I'm thinking of getting an imac...

Currently I have a docking station for my work ThinkPad laptop and use the screen & keyboard... Will I be able to do this with the imac screen?

With the 2011 iMac's you cannot do that unless the laptop has a Thunderbolt port which I'm sure it does not. The feature you're referring to is called Target Display Mode. The 2011 iMac's have Thunderbolt ports however the 27" 2009 & 2010 iMacs have mini display ports which would work. You can still buy 2010 iMac's from Apple's refurbished store. Now before you discount the a refurbished iMac know that almost every person that get's one cannot tell the difference from a new machine and they come with the same 1 year warranty as a new machine. In addition you can buy AppleCare for them which extends the warranty to 3 years from the date of purchase. That in addition to them saving you some money make Apple Refurbished machines a VERY viable option. For example at the Refurbished Mac Computers you can currently find a 2010 27" i5 iMac for $1419, if you check the store often inventory comes and goes so you can find some pretty nice deals.

Similar Messages

I have an old iMac and am thinking about getting an iMac intel do I need a different kind of usb and firewire cord?

I have an old iMac and am thinking of getting an iMac intel. Do I need a different type of usb and firewire cords to work with the new one?

What type of Firewire cable do you have?
If our not sure then first look up your computer with the serial number here,
http://support.apple.com/specs/
Then take a look at the specs for the new iMac here and see if you have compatible cable,
http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html

I'm tired of windows thinking of getting an iMac

I don't know if this is the right discussion board. I've been getting tired of Windows and thought of giving osx a try. I've been trying to choose between an iMac or a PowerMac. I want one that is at least equal to or better than my pc. How fast is the iMac 2.1GHZ processor?
My current pc has:
An Intel P4 HT 3.2GHZ
512MB RAM
250GB hard drive
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200

Hi Michelle,
As noted above a speed comparisson is a little tricky. You're also looking at a Desktop machine in the iMac and we don't know what your current machine is. I think that if you price out a similar machine, that is a desktop replacement v an all in one, you end up w/ the Mac being about $400.00 cheaper than a similarly configured PC Desktop Replacement machine.
If I was to compare the two I would do it in terms of general use and speed in most areas.
Using Photoshop CS2 or even Bridge on an older 1.6G5 works fine. There are threads where people rave about the speed on a 20" iMac. I would imagine that the speed is enough within a non-apple application provided it doesn't utilize core image. If core image is used then I think you'd be at least evenly matched by the mac, if not overpowered.
For most of the consumer Applications you have Apple branded products that come with your machine that are as fast as you would need, easier to use, and take advantage of the machines architecture.
Unlesss you need M$ Project, you will find that running Microsoft Office on a Mac is a fast and pleasant experience so if you stick to Office for a lot of things you'll have no speed issues.
If you're doing HD a lot then jumping to the fastest PowerMac would probably be better than what you have now and then you get into hardware.
The 20" has all the hardware you want. It's got an incredible screen, ample graphics capabilities, nice sized drive, bt 2.0 + edr, 802.11G, Slot loading dual-layer superdrive (basically the maximum capability burner you can get w/o lightscribe), built in powered firewire v usually ilink, USB 2.0, etc. A PowerMac will give you the same things less the monitor, which is quite a jump in money.
For Gaming I think most people who have used a console w/ good games would just use a console regardless of what computer they have. There are enough Mac game titles to completely stop your work and social productivity if you so choose.
If you get down to the user interface then I think the mac has a PC beat w/o question. IMHO even vista compared to tiger isn't going to change peoples minds. The current OS on a 2.1 is responsive, easy to use, extremely intuitive, offers all the advanced options you would want and more than you could use if you ever open terminal; while maintaining such an elegantly simple choice of settings or tasks that no assistants are required. There is a respectable help system for applications.
I think there are two things which are traded as platform currency: stability, and mal-ware/viruses/trojans/spy-ware (collectively illness). A Mac is rock solid. It just doesn't go around crashing. You can create a kernel panic if you really really try, but you never have to reinstall the operating system or take drastic measures. You can infact have upgraded your operating system through all the different ones in the past 5 years and have a completely serviceable and fast computer. My PC, and I gather most of them, has crashed (although it's not a frequent thing) and I have needed to completely re-install the OS at least once. I don't think you can get close to the stability of Mac OS X. So then there is illness. My PC requires preventative medicinal applications on a consistent basis and they do two things (slow down everything, especially installs), and cost me money. Even with a full immunization I can't take it out of isolation without some bar popping somewhere asking me to install this component or that or saying it was blocked because it might be a risk. I have absolutely no faith in the security of Windows and having to pay for security apps adds a lot to the price (not so on the mac side).
So sure, you might be a little faster w/ a limitted application, but you probably pay more, lose speed because 'X application is waiting for X anti-spyware to finish a scan of SomeWeird_NamedThing'.
My advice is go to an Apple store and try the machines. Your experience shoul

Should I Get An iMac?

