iMacs

[cseas]

i'm looking to buy a Mac for home use and some freelance designing.
the new iMacs look nice and are reasonable. i use a Mac Pro at work. industrial machines.
and pretty expensive.
so my question is if anyone is using an iMac at home and running Adobe software. any issues? slow?
i know one bummer is no CD drive. need to buy an external drive and Toast?

thanks for your help,
cesar

 

[DCurry]

iMacs are perfectly suitable for all but the most demanding tasks (high-end video and the like.)

I've got an older 27" iMac at home running all the Adobe stuff and it's fantastic. I don't like the fact the the newer ones have no CD/DVD drive, so yes, you'll need an external. I don't think you'll need Toast, though. You should still be able to burn discs natively from the OS.

I got mine as a refurb from the Apple store - saved a few bucks and still have the same warranty. Coming up on 3 years old and no issues whatsoever.

 

[cjwworld]

I use one for work and use Adobe Suite all the time, I do not have any issues with it. I think the secret is the amount of RAM installed. Make sure its has suitable amount of Ram and you should be good to go. I bought one last year with DVD superdrive so I was lucky. But external Drive I guess would be okay

 

[cseas]

great! thanks guys.

 

[chriseckeard]

I use a 23" iMac i5 at work running CS6. It's works fine and just fine. I have maxed the RAM on it and cleared anything from it that I don't use. It still lags sometimes and requires a reboot at least once a week. I'm not debating platforms as I use both/all with out problem, but I prefer to run and work with CS6 on my custom built rig at home running Windows. It's more stable and faster then my iMac at work. iMac is 2010 and my Machine at home was built in 2009 with 12 month old hardware. Anything you decide to purchase I'm sure will be fine. IMHO I wouldn't purchase an iMAC but would rather get a Mini with a large non Apple branded monitor and external optical drive. More monitor with the same machine specs for less money.

 

[cseas]

thanks for the info and advice! much appreciated.

 

[pmkprog]

I am using a Macbook Pro at home and doing everything I would do on an iMac. So, there are definitely few issues. Just remember to get as much RAM as you can. I doubled it in this laptop and it made a huge difference.

 

[johntheventer]

I ditched Windows two years ago and went to MAC - Primarily I am a designer - which means Im solving problems, and Windows, for me anyway - is really not a tool to help ones productivity - I cannot believe how much less effort stuff takes on a Mac - I use Mac Book Pro at Home and at work I add a iMac - nice - just one word of advice - if your Mac Book Pro . IMac is not of the solid state hard drive type then do not upgrade it to the latest OS Mavericks - I did the other day and wham!!! Much Much slower Mac Book Pro - very irritating. My buddies with the new retinas and solid state stuff don't have this problem.

But yes - Mac really does just work.

 

[dabob]

I got one from craigslist a few years back and it runs CS6 just fine . . the only issue is the internal drive died and I'm running on an external for now, slows it down a little but no big deal.

 

[wonderings]

I have one 21" iMac setup at work, all it does is run Adobe CC, no issues. I run everything on my Retina MacBook Pro and its a dream. Getting as much ram as possible is a good thing as many have already mentioned. The other thing, if you do not need a lot of internal hard drive space, SSD are so fast, it makes newer computers that are on a regular hard drive feel slower. I have a 27" iMac at home, a year newer then my Retina MacBook Pro and it feels like a snail in comparison.

 

[chad.trent]

I have a 27" iMac. I upgraded it with a fusion drive and maxed out the memory (32gb I believe). It outperforms the Mac Pro I use at work by a long shot.