iMac Question

[red solo cup]

Looking at a new iMac. The model is about 1200. For an extra 200.00, you get something called Gigabit Ethernet. Is it worth it? This unit is for personal use only, no business.

[MaximGun]

Get more memory than you need they are hard to upgrade.  My one runs slow and it is only a few years old.

Old ones you could change the memkry yourself.  New ones have to be unglued.

[Heinrich]

What MG 42 said. I am finding this out personally on my 2017 model.

[aquinas138]

Joining the chorus on maxing the memory as much as possible. I have a mid-2014 Macbook Pro that is still going strong (at least until software eventually makes it obsolete) because I decided to max the RAM at 16GB. I skimped a bit on the hard drive back then to afford it, but it was a worthwhile trade-off.

Whether Gigabit Ethernet is worth it depends on the speed of your internet connection. If you have a slow connection (sub-200 megabit), it's a waste of that much money, but if you have fast service or foresee the upgrade to faster service, non-Gigabit would likely be a performance bottleneck. $200 is a classic "well, that's Apple for you" outrage of a price, though, since a Gigabit card in a standard PC tower can be had for $15. But the iMacs are highly proprietary, and Apple charges through the nose for stuff like that. Unfortunately a part of the Apple ecosystem.

Also depending on your internet service and how many free USB/Thunderbolt ports you have, you could forgo the built-in Ethernet and use a Thunderbolt- or USB-C-to-gigabit adapter. It would not be as fast as the built-in card, but Apple's adapters are $30, which is significantly cheaper, and other brands are likely even cheaper.

[Gardener]

Any necessary reason to do an iMac vs something else?

[red solo cup]

Any necessary reason to do an iMac vs something else?

We've always used Macs.

[ChairmanJoeAintMyPrez]

A USB-C or Thunderbolt adapter for Ethernet would cost you $20, so...doesn't seem cost-effective to get it integrated.

[maryslittlegarden]

Thinkpad with a linux distro is fantastic

[LausTibiChriste]

Thinkpad with a linux distro is fantastic

Yes it is.

But so are Macs.


I hated Macs for the LONGEST time. 3 years ago I was given a Macbook for work. I now have a Steve Jobs poster on my bedroom ceiling.

Not really, but they are fantastic.