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fleshweasel posted:This is just me, but I think a designer wanting to work on a laptop should plunk down for something like this. If a new generation's about to drop, this price should go down a little, too, right? I know everyone who talks like this eats their words eventually, but this thing is really plenty of computing power. Yea, the base 15" with the screen update would be $1899 new. I doubt those refurbs will go down much - refurbs of the new models won't show up on the store for a few months. Plus you will sometimes see older refurbs selling for more than they should - like C2D iMacs with higher GHz selling for more than faster i3/i5 models at lower GHz MacMall might have some deals on previous models but you never know.
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Apr 21, 2012 23:05
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Bob Morales posted:Plus you will sometimes see older refurbs selling for more than they should - like C2D iMacs with higher GHz selling for more than faster i3/i5 models at lower GHz For $60 more than the previously linked model you get...a year and a half older model, lower resolution screen, dual core CPU, slower GPU, no Thunderbolt, etc. While watching Mac minis I've seen refurbs go down but as said it's generally not much, and it takes quite a while...as long as the configuration is available, other people might buy it out while you're waiting.
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Apr 21, 2012 23:33
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PlayStationGayStation posted:I have a mid-2010 mini with 2g ram and the stock harddrive. It's not that old but it chugs. I'd definitely recommend something that you can upgrade. I really want to put a SSD into my mini, but getting to the harddrive is a pain in the rear end. If you are totally adverse to opening up the mini, and it's just going to be sitting on a desk somewhere (or non-mobile equivalent) consider booting from an SSD over FW800. I'm doing that now with my Mid-2011 iMac (w/ a 180GB Intel 520). I considered using the jury-rigged GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter solution, but from what I understand no single drive can fully saturate FW800, and as far as I can tell it's wicked fast.
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Apr 22, 2012 10:43
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Arrowsmith posted:If you are totally adverse to opening up the mini, and it's just going to be sitting on a desk somewhere (or non-mobile equivalent) consider booting from an SSD over FW800. I'm doing that now with my Mid-2011 iMac (w/ a 180GB Intel 520). I considered using the jury-rigged GoFlex Thunderbolt adapter solution, but from what I understand no single drive can fully saturate FW800, and as far as I can tell it's wicked fast. And speaking of Thunderbolt, I want one of these:http://www.fcp.co/hardware-and-software/pro/803-promise-announce-the-j2-drive-its-small-and-very-fast I saw one site saying it'd be available in multiple configs, including empty...but every other mention I've seen has only said with included platter drives or SSDs. There was also a bunch of other TB stuff shown/announced at NAB, including Sumitomo starting shipping samples of their optical cables.
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Apr 22, 2012 12:05
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Is it a bad time to buy an iMac? I noticed some articles speculating new ones within a couple of weeks. Also, what model would you guys recommend if I would like to do some gaming? It's not a top priority but if I am going to buy a new computer I'd like it to be able to run a decent percent of games at reasonably high settings.
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Apr 22, 2012 20:45
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For gaming with reasonably high settings, you need at least 1GB video memory. Currently only the most expensive 27" iMac has a 1GB mobile graphics chip in it (optionally you can upgrade to 2GB for $100). In case if you didn't pick up on it in the last sentence, yes, iMacs use mobile graphic chips. For most games this should be fine, but don't expect your iMac to run high-end graphics on games released years from now. As for buying an iMac now, wait if you can. Intel's Ivy Bridge is right around the corner, and it's very likely almost all Macs will be refreshed at that time.
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Apr 22, 2012 21:05
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wolffenstein posted:. For what it's worth, the thunderbolt gpu peripherals should be out within the year, so if you want to keep the same iMac and breathe some life into it in a year or three, $300 or so for the peripheral and a middle class gpu should be good. For that reason, I'd avoid the extra money spent on a 2gb video card.
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Apr 22, 2012 21:17
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I guess my main concern is mostly just Diablo 3. I do very little gaming so I probably can't justify an extra $800 for peace of mind. Hopefully D3 runs nicely on the low end model.
