Goodbye iMac

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balrog

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Sooo, my iMac (mid 2011 21.5" entry level model) got fried two weeks ago by lightning. Repairs were quoted at R34 500. WAAAAYYY more than what the iMac originally cost (can't remember exact figures, think it was around R14k in 2011, but speaking under correction).

So, my insurance quoted and paid out for a new iMac.

So I figured I had 3 options:
1. Get a new entry level iMac to replace the fried one
2. Buy a more recent 27" iMac with much better specs
3. Build a PC again (used to build my own PC's before I got the iMac)

Option 1: I was absolutely disgraced at the specs of the new entry level iMac's available! My 2011 iMac had a 7200 RPM drive, the new one: 5400 RPM. WHAT!?!?!?!?! Also no discrete graphics. Info from the interwebs confirmed it. It is SLOW. Wow, what an utter let-down from Apple. So Option 1, out the door.

Option 2: Some nice options available in the second hand market for 27" iMacs. Had a look around, lined one up to view, but then though to myself.
If my iMac was not fried by lightning, but a component broke down, then my insurance would not have paid out. That would have left me with a R34k bill for repairs, or a new or second hand iMac out of my own pocket. Whoah... Was I prepared to take the risk on a second hand iMac, it breaks down, and I am stuck with a massive repair bill? No thanks. So option 2 out the door.

Option 3: Built myself a monster PC with Skylake i5-6500, 8GB DDR4 2666 RAM, 256gb SSD, 1 TB HDD, case, psu etc. (keyboard and monitor excluded. Will also get a nice GPU later, maybe when the new tech drops), for R7k LESS than the entry level iMac. This thing FLIES... Yes, I had to manage Windows again, but Win 10 pretty great so far.

My point with all this:

Apple is shooting themselves in the foot. I cannot justify paying the high price for such a slouch of a computer. Put some MODERN components in there, for goodness' sake! With the added risk of very high costs to repair. My PC I can replace any faulty part myself.

Still love my MacBook Air, I am not anti-Apple just for the heck of it (I have an iPhone 6s Plus and Apple Watch, so pretty much all Appled out :) ). This is just my real-world experience and reasoning for moving away from an iMac as a desktop computer for work or gaming. I Will not venture there again. Too big a financial risk.

Anyway, just sharing my experience, use it, don't use it :)
 
SauRoNZA

SauRoNZA

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Who did the quote?

I guess in the case of lightning it would all be buggered, but often I find the "official" places simply replace the Logic Board and ask for huge money for it while another company will actually repair the problem and do if for R1000-R2000.
 
B

balrog

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SauRoNZA said:
Who did the quote?

I guess in the case of lightning it would all be buggered, but often I find the "official" places simply replace the Logic Board and ask for huge money for it while another company will actually repair the problem and do if for R1000-R2000.
Click to expand...

I took it to iFix (Menlyn) first, dropped it off the Monday. Phoned the Wednesday - they tell me the tech is busy with it. Great.

I call the Thursday - they tell me the tech is struggling to power the iMac on. WHHHHHHAAAAAATTTTT!!!! It was struck by lightning, that's why I brought it in, BECAUSE IT DOES NOT POWER ON!!!

Told them to just leave it alone for me to pick it up. iFix = Useless. Maybe they can fix phones, but do NOT take anything else to them!

So took it to iStore (yes, iStore *ugh*), dropped it off Saturday, got the report and quote on Wednesday.

So yeah, taking it to the unofficial guys did not work out very well for me :(. Could not even get a quote out of them *spit*
 
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B

balrog

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icyrus said:
What screen did you get?
Click to expand...

Re-using a 23" 1080p screen I already had. Not the most fantastic, but wide-screen, so the Windows snap to sides function works great if you need two windows open at the same time. So enjoying that. Will see later to maybe get a nicer screen. But first priority is to get a nice GPU :). But all non-gaming stuff is working great. Photoshop etc. Also "basic" games like Insurgency and Airland Battle with the on-chip 530 graphics.

