Which iMac 27"?

I currently have a Dell XPS, (Vista Home Premium) 2.4 Ghz Quad core (Intel). It came with 1TB hard drives - 2 x 500GB hard drives with (I think) a RAID array.
The thing has been the worst PC I've ever had & is on its third hard drive. The RAID no longer works and I can only use 1 x 500GB hard drive. I have 2TB of external hard drives which I use to store audio, photos and video.
I'm looking to buy an iMac 27" and would appreciate some advice as to the configuration.
I use Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint & Publisher a lot. I also make short videos for Youtube (and to embed into Powerpoint) using Windows Movie Maker and Live Movie Maker. I got Adobe Premiere Elements too but it's too much for my old Dell which is on its knees, although when it works it's still fast. I use my iPhone 5 and iPad 3 for recording and I'm going to get a Blue Yeti mic.
I haven't got loads of cash to spare but I'd like to get a machine that will last a few years. I've managed to keep the Dell going for about 6-7 years, mainly because of the external HDs. I am happy to continue to store videos etc on external HDs.
I will be using the internet, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Audacity and iMovie / Adobe Premiere Elements the most. I'm looking at:
* 3.2 Ghz i5 or 3.5 Ghz i7
* Happy with 8GB RAM - will update later as necessary
* Not sure about the Fusion drive after bad experience of the RAID drives failing repeatedly
* 1TB or 3TB SATA HD
* NVIDIA Geforce 2GB or 4GB
I can't afford the i7 / 3TB HD with NVIDIA 4GB so it's really what compromise to make with the above to get the best system for my needs. I will also need to add a Superdrive at £65 and Apple care at £139.
I can't decide whether to get a magic mouse or trackpad?
2. Also, if I wanted to use Microsoft Office on the Mac, would I need to install Windows as well? If I need to install Windows, I wouldn't use office on the Mac. (I'm going to reinstall the OS on the Dell to try and get it working better and then run both PCs side by side until I feel able to rely solely on the Mac). I'll have two large screens side by side as well.
I know you must get asked this question a lot so I appreciate your time in replying. Thank you :-)

1 - I have both the trackpad and mouse. Use the mouse more than the trackpad but not by much
2 - to install Windows on the Mac you'll need a fully licensed version, the OEM version that came with the Dell won't work. Office is available for the Mac as well as Windows (though it doesn't include Publisher or Access). I like Office 2011 (Mac) better than Office 2010 (Win).
The difference in speed between the two processors is noticeable in only a few programs - like running a filter on a large Photo in Photoshop. I doubt you'd notice it in your work. The Fusion drive is marvelous. I've had my iMac (with Fusion drive) for just over a year and it has performed flawlessly. If you choose against it I'd urge you to select the SSD and add more storage via USB3 or Thunderbolt external drive. The better graphics card may provide greater lifetime usablilty but not necessarily. If you can't find a reason now to get it, don't.
The remarkable thing about Macs is how they keep their value. I've found that purchasing the low or middle end and reselling after a shorter period is less expensive than buying the top of the line and trying to keep it longer.

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Which Imac would be better for gaming?

So i've got a choice between these two models -
£1329.60
3.1GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
TB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
8gb Ram
NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 1GB GDDR5
Apple care
27 inch model
3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz
8GB (two 4GB) memory
1TB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M with 1GB video memory
Apple care
£1407.60
Basically, the decision is down to, do I want a slightly better graphics card and bigger screen, or a smaller screen and better processer?
I just want to gauge opinions, i'll be using it as my day to day computer as well, some video editing, but nothing too strenuous. How big is the difference in graphic and processing powers.
Thanks for your help

With all due respect the question was "which iMac would be better for gaming?". Key word here is 'better', not 'perfect', not 'ideal'; just 'better'. Unqualified answers and/or sweeping statements do very little to contribute to a discussion, let alone answer the question under consideration.

Which imac would work best for Graphic Design?

