I finally decided to switch over from windows to mac and bought the 21.5inch iMac with 3.1Ghz I7, 1TB HDD, 8GB of ram, and NVIDIA Graphics card and it is brand new not refurbished. I can not wait for it to ship and it will the be my first iMac ever and first time user of the mac OS too!
Just bought a 21.5inch iMac!
- Thread starter TDOHGL01
- Start date
- Status
Several hours after it arrives you will be thinking "how do I ____"
Several days after it arrives you'll be thinking "why did I not do this long ago".
I predict
Several days after it arrives you'll be thinking "why did I not do this long ago".
I predict
We had an iMac and enjoyed it. We are back on Windows 8.1. There are pros and cons to both. Enjoy!
I switched over 4 yrs ago. Now have several Macbook Pros and an Imac in my office. The service that Apple gives is second to none. Might be a bit of a challenge getting used to the new OS (I have limited computer experience) but once you get used to it, you'll be thrilled.
That is some serious computing power!
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Congrats! I've always wanted a Mac, but can't justify the massive premium they demand over PC's, though I know it's not an apples to apples comparison (specs to specs.)
Depending on your needs, that Haswell i7 should take what ever you'll throw at it for the next decade or so, though it may be overkill now if all you do is surf the interwebs! One thing I would like to see on their site, is which i7 processor it is. For those who know, it can be found using the generation and speed, but most people won't know 3rd from 4th generation...
The video card is about 2/3 as good as the 5850 I have in my tower, which can handle just about every new game, though there are many that I can only run at mid settings. If you're not a gamer, then the dedicated card will be great for you for just about any video-related task you toss at it; however, if you game, then I suggest you return it and look at something a little more powerful, since that rig may have trouble running games that are a couple of years old on more than mid settings.
Might I ask why you went with the smaller screen size? I remember thinking that my 23" screen was massive when I first upgraded a while back, but now it seems minuscule compared to all of the other high-quality 27"+ screens that are out there. It very well may suit your needs, again if all you require of it is to look very pretty while surfing the internet and viewing videos while seated in front of, or standing nearby. If you plan to use this for watching movies from a seat further away or from the bed, then I'd personally spend the extra money and get the 27"
Otherwise, I'm sure you'll love it. I hope my comments come across as helpful, as that's what I intended, not to take the jelly out of your donut, so to speak!
Depending on your needs, that Haswell i7 should take what ever you'll throw at it for the next decade or so, though it may be overkill now if all you do is surf the interwebs! One thing I would like to see on their site, is which i7 processor it is. For those who know, it can be found using the generation and speed, but most people won't know 3rd from 4th generation...
The video card is about 2/3 as good as the 5850 I have in my tower, which can handle just about every new game, though there are many that I can only run at mid settings. If you're not a gamer, then the dedicated card will be great for you for just about any video-related task you toss at it; however, if you game, then I suggest you return it and look at something a little more powerful, since that rig may have trouble running games that are a couple of years old on more than mid settings.
Might I ask why you went with the smaller screen size? I remember thinking that my 23" screen was massive when I first upgraded a while back, but now it seems minuscule compared to all of the other high-quality 27"+ screens that are out there. It very well may suit your needs, again if all you require of it is to look very pretty while surfing the internet and viewing videos while seated in front of, or standing nearby. If you plan to use this for watching movies from a seat further away or from the bed, then I'd personally spend the extra money and get the 27"
Otherwise, I'm sure you'll love it. I hope my comments come across as helpful, as that's what I intended, not to take the jelly out of your donut, so to speak!
Last edited:
I have one of each. Just makes certain things easier on a different platform.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I just looked, and the 755M video card that comes with the 27" iMac is about 9.2% better than the 750M that comes with the 21.5" iMac(according to Passmark score,) which, depending on what you'll be using the iMac for, may make a bigger difference than having the i7 over the i5 (I realize you've already ordered, but I doubt they'll have a problem with you changing your order before it ships - heck, I ordered a second laptop and returned the first without issue due to an offer that came out offering more for less though HP with)
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Congrats! I've always wanted a Mac, but can't justify the massive premium they demand over PC's, though I know it's not an apples to apples comparison (specs to specs.)