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Apr 22, 2012 21:38
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NESguerilla posted:I guess my main concern is mostly just Diablo 3. I do very little gaming so I probably can't justify an extra $800 for peace of mind. Hopefully D3 runs nicely on the low end model. Oh, I think you'll be OK. Signs are pointing to D3 being pretty kind on the GPU front. I'm not interested in it myself, but my friends in the beta are having no trouble with "older" cards. VRAM is still very good to have though, especially considering the native resolution of the 27" model.
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Apr 22, 2012 22:05
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NESguerilla posted:Is it a bad time to buy an iMac? I noticed some articles speculating new ones within a couple of weeks. NESguerilla posted:I guess my main concern is mostly just Diablo 3. I do very little gaming so I probably can't justify an extra $800 for peace of mind. Hopefully D3 runs nicely on the low end model.
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Apr 22, 2012 22:07
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flavor posted:Given the time when iMacs usually come out and considering that Ivy Bridge is supposed to come out tomorrow, I would most definitely NOT buy a current iMac now unless it was an emergency. My 2011 27" (i5 @ 2.7, ATI 6770 512MB) can play it with some of the effects turned up at 1920x1080. It doesn't look that bad at a non-native resolution and runs pretty smoothly in a game with 3 other people.
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Apr 22, 2012 22:32
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flavor posted:Given the time when iMacs usually come out and considering that Ivy Bridge is supposed to come out tomorrow, I would most definitely NOT buy a current iMac now unless it was an emergency. Yeah, crossing my fingers they come out in less than 2 or 3 weeks. I'll probably wait till then. Doesn't Apple have a policy that if they release a new device shortly after you purchase the previous model you can upgrade for free? Or am I just crazy?
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Apr 22, 2012 23:11
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Any students surviving with an iPad and a 27" iMac? I've got a 2010 13" MBP w/ SSD/8gb and I really want to upgrade.
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Apr 22, 2012 23:18
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I was in the same position as you and sold my MBP. I don't regret it. Whenever I need more than what my iPad 3 can do I Splashtop into my iMac from anywhere. It's pretty awesome. Just get a keyboard, preferably the Apple Wireless movax posted:Oh, I think you'll be OK. Signs are pointing to D3 being pretty kind on the GPU front. I'm not interested in it myself, but my friends in the beta are having no trouble with "older" cards. I regret not going 2GB, but I also have 16GB of RAM I never use so it's probably just as well. Arrowsmith fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 22, 2012 23:36
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NESguerilla posted:I guess my main concern is mostly just Diablo 3. I do very little gaming so I probably can't justify an extra $800 for peace of mind. Hopefully D3 runs nicely on the low end model. D3 runs on a Macbook Air, fairly ok. http://kotaku.com/5842300/this-is-diablo-iii-running-on-my-macbook-air-without-breaking-a-sweat
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Apr 22, 2012 23:55
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BlackMK4 posted:Any students surviving with an iPad and a 27" iMac? I've got a 2010 13" MBP w/ SSD/8gb and I really want to upgrade. Not entirely the same situation you presented but currently surviving with an iPad and PC at home. I find the iPad much better suited compared to a laptop for school. Mainly, tasks like note-taking, quick referencing, minor PDF/document editing are 10x easier. Anything major that needs to be done on campus(which is rare), I use the computer lab with Dropbox or remote into my home PC. I guess I've gotten spoiled by desktops with an large work area, full keyboard, 2 monitors, etc. I only do minor work on laptops at most and an iPad suits that task even better than a laptop.
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Apr 23, 2012 00:07
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NESguerilla posted:Yeah, crossing my fingers they come out in less than 2 or 3 weeks. I'll probably wait till then. Personally I hate that idea. With Apple you'll never know for sure two weeks in advance whether there are going to be new models so that means you may have a gap between returning the iMac and the new one coming out. Then there's the whole hassle of doing the return. And lastly, thought that may be ridiculed around here, I'd feel kinda dirty because I'd be doing something unfun that in the final analysis adds to the cost of making and selling these things.
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Apr 23, 2012 01:50
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Aside from the physical appearance, what is the major determining factor for choosing an Air over the Pro in terms of what it can handle? Photoshop, movie editing, sound editing?
