A workmate of mine has offerd me a 20″ 4gb 2.0ghz Imac for £400. He has a history of buying top end gadgets normally Nikon cameras and upgrading them fairly quickly and offloading his old ones at a decent price.
The Imac was only used for making wedding videos and photos and is in good condition. Any mac users know if this is a good buy as It comes with a load of good software. ?

Does it have an Intel processor and will it run Mavericks?

How old is it?

20″ is 2009 or earlier…

I have one of those and it’s a decent bit of kit. Mines running Lion iirc
As foot flaps says though it’s at least 5 years old. £400 is the top end of what it’s worth IMHO.
If you already have a screen, a new mac mini for not much more is a better option.

If it is an aluminium one with an intel core duo chip version it should run Mavericks. Circa 2007?

I think £400 is at the very top of what it is worth. Bare in mind iMacs of this age were issued with software disks that only work with that particular machine so they should be included. If you want to run Mavericks and it is not installed already you need a copy of Snow Leopard as this will give you access to the app store.

Also it is possible to run some of the older iMacs with 6gb of ram even though they state 4gb is the Max. Alongside a new iMac I still have a 2007 24 inch jobbie. It has 6gb installed and runs very well although I found it was sluggish with video editing and large files in Photoshop. Concidering its age and what I have put it through it is still a very good machine.

although I found it was sluggish with video editing and large files in Photoshop.

Stick as SSD in it, will turbo charge it when handling large files…..

Stick as SSD in it, will turbo charge it when handling large files…..

This has crossed my mind!!

Stick as SSD in it, will turbo charge it when handling large files…..

Replacing the hdd isn’t for the faint hearted. You have to separate the screen from the rest of the machine – I did mine using a plunger, but it wasn’t a quick or easy process.

Sorry should have said It’s a 2008 model.

Same spec as mine. 250gb hdd?

hm. that’s 5 years old now. Not sure I’d be plumping for something /that/ vintage – 2/3 years maybe.

Thanks for the info folks , I think you have confirmed my suspicions that It seems on the high end and probably wouldn’t be much quicker than my year old Samsung laptop for editing photos etc.
It would have looked nice in my living room though.

Nah 😛

400 quid would get something quite pwoerful from Ebuyer or Novatech

for instance

http://www.ebuyer.com/579771-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-0513

Unfortunately that comes with Windows7 but you could probably throw that in the bin.

for instance

http://www.ebuyer.com/579771-zoostorm-desktop-pc-7873-0513

Not a bad spec for a cheap desktop. Although I would rather have Windows 7 before Windows 8. Unless you have a touch screen.

You can also go down the Hackintosh route! Build a a PC and run OSX on it.

General info:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/home.php

Info on compatible parts

http://www.tonymacx86.com/384-building-customac-buyer-s-guide-september-2013.html

An extra £50 gets you a mac mini – http://store.apple.com/uk_edu_5000751/buy-mac/mac-mini?product=MD387B/A&step=config

I’d definitely spend the extra on a 2012 vintage mac mini if you already have a screen, easily more powerful and can be upgraded to 16Gb and 2 disk drives.

Also not all Intel macs can run Mavericks, my 64 bit Core 2 Duo Macbook Pro can only go as far as Lion. So even if this iMac can run Mountain Lion or Mavericks it might not be able to run whatever comes next.

Mac Mini.

I’m still using my 2009 Mac Mini (I recently upgraded the ram and hdd) as my main computer and they are fantastic. It’s not a direct comparison with the iMac as you need a keyboard and mouse (£125 wireless apple ones) for the mini and assumes you can re use an existing monitor.

As for whether the iMac is good value we need to know exact model and age. Reasonably current Mac stuff goes for 40-60% of new price. A 20 inch iMac is quite dated BUT it’s very easily upgradable for ram/storage, there is a slight question as to whether it would run Mavericks as raised above.