I am thinking about getting an iMac 27". I will be using it for school, web browsing, and editing YouTube videos. I want it to last me for a few years. I this is what I will get on it: iMac 27" 3.4GHz Intel Core i7 34GB of Ram 768GB Flash Storage NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5
Do you think that will be good for me. (Note: I will be editing with iMovie and Final Cut Pro)

Michel,
I've no doubt that's the case, but remember we only see the failures here so there's no way to know whether we see average, below- or above-average reports. Hard drives are not made by Apple nor arethe SuperDrives. They could well be the same ones installed in a Mac Pro. GPUs and CPUs don't come from Apple either. There's no reason why they would fail any more frequently than in laptops. And since these are all OEM components we'd need to know how the failure rates compare to other mfgr.'s of similar computers.
I have had three iMacs running for as long as 7 years without any problems. I also have a 2006 Mac Pro that's also still running, although not presently in use. I've had numerous laptops since 2006 that are also running trouble-free. So, I wouldn't trust what I've seen here as a quality indicator.
Oh, I guess I might add a couple of iPod Touches and iPads presently in use, none of which have fallen into the toilet.

Is it time to get an iMac?

I just read on macrumors that a guy successfully upgraded the yonah chip in his macmini to a merom one with no problems at all.
Now i'm the market for a desktop mac and the powermacs are a little overkill for me so i want to get an imac but the reason i havent is because i was waiting for the merom chips.
Now that someone has sucessfully done the upgrade, i'm thinking of getting an imac now since i can upgrade the chips later on when the merom chips start shipping since the iMac has a socket based processor as well.
Usually when doing upgrades like these from my experience, the graphics cards always dissapoint as well as BIOS compatibility...but i know the Radeon X1600 card is a very solid card that'll last for a while and that intel has promised the yonah and merom boards are backwards compatible. This also means we can finally go past the 2GB RAM limit, which can only leas to good things
So what do you think folks? should i go ahead with this mode of action?

wasn't aware the merom processor was already out...

Hi My Roland PC300 no longer works with my iMac running OS 10.9.1. i'm thinking of getting a Yahama P105 digital piano with a usb port to act as a controller. Is this a compatible keyboard?

Hi
I have been using a Roland PC300 USB controller, but since an update it no longer works, i cant seem to get a current driver to work.
I have an imac on 10.9.1 with Logic Pro v 9.1.8 (32 bit)
I'm thinking of getting a Yahama P105 digital piano...... is this compatible via a USB connection does any one know?
I like the feel of the weighted Keys!!
Thanks

Hi
I have been using a Roland PC300 USB controller, but since an update it no longer works, i cant seem to get a current driver to work.
I have an imac on 10.9.1 with Logic Pro v 9.1.8 (32 bit)
I'm thinking of getting a Yahama P105 digital piano...... is this compatible via a USB connection does any one know?
I like the feel of the weighted Keys!!
Thanks

Thinking about getting a new iMac to use as the main computer. Has anyone done this? What is your experience and recommendations?

We have a 2009 MBP, 2010 MBP, 2011 MBA, an IPAD 2, and several ipods. Currently, my 2009 MBP is the main computer, holding all the music and pictures. This has used up the majority of the available storage and definitely slows it down some. I do back up the full computer to a backup drive and also remove the large movie files to another external drive. I'm thinking about getting a new iMac to use as the main computer. Has anyone done this? What is your experience and recommendations?
I look forward to all responses.
Thanks,
Brad

Thanks for your response. I look forward to hopefully learning something new here.
A good share of my music was added via my CDs, but now everything is added via itunes and occasionally amazon. Almost all my pictures and video are added through my cameras via iphoto although I have added some with the 'add image to iphoto library' function also.

How can I get my iMac to be the primary screen again?

