[waterbuck]

I have a choice to get either a refurb iMac or a new one off the education website. I'm having trouble sorting out the importance of the 256 MB VRAM (which you can only get with the new one).

I currently use a 15" 1.67 MHz G4 Powerbook (rev D) with the option BTO 128 MB VRAM (and 1 GB RAM). I occasionally game (and performance seems fine) but I find editing (applying effects) in iMovie and encoding of DVD's fairly slow.

My wife needs a new machine and the 2 choices are

(1) **Refurb 20" Intel Core Duo iMac 2GHz
512 RAM (which I would supplement to 1.5 MB, using external vendor)
128 VRAM ATI 1600
Price: $1520 if you include the Applecare)


(2) **New 20" Intel Core Duo iMac 2GHz (NEW adds $200 in price)
512 RAM (which I would supplement to 1.5 MB, from external vendor)
256 VRAM AT 1600 (this adds $68 in price)
Price: 1788 if you include the Applecare.

With the NeW computer you can get a 2GB iPod NANO for free (through a $179 rebate). My wife is potentially interested in an iPod but not desperate for one.

In either case I would spend another $109 to buy a 1GB RAM chip from Otherworld.

So the upshot is, is it worth about $268 more to get a new machine with a 256 VRAM chip?

Any thoughts?

[sbender_ceo]

just get the refurb, there is not much difference. I have one new one and one with the 128 and I cant tell the difference, I use both for video and image editing. They both work the same.

[mBurns]

Go for the new machine with 256 VRAM. The reason for this is because the machine will last for more years. Plus, as applications get more demanding, you will be happy you have the better graphics card.

[imitchellg5]

I agree with mBurns, especially because it is hard to add a graphics card to the iMac later.

[waterbuck]

I think for a new purchaser (where the better card is +$68, the choice for the 256 VRAM should be automatic. Such a small extra cost, even if offers only small benefit.

If the alternatives are, however, a good refurb (with the 128 VRAM) versus a new machine at the educational discount (with the 256 as an add-on) the price differential is more like $268.

With that kind of price differential, it is a little trickier to make a choice, because the cost differential is higher. We went for the refurb....I'll use the "saved" dollars on something else of arguable value, I'm sure.

One thing I have read about this ATI1600 graphics chip is that it is a "solid, middle class chip"...i.e there are a range of factors other than the VRAM size that govern the chip's ultimate performance capacity, including the number of "pipelines" in the chip (whatever those are!). Apparently, boosting a mid-range chip's VRAM may not be as valuable as having the option to have a truly high-end chip installed in the machine.

But I'm out of my depth on this topic, so I'll stop here.