[typoon]

I'm looking at the 17" iMac. Apple has a refurbed 2GHz iMac for 949. It's a toss up between that or the new iMac with the iSight built in.

I already have an iSight. The only real thing that is making me want a new iMac is Front Row and the remote. Other than that the other iMac is fine.

Any suggestions or help with this? Which would you get?

Both come with 512 Megs of RAM and a superdrive.

[thiagofll]

Hey,

This is a tough question because the old iMac has some advantages over the new one, as much as the new one has some advantages on the old one.
Here's why...
The new iMac has a better Video Card and the screen is brighter than the previous iMac.
The new iMac has built in iSight ( but you already have an iSight camera so it doesn't really matter)
The new iMac does not come with built in dial up modem (most people nowadays do not use it, however, if you are a dial up user u will have to pay $49.00 for an external usb dial up modem)
The old 2.0 Ghz iMac has more frontbus than the new 17inch iMac, so it will be a little slower but the new iMac comes with DDR2 Ram which is faster than the previous DDR, so it compensates a little more.
The new iMac is thinner than the previous model.
The new iMac comes with Frontrow so if you like to listen to your songs, videos and photos from accross the room and have the benefit of a wireless remote control, you will love it.
Now the new 20 inch 2.1 Ghz iMac is faster than the previous 20 inch iMac, since it has a faster clock, more frontbus and brighter and faster graphics...
I personally do not like buying refurbished items, they never work right. I have never had luck with refurbished stuff. You are pretty much buying a defective unit, that was fixed to be resold, now, have you ever had your computer repaired? They fix it but then something else breaks, because they didn't put the parts back in place the way they should etc etc...so it is the same thing, the chances of a refurbished item malfunctioning is higher than a brand-new item.
Hope this helped....

[typoon]

Well I don't really care about the modem. Broadband is a good thing. So that's a non issue

Front row is cool but not a total deal breaker.

The bus speed and Ram is also not a really big issue. Though the faster RAM is good.

I guess it's really up to me just deciding.

[V]

The new iMacs seem to be more reliable than the previous models. No heat issues, more quiet etc.

[dale]

Save the extra few hundred £/$'s and get yourself a 20" 2.1 imac. If you are deliberating now, I suspect you are worried over making the correct decision. You cannot upgrade a 17" to a 20" iMac, and you never hear people say - I can't cope with all this screen.

20" 2.1 makes sense.

In a few years time we will be wondering how anyone can work on a tiny 17" screen. It wasn't too long ago that the base screen size was 14"/ 15". 17" was a luxury few could afford, as prices dropped, 17" became the acceptable standard. The same will happen with 20" (which is really a wider 17" screen - i.e roughly same height but 30% wider).