I am a Graphic Designer, currently using Creative Suite 2 (soon to be upgraded to CS3) and I need a new Mac for home. A Powermac takes up too much space, so I'm thinking about an imac with a 24" monitor and I have a few questions for the experts:)
Which imac would work best for graphics?
Is the monitor acurate for Pantone color matching?
Is the 24"monitor on the imac clear and bright?
Is Leopard a stable OS?
I also need an (inexpensive) color laser printer. Any suggestions?
Thanks a bunch!
Suzi (Machead since the beginning of Mac history)

Hello and Welcome to Apple Discussions.
The 24" iMac uses a superior LCD panel to the 20" model and so is certainly better suited to your purposes. I don't know how badly having a piece of glass in front of the display would affect you as a designer though.
The display certainly is clear and bright. I use it on it's lowest brightness setting.
Leopard is stable but it's worth checking that drivers for any devices that you currently rely on are available. For example I have to go back to my 10.4.11 iMac G4 to use my scanner. Personally I can't get iCal to alarm in Leopard but that's a fairly minor gripe.
As this is the forum for much older iMacs I'd suggest re-posting in the Intel iMac forum and even Mac OS 10.5 Printing forums for better informed opinion:
<hr width="200">
G4 (aka Flat Panel): Intel:
Click image to go to correct forum.
cheers
mrtotes

Which iMac for use with Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom

Any opinions on which iMac is best for use with Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom. Not sure if the 2.7 i5 with 512 graphics card is Plenty of power or if upgrading to the 3.1 i5 or 3.4 i7 is a wiser choice given the price differences. Appreciate the help

So I was reading over your post, and even though this is older and has to do with CS5, I have some information for CS6 that will be relevant to your question now that it is time to upgade the software. In general Photoshop has always been more about RAM than Processing power, though that is important too. Until CS5 it could never quite take advantage of what multi-core processors really had to offer, and even the graphics card didn't really effect much of it outside of certain features and the 3D optio
Now that is no longer true and Adobe can effeciently use all aspects of the computer to give you much better performance.
So much so that I was able to buy a brand New ASUS with the following specs:
Dual Core 2.2GHz Processors
8GB of RAM (4GB original to the machine)
Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit OS
320GB HDD w/ 5400RPM
This machine not only runs photoshop CS6 and Launches in less than 5 Seconds... it can run Premier and After Effects as well, and this Laptop cost me less than $400 (on sale at Best Buy 2 Weeks Ago. You don't have to buy something this cheap, but isn't it great that you can and still run Master Collection effectively?
You can read my details on how to buy a Photoshop CS6 Laptop, what specs you need, comparison between Mac and PC and watch the video of my Photoshop Speed Test by reading this article:
http://robertoblake.com/blog/2012/06/buying-a-photoshop-cs6-laptop

I do a lot of CAD work and 3D modelling on my aging HP. Which iMac would best suit?

I do a lot of CAD work and 3D modelling, (Sketchup), on my aging HP. Which iMac would best suit my needs ?

I agree with RRFS.
If you can afford it, Custom spec out and purchase the best components for your iMac.
Custom order the fastest i7 CPU, custom GPU (if you can afford it order the 2 GB VRAM GPU, otherwise get the 1 GB VRAM GPU), add the custom largest SSD.
Purchase 16 GBs of RAM or more (the new iMacs can take up to 32 GBs of RAM) from online memory suppliers like Crucial memory or OWC. They are cheaper to buy RAM from.
iMacs are not designed and are not user upgradeable for components other than RAM.
Purchasd the best you can afford now as it will be much harder to get what you really needed later.
Also, I highly recommend with whatever iMac purchase you make, you budget for 3-year extended AppleCare.
iMacs have, somewhat, a regular component failure history. I believe that these failures are due to how much warmer iMacs run than anything else. Purchasing and having extended AppleCare will give you peace of mind and free warranty service for three years.
Good Luck on whatever you decide.

Which imac is faster?

I will some gaming and cant decide which imac to get?
Upgraded second level 21.5 in
3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
3MB shared L2 cache
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2G
1TB Serial ATA Drive
Front side bus 1066MHz
1920 by 1080 pixels
or
$1999 (non upgraded top level imac) 27 in mac 2.66GHz Intel Core i5 (quad core)
8MB shared L3 cache
4GB (two 2GB SO-DIMMs) of 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
1TB Serial ATA; 7200 rpm
ATI Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory

One would think the QuadCore, but sounds like two good machines. Personally, I don't think the speed is what you should look at here. Both are FAST. What do you need computer for? If for business and/or graphics, go with the QuadCore. If for home, recording stuff, etc. why spend so much more for it? I'm not a gamer, but if you're using computer for games, the players will probably suggest QuadCore, I do not know.

Which iMac usb port is high power?

Which iMac USB port is high power?