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Apr 23, 2012 03:05
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Dr. Video Games 0050 posted:Aside from the physical appearance, what is the major determining factor for choosing an Air over the Pro in terms of what it can handle? Photoshop, movie editing, sound editing? Currently, it's the fact that it has a higher-resolution screen, and that the flash memory makes opening applications faster than the Pro. This may obviously change with the presumed impending Pro refresh.
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Apr 23, 2012 03:28
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BlackMK4 posted:Any students surviving with an iPad and a 27" iMac? I've got a 2010 13" MBP w/ SSD/8gb and I really want to upgrade. Sounds like you already have your answer but I'll go ahead and say that I did the exact same thing (though I was coming off a beastly 2007 Macbook Pro - best computer I've ever owned) and it's great. I use LogMeIn to get to my iMac when I need it, though.
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Apr 23, 2012 05:58
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MacRumors speculating Apple may drop the 17" MBP 
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Apr 23, 2012 07:32
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Shmoogy posted:For what it's worth, the thunderbolt gpu peripherals should be out within the year, so if you want to keep the same iMac and breathe some life into it in a year or three, $300 or so for the peripheral and a middle class gpu should be good. For that reason, I'd avoid the extra money spent on a 2gb video card. Then again the easy option is to just hook up another monitor to the external card. NESguerilla posted:Yeah, crossing my fingers they come out in less than 2 or 3 weeks. I'll probably wait till then.
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Apr 23, 2012 09:03
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For online returns, you have 14 days from the time the package arrives to request a return, after which you have 10 days to send it out. So you effectively have 24 days if you really wanted to stretch it. They also provide you with a prepaid shipping label you can print out. Overall, was really pleased with the experience of returning a refurb 13 for a 11/4gb air.
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Apr 23, 2012 10:57
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Cmdr Will Riker posted:Sounds like you already have your answer but I'll go ahead and say that I did the exact same thing (though I was coming off a beastly 2007 Macbook Pro - best computer I've ever owned) and it's great. I use LogMeIn to get to my iMac when I need it, though. I would note that if you do any amount of coding, this might not be the best choice. I have run iPad 3/iMac for a year now(well it was ipad 1 before the new one) and miss my laptop when it comes to needing one for local coding events and user groups.
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Apr 23, 2012 12:12
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Small White Dragon posted:MacRumors speculating Apple may drop the 17" MBP We're also supposed to get Retina Macbook Pros, we should all be using Liquid Metal iPhones, and a bunch of other stuff Macrumors is way off base about. But if the following quote is true and Apple sells anywhere nearly only 50,000 17" each quarter...I don't see why the hell they would keep making it. quote:for the first calendar quarter of 2012, Apple sold roughly 3.1 million notebooks, with nearly half of them being the 13-inch MacBook Pro, far and away the company's best-selling Mac product. But while Kuo predicts sales of nearly 1.5 million units of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, he sees much lower sales of roughly 500,000 15-inch models and only 50,000 17-inch models. I wonder what the % is of 17" laptops when it comes to HP/Dell's sales. Some sites have also suggested that Apple drop the 13" Pro during the last year or two. It's half their sales, why would they do that?!
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Apr 23, 2012 13:20
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Bob Morales posted:We're also supposed to get Retina Macbook Pros, we should all be using Liquid Metal iPhones, and a bunch of other stuff Macrumors is way off base about. Apple has recently had a habit of putting machines down when they don't sell. The XServe and white MacBook come immediately to mind, and the Mac Pro is on it's death bed. The loss of the the only portable with an Express Card slot is a sad day though, and ANOTHER shot at professionals using Macs. ThunderBolt is great in theory, but it's just too drat expensive for adding IO. The Magma expansion chassis is like $1k I think.
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Apr 23, 2012 13:46
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I am loving my 17" MBP and would be mad as hell if they axed the model. I had used 15" Apple laptops for almost ten years before I got this MBP (a 15" Powerbook G4 and a 15" Santa Rosa MBP, to be precise), and the bigger screen really makes a difference. I only wish the resolution were even higher and it didn't have an ODD.
