Time for a new iMac -- any recommendations?

I'm probably going to get the 20-inch iMac, 2.66GHz, ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO. I tried out SL on one for about 30 minutes; I had no problems and the performance was better than I expected.

I'd love to hear any recommendations, especially from those who have used SL with that iMac, the 2.8 GHz, or the 3.06 GHz. Thanks!

My main recommendation is to go for the full 2gb of RAM. 1gb is pretty good, but more never hurts in a Mac, especially if you're running other programs too. You're usually better getting the RAM somewhere other than Apple as it's cheaper.

Thanks, Haravikk. 2GB is standard on all of those. With the newest iMacs, the least-expensive iMac (2.4 GHz) comes with only 1 GB, but I'm not considering that one. The 2.66GHz is just a few hundred dollars more and well worth the expense for the extra RAM and speed.

I agree with you about Apple's prices for RAM. This will be the first time I've ever purchased a Mac without simultaneously purchasing 3rd party RAM to put in it as soon as I open the box.

Now I've just got to figure out if the 24-in models (2.8GHz or the 3.06GHz with the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS) would be worth the extra expense.

I have a friend who has the 20" iMac and loves it.

I'd have to say, go for the best gear you can possibly afford. Best screen and best video card. The iMac pretty much locks you in with whatever screen and video card you start with, so there is no incremental upgrade path. You live with what you get, until you get a new computer.

Thanks, Ceera. I have a feeling I'll love it, too.
Locking in is so true with iMacs and the old eMacs. I need to scrimp and save for some things I expect to happen over the next several months; otherwise, I'd be getting a Mac Pro. (And that's not a complaint -- things are going well and I'm glad I can get a new iMac.)

Yeah. Last December I got a Mac Pro. A huge step up from my former 1st-genertion Mac Mini!

I was looking at the iMacs at first, but ended up deciding to save a while longer and go whole-hog on a Mac Pro. I got the mid-range video card, and haven't regretted the wait. If anything, I sort of wish I had waited a bit longer. 32 days after I got my Tower, the price dropped and the standard RAM and HD size increased, as well as them doubling the number of cores that came standard for the price!

Oh well...

Hi there.

I use the 20" iMac with the same specs as you have listed, I can run Second Life no problems at all. Everything is really smooth and I've never crashed once!

You cannot upgrade anything in your iMac except the ram, highest amount of ram you can get I believe is 4GB? so if I was you I'd have a good think what you need it for and how long your computer will last with the things you do.

Good luck and keep us updated!

I got the 2.66GHz iMac at home and am extremely pleased. SL is much better on it than on my 2.4GHz I got for my office. (Both were purchased at the same time, and both have 2GB RAM). The better video card in the 2.66GHz makes a huge difference.

I ca'nt get SL to run more than 8 minutes at a time. I've a decent MBP (GeForce 8600M GT, 2gb ram and 2,2 ghz) but i 'm forced to run SL on a G4 12 inches.
MAc freezes all the time.

do you guys can advice settings?
thanks
Rox

Rox, this thread doesn't address that issue, so you're probably not going to get any helpful responses in this thread. If you search this forum for other threads, however, I think you'll find that others have had similar problems. Many have found some solutions. If you don't find help, start a NEW thread.

Another possibility is to join the Macintosh Users group inworld and ask in group chat. We often have a lot of help provided that way.

Good luck.

Realy no pb with an 2,66 GHz iMac with 4 Go,ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO and a second 20-inch screen