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Old 03-28-2016, 03:12 PM
Taylorplayer Taylorplayer is offline
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Default For The IMac Users

Hello:

I am going to purchase another iMac. I've been an Apple enthusiast (happily over-paying for their products) and all since about 1985. I currently have a 21" mid-2011 that is now in a home office about to become occupied by my wife. I am being re-located to our basement office (hey, it's a nice space also and not worth the argument) ;-)

As such, I need to purchase another Mac soon. I have been looking at this certified refurbished one as an option:

Refurbished 21.5-inch iMac 3.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with Retina 4K display

Originally released October 2015
21.5-inch (diagonal) Retina 4K display with IPS technology; 4096-by-2304 resolution
8GB memory
2TB Fusion Drive
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200
Built-in FaceTime HD camera
$1,699.00
Select

But, there are also new models out now as well. Much is being made about the hard drive being very slow on the new ones, however. I am aware that you can special order with different configurations (which is where everything gets a little "fuzzy" for me...).

Above and beyond the basics (email and Word), I will be using it for photography and recording work.

Anyone care to offer any suggestions (staying within the Apple realm, please)?

Thanks!
Will
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Old 03-28-2016, 03:29 PM
Orfeas Orfeas is offline
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I use solely Apple for recording music, videos, and editing photos. What you have described is a good one. If you want more smooth graphics it will be more expensive by upping up RAM (16 GB) and your graphics card (Custom configuration). I think this model will cover your needs well for years. If you need advice on software/apps let me know.
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Old 03-28-2016, 03:54 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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will: i have purchased refurbs thru apple and have had no problems. note that it will come with a 1 yr. warranty. i'm not a believer in extended warranty plans but you can probably do so if you wish.

i'm presently using a 2010 imac, 27" and it has been a great workhorse for photography thru photoshop and music recording thru logic pro. as another said, you'll want to buy 8gb more ram separately and it is very easy to install. i use separate usb 3.0 hard drives to house my photos and music recordings leaving the main drive as slim as possible to do its thing.

play music!
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Old 03-28-2016, 06:14 PM
Taylorplayer Taylorplayer is offline
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So, if I'm reading this right, I'm getting a "thumbs up" on this one - right?

Refurbished 21.5-inch iMac 3.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 with Retina 4K display

Originally released October 2015
21.5-inch (diagonal) Retina 4K display with IPS technology; 4096-by-2304 resolution
8GB memory [NOTE BUMPING THIS TO 16 GB]
2TB Fusion Drive
Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200
Built-in FaceTime HD camera
$1,699.00
Select
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Old 03-28-2016, 10:08 PM
Mobilemike Mobilemike is offline
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Yup, bump that RAM to 16 GB and you will have an awesome machine that will do you right for many years!

-Mike
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Old 03-28-2016, 10:47 PM
JohnW63 JohnW63 is offline
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The Fusion Drive is a combo regular spinning drive with a SSD drive in it. The 2TB version has 128GB SSD drive. Anything stored on THAT part is going to be fast. Apple's OS is supposed to figure out just what you use the most and move it there.
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Old 03-29-2016, 07:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnW63 View Post
The Fusion Drive is a combo regular spinning drive with a SSD drive in it. The 2TB version has 128GB SSD drive. Anything stored on THAT part is going to be fast. Apple's OS is supposed to figure out just what you use the most and move it there.
It's years since I had an iMac, I've had a MacPro since 2011. So couple questions, do both drives show up on the desk top ? And are you the user, not able select what goes on what drive ? Because to my mind you would actually want the OS to be on the SSD and music sessions and photos to be stored on the spinner.
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Old 03-29-2016, 08:36 AM
panrzem panrzem is offline
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I love Macs as well, but these days I wouldn't go less than a 27 inch monitor. Since you are upgrading from a 2011 Mac you will still see a big improvement if you went with the i5 CPU.

I would go with this one and of course bump it to 16GB RAM


Refurbished 27-inch iMac 3.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5 with Retina 5K display
Originally released October 2015
27-inch (diagonal) Retina 5K display with IPS technology; 5120‑by‑2880 resolution
8GB memory
1TB Fusion Drive

AMD Radeon R9 M390
Built-in FaceTime HD camera
$1,699.00
Save $300.00
15% off
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Old 03-29-2016, 09:07 AM
Taylorplayer Taylorplayer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by panrzem View Post
I love Macs as well, but these days I wouldn't go less than a 27 inch monitor. Since you are upgrading from a 2011 Mac you will still see a big improvement if you went with the i5 CPU.

I would go with this one and of course bump it to 16GB RAM


Refurbished 27-inch iMac 3.2GHz Quad-core Intel Core i5 with Retina 5K display
Originally released October 2015
27-inch (diagonal) Retina 5K display with IPS technology; 5120‑by‑2880 resolution
8GB memory
1TB Fusion Drive

AMD Radeon R9 M390
Built-in FaceTime HD camera
$1,699.00
Save $300.00
15% off



You make an excellent point. Do you know if bumping up the ram to 16 GB would require a new card? I have heard about the ram now being soldered in place.... So, I'm not really sure about the implications of that.

Also, would that have a built in disc drive? I can always add an external one. Wouldn't be a deal breaker - just wondering.

Thanks!
Will
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Old 03-29-2016, 12:00 PM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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will: 21" has 8gb soldered into place and is not upgradeable. 27" has 8gb soldered into place but only two of the 4 slots. so the other two slots can hold 56gb giving you a total of 64gb, if you wish. i'm not sure of your card question, but, if you mean the video card, i'm sure it is upgradeable, but, probably by apple as you don't want to have to buy the kit to take off the glass screen. as far as disc drive, if you mean cd/dvd, i don't believe they have had those for at least a couple of years, but, you can get an external one fairly cheap.
i have the 27", but from 2010, and i really appreciate the extra real estate.
hope this helps.

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Old 03-29-2016, 06:39 PM
Taylorplayer Taylorplayer is offline
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Thanks everyone-the info is much appreciated!
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Old 03-29-2016, 11:45 PM
tadol tadol is offline
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Not to be contrary - but you can do all those things and alot more with an iPad. And do them in alot more places, alot more easily -

And if I were buying an iMac, I would definitely get the 27" screen -
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Old 03-30-2016, 05:41 AM
paulp1960 paulp1960 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
It's years since I had an iMac, I've had a MacPro since 2011. So couple questions, do both drives show up on the desk top ? And are you the user, not able select what goes on what drive ? Because to my mind you would actually want the OS to be on the SSD and music sessions and photos to be stored on the spinner.
No the fusion drive appears to the OS as only a single drive. You have no control over what goes on the spinning disk and what goes on the ssd portion.

I think over time the most frequently accessed files end up on the ssd, up to the ssd capacity of course.
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Old 03-30-2016, 07:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tadol View Post
Not to be contrary - but you can do all those things and alot more with an iPad. And do them in alot more places, alot more easily -

And if I were buying an iMac, I would definitely get the 27" screen -
I agree about 27 in. simply because my sessions tend to have multiple tracks and I like having more screen real estate.

Not to be counter contrary, (and not sure what you mean by "all those things")while great for portability, an iPad is pretty limited for recording and extremely limited for editing audio.
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Last edited by KevWind; 03-30-2016 at 07:40 AM.
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Old 03-30-2016, 07:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paulp1960 View Post
No the fusion drive appears to the OS as only a single drive. You have no control over what goes on the spinning disk and what goes on the ssd portion.

I think over time the most frequently accessed files end up on the ssd, up to the ssd capacity of course.
Ah OK so then with fusion only way to make sure your sessions/projects end up on a separate drive is to get and external drive.
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