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Apr 23, 2012 14:36
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Finished the SSD install. It's alive! Also, this is a mid-2010 iMac (purchased 1/2011) and it has the HD temp connector. Bob Morales fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 17:34
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Funk posted:I would note that if you do any amount of coding, this might not be the best choice. I have run iPad 3/iMac for a year now(well it was ipad 1 before the new one) and miss my laptop when it comes to needing one for local coding events and user groups. poo poo, I am EE with a computer engineering focus. I didn't really think about that. 
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Apr 23, 2012 18:36
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Honestly, the prices on the 15" and 17" are gouged enough that they should be making plenty of money on them.
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Apr 23, 2012 19:42
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fleshweasel posted:Honestly, the prices on the 15" and 17" are gouged enough that they should be making plenty of money on them. The 15" seems expensive but it really isn't. I just configured this Dell: quote:Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM processor (2.40GHz Latitude E6520 Starting Price $2,144.00 Instant Savings $454.00 Subtotal $1,690.00 The Dell comes with a 3-year basic warranty. The base 15" Macbook Pro is $1799 Sure, you can find consumer-grade machines that match those specs for a lot less money but you're not comparing apples and oranges.
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Apr 23, 2012 20:12
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Fair enough. Apples and oranges, heh. I can stomach the prices on Apple refurbs at least.
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Apr 23, 2012 20:22
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Amazon sells the base 15" MBP for $1679 so it's not priced that bad. Though it has the slow as balls 5400rpm HD and only 1440x900
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Apr 23, 2012 20:42
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Alright, I replaced my OEM drive, how do I shut my iMac hard drive fan off for free?
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Apr 23, 2012 20:50
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Turn off your iMac.
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Apr 23, 2012 21:04
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Bob Morales posted:Alright, I replaced my OEM drive, how do I shut my iMac hard drive fan off for free? Comedy answer: disconnect fan power Almost as bad answer: make your own jumper / sensor cable Possibly useful answer: Install this and adjust the fan control until it's managed. $10 shareware. Free for 1 hour. Binary Badger fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Apr 23, 2012 |
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Apr 23, 2012 21:25
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mayodreams posted:The loss of the the only portable with an Express Card slot is a sad day though, and ANOTHER shot at professionals using Macs. ThunderBolt is great in theory, but it's just too drat expensive for adding IO. The Magma expansion chassis is like $1k I think. Okay... so what essential hardware is available for the Express Card slot only? Plus it's only a sad day once it becomes official. A Macrumors article quoting some "analyst" doesn't make it so. Also, what's the problem with the cost of thunderbolt peripherals for people who would otherwise be buying a Mac Pro? Not even considering that prices for thunderbolt add-ons are likely to drop over time. And discontinuing the 17" MBP would make a lot less sense than the Mac Pro, because the 17" is only a variation of the MBP whereas the Mac Pro is its own product. I wouldn't think that a lot of additional R&D and factory resources go into making the 17" when there's already the 13" and 15" models.
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Apr 23, 2012 23:48
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flavor posted:Also, what's the problem with the cost of thunderbolt peripherals for people who would otherwise be buying a Mac Pro? Not even considering that prices for thunderbolt add-ons are likely to drop over time. Firewire hard drives are still way more expensive and rare compared to USB drives, and it had a 15 year head start (compared to TB)
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Apr 24, 2012 00:08
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flavor posted:Okay... so what essential hardware is available for the Express Card slot only? Plus it's only a sad day once it becomes official. A Macrumors article quoting some "analyst" doesn't make it so. Basically I/O like eSATA, USB3, RAID cards, and video capture cards. Professional Sony video cameras use SxS cards to record, which are basically Express Cards with memory on them, so a laptop on set that can natively dump footage is fantastic. PowerBook G4's are still used in Panasonic camps because P2 cards are just PCMCIA cards with flash memory on them, and P2 readers are like $300-400 for slow rear end USB versions. I agree that some analysis throwing poo poo against the wall isn't the best source for Apple's future business decisions. I am just saying it wouldn't surprise me.
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Apr 24, 2012 03:30
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Speaking of, can anyone recommend a good expresscard to usb3.0?
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