RE-STOCKED: Apple Store Refurbs

[jdc]

Sounds like more than your budget, but this might be the minimum I would go for a 21" iMac.

Apple iMac FHD 21.5", 2.8GHz i5, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200, OS X El Capitan (Late 2015)

http://www.adorama.com/acmk442la1.html

[Forrest]

I'd pass on the dual core i5 on the iMac. For just a little more money - get the quad core i5.

[Tommie Milwaukee]

Personally, I wouldn't buy any refurb with less than 16gb of ram.

[Bimwad]

Ammo wrote:
My current computer is a very old (10 years?) Mini that's way too slow to be useful.

Here's a new (late 2015) imac at B&H for about the same money:

21.5" LED-Backlit IPS Display
1920 x 1080 Screen Resolution
1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 Dual-Core
8GB of 1867 MHz LPDDR3 Onboard RAM
$1,099

+ 166 for 16 GB RAM

It's best to avoid the"MacBook Air guts inside a desktop" models.

Those 1.x GHz processors are designed for thin laptops, where low power consumption, not performance, is the overriding priority.

In the desktop models, they only serve to fulfill the need for a lower price point.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Tommie Milwaukee wrote:
Personally, I wouldn't buy any refurb with less than 16gb of ram.

Debatable, depending on whether it would cost more to purchase 8 GB vs. 16 GB from Apple or from a third party reseller.

I received a pleasant surprise today: While poking around on my new refurb iMac, I realized that the 16 GB it came with is 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB -- which means that if I ever decide to upgrade it up to 32GB RAM, I won't have to toss out any of the RAM it shipped with. That's a first, for me at least.

[JoeH]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
[quote=Tommie Milwaukee]
Personally, I wouldn't buy any refurb with less than 16gb of ram.

Debatable, depending on whether it would cost more to purchase 8 GB vs. 16 GB from Apple or from a third party reseller.
With recent 21" iMac's you do not have that option. You have to buy the RAM at initial purchase, there is no ability add to or replace the RAM afterwards. That is only an option for the 27" models.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

JoeH wrote:
[quote=N-OS X-tasy!]
[quote=Tommie Milwaukee]
Personally, I wouldn't buy any refurb with less than 16gb of ram.

Debatable, depending on whether it would cost more to purchase 8 GB vs. 16 GB from Apple or from a third party reseller.
With recent 21" iMac's you do not have that option. You have to buy the RAM at initial purchase, there is no ability add to or replace the RAM afterwards. That is only an option for the 27" models.
Correct.

[Bimwad]

The "mid-2014" 21" iMacs ushered in soldered RAM for the form factor.

The models prior to it still have two internal slots, and can be upgraded, but it requires breaking the adhesive seal around the screen to reach the board. Such a task is probably better left to a shop, or an experienced hobbyist.