I'm not sure this is the case, at least on the newer iMacs. Some ports will adequately power some devices (most notable the USB Suerdrive) while others won't. Or, this has been the case recently, anyway; USB with Apple devices seems hopelessly arcane anyway, which makes no sense at all!)

How do I find out which iMac family mine falls under?

Please can you advise which iMac Family (which year) it falls under as I am trying to increase my RAM but need to know the exact year and model? I have my model serial number, processor speed and memory details to hand should you need them, but I can't find out which year mine was made.
Thanks
LadyRach

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
Open  > About this Mac > More Info. If you have Leopard or Snow Leopard, see Model Identifier. Then, check it in this list > http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1758
If you have Lion or Mountain Lion, you will see directly the iMac you have, for example, Late 2009 iMac

Which iMac is best for me?

I need help from knowledgeable people. I am wondering which iMac would be best for me. Should I get the 17-inch iMac or the 20-inch iMac? The programs I mainly use on my current computer are Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop Pro, LimeWire, Ipswitch WS_FTP Pro, AIM Triton, and Mozilla Firefox. Is there really a difference between the two? I don't really care about the price. Thanks.
P.S. What is the difference between Mac mini and iMac?

Go for the 20 iMac.
It's more powerful. Just be sure to load at least 1 gig of ram,
I still have the stock 512, and it aint enough. Get 2 gig if you can.
As for the 256 vRAM, it wouldn't really matter. 128 is just as good. You'll only notice the slightesst/miniscule difference in performance if you play games, but other than that, it really isn't much of an issue. But if you want to brag about 256 vram then you should get it for not a huge amount of money.
Good Luck on your decision!
Whichever it would be, it's "apple", so you'd be happy with it.

Which imac shall I buy ??

Which imac shall I buy ??
Uses include word processing and spreadsheets, light use of logic, some gaming and bootcamp. I will be getting it on finance over four years so want it to be future proof beyond this time . Thanks

The iMac refresh usually comes toward the end of the end.
No one knows exactly when, though.
Something better, faster, cheaper is always around the corner.
Buy what you need/want now.
It isn't suddenly going to go obsolete.
Budget and save to be able to purchase and register for the extended AppleCare plan before your free one year of service ends. This will extend the warranty repairs out to another two years.
I highly advise doing this as iMacs have a long and uneven reliability history, IMO.

Which iMac do I have?

How do I determine which Imac I have?

Easiest way to determin this is to Hold "Option" When starting up.
10.7 and later will have the option for a Recovery HD
10.6 And Earlier won't.
10.7+ Password Reset:
Select the Recovery HD
Select English as main language
Utilities menu up on the menu bar
Terminal
Type: "resetpassword" and press return
Select Macintosh HD
Select your user account
Enter new password and hit Save
10.6 And Lower you will need the disk and it varys slightly for the different versions.

Which iMac to buy?

I run my own small graphic design company and I'm currently running a Mac Pro and an employee is using a MacBook Pro. Both are running the necessary apps fine (CS3, Aperture, Final Cut Express etc.). I'm thinking about getting a desktop for my employee but budget is tight so I'm thinking about an iMac rather than another Mac Pro.
So which iMac do I need? The system requirements for the software suggest the lower spec 20inch iMac would be OK (maybe with a RAM upgrade) but would I be better to get a higher processor speed and a better graphics card with the 24inch iMac? Money is tight so I don't want to buy something more expensive than necessary but I also don't want to spend less and then find it's sluggish or just doesn't work at all.
Any ideas?

Hi Jon,
Just my 2 cents here. I purchased the 20" 2.66GHz but upgraded to 2GB RAM this past November. I use Final Cut Express and Aperture but not as a professional. But if I were looking to do this on a professional level, I would have purchased the 24" instead and definitely upgraded to 4GB of RAM.
I would most likely have upgraded processor speed, I think 2.93 is next, then 3.06. As the software technology changes, so do the requirements for their use. I think spending the extra $$ now would be an investment in the future for you. Just my 2 cents.
Another way to receive feedback or just search the forums is to go here to the FCE forum http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=936 and the Aperture forums here http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=184
Carolyn

Which iMacs to Avoid Purchasing?

Good Morning - Reading Rod Hagen's post, with attachments, describing failed logic boards due to bad capacitors makes me wonder which iMacs, new or used, are safer to buy. I've had iBooks, eMacs, and now a PowerBook G4 for years, all wonderful machines, and am now looking to buy a used iMac G5. My question is then, based on the long and wide distribution of these bad capacitors, are there specific early iMac models to avoid, or is buying any machine using capacitors a typical gamble? Thanks much.