If you do decide to get it (offer him £350 for it) i wouldn’t bother with mavericks, a **** useless upgrade that has messed up my late 2008 unibody macbook 2.4ghz running 8gb ram and a 750gb ssd, thankfully i have time machine back ups other wise i’d be throwing a hissy fit. I run a fair amount of music software and the glitches/pops/latency i experienced with my soundcard never mind the hassle with my plug-ins/vst software lost me the 2 free days i had set aside over the holiday period to edit 100 tracks for the coming season – to say i ranted on the phone to apple was an understatement.

That’s a lot more than its worth. I’ve one of a very similar vintage and checking the other day on eBay they go for 2-300. What size hard drive?

I’ll check ‘simons’ If only to give the seller a reality check.

I have a fully functional hackintosh for sale, much less than £400. It’s running Mountain Lion at the moment.

I have a 24″ 2.4ghz (2007, aluminium) model – still use it most days (design work so Photoshop CC, illustrator etc). It used to get pretty bogged down with big Raw files and larger photoshop files but on the whole was usable with a little patience. Mavericks sped things up a wee bit but not enough.

I put an SSD in it a few months ago and it’s made an amazing difference – much more snappy and usable. It’s like a completely different machine So much so that I’ll probably not upgrade to a new model for at least another year.

Definitely a worthwhile upgrade for an older mac.

As for the OP – I’d pay no more than around £300 for it.

Lovely, but I paid £50 less a couple of years back for a brand new laptop with three times the disc capacity, 1gb more RAM and a faster CPU.

You’d have to be a Mac fanatic to justify it.

I have a Mac mini and would buy another. Works well with HDTV. Was almost going to go for a MacBook Air, but wanted decent hard drive capacity for photos and music. If you got to John Lewis, the do a 2 year warranty. Although my MacBook from 2008 has lasted well compared to PC longevity, I would still go for a newer model as they update the specs almost as often as I change my under crackers.

I think the list price is £499, as above link is for education discount. Check Amazon prices, will be cheaper than apple direct (although I got mine direct from apple store).

You’d have to be a Mac fanatic to justify it.

Or earning a living using one (using mac only software) where any perceived ‘apple tax’ is made back in a days use.
It doesn’t matter how cheap a PC is if it doesn’t help productivity.

Mavericks sped things up a wee bit but not enough.

Interesting. Mavericks seems to have slowed things down on both of our macs. In particular Mail now seems to run like a complete dog.

Just checked my iMac specs – 2Ghz, upgraded to 4GB from original 1 or 2, hard drive upgraded to 1Tb from original 250gb (i think). It’s describes itself as ‘mid 2007’ in “about this mac” , was the bottom of the range model when bought at £799. Apps seem to take a little while to load now but it’s still completely usable. Quite amazing that it’s still worth close to £300

I’d definitely spend the extra on a 2012 vintage mac mini if you already have a screen, easily more powerful and can be upgraded to 16Gb and 2 disk drives.

I’d second this motion. I’ve actually got the top-end server version as a workstation, and cannot fault it for what I use it for.

i wouldn’t bother with mavericks

Personally, I would.

late 2008 unibody macbook 2.4ghz running 8gb ram and a 750gb ssd

Interesting you say this, as it’s been faultless on mine, similarly specced to yours (2Ghz, 8GB, SSD).

Lovely, but I paid £50 less a couple of years back for a brand new laptop with three times the disc capacity, 1gb more RAM and a faster CPU.

You’d have to be a Mac fanatic to justify it.

The quality of cheap laptops is shocking.

I bought mrs xiphon a macbook air (13″, 2013) for her PhD. She’ll be using it on the train back and forth between Preston and Dundee, using it in the labs, etc. It will be her portable workstation. A “cheap” laptop wouldn’t last 3 months.

Plus the integration with her iPhone + iPad is fantastic.

Call it “Apple Tax” all you want, but they do produce very well engineered products, and that quality – in my eyes – is worth paying for.

but they do produce very well engineered products, and that quality – in my eyes – is worth paying for.

Yep, nothing comes close in terms of build quality, more than happy to pay the extra.