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glennk · Dec 18, 2006, 07:48 PM

Need some advice y'all....

Well, i've decided to take the plunge and buy a mac. I've seen both the 20 and 24" Imac. I love both and cannot decide. Like the 20" for the lower price, but love the 24" for the better video card and firewire 800. I plan to use this Mac for internet, picture manipulation, Parallels (for my pc stuff), chatting, and possibly Apperature (sp?). So far, i've gathered that 2gb is a must for running photo manipulation and running Parallels.

Any advice?

mduell · Dec 18, 2006, 08:54 PM

If you can afford 3GB and the 24", get that, otherwise take the 20" with 3GB.

Macintosh Sauce · Dec 18, 2006, 09:50 PM

Personally, if I was going to go for an iMac, I would get the 24" model. I was at the Apple Store in my city, and I had a real good look at the 24" iMac. Wow! Well worth the extra money IMO. Also, the 24" screen is so huge. LOL

I was thinking of the 24" iMac myself, but since I have a brand new 21" ViewSonic P225FB CRT monitor, I decided to go with the Mac Pro instead.

MacBird · Dec 19, 2006, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by glennk

Need some advice y'all....

Well, i've decided to take the plunge and buy a mac. I've seen both the 20 and 24" Imac. I love both and cannot decide. Like the 20" for the lower price, but love the 24" for the better video card and firewire 800. I plan to use this Mac for internet, picture manipulation, Parallels (for my pc stuff), chatting, and possibly Apperature (sp?). So far, i've gathered that 2gb is a must for running photo manipulation and running Parallels.

Any advice?

Go for the 20'' with the 256 Mb video upgrade and, optionally, with the 2 Gb RAM upgrade. Much better than the standard 24'' and you still save $250 for other gadgets. Unless the 24'' is a "must" for you!

glennk · Dec 19, 2006, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by MacBird

Go for the 20'' with the 256 Mb video upgrade and, optionally, with the 2 Gb RAM upgrade. Much better than the standard 24'' and you still save $250 for other gadgets. Unless the 24'' is a "must" for you!

So, we are up to 2 for the 24" and 1 for the 20". My biggest bonus, a friend of mine works for the Apple store and is planning to give me his 25% one time discount. Should I purchase extra software to go with the Mac or get it elsewhere? Any other recommended hardware? Oh yeah, I'm not intending to use this system for a "heavy workload"...aka, major picture manipulation, garage band, sound mixing, etc....

I'm thinking of the following Mac combinations:

20" iMac 2.16ghz
2 gb ram
256mb X1600
250 gb internal hdd (will purchase a 500 gb external for backup)
superdrive
wired keyboard and mouse
extended apple warranty

OR

24" iMac 2.16ghz
2gb ram
256gb 7600
250 gb internal hdd (will purchase a 500gb external for backup)
superdrive
wired keyboard and mouse
extended apple warranty

I have a set of Logitech Z-5500 speakers. Will the optical plug feature work with the iMac? Does it have a laser optical output?

MacBird · Dec 20, 2006, 01:27 AM

Lucky you! A 25% discount!!!.

Well, I still vote for the 20''. I have a 20'' G5 and I am very happy with it. I am a serious photographer amateur and 20'' is enough to work with pictures (and I process each one I shoot, working with RAW). I would invest my money on more RAM (specially if you plan to use Aperture).

Regarding the video card, the NVIDIA 7600 is superior for gaming (if this matters...)

I have to admit that 24'' is awesome, but... Anyway, it is your decision and your money! Any of your two choices will be a great one.

And yes, your Logitech speakers should work on the iMac; it has a headphone/optical digital audio output (minijack).

badnewsblair · Dec 20, 2006, 10:18 AM

I have the 20inch and the screen is plenty big for you. Unless you plan on watching a lot of movies and media on your screen, the 20inch will do you. I say buy the 20inch and deck it the heck out with everything you want. FW800 is cool, but not extremely useful unless you are going to be doing a lot of video. The external HDDs available with FW800 should all also come with FW400 and it will give you plenty of speed for transfers.

Hi I'm Ben · Dec 20, 2006, 10:49 AM

I used to say the 20inch screen was plenty big. Then I bought a 24inch Monitor. I don't think I could ever go back. It's hard to understand unless you actually own and work on that size monitor for awhile. The 1920x1200 (or whatever) resolution opposed to the 1680x1020 resolution is a big difference to me too. Although I setup a 20inch iMac for a friend and really liked it, I would definitely get the 24inch for myself.

glennk · Dec 21, 2006, 12:23 AM

Thanks y'all for the advice. Seeing as I am a Mac "virgin", all the advice you've offered definitely has helped. I've been a pc guy since '91 and before that? The dreaded Amiga 2000..... :-) So, this should be an interesting experience.

I'm not sure if I can justify the extra $400 for 4" of space, FW800 and an Nvidia video card. Still have a little time to decide... Lastly, other than the switch 101 course offered on apple.com....are there any other recommended websites to help me in my "conversion"?

Eriamjh · Dec 22, 2006, 07:07 PM

Get the 24". You will NEVER regret it.

glennk · Dec 24, 2006, 05:35 PM

Well, the order is in! Should get it sometime late next week!

24" iMac 2.13ghz
2gb ram
256 7600 Nvidia
250gb hdd
APP

$1851 + tax

scaught · Dec 25, 2006, 12:00 AM

^ nice one. I got the same (well, I didn't get the 256MB video card). It's so pretty.

glennk · Dec 25, 2006, 03:49 PM

Thanks again to all for your direction and support....now, i'm off to the software section...need to find a good antivirus/antispam setup. Looks as if the top two are Norton and Intego....i'm thinking i'll go for Intego.

scaught · Dec 25, 2006, 07:55 PM

I never use anything for antivirus on a mac. Really. Nothing. I don't know anyone that does, actually.

For anti-spam, I use the regular old mail app and an app called "junkmatcher". Google it.

glennk · Dec 30, 2006, 02:38 AM

Well, it arrived bright and early (and I mean early) on Friday. I've gotten it set-up (allbeit, with some difficulties) and installed Boot Camp/Win XP. I am going to test XP's stability on the system, get a back-up drive and test this puppy out. I'm thinking sometime next week that i'll forklift my data from my old pc over to the C drive on the iMac....and sadly, give the pc the boot.

glennk · Dec 30, 2006, 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by scaught

I never use anything for antivirus on a mac. Really. Nothing. I don't know anyone that does, actually.

For anti-spam, I use the regular old mail app and an app called "junkmatcher". Google it.

Well, I decided not to take any chances and downloaded Intego's Internet Security package (anti-spam, anti-virus and firewall). Looks pretty much like Zone Alarm (for the most part) so i'm happy with the choice.