[newmacnow]

I was all ready to buy a new iMac after yesterday's announcments but nothing was said.

I was ready to buy a new iMac about the middle of last November but figured I could wait it out 6 to 8 weeks to see what was upgraded. I don't need a computer per say right this moment but my 9 year old G3 B&W is really starting to show its age and I was really hoping to buy yesterday.

When I buy a new one I plan on keeping it a pretty long time and for that reason I think it makes sense to get one that is pretty well up to speed to run Leopard. Yes, what is available right now will be fine for Leopard but the little speed/RAM boost that may be coming is what I want to wait for.

I waited 6 weeks and I can wait 2 more maybe, but who thinks Apple might not have any iMac updates before Leopard comes out in May? I don't think I could wait 3 more months to buy.

Either way if there is a tweaked iMac coming out any time in the next 3 months I will be less then happy if I buy one now.

I had made my deiscion to buy last October but didn't have the money till mid November and that is why I decided to wait it out, but I really don't want to wait anymore. But if Apple has a "Just one more thing" announcment in the next week or two I will really be upset if I break down and buy one now. If I wait two more weeks and nothing is introduced then I will probably buy but against my better judgement.

[mduell]

I think we'll see updates in March-April; possibly delayed a bit to be after the Leopard launch.

[No Time 4 Love Dr. Jones]

Same boat, except I have no home computer at all. I've been doing everything at work, which isn't optimal. I'm content with being instantly outdated as it goes with hardware, but no one wants to buy and then see a new iMac with iLife '07 included one day past the exchange window.

[votoms888]

I was in the same boat. But during X'mas I went out and bought a C2D imac 20" and haven't looked back. I believe, Apple wouldn't release an OS that would make every other machine before it run slow or obsolete, so any of the current machines should be more than adequate. That is me. Anyone else?

[rjenkinson]

Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac

-r.

[bbales]

I'm in much the same boat (though at least I'm using a G4 tower -- an old one, but it's a 400 MZ tower upgraded to a 900 MZ processor). Was ready to choose b/n a tower and imac, based on the Expo when... well, you know.

I'm still mulling what to do. Of course, this is probably only the second time in my life that I've been prepared to buy shortly after an Expo, so I'm a little irked. But I'll get over it. I guess.

[Pierre B.]

As I said in the other thread, I don't expect anything before the end of April. It is around the time that Santa Rosa comes out and it does not make much sense to update the iMac just before that and leave it for another six months at least with last year's technology, while the rest of the industry will be moving quickly to the new platform.

[praterkeith]

There will always be the risk of something new coming out. Just wait until the next revision. Buy right then. And there ya go!
You've managed this long on the PM g3, a few more months won't hurt, eh?

[newmacnow]

I was afraid of that. I figured the most likely time for an iMac update will be when they release Leopard. I can't, in good conscience, buy a iMac now and then have an update in 3 months, and I just can't wait.

I figure there will be Leopard specific updates to most of the computers when it is released just because of some of the features it appears to have or we expect it ot have.

I just think TimeMachine is a key fetaure that will lead to a change in what the iMac might come with. I know plenty of people who if they bought an iMac would not realize or care that a second drive might be necessary to benefit from TimeMachine. I don't see how it could be used as a back up on the same harddrive, there would be no saftey in that. So I speculate that somehow the newer iMac will have a second drive already built in. Only because, like I said, people I know are computer novices and would never have reason to buy a second external drive, in which case as much as Apple presented TimeMachine why would they do that if there wasn't a default second drive to back up on to. Time Machine would be a useless feature to the people I know, they wouldn't get the concept. Which might be OK, but why would Apple present it so early and be so proud of it?

Oh well I guess I will wait 2 weeks and if nothing then, I might buy.

[bbales]

I think I've decided to hold off. My desktop is 6 years old. I've already missed the tax advantages of buying in '06, so I think I'll just hold off. At this point, it's more that I was thinking I'd have decided by now, more than i really NEED to have something. (Though this one is getting long in the tooth, and sometimes the lag when doing anything with photos drivers me berserk.) But I've waited this long, so I might as well wait a little longer.

[mduell]

Santa Rosa, Leopard, and iLife 07 will be out in April; what's the next thing around the corner then? Quads and iLife 08, which are both 8 months away. I'd wait until April for those three, then buy.

[schwaz80]

You can always wait for the next thing. There will always be something better. Apple typically runs a 6 month product cycle... so there will always be updates to the current product line. Buy the computer when you're ready to buy it.

[Helmling]

I'm sorry, I don't see the value of TimeMachine...I mean, on a PC, yeah, but I've never had a situation on my Macs that would call for it.

The iMac is a great machine, why worry about what will happen to it in 3 months? That's half a cycle from now. Just buy and enjoy. I'm typing this on my 1st gen MacBook. I bought it four months ago, about two months before they slapped the Core 2 Duo's in the line.

Regrets: 0

[newmacnow]

I agree I could always wait for something better, and I only waited this long because I was so close to an update when I had finally saved enough to buy the computer.
I had bought a B&W Rev A and right afterwards they upgraded the PCI chip to Rev B which would allow a master & slave drive to be put in, so I had to buy a card to put in another drive, but had I waited a little longer I wouldn't have had to do that.

