Need a recommendation on a used/refurb iMac

[Gareth]

I can tell you from recent shopping that about the cheapest you can get a USED 2013 21.5" 2.7/8GB/1TB hard drive iMac is about $450.

The nice thing about the 2013's is that they all came with the PCIe slot, even if it wasn't configured that way (2012's did not), so you can upgrade later (albeit, it's a giant PITA to do it and the drives are expensive on their own), but you can also swap the 2.5" hard drive for a 2.5" SSD (slightly less of a PITA). But both options require cutting and replacing the adhesive for the LCD, so budget $20-50 for tools and adhesive. I'm about to embark on this adventure for a 2013 I recently got (any weekend now...).

[Filliam H. Muffman]

I wouldn't go out of my way to pay money for any Mac that didn't have USB 3 and could take 8 GB of RAM.

[Pops]

sekker wrote:
I cannot recommend a non-SSD machine.

Why?

[sekker]

Pops wrote:
[quote=sekker]
I cannot recommend a non-SSD machine.

Why?
User experience. The Mac OS is designed for ssd speeds.

In the long run, ssds are also at least as reliable as the best hard drive.

[jdc]

Pops wrote:
[quote=sekker]
I cannot recommend a non-SSD machine.

Why?
I could. But has to have either Tbolt or USB 3

[sekker]

jdc wrote:
[quote=Pops]
[quote=sekker]
I cannot recommend a non-SSD machine.

Why?
I could. But has to have either Tbolt or USB 3
Yep.

[C(-)ris]

I wouldn’t have them share an account. Get them each their own. Trust me, nothing is worse than trying to separate accounts later on down the road.

[digby]

sekker wrote:
[quote=Pops]
[quote=sekker]
I cannot recommend a non-SSD machine.

Why?
User experience. The Mac OS is designed for ssd speeds.

In the long run, ssds are also at least as reliable as the best hard drive.
Yeah, but with computers and cars, I'm willing to go slower to save money.

[Bill in NC]

DRR wrote:
[quote=Bill in NC]
Love my 2011, 21.5" iMac.

Runs 10.6+

Integrated graphics, so no worries about discrete graphics chip failure.

4GB RAM standard, but 4 memory slots total, so I just added a couple of left-over 2GB DIMMs for 8GB total.

$400 delivered off ebay in original box, with Apple wireless keyboard/mouse 2 years ago - sure it's cheaper now.

Is it this one:

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/...specs.html
yeppers!

note since it's Sandy Bridge it has USB 2, not 3.

so if you can really get one for $450 I'd go with Gareth's option.

and add a SSD externally via USB 3 or T-Bolt.

[DRR]

Thank you all for the advice and guidance.