Question for you Mac guys

[Ehilbert1]

I am finally going to get an iMac. I had been waiting forever for a refresh to happen. Now that it's happened I find myself not really liking the "thin" look and the no optical drive.

So my question is would I be better off with last years model and paying a little less or getting the latest and greatest? For the life of me I have no idea why Apple wants to go so thin on the iMac?????? It will never leave my desk. You Mac guys I'm sure will steer me right. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jon]

If you're looking for an optical drive you're better off going for last year's model, which I'm sure is still available. If you're not married to the idea of an iMac, you can get a Mac Mini (sans monitor) for about $599.

 

[Ehilbert1]

If you're looking for an optical drive you're better off going for last year's model, which I'm sure is still available. If you're not married to the idea of an iMac, you can get a Mac Mini (sans monitor) for about $599.

Thanks Jon. I've had my heart set on an iMac for sometime now. I'm going to check out youtube for some reviews on the new one.

 

[jef]

Other than the fancy new case, there really wasn't a huge change overall. I think if you can pick up last years model - and don't overlook Apple refurbs - you wouldn't really be missing out on much.

 

[Jon]

I will say they have found the new iMac to be assembled using high-strength adhesive (essentially super-super glue) so needing anything replaced on the inside might be a little tricky. That's really the only big issue I've heard with it, and the glowing reviews it's getting seem to look past that. I'm actually considering it myself and just using an iPad as my portable device.

 

[Ehilbert1]

I checked out a lot of the reviews on the new iMac. It looks like all of them are reviewing just the speced out models with the i7.

I am looking into the Apple store referbs. They have some really good deals on last years model. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a 27inch from last year.


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[MM]

I was pondering a new iMac too months ago, but I just added a ssd to my mbp.

I have been looking again. My mbp is 3.5 years old now. It's not broken, but....

I like the new iMac. I do not like that you cannot upgrade the ram like you can worth the new 27".

You could get the base iMac, but then you might need the SuperDrive.

I have looked at a Mac mini and just having two monitors.

I agree about last years version. It's still a great iMac. My wife has a 2011 and it flies.

Let us know what you decide.


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[TX WJ]

The new one has a Fusion Drive, upgraded processors, etc.

I have a 21.5 iMac and have used my optical drive a few times. You can get a portable drive if you want it.

I am not sure why they think they need to go thinner, mine is thin enough.

I would get the new one for the new processors and the Fusion Drive, a reburb is a great machine and a great value for the money. I love mine.

 

[Ehilbert1]

Apple has a referb 2011 27inch on their site for $1359. I will probably go for that one. I don't think I want to pay $1799 + tax for a few upgrades. Yes it looks great and it's thin but I can't get over how they raise the price of the base model and take out the optical drive. I don't really care about a fusion drive. It just raises the price and from what I have seen the 2011 iMac is pretty fast anyway.

My brother in law has the 2011 27inch and it looks great and is really fast. He's the type of Apple fan that usually buys or upgrades every year for every product he has. He's not going to do it for the 2012 iMac. That right there tells me it's still a kick ass computer.

Again thanks for the input guys. I'm not Mr computer so I do appreciate it. By the way what is the best Internet security software for Mac? I hear Norton 2013 is really good.

 

[TX WJ]

Apple has a referb 2011 27inch on their site for $1359. I will probably go for that one. I don't think I want to pay $1799 + tax for a few upgrades. Yes it looks great and it's thin but I can't get over how they raise the price of the base model and take out the optical drive. I don't really care about a fusion drive. It just raises the price and from what I have seen the 2011 iMac is pretty fast anyway.

My brother in law has the 2011 27inch and it looks great and is really fast. He's the type of Apple fan that usually buys or upgrades every year for every product he has. He's not going to do it for the 2012 iMac. That right there tells me it's still a kick ass computer.

Again thanks for the input guys. I'm not Mr computer so I do appreciate it. By the way what is the best Internet security software for Mac? I hear Norton 2013 is really good.

That is a great computer for that price!

 

[Andrew8468]

IMHO stay away from Norton.... it's expensive bloatware.

 

[Ehilbert1]

Damn! Then I have no idea what Security suite to get for Mac. I have Norton on my PC and it works great.

 

[jef]

Damn! Then I have no idea what Security suite to get for Mac. I have Norton on my PC and it works great.

Practice safe computing and you don't need one. I've had a Mac on one desk or another in my house since 1997, and have never had need for one. If you don't have kids who won't be clicking on random links to "GET YER FREE POKEMONS HERE!!" exploit-style web sites trying to poke holes in Flash or Java, you should be fine. (Unless you yourself happen to like to click on those kinds of links )

 

[Jon]

I've had Macs for about 10 years and have never needed Antivirus.


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[memebag]

I've had Macs for about 10 years and have never needed Antivirus.


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Hang on, we're getting around to you.

 

[Ehilbert1]

We have a young daughter and I just want to be safe. My luck as soon as I get it there will be a rash of new Mac crap.

 

[DAB]

I think if I was in the market for an iMac I too would look to last years model. Apple obsession with thin is totally out of freaking control. The more they go this route the less user serviceable these things become. Hell even the 2011 model isn't that serviceable.

Personally I am a Mac Mini guy... I don't like all in one systems. My current (2011) model Mac Mini server with the i7 quad gives me at least another two years before I need to be concerned with upgrading. I have a Thunderbolt 2TB drive (which is very fast). I also have a Blu-Ray/DVD/CD connected with a very high end display... I like the flexibility, but in all honesty the price for the iMac refurb just can't be beat even going with the Mac Mini. Unless you already have a very nice display, mouse and keyboard, otherwise for someone new coming in, the iMac is probably the best way to go.

While this years newer Mac Mini's have great speaks and now the mid level brings quad to the table. It just isn't enough for me to upgrade, which is why I went high end last time so I'd future proof myself having to upgrade.

I use Bitdefender which is free for virus scans. It isn't pretty, doesn't run in the background and because I am a safe user I run it about every 2 weeks to scan. They do update the virus signature on it daily. I have also tried Avast Free for Mac it works great too and does auto update and run in the background, but at the time I tried it, it really slowed down my SSD drive on my Mac Mini, so unless that has been fixed I can't recommend it. Norton's I hated it on Windows and I would never consider it on a Mac.

 

[jef]

We have a young daughter and I just want to be safe. My luck as soon as I get it there will be a rash of new Mac crap.

Ah - well, most of the options pretty much suck. OS X has a small built-in anti-malware feature. In Mountain Lion, the checkbox to make sure it's enabled is under the "Advanced" section of the Security preference pane. Perhaps give her her own account, and set the Security setting for "Allow applications downloaded from" to just the Mac App Store. This will stop her from running anything she may download from a 3rd party site. All downloads get tagged with a "quarantine" xattr - which is how the system knows and warns you that "This is an application that was downloaded from the internet, are you sure you want to run it" dialog you see. With just Mac App Store set, she won't be able to override that quarantine. Not perfect, but a good start.

Also, I can say to avoid Sophos - I had an old version installed for some testing through my job, and it was absolute garbage. Heavy overhead, lags, just crapped up performance like crazy. Maybe it's better now, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Maybe start here for anti-virus, too -- ClamXav ClamAV is a pretty popular server-side detector....

 

[Ehilbert1]

Thank you for all your help and input! I appreciate it. I'm kind of excited to have a Mac. My wife loves her Macbook Pro so I'm sure I will feel the same way.

 

[HecticArt]

When will you get it?

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