:31 AM

Yeah, but the graphic cards vary between 650 to 755, and some Radeons. I'm asking how important is the core number and the graphic card for this set of programs.
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November 29, 2013 11:33:31 AM

Graphics card and CPU core count are completely irrelevant to your dad's needs. anything higher than a i3 and any graphics card really, should be enough to blow his mind off. It's just up to you how much you want to spend on doing so. You said it yourself he is a Mac guy, if it has an Apple logo on it then it should suffice. Your overthinking it.
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November 29, 2013 11:50:41 AM

So RAM would be the biggest issue for these programs?
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November 29, 2013 2:07:20 PM

for using parallels, yes. but for most normal people ram is rarely a problem nowadays. anything with 8GB will be more than sufficient
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November 30, 2013 3:45:08 AM

Anything higher than 8 GB should be fine. Do to your budget I would just go with 16 GB and call it a day. It's just a Mac anyways
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November 30, 2013 6:54:29 PM

tomate2 said:
Anything higher than 8 GB should be fine. Do to your budget I would just go with 16 GB and call it a day. It's just a Mac anyways


honestly, the fact that apple pretends that it's a DESKTOP and doesn't even allow the user to add more memory makes me cry on the inside...
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November 30, 2013 11:32:25 PM

Well, actually, the only thing it does allow is adding memory.
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