I would suggest avoiding the first two models, the Rev A and the Ambient Light. The iSight model should be fine it seems to have many fewer problems than the first two, but might I suggest buying an intel machine? Even a refurb intel iMac has a history of fewer problems than the G5s and it will come with a warranty, you can also buy Apple Care to extend that warranty.

Which imac is best for my daughter? 2.7 or 2.9 ghz

MY daughter is going to study A level moving image at college, before going onto university. My wife and I are computer novices, so would like some advice. We are looking at the 21.5 imac either 2.7 or 2.9ghz, is there much difference between the two in terms of speed.
Also the options we are looking at are 16gb memory and 256gb flash drive (over the 1tb fusion dr). We will be getting preinstalled Final cut pro x and aperture. Will this set up be enough to comfortably run the programs?, or should i get a 8gb memory and 512gb flash drive. The mac would be used for photo and video editing, internet, college work etc.
THe only other difference between the two (2.7 or 2.9ghz models) is the 2.9 comes with a NVIDIA Geforce GT780m with 1GB video memory, which i presume is a graphics card, is this worth having if not into gaming?, would it be useful when running Final cut and video editing?
Any advice would be most grateful, as its quite a financial outlay, and we know next to nothing about imacs or computers

For graphic arts and film editing I’d recommend the 27” iMac with 16GB or 32GB of RAM. The 27” display makes editing much more enjoyable than the smaller display and the RAM can be upgraded at a later date. The 21.5” iMac cannot be upgraded at all. For film and graphic editing 16GB should be plenty now. I don’t recommend less than 16GB. A 256GB SSD should be sufficient for school work, projects, some music etc. I also recommend a 1TB USB 3 hard drive for backing up the computer using TimeMachine.
Further, at some point your daughter will probably begin creating larger projects and her raw footage and extra files won’t fit on the internal drive and/or the rendered project won’t fit. This isn’t likely to happen in the first year (but might). At that point you’ll want to add a 1-3GB ThunderBolt hard drive. ThunderBolt drives send and accept data differently than USB drives which make them better for movie and sound recording projects. USB 3 is perfectly fine for backing up.
The increased speed of the i7 processor and video card are real but really not as important as RAM and hard drive.

Which iMac for Editing ACVHD video?

Hello all,
I am a long-time PC user in need of a new computer and thinking of making the switch to an iMac. I have hours of HD video shot on a Canon Vixia HF200 camcorder, and even my high-end work computer bogs down trying to edit HD video.
How much horsepower is recommended in an iMac for editing AVCHD? I know that more is always better, but from a dollars perspective, middle of the road is where I am aiming.

Most Mac OS X editing applications transcode AVCHD to an intermediate format (Apple Intermediate Codec, or ProRes if you were to use Final Cut Studio) for editing, so you don't need that much horsepower (but lots of disk space).
You might be able to edit AVCHD natively using Adobe Premiere or Premiere Elements, in which case a powerful computer would help. It may also be possible to trick Apple's apps into editing AVCHD natively by remuxing to .mov with something like ClipWrap.
I'd say get an iMac as powerful as you can afford (favoring the quad-core over a similarly-priced dual-core configuration), and consider keeping money aside for accessories (e.g. external drives) or extended warranty.

Which iMac for large Aperture library

I want to continue using Aperture to manage my 100G plus library. I'm looking at iMac 21.5 versus 27 inch. I'm used to the portability of the MacBook Air but USB 2 is much too painful.
I plan to upgrade to the 1 TB fusion drive but do I need 8 versus 16 G RAM?
Is it worth upgrading to I7 versus i5?
I use my computer for photos and short videos (display only) - no gaming - basic web surfing and basic word apps.
How realistic is it to drag the 27 inch PC around the house?
Screen size isn't that important to me.

If you intend to use a 21.5" always get 16GB becasue Aperture can use RAM and you cannot upgrade the RAM on the 2012/13 21" iMacs. As far as the CPU, either the i5 or i7 are fine, Aperture is not CPU intensive. New MBA's use USB 3 which is considerable quicker than USB 2. However they are limited on storage space, what you can (and probably should do) is save your Aperture library on an EHD.

Which iMac 27"?

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