Since I am ready to buy I am more in agreement that it's time to just buy instead of waiting for the next best thing. But since I don't desperately need a new computer, mine does what I need it to do, why not just wait a little longer.

Helmling: Yes a Core Duo is a great machine but only 32 bit, when Leopard comes out it will be 64 bit and the Cure 2 Duo would be a better chip to own. My opinion. I realize the iMac already has the Core 2 Duo in it but there are other reasons I am hesitating. With as long as I keep a computer it would seem more logical to get something as current as possible. If I buy an iMac now, it is limited to 3GB RAM. Will that be enough ram 6 years from now, I doubt it. If I wait three more months a new iMac, hopefulle, may be capabale of 4GB or maybe even more. That would have a much better chance of being usable for 6+ years and running 10.6 and 10.7 then todays iMac. Again that is my opinion, who knows what could change in a few years.
As for TimeMachine, I have had a drive completely fail on me at least a couple times in different computers at work and TimeMachine would have been a big help. I don't see the benefit of TimeMachine for crashes or lost files, but when a hard drive dies permanently some type of back up is a big help.

[praterkeith]

how bout a mac mini to do you over? they've had some nice refurbs lately.

[newmacnow]

praterkeith: Believe it or not I had that discussion with my wife last night.

I was in the market for a 24" iMac but was also considering the 20". So I would commit to the 20" and use the $500 to buy a macmini that would be a vast improvement over the 9 year old B&W but not something that would keep me happy forever .

Then I would buy the 20" when there was an announcement.

She was going to use the B&W as a second computer for awhile anyway as hers while I got teh iMac. This way she would have something better that would last her alot longer.

We mostly want to use our computers for the web, some gaming (Myst series, Doom3, XPlane), she does some Photoshop with scrapbooking, I like to throw together our home movies and pictures into a compiled iMove on DVD. We will probably use Bootcamp too, maybe even for some gaming, like Doom 3 type games.

[SLiMeX]

I'm in the process of getting rid of all my older machines that I dont use too much. I'd like to buy a Mac Mini, but they are still back with Core Duo's. I'd expect them to jump to Core 2 Duo's soon.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by newmacnow 

Helmling: Yes a Core Duo is a great machine but only 32 bit, when Leopard comes out it will be 64 bit and the Cure 2 Duo would be a better chip to own.

And what does 64-bit do for you in a machine that supports less than 4GB RAM? Almost nothing! Some benchmarks go up a couple percent, some are unchanged, and some go down a couple percent. Not something worthy paying extra for.

[RodiAndori]

I will wait. I have a PB G4 1.25Ghz and i have been thinking about buying a new iMac except i didnt want the 24" but I wanted the 7600 graphics card because I think the x1600 is to weak. Hopefully they will update the 20" with a better graphics card and as soon as Apple does that I will buy it.

[newmacnow]

mduell: really not that technically minded on the that stuff. But if Leopard is 64bit capable there has to be at least some benefit to running it on a 64 bit capable processor as opposed to a 32bit processor.

Plus that is why I am considering waiting till new iMacs are released, because hopefully the new iMacs will be capable of holding more then 4 GB of RAM.

Why buy an iMac now that will not take advantage of Leopard's 64bit capability?
Your statement might have just answered my question. If todays Core 2 Duo iMac with 3GB is not going to take advantage of the 64bit capability of Leopard, then I am going to wait. Thanks.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by newmacnow 

mduell: really not that technically minded on the that stuff. But if Leopard is 64bit capable there has to be at least some benefit to running it on a 64 bit capable processor as opposed to a 32bit processor.

Plus that is why I am considering waiting till new iMacs are released, because hopefully the new iMacs will be capable of holding more then 4 GB of RAM.

Why buy an iMac now that will not take advantage of Leopard's 64bit capability?
Your statement might have just answered my question. If todays Core 2 Duo iMac with 3GB is not going to take advantage of the 64bit capability of Leopard, then I am going to wait. Thanks.

There are, in some areas. The desktop isn't one of them.
The new iMacs will support 4GB, but no more, which 32-bits handles just fine.
64-bit is the most overhyped thing out there. Google up the benchmarks. They're throughly unimpressive.

[bobolicious]

Apple tends not to upgrade the Christmas favourites right away, so my guess is:
- monitors with iSight
- 8 core powermac
- mini core 2 duo & 3.5" drive

June would be my guess for 10.5, iMac & MacBook (Edu buyers), HDTV & of course the iPhone...

The mini would be your cheap quick fix, or a refurb 20" iMac...

[SLiMeX]

When Will The New Ones Come Out?!

[OnTheOuter]

I too have been waiting for a new iMac with Leopard, and IMHO, my own thoughts are...

Steve Jobs is a master of media marketing, every time Apple releases something new it becomes News around the globe, like the iPhone, creating millions of $$$ of free advertising, if they released new hardware or software on the same day as iPhone, it would have gotten lost. If they released software before Vista, it would have gotten lost also. This way they have 2 clear media events and double the free worldwide advertising for their products.

And more importantly, I believe they are waiting for Vista to be released before they drop the 'Leopard Bomb' to obliterate and make fools of the competition! For this reason, I would be expecting Leopard to be an absolute GEM.

If I was going to guess, I'd say Leopard within 2 months of Vista.

[SLiMeX]

I am expecting Feb. 20th to be the next step in Mac Mini as well as the drop date of Leopard.