Hi everyone!!
A couple days ago I was watching a movie on my tv, which is my ''external monitor" for my iMac. I used VLC and it was full screen on my tv, I never had any problems with it. After the movie ended, I couldn't get my iMac screen to work. I restarted, and it flashes a white screen and it does make the apple startup sound. Also everything seems to be working just fine. When I hook it up to my TV, I can use my tv as the ''main monitor" but my iMacs screen remains black. (I have it in mirroring mode now) When I restart by pressing the on and off switch, I do get a flash of my current screen, but it fades to black quite soon after. Even if I wake my iMac up, it shows me the log in screen for about half a secodn and also fades to black. So it's not the screen itself that has any issues.
I think I accidentally clicked something in the display settings, but I have no idea how I can get my iMacs screen to work again. Does anybody know how to get my iMac back to functioning as a primary monitor? When I unplug the thunderbolt cable, it doesn't switch back either.
I already tried dragging the apple top bar from one screen to another, but it doesn't work. When I reset the PRAM, it does restart, but right after I hear the second chime the screen still remains black and it boots like it did before, still no functioning iMac screen.
Thanks in advance!

The screen is all black, so it's not the backlight. It's weird because when I get the computer off of sleep mode, it shows the log in screen really quickly. So my LCD isn't broken either. It just switches back to the wrong resolution I guess. Which makes the screen black again.

Should I Get an iMac, Macbook Pro, or iPad (3rd Generation))

I'm getting a new "computer" this summer, and I was wondering: Which Apple Device is right for me: iPad 3, iMac, or Macbook Pro? I realize WWDC is this summer (a day after I was planning on getting a Macbook Pro, June 10, which is my birthday) and Apple will be releasing/ unveiling their new products there. I realized that the iMac is more bang for your buck, but people are starting to lean towards portable devices, such as laptops over desktops, and tablets over laptops (mostly). I had planned to get a Macbook Pro (when the 2012 models come out) as of Sunday, April 22. But, as I realized that the prices for each are so different, considering their value, I realized this:
iMac:
"Land" - Locked
More Power for money (student discount)
Will last me longer (at least 2.5 years)
Macbook Pro:
Portable
Costs less (as of student discount)
iPad 3:
Even More Portable
Costs even Less.
Considering these, which do think I should get by the following:
Me:
Go upstate every once a month or so.
Going on vacation in the summer w/ family.
Do light gaming (Sims 3, Civ 5, Spore; not much)
Plan on bragging about being the only one in family w/ Mac (bring to relatives' houses to prove a point to my cousin that he's not the one w/ the coolest computer)
Lots of Word Processing (can use pages on iPad)
w/ iPad, I'll have more money to use on accessories (Step dad giving me $500 towards computer, I'll have $350 by June 10)
Mostly do web browsing.
Want to use in school (high school)
If I get an iPad, I can afford to upgrade it every year, but not the Macs
Will be reading lots of books next year (will be taking AP English)
Lots of notes next year (Doing Government in Social Studies next year)
Will use iTunes U if needed
Need something to fit in backpack if using in school.
Not sure if teacher will allow laptops/ tablets.
Mostly do my computing at home
So what do you think? Should I get an iMac, Macbook Pro, or an iPad 3? Thanks! Best answer gets 5 ***** for the long reading!

Wow, using computers in school. I remember when I went, teachers flipped out if you had as much as a cell phone
A couple things I would like to point out:
1.) WWDC /=/ product releases. While it is likely, no one knows for a fact what will happen at WWDC other than usual events. I would expect it, but don't jump the gun and say "a new Mac will be launched at WWDC", because they have been released before WWDC.
2.) The iPad is in a different tier than Mac, IMO. I believe iPads should be supplements to PC's, since if troubleshooting need occur, you must still have a PC to restore. (Mac is PC). So say if you suddenly go into Recovery mode, you will be stuck until you find a PC to restore to. One downfall of iOS devices, so for that reason, I will not recommend the iPad alone.
If you plan to do most of your computing at home, I would get the iMac. I am a college student, and plan on replacing my Macbook Pro (selling it) with an iMac if I can afford it. I agree with you on the "bang for your buck", but even then, iMac is still pricey. With $850, you're still shy $300 of the $1149 price w/education discount. If you want to upgrade your processor (which I would), that's even more $. Plus, software if you need it.
What exactly are you going to do with a Mac that you cannot do with a Windows PC (outside of just using the Mac OS)? The playing field is leveling out quite a bit. But, if you plan on developing of any sort, get a Mac.

