Revisiting Computer