iMac processor

ask cowaski, think hes the knowledge on macs round here

for what its worth im using a 2.2 macbook pro and although im going to beef up the ram its fine for me
 
I agree. I can't see the £300 worth the extra speed. maybe better off using the money to buy a calibration device , some extra memory, or additional hard drives
 
RAM is more important, don't buy it off Apple either.
My iMac is a 2.4Ghz which was the faster one at the time, it's still plenty fast enough.
I've used 1.8 and 2Ghz macbooks and I can't tell the difference.
 
I'd also bet you wouldn't notice the difference.

Your stuff looks fairly hdr heavy - maybe the extra'll make all the difference to you...
 
I looked at the relative speeds and the bigger jump was to the 2.93 rather than the 3.06. I have the 2.93 and am very pleased with it indeed.
 
I can remember back in the Power PC days a 50 or 100mhz jump was more than worth the price but these days the new macs seem to benefit more from RAM and D upgrades than a speed jump.

I've got a 2.4 in my macbook pro and it's blinding.

I'm jealous - the new iMacs are the dogs bits :)
 
I went with the wireless bluetooth keyboard and mouse, mainly as I hate wires ! I don't mind not having the number pad on the right of the keyboard. I also added iWork '09 and Aperture, and took the 3 year warranty / support package as it's my first Mac :)
 
No, the wireless keyboard doesn't benefit from the USB ports unfortunately. I think the wired mouse has to use one of them anyway, so not having them isn't a great loss.
 
If you have a store near you, it is well worth a visit.

I bought mine from a store and they loaded all the software, ran all the updates, and set it up ready for use, so that when I got it home all I had to do was configure my wireless which took 1 minute and I was off and away using it...
 
If you look at my "Top Tips" I have an in-depth write up of this very subject describing in detail including ram upgrades etc.... Just click on the top tips link in my sig and look at the contents page which I think is post 2

EDIT: It is tip 53
 
chewyuk said:
Wireless Mouse - Wired keyboard perhaps? Or am I going mad?
Click to expand...

You can specify either mouse AND / OR keyboard as being wireless! The wireless mouse is an extra £14 and the wireless keyboard is an extra £20. You can now get the wired keyboard WITHOUT the number pad too. This is cheaper if you are buying the keyboard as an extra but they do not give you a rebate if you chose the cheaper keyboard with a computer.
 
specialman said:
I can remember back in the Power PC days a 50 or 100mhz jump was more than worth the price but these days the new macs seem to benefit more from RAM and D upgrades than a speed jump.

I've got a 2.4 in my macbook pro and it's blinding.

I'm jealous - the new iMacs are the dogs bits :)
Click to expand...

I have a Quad Xeon mac pro and a 2.6Ghz Macbook pro you can barely tell them apart speed-wise. As your computer gets quicker it just spends more time waiting for you to press another button :)
 
What is the exact model you are going for and which options?
 
Yes, that is a good choice but

The model above's extra £300 is not JUST the faster processor you get....

3.06GHz processor rather than 2.93GHz processor
1Tb drive instead of 640Gb drive (the drive is faster too)
512Mb graphics memory instead of 256Mb graphics memory
GT130 graphics processor rather than the GT120

The processor is only 4-5% quicker but the other items do increase the speed too.

They charge £80 extra for the 1Tb drive in the 2.93GHz model so you are effectively paying £220 for the extra graphics memory, better graphics processor and CPU.

It all depends on how much you would miss the extra £300 !! It is a better computer but you will probably not notice the difference in speed in normal use although snow leopard and CS4/5 will make more use of the graphics processor meaning that you may get a good bump in speed from that too later. Also you could actually buy a 1Tb drive for less than Apple charge to upgrade in effect you could buy a 1Tb drive and an external case for £80 then put the 640Gb in the external case and the 1Tb in the computer but it is a bit of a hassle and technically you are not supposed to :)

All in all I would choose the 2.93 model unless I really wouldn't miss the extra £300.
 
cowasaki said:
They charge £80 extra for the 1Tb drive in the 2.93GHz model so you are effectively paying £220 for the extra graphics memory, better graphics processor and CPU.
Click to expand...

The only possible reason i can see that as worthwhile is the same conversation I have been having wih Defiance on PM and that is to future proof the spec.

Do you feel I would get better performance on Photoshop with a 512 Graphics card and slightly improved CPU? I'm not convined I actually would notice any difference?
 
To be perfectly honest I wouldn't bother with the upgrade unless you are feeling flush. At most there will be a 10% increase but more likely 3-4% and you will not really notice :)
 
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