I want to get an iMac to learn Logic Pro primarily and gaming secondly

I am new to all this (computers, Logic Pro and video games) but I want to learn. Is an iMac a good computer to run Logic Pro (I am also considering Mac mini)? I am also wondering about the nvidia geforce gtx 780m with 4 gb dedicated ram. How many years down the road will this graphics card be good for. From what I hear pc gamers have to periodically be upgrading things like graphics cards on their computers to be able to play newer games in the future, but I don't have that option with say this graphics card on the 27 inch imac, so I guess my question is, for how long will this nvidia geforce gtx 780m with 4 gb dedicated ram be good for before it becomes obsolete, 3 years, 5 years ,maybe more or less I do not know. I was thinking about getting a Mac mini for the Logic Pro and getting a play station 4 for gaming or just getting thr iMac and use it for both Logic Pro and gaming and forget about the play station 4. I need some real help over here, so if anyone could please help me out I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. P.S. I have also heard that the Mac mini is a good option for Logic Pro being that it has the integrated graphics card and Logic Pro is not a really graphic intensive app, so maybe I would be straight going the Mac mini and play station 4 route.

You are better off getting a dedicated gaming box for gaming than using a Mac for heavy gaming.
Unless you go with a top of the line iMac with just about all of the optional components, Macs do not make great heavy gaming machines. Plus, a gaming box is sooo much cheaper than a Mac for gaming.
For using Logic, I would just go for the 21 inch screen iMac and get it with the optional full 16 GBs of RAM and optional i7 CPU and, if you can afford all of the options, get this iMac with the optional Fusion drive, too!
The combination SSD and hard drive in the fusion drive will help make up for the slower 5400 RPM drives that they are putting into only the 21 inch screen models.
With this configuration, this iMac would last you, at least, 5 years.

I'm going to get the I Mac and since the new I Mac doesn't have DVD drive on it I was thinking to get the Samsung SE-506AB Slim Portable Blu-ray Writer in order to burn movies from I movie do I need a special software for that since the SE-506ab comes onl

I’m going to get the I Mac and since the new I Mac doesn’t have DVD drive on it I was thinking to get the Samsung SE-506AB Slim Portable Blu-ray Writer in order to burn movies from I movie do I need a special software for that since the SE-506ab comes only with windows software.. but I did check and it is compatible with apple. Can you please advise me and or let me know if I’m buying the right stuff or if there is any other blu ray that will work with the I mac as plug and play.
Thank you
Haim

This freezing reminds me of really old Macs, long ago, in the days of the old-school peripherals like SCSI drives, terminators, scanners and the like. If you had a SCSI conflict, like the wrong device ID's or something, you'd freeze up like that. Back in those days you'd call 800-SOS-APPLE (AAPL?) and they'd run you through disconnecting all your extra hardware - Jaz and Zip drives, CD burners, scanners etc and then eliminate them one by one by adding them incrementally and testing for the freeze/bomb dialog.
But, today we have Firewire and none of those ancient issues (no free lifetime tech support either). My iMac's ports are all full, and I only know which devices are connected when I have to remove something for another device. iSight, scanner, card reader, external hard drive, USB soundsticks, etc. You wouldn't happen to have any SCSI devices hooked up, would you?
Out of curiosity, have you tried a different USB/Firewire port for the hard drive? Or run the hardware test DVD that comes with your computer? This weird freezing seems to suggest a problem with the computer, RAM or network more than a device. Bad devices, in my experience, cause kernel panics, not freezing.

Is getting an iMac AND Macbook Air reasonable?

Hello
I've been a computery guy for some time. I am going from being a serious gamer that built a custom gaming PC that cost $3,500+ to selling said gaming PC and having no computer at all. I am giving up gaming to return to school and would like to attend med school when I finish undergrad. Anyhow, since I will have no computer at all, I would like to get an iMac 21.5 w/ 256GB flash and 8GB RAM to keep on my desk at home, and then get a Macbook Air 13.3 with the i5, 256GB Flash, and 8GB RAM to use at school and carry about etc.
I will be working full time in addition to going to school full time, and will be traveling on public transit and outdoors quite a lot. My thinking is that since the Macbook will be somewhat more susceptible to damage/theivery, etc. than for people who only carry it between school/home and their car, it will be good to have a desktop to use at home and as a backup. I do watch a fair amount of streaming media at home (although this will be more infrequent going to school + work), and would appreciate the larger screen and the ability to have a "base" at home without having to get out the Macbook and hook up the charger, etc. Also, I would prefer to put fewer cycles through the Macbook's battery which using a desktop at home would help.
I'll be doing pre-med undergrad studies, so I'll be doing average student activies...MS Office, music, streaming, surfing etc. No games.
I'm just wondering if I'm going to be overdoing it getting both. I will probably get between $600-1K for the sale of my gaming PC, and a $200 statement credit on the card I'll use, which will help offest the cost of both, but I've been getting mixed opinions as to whether I should get both. I'm not rich, but I do make a half decent living and will be working during undergrad (about 5 semesters left). Plus 0% APR until August 2015 so I can pay over a few months without penalty + education discount.
Yes, I'm aware that med school is a lot of debt and I have that to look forward to.
Anyway, I'm just asking for additional opinions really to see if I'm being wasteful/crazy. I can see myself using both.
Thanks

