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New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

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Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#71

Post by toomuchtodo »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #66
cmelbye wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

I bought my grandmother an iMac refurbished: http://www.refurb.me/us/desktop

Very pleased, saved ~$200 off list. Still get a warranty.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#72

Post by randallsquared »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #66
cmelbye wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

It's not the five minutes of extra work; it's the cognitive overhead of knowing how to do this stuff. Talk to someone who knows nothing about computers, sometime. You'll find all kinds of misconceptions and worries. "What if I plug it in wrong and break it?" tops the list, usually.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#73

Post by joezydeco »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #66
cmelbye wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

Believe it or not, some people don't want the clutter of extra cables and another box on the desktop to get tangled up in the other stuff. They'll pay the extra to have a clean setup on their desk.

Apple knows some people treat PCs like furniture. That may make you grind your teeth, but at least you have the option.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#74

Post by Spooky23 »

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?

This is the new eMac.

The audience are the same people buying 8GB iPhones and 16GB iPad Minis -- they need the platform, but don't care much about the speeds and feeds.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#75

Post by Pxtl »

ansimionescu wrote: post #8
ChikkaChiChi wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are new models at new price points. It's Apple attempting to be "budget"

I bought an iMac in 2012 for £860 (student discount, original price £1000) and sold it one and a half years later for £600. I also bought a 13" Sony Vaio S for around £1200 in 2011 and had to sell it 6 months later, because it was a total piece of shit. I got £650 for it. So I'd argue that buying cheap plastic crap is in fact the non-budget option.

It's frustrating to see Sony fail like that - Sony was Apple back when Apple was doomed. I keep waiting for a Win32/Android company to position themselves as "Apple without the Apple OS". Sony has succeeded there with the Xperia line, but their laptops don't reflect that.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#76

Post by gambiting »

Pxtl wrote: post #69

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 pa…

In my experience of looking for an all-in-one: if you want apple-quality but from any other manufacturer, be prepared to actually spend more money than you would on an iMac. Obviously with an iMac you are not getting a touchscreen that is standard on every other AiO,but I can't say I would use such feature.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#77

Post by rsfinn »

ncw96 wrote: post #48

I don't understand this product. For the same price, you could get a model with much better specs from the Apple Refurbished Store. Anyone who has ever bought Apple Refurb knows that the products are essentially new. http://store.apple.com/us/product/FE086LL/A/refurbished-215-...

I agree with the bulk of your statement, which is why the last three Apple computers I've bought with my own money have been refurbs.

However, people that walk into an Apple store to buy a computer don't want to buy a "used" computer. (Or people placing bulk orders for enterprises or educational institutions, either.)

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#78

Post by randallsquared »

teh_klev wrote: post #27
hackety wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) it's thin and pretty 2) self-contained. Only a power cable is required. Makes a neat desk. 3) it's completely silent (but then again so is a mac mini) 4) the higher-end models have an actual graphics card (mac mini has very bad graphics)

The "x 1080" in the display dimensions make me sad. It's a shame this is becoming the norm on medium sized panels and not 1920x1200.

It's "becoming" the norm? That was happening 6-8 years ago. Now 1080p has been the norm for something like two upgrade cycles, and anyone who currently cares about resolution beyond that is looking at 1440p or more.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#79

Post by joezydeco »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #71
jiggy2011 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I bought my grandmother an iMac refurbished: http://www.refurb.me/us/desktop Very pleased, saved ~$200 off list. Still get a warranty.

Always buy refurbished directly from Apple. You get a full year of AppleCare warranty attached to the purchase and can buy more years of AppleCare after that.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals

When a new model launches, that's the best time to buy refurbs on the older stuff. The older Macbook Airs are going for 35-40% off list right now.

Re: New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

#80

Post by jiggy2011 »

randallsquared wrote: post #72
jiggy2011 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

It's not the five minutes of extra work; it's the cognitive overhead of knowing how to do this stuff. Talk to someone who knows nothing about computers, sometime. You'll find all kinds of misconceptions and worries. "What if I plug it in wrong and break it?" tops the list, usually.

The plugs on the back are pretty difficult to get wrong, I'm sure everyone knows somebody who is capable of plugging in wires for $1000 per hour!
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