Any iMac geeks out there?

[Fireman on a Storm]

Both of my boys rave about their iMacs, they do a lot of music stuff on them.
I've been playing around with their iMac and I am very impressed. There are a few deals on fleebay for 2nd hand 27" iMacs. Is there much idfference between and i2 and i3 processor. Or will i not notices the difference when I am juts trying to replace my pc and get away from windows.

PS only looking at the 27" ones so that I can say "I've got a bigger one that you!!"

Thanks Paul

[Wicky]

When it comes to buying mac hardware I recommend a refurbished Mac from Apple as you still get a full warranty and a discount price on an as-new machine.

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

or second-hand from ScrumpyMacs http://www.scrumpymacs.co.uk/store/imacs.html (where I got my MacPro)

Is there much idfference between and i2 and i3 processor

Depends if you're doing lots of cutting edge processor intensive tasks i.e movie encoding, 3D rendering - if your doing web browsing, email & word processing i wouldn't worry. Just make sure you've got plenty of memory. Connect a large external > set Time Machine and you'll be well set.

Use bootcamp / parallels and you can still have the joy of windows

[Styler4077]

+1 for the info from Wicky
Any Intel processor with boot camp rocks on a Mac as you can have the best of both

[futterbingers]

Best to avoid 2nd hand macs off ebay, no history / warranty, could get you into serious ££££'s if it's been put together by a numpty. Stick with what above says!

When they're good, there's no problems, nice to use but twice the price for a reason!

[Wicky]

If you do go for one of ebay try to get one as local as possible so you can give it a good lookover to make sure it's working fine before handing over dosh. Got my earlier G5 dual tower that way and it worked fine for 5 years (apart from power supply giving up - £100 and replaced it myself) before I upgraded it with the Intel from Scrumpymacs (same day delivery).

[VTRDark]

You will not regret making the switch to a Mac. For one, 99% chance of no more viruses. That alone is a good enough reason to make the switch. And then you have the simplicity of use and system maintenance. A well maintained Mac is also more reliable and will last you well over 10 years.

I would not advice buying a Mac from ebay unless you know exactly what you are doing and what you are buying. If you do go down the ebay route Scrumpymacs costs slightly more as they are a business but it's trustworthy path to take.

What sort of things do you use a computer for?

I can not rate Apple Mac Computers highly enough, though I do have some concerns to the direction they are taking these days with regards to user interface and human interaction.

Oh and yes with an Intel Mac you can run the Mac OS system and Windblows side by side if you wish. And it would still run faster than the equivalent PC.

keep us informed to how you get on.

Have Fun.

(:-})