My suggestion would be to get a MP Air or MB Pro and then get an external display to use when you are home. This would be less expensive and easier to mainting. You can run the laptop in clamshell mode and have the best of both world while still at home. Of the two, I'd recommend a MBP for it's power and display, however a powerful MBA may be OK too.

Getting new iMac soon.... get 750GB or 500GB?

Since the iMac is not easily upgraded I was thinking of getting the 750GB HD. Question for those of you who have the 750GB drive. What drive is Apple using ( Vendor, Model, Cache Size) and how does this compare with the 500GB drive?

George Peters wrote:
Indeed I was quite tempted to get the Seagate ST3500320AS because of the 32MB cache
Yep, I was lookin' at that too, but a Seagate compatibility note (link below)
scared me off. It's probably of no concern to ALU iMac owners with SATA II
internals, but it might be a problem with SATA I internal busses or with
some external enclosures.
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/beforeyou_buy/buying_a_drive_for_amacintosh/
It's an old note and might no longer apply, but I was in a hurry to order a
drive and didn't research it any further than that -- just played it safe and
went with the 7200.10-series ST3500630AS.
... low and behold it now houses a Seagate ST3500630AS!
All Seagate drives have a 5-year warranty. If the HD fails after your Apple
warranty expires, you can get a free replacement just by calling Seagate
and giving them the serial number. I've done it a couple times with dead
OEM Seagates from HP PCs. Tried it once with a WD drive, but they refused.
Looby

Should I get an iMac or a MacBook Pro

I am wondering wether or not i should get an iMac or a MacBook Pro at this time? I am a gamer, but not a hardcore one. I will occasionally play cod. Also, i will use my computer to watch movies and videos. I don't know what to get. I am deciding between something more portable or something more immersive.

The benchmarks on the best iMac desktop is not that much better then the 17" MBP laptop according to most sources: c.10400 (MBP) vs. c.11600 (iMac)+.
Get the laptop, then get an Apple 27" screen to go with it. Get the best of both worlds.
Costs more but that's life to get more options, hey ;-)
I have the same setup, and works for me.
(...oh and BTW, if you buy the MBP together with certain other Apple products (eg. screen, time capsule, et al), and purchase the advisable Applecare for the laptop; they all get covered under the laptop policy so you don't have to buy Applecare for each one individually! Which I think is a nice policy on Apple's part — though obviously they get you to buy more stuff at the same time [i.e. also a clever marketing technique] ;-)
Hope helps.
(+ source: MacTracker app [get it it's good!].)

Should I get an iMac or a Mac Mini?

My iMac just completely broke down after having multiple issues with it and now I'm looking at getting a new Mac. I love the iMac, but I'm not gonna deny that it's pretty expensive. If I get one, I'll just go all the way and get the 27''. Otherwise, I was thinking about getting the Mac Mini and just getting a seperate monitor. I don't do any gaming or anything like that. I use my Mac for internet, movies, editing pictures, and that's pretty much it. My reasoning for getting the Mini is that because it's so cheap, I won't feel so bad about upgrading in a few years. With the iMac, it'll be hard to justify to my wife why I want to spend another $1,000+ in a few years. What do you think?

Top Mac Mini: $799
Apple mouse + keyboard: $118 ( not included with the mini )
Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive $79.00 ( No DVD/CD drive included with the mini)
24" LCD around $170
Mini display port to DVI adapter to connect LCD $34.00
Basic webcam around $40.00
Total for Mac Mini: $1240
Total for iMac 21": $1199 Including; keyboard, mouse, monitor, superdrive,webcam.
The iMac as a quad core i5 versus a dual core i5 in the Mini.
So in the end, the price is almost the same, but with the Mini you can replace the LCD for under $200 if it is dead in a few years.
Changing the LCD in a iMac will cost at least $500.00
You can also reuse the LCD bought with a Mac Mini with a other computer later on.
It's up to you!

I'm thinking of getting an imac...

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