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New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

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Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#61

Post by projct »

pling wrote: post #9

Can I replace the disk with an SSD easily? Probably not! :(

Comes with an SSD build-to-order option, or a fusion drive option, which is a SSD + large HDD with the SSD as a block-level cache.[1]

If it's the same as last year's model[2], it isn't that hard if you are used to working on laptops or mini-itx cases. Just have to be careful about dust, have a few torx bit screwdrivers, and some adhesive strips which you can find for $15-20.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_Drive#Design [2] https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+Intel+21.5-Inch+EMC+263...

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#62

Post by freshyill »

mgkimsal wrote: post #4

having just bought the $1299 model last year, glad to see they're trying to offer a cheaper model. Lowest used to be $1199 a few years back - another $100 to $1299 (essentially $1400 with tax) was a big hit to take. Yes, $200 is just $200 - these new $1099 ones aren't free , but... this may make the difference between someone getting a new one vs not. 1.4ghz seems awfully slow, but... I suspect for a lot of what many…

I instructed my in-laws to buy the low-end iMac last year. I tried to get them to go for a MacBook, but they had to have a desktop. The SSD would have been tons faster, but for their purposes, this works great.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#63

Post by pling »

projct wrote: post #61
pling wrote: post #9

Can I replace the disk with an SSD easily? Probably not! :(

Comes with an SSD build-to-order option, or a fusion drive option, which is a SSD + large HDD with the SSD as a block-level cache.[1] If it's the same as last year's model[2], it isn't that hard if you are used to working on laptops or mini-itx cases. Just have to be careful about dust, have a few torx bit screwdrivers, and some adhesive strips which you can find for $15-20. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusion_Dr…

I already have 3 SSDs floating around that I know are good (Samsung 840 Pro). I wouldn't want to kick out for another 256Gb SSD when I already have one. Not only that, those fusion drives are terribly unreliable from experience.

Regardless of that, that process is HELL compared to another machine. The thing I'm typing this on now (Lenovo T400) requires any old screwdriver you have lying around and 2 mins.

1960s point to point wired televisions are easier to repair.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#64

Post by pling »

hackety wrote: post #42
bane wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say, I can get a really nice laptop at Costco with better specs for about 30-40% less and better specs all around, and a touch screen. In fact, I can get an all in one with much better specs for less. http://www.costco.com/.product.100115209.html?cm_sp=RichRele... Other than the crap specs, it's really hard to buy into the idea that this is "entry level" when it's selling at a mid-level price. This sho…

Geeks tend to forget that there is more to a computer than raw numbers. Design, noise, materials, software (try getting that inspiron with apps like garageband, imove, pages and numbers for less than $1099), support (walk into the apple store and someone's there to help) and general ecosystem (time machine, app store, UNIX foundation (no real viruses)).

Materials like that nasty alloy that Apple uses that people are allergic to! (Google it)

Yep...

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#65

Post by cmelbye »

dsr_ wrote: post #21

This has a 1920x1080 display. I fail to understand why someone would buy this over a Mac Mini and an external display: cheaper, more powerful, ability to change displays, only two more cables (power and data for the display). Anyone care to enlighten me?

Simplicity? My grandma doesn't want to buy an "external display", she would truly have no idea where to even start to do that. And then after she's got the Mac mini, the external display, and the cable to connect the display (assuming she was able to find the right one,) someone then has to set it up for her.

Compare that to an iMac. Go to the Apple store, drop $1k, take it home, plug in the power cable, and she's on Facebook in minutes.

That's the friction that iMac removes. If the customer has to leave the electronics store with multiple boxes from several different companies, and has the ability to buy the "wrong thing" (DVI instead of HDMI, etc.), it's probably a sign that the process can be simplified.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#66

Post by jiggy2011 »

cmelbye wrote: post #65
dsr_ wrote: post #21

This has a 1920x1080 display. I fail to understand why someone would buy this over a Mac Mini and an external display: cheaper, more powerful, ability to change displays, only two more cables (power and data for the display). Anyone care to enlighten me?

Simplicity? My grandma doesn't want to buy an "external display", she would truly have no idea where to even start to do that. And then after she's got the Mac mini, the external display, and the cable to connect the display (assuming she was able to find the right one,) someone then has to set it up for her. Compare that to an iMac. Go to the Apple store, drop $1k, take it home, plug in the power cable, and she's on…

That's quite a price premium to pay for 5 minutes extra work!

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#67

Post by Pxtl »

dsr_ wrote: post #21

This has a 1920x1080 display. I fail to understand why someone would buy this over a Mac Mini and an external display: cheaper, more powerful, ability to change displays, only two more cables (power and data for the display). Anyone care to enlighten me?

You forgot to account for speakers - more cables there. In general, the advantage to an all-in-one device is aesthetics. If you want something in your living room? All-in-one is the way to go. If you go with a wireless keyboard and mouse, you're tethered by a single solitary power cable.

It's once place where I'm generally disappointed in Apple's competitors (I loathe Apple but I freely admit they win because they're the best). Non-Apple all-in-one devices either ugly and anemic or fail to compete with Apple on price (if Apple beats you on price, you lose). The big thing I think competitors need to learn from Apple is to stop being such size-queens. Save some money on monitor size and focus on getting the other details right.

Same goes for laptops - the average Windows laptop the same size as the the largest Macbook. Apple is one of the only companies even building in the 11" form-factor.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#68

Post by stephencanon »

papercrane wrote: post #51
smackfu wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, at this point in time, the Mac mini is pretty old tech. It was last updated in 2012 and has an Ivy Bridge CPU and Intel HD 4000 graphics and 802.11n. The iMac is the next gen, so it has a Haswell CPU, Intel HD 5000 graphics, and 802.11ac. Also, I think buying your own external display that is the same quality as the iMac one would be more expensive than people think... but then , most people don't need that goo…

The Haswell CPU in the iMac is still slower then the Ivy Bridge CPU in the Mac mini. The IPC boost from Ivy Bridge to Haswell isn't enough to make up the difference in clock rate. HD5000 is a decent upgrade though.

That depends heavily on the workload. For optimized floating-point code, Haswell is a beast (16 double precision flops per core per cycle, vs 8 for Ivybridge).

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#69

Post by Pxtl »

This is really closing the already-small-gap between Apple and their competitors in the All-in-one space. I've been shopping for an All-in-one and it's thoroughly unimpressive - to get something with Apple-level quality, you really have to pay an Apple-level price... and at that point, you start wondering why shop with a brand with a worse reputation than Apple? I mean, I like Asus hardware, but I wouldn't want to pay Apple prices for Asus hardware.
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