Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

20" iMac question, should I buy it?

Feb 10, 2007 2:24PM PST

Hi, I have always been a PC user and happy. Although, I am wondering if I should buy a Mac. If I was to, this would probably be my decision for hardware without knowing if this is to much or to little for my needs. I would use the iMac for general web surfing, instant messaging, email, and maybe a few games. Here is the system info that I see best for my needs but would like some feedback if this is about right or if I would be fine with other options for the hard drive size, etc. I want this iMac to hopefully have the hardware that will last for future OS upgrades such as Leopard. The iMac I am looking at is the 20" one.

Processor: 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2GB
Hard Drive: 250GB
Graphics card: ATI Radeon X1600/256MB VRAM (I've always chose nVidia for my graphics card for my PC, never had experience with an ATI Radeon. Are they good for a Mac?)

That's really all, besides the AppleCare plan.

Thanks, any input would greatly be appreciated.

Robert

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Decent choice
Feb 10, 2007 10:02PM PST

That machine will suit you admirably for the tasks you describe. Leopard will not be a problem for it and I'm sure it will not have any problems with future OS changes.
My old G4 will be running Leopard when it is available.

The Radeon card is suitable, besides which, you don't actually have a choice and you cannot change it.

If what you want to do is what you say, then go ahead and get it

If you can wait a month or two, OS X 10.5 (Leopard) will be released and installed on your new machine

P

- Collapse -
RE: Decent choice
Feb 11, 2007 2:30AM PST

Hi, thanks for the help. Sounds great... except just curious, I've never owned a Mac before. If I ever needed a repair for something such as the hard drive, does the OS come with any instructions? Or how would I go about on trying to get a repair done?

Thanks again,

Robert

- Collapse -
Repair
Feb 11, 2007 4:40AM PST

The thing would be under warranty for the first year and all parts would be replaced, gratis.
You also have the option to extend the warranty.

Depending on where you live, you may have to take the machine to an Apple store for repair
or
Depending on how practical you are, you can replace things like that yourself.

The OS is the OS and does not come with instructions on how to change parts. I don't believe Windows comes with instructions on how to change a hard drive.
However, there is plenty of support up at the Apple site

P

- Collapse -
RE: Repair
Feb 11, 2007 7:01AM PST

Thanks for the information, I really appreciate it.