I didn't do any gaming on the iMac - so now I have a lot more options in that space, going forward :)
 
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I

icyrus

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balrog said:
Re-using a 23" 1080p screen I already had. Not the most fantastic, but wide-screen, so the Windows snap to sides function works great if you need two windows open at the same time. So enjoying that. Will see later to maybe get a nicer screen. But first priority is to get a nice GPU :). But all non-gaming stuff is working great. Photoshop etc. Also "basic" games like Insurgency and Airland Battle with the on-chip 530 graphics.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Apple's market for the iMac is people who want a well designed all-in-one without many wires. The custom built PC will never really be their competition.

If you are serious about gaming then not even the high-end retina iMacs would've been a great choice for you.
 
B

balrog

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icyrus said:
Fair enough. Apple's market for the iMac is people who want a well designed all-in-one without many wires. The custom built PC will never really be their competition.

If you are serious about gaming then not even the high-end retina iMacs would've been a great choice for you.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I really liked my iMac - just that for me it does not make sense anymore to pay more, for less, even if the less does look better :)
 
Drifter

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Looking at the spec of the PC you want ti build, they didnt pay out much.
 
SauRoNZA

SauRoNZA

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balrog said:
I took it to iFix (Menlyn) first, dropped it off the Monday. Phoned the Wednesday - they tell me the tech is busy with it. Great.

I call the Thursday - they tell me the tech is struggling to power the iMac on. WHHHHHHAAAAAATTTTT!!!! It was struck by lightning, that's why I brought it in, BECAUSE IT DOES NOT POWER ON!!!

Told them to just leave it alone for me to pick it up. iFix = Useless. Maybe they can fix phones, but do NOT take anything else to them!

So took it to iStore (yes, iStore *ugh*), dropped it off Saturday, got the report and quote on Wednesday.

So yeah, taking it to the unofficial guys did not work out very well for me :(. Could not even get a quote out of them *spit*
Click to expand...

Nah I wasn't even considering iFix as the "unofficial" guys they also just replace and never repair.

Don't know the people up there in Jo'burg though to recommend someone else.

But in the case of lightning it's unlikely to be an easy fix anyway.
 
SlinkyMike

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Apple isn't shooting themselves in the foot. You cant afford the machine you want. Apple is doing just fine.
 
Bryn

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SlinkyMike said:
Apple isn't shooting themselves in the foot. You cant afford the machine you want. Apple is doing just fine.
Click to expand...

The machine anyone wants is one with good hardware and ease-of-use. A custom Windows PC can provide that for much, much less than an Apple machine.

There are definitely a large number of potential customers that Apple throws away with their product configurations and pricing. I spend a lot of money of computer hardware, and I'd be prepared to give a high end Mac a go if Apple would meet me halfway and give me some decent hardware for the price.

A Radeon M395X for a 5K display? Ha! No thanks.
 
B

balrog

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SlinkyMike said:
Apple isn't shooting themselves in the foot. You cant afford the machine you want. Apple is doing just fine.
Click to expand...

Lol - clearly the iMac was NOT the machine I wanted. Therefore I bough the machine I wanted. Apple lost a customer. They will not care about losing one customer, however, their price-point will make people think twice about their value proposition, especially in SA with the Rand tanking.

But whatever - just glad I went the way I did, and not looking back.
 
W

Way69

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The problem here is our currency. That being said, if I was gonna do it over again I'd buy a pc. I prefer Windows 10 to OSX.
 
Bryn

Bryn

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SauRoNZA said:
That only matters if you want to play games on it.
Click to expand...

42% of Americans play at least 3 hours of games per week. And the worldwide PC gaming market surpassed the combined worldwide console and handheld gaming market in revenue in 2014 and has stayed ahead. The average age of gamers is 35 years.

Three common stats that strongly suggest that the market for PC gaming is massive.
 
bwana

bwana

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Bryn said:
42% of Americans play at least 3 hours of games per week. And the worldwide PC gaming market surpassed the combined worldwide console and handheld gaming market in revenue in 2014 and has stayed ahead. The average age of gamers is 35 years.

Three common stats that strongly suggest that the market for PC gaming is massive.
Click to expand...
All true… but it still only matters if you want to play games on it, doesn't it and there are still plenty of options besides PCs if you do. After all 56% of gamers still use consoles.
 
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