Depending on your needs, that Haswell i7 should take what ever you'll throw at it for the next decade or so, though it may be overkill now if all you do is surf the interwebs! One thing I would like to see on their site, is which i7 processor it is. For those who know, it can be found using the generation and speed, but most people won't know 3rd from 4th generation...
The video card is about 2/3 as good as the 5850 I have in my tower, which can handle just about every new game, though there are many that I can only run at mid settings. If you're not a gamer, then the dedicated card will be great for you for just about any video-related task you toss at it; however, if you game, then I suggest you return it and look at something a little more powerful, since that rig may have trouble running games that are a couple of years old on more than mid settings.
Might I ask why you went with the smaller screen size? I remember thinking that my 23" screen was massive when I first upgraded a while back, but now it seems minuscule compared to all of the other high-quality 27"+ screens that are out there. It very well may suit your needs, again if all you require of it is to look very pretty while surfing the internet and viewing videos while seated in front of, or standing nearby. If you plan to use this for watching movies from a seat further away or from the bed, then I'd personally spend the extra money and get the 27"
Otherwise, I'm sure you'll love it. I hope my comments come across as helpful, as that's what I intended, not to take the jelly out of your donut, so to speak!
For years I had reservations about paying the "Apple Premium" over the cheaper Windows units and better "specs" for the dollar. Every PC I had became slow and bogged down after 2 years and the virus software took forever to load at start-up and was a memory hog.
After I switched to a Mac, I wished I would have done it sooner. My three year old Mac runs just as fast as the day I bought it. My mother has had hers for 7 years with no real problems (when she did have one issue, Apple customer service was great) and it still runs everything she needs pretty fast. I think mine will easily last another 3-5 years as well.
Congrats! I've always wanted a Mac, but can't justify the massive premium they demand over PC's, though I know it's not an apples to apples comparison (specs to specs.)
Depending on your needs, that Haswell i7 should take what ever you'll throw at it for the next decade or so, though it may be overkill now if all you do is surf the interwebs! One thing I would like to see on their site, is which i7 processor it is. For those who know, it can be found using the generation and speed, but most people won't know 3rd from 4th generation...
The video card is about 2/3 as good as the 5850 I have in my tower, which can handle just about every new game, though there are many that I can only run at mid settings. If you're not a gamer, then the dedicated card will be great for you for just about any video-related task you toss at it; however, if you game, then I suggest you return it and look at something a little more powerful, since that rig may have trouble running games that are a couple of years old on more than mid settings.
Might I ask why you went with the smaller screen size? I remember thinking that my 23" screen was massive when I first upgraded a while back, but now it seems minuscule compared to all of the other high-quality 27"+ screens that are out there. It very well may suit your needs, again if all you require of it is to look very pretty while surfing the internet and viewing videos while seated in front of, or standing nearby. If you plan to use this for watching movies from a seat further away or from the bed, then I'd personally spend the extra money and get the 27"
Otherwise, I'm sure you'll love it. I hope my comments come across as helpful, as that's what I intended, not to take the jelly out of your donut, so to speak!
For years I had reservations about paying the "Apple Premium" over the cheaper Windows units and better "specs" for the dollar. Every PC I had became slow and bogged down after 2 years and the virus software took forever to load at start-up and was a memory hog.
After I switched to a Mac, I wished I would have done it sooner. My three year old Mac runs just as fast as the day I bought it. My mother has had hers for 7 years with no real problems (when she did have one issue, Apple customer service was great) and it still runs everything she needs pretty fast. I think mine will easily last another 3-5 years as well.
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2013
- Messages
- 3,084
If you order from Apple, get the long keyboard with a numerical keypad on the right side.
It was no extra cost when I last ordered a computer...
Default is the short one...
It was no extra cost when I last ordered a computer...
Default is the short one...
Last edited:
Agree with the sandard keyboard.
Lifelong PC person here and we got a 21.5" iMac in January 2012 and it has been trouble free. No reinstalling windows ad infintum, which seems to be the issue with every PC I've gotten.
OSX backups are really easy, things just work.
