[indigoimac]

I will most definitely be purchasing an iMac in the near future but as I budget it out I have a few questions. I'll likely wait until 10.4.8 is out.

I'm looking at the 17" 2.0GHz model w/ the ATi Gfx, I will be ordering it w/ an upgrade to 2gig o' ram.

Question 1: Should I fork the 90$(edu discount) and get the 2.16GHz upgrade?

Is the performance difference worth the cost, or should I just not bother and upgrade in a couple years w/ the next latest and greatest compatible proc.

Question 2: I doubt I'll be doing much 3d work, but I guess you never know, ignoring the screen size would it be worth upgrading to the 20" simply to be able to add 256MB of Memory to the x1600 gfx or should I just stick to the 17 and the stock 128MB.

Question 3: How will the x1600 w/ only 128MB perform w/ say an external 20" running at say 1680x1050 or 1600x1200 in general stuff, not including 3d.

Last but not least, Question 4: How will the machine perform for the future, looking ahead to 10.5 and kinda cringing at Vista, how is it predicted to perform.

Thanks alot, I'm really getting excited about a new mac in the house, sad isn't it.

-indigo

[mduell]

1. No

2. No

3. Great

4. Great
The VRAM may become a limitation if you use Spaces in Leopard or Virtual Desktops in Vista a lot.

[indigoimac]

Excellent mduell, thanks alot.

[Hiramw]

Hi,

If you are not sold on the 17" you might consider the 20" iMac. I'm debating between the two myself. If you take the 17" and add a bigger hard drive and the faster processor to make it match the stock configuration of the 20" you get a different view of the value of the 20".

Using standard Apple Store prices, the iMac 17", 2.16GHz, 250GB is $1374 compared to the iMac 20", 2.16GHz, 250GB for $1500. So, for an extra $126 you are getting a 20" screen as opposed to a 17" screen once you make the two equal in other regards.

Just something to consider.

Hiram