After 2 years it seems to slow down a bit, I think our RAM is running out; will need to add some soon, but the apple store it is not yet available for our iMac
Lifelong PC person here and we got a 21.5" iMac in January 2012 and it has been trouble free. No reinstalling windows ad infintum, which seems to be the issue with every PC I've gotten.
OSX backups are really easy, things just work.
After 2 years it seems to slow down a bit, I think our RAM is running out; will need to add some soon, but the apple store it is not yet available for our iMac
Originally Posted By: crinkles
After 2 years it seems to slow down a bit, I think our RAM is running out; will need to add some soon, but the apple store it is not yet available for our iMac
I have found out that a fix is usually to do an occasional Repair File Permissions (found in the Disk Utility submenu). If your hard drive is an ordinary mechanical hard drive and NOT a solid state one, running Disk Utilities' Repair Hard Disk may also help. You may have to however boot from your USB or Startup disk to do this. It is similar to Windows' error checking utility.
After 2 years it seems to slow down a bit, I think our RAM is running out; will need to add some soon, but the apple store it is not yet available for our iMac
I have found out that a fix is usually to do an occasional Repair File Permissions (found in the Disk Utility submenu). If your hard drive is an ordinary mechanical hard drive and NOT a solid state one, running Disk Utilities' Repair Hard Disk may also help. You may have to however boot from your USB or Startup disk to do this. It is similar to Windows' error checking utility.
Last edited:
We had the same deal with our iMac slowing down over time, just like Windows machines used to do. We tried all the common fixes (permissions, repair disk, etc), to no real avail. The ultimate fix was re-formatting the hard drive and doing a fresh install on the OS. It SCREAMED after that.
The longer we had our iMac, the more I realized that it came with its own set of issues, many not unlike issues with older Windows computers. I decided in the end that it's not better or worse than Windows...it's just different.
With that said, I'm sure the OP will really enjoy it. The quality of the external hardware (computer case, keyboard, etc) is truly first class.
The longer we had our iMac, the more I realized that it came with its own set of issues, many not unlike issues with older Windows computers. I decided in the end that it's not better or worse than Windows...it's just different.
With that said, I'm sure the OP will really enjoy it. The quality of the external hardware (computer case, keyboard, etc) is truly first class.
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Congrats! I've always wanted a Mac, but can't justify the massive premium they demand over PC's, though I know it's not an apples to apples comparison (specs to specs.)
Depending on your needs, that Haswell i7 should take what ever you'll throw at it for the next decade or so, though it may be overkill now if all you do is surf the interwebs! One thing I would like to see on their site, is which i7 processor it is. For those who know, it can be found using the generation and speed, but most people won't know 3rd from 4th generation...
The video card is about 2/3 as good as the 5850 I have in my tower, which can handle just about every new game, though there are many that I can only run at mid settings. If you're not a gamer, then the dedicated card will be great for you for just about any video-related task you toss at it; however, if you game, then I suggest you return it and look at something a little more powerful, since that rig may have trouble running games that are a couple of years old on more than mid settings.
Might I ask why you went with the smaller screen size? I remember thinking that my 23" screen was massive when I first upgraded a while back, but now it seems minuscule compared to all of the other high-quality 27"+ screens that are out there. It very well may suit your needs, again if all you require of it is to look very pretty while surfing the internet and viewing videos while seated in front of, or standing nearby. If you plan to use this for watching movies from a seat further away or from the bed, then I'd personally spend the extra money and get the 27"
Otherwise, I'm sure you'll love it. I hope my comments come across as helpful, as that's what I intended, not to take the jelly out of your donut, so to speak!
I wanted the 21.5inch because that is the size I have for my home built computer I have which has Haswell I7 4770k in it. I figured I really didn't want a bigger screen just don't see a real need for me anyways. I do plan on doing some gaming but that is what my homebuilt is for though, mostly going to be my iTunes and maybe some website design if I can save some more money for the software.
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
That had to cost some dough. Congrats! Any reason for the screen size? The 27" imacs are something to behold
Yeah about $1800.00 after only upgrading the CPU and also includes state taxes too!
Congrats! I've always wanted a Mac, but can't justify the massive premium they demand over PC's, though I know it's not an apples to apples comparison (specs to specs.)
Depending on your needs, that Haswell i7 should take what ever you'll throw at it for the next decade or so, though it may be overkill now if all you do is surf the interwebs! One thing I would like to see on their site, is which i7 processor it is. For those who know, it can be found using the generation and speed, but most people won't know 3rd from 4th generation...
The video card is about 2/3 as good as the 5850 I have in my tower, which can handle just about every new game, though there are many that I can only run at mid settings. If you're not a gamer, then the dedicated card will be great for you for just about any video-related task you toss at it; however, if you game, then I suggest you return it and look at something a little more powerful, since that rig may have trouble running games that are a couple of years old on more than mid settings.
Might I ask why you went with the smaller screen size? I remember thinking that my 23" screen was massive when I first upgraded a while back, but now it seems minuscule compared to all of the other high-quality 27"+ screens that are out there. It very well may suit your needs, again if all you require of it is to look very pretty while surfing the internet and viewing videos while seated in front of, or standing nearby. If you plan to use this for watching movies from a seat further away or from the bed, then I'd personally spend the extra money and get the 27"
Otherwise, I'm sure you'll love it. I hope my comments come across as helpful, as that's what I intended, not to take the jelly out of your donut, so to speak!
I wanted the 21.5inch because that is the size I have for my home built computer I have which has Haswell I7 4770k in it. I figured I really didn't want a bigger screen just don't see a real need for me anyways. I do plan on doing some gaming but that is what my homebuilt is for though, mostly going to be my iTunes and maybe some website design if I can save some more money for the software.
Originally Posted By: L_Sludger
That had to cost some dough. Congrats! Any reason for the screen size? The 27" imacs are something to behold
Yeah about $1800.00 after only upgrading the CPU and also includes state taxes too!
Congrats on making the move away from windows!!! I've never tried the apple OS but I am very happy with Linux and will stick with that. I have a 19 inch screen on my Dell and love the large size!
Speaking of large monitors. I've used a 24" hooked to my laptop for quite a while, displaying only on the external.
There was a 24" that a coworker wasn't using, so I asked if I could have it. Now I have two 24" monitors side by side hooked to my laptop and it is awesome. Fortunately the laptop has VGA and HDMI out so no adapters needed.
If you really want more screen space, I think you could probably do another one off the thunderbolt port.
There was a 24" that a coworker wasn't using, so I asked if I could have it. Now I have two 24" monitors side by side hooked to my laptop and it is awesome. Fortunately the laptop has VGA and HDMI out so no adapters needed.
If you really want more screen space, I think you could probably do another one off the thunderbolt port.
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
We had the same deal with our iMac slowing down over time, just like Windows machines used to do. We tried all the common fixes (permissions, repair disk, etc), to no real avail. The ultimate fix was re-formatting the hard drive and doing a fresh install on the OS. It SCREAMED after that.
The longer we had our iMac, the more I realized that it came with its own set of issues, many not unlike issues with older Windows computers. I decided in the end that it's not better or worse than Windows...it's just different.
With that said, I'm sure the OP will really enjoy it. The quality of the external hardware (computer case, keyboard, etc) is truly first class.
OMG...my experience is identical. I was hoping that a Mac would somehow be better than Windows, but the reality is that it is simply different, and my iMac has issues to the same extent as a Windows machine.
We had the same deal with our iMac slowing down over time, just like Windows machines used to do. We tried all the common fixes (permissions, repair disk, etc), to no real avail. The ultimate fix was re-formatting the hard drive and doing a fresh install on the OS. It SCREAMED after that.
The longer we had our iMac, the more I realized that it came with its own set of issues, many not unlike issues with older Windows computers. I decided in the end that it's not better or worse than Windows...it's just different.
With that said, I'm sure the OP will really enjoy it. The quality of the external hardware (computer case, keyboard, etc) is truly first class.
OMG...my experience is identical. I was hoping that a Mac would somehow be better than Windows, but the reality is that it is simply different, and my iMac has issues to the same extent as a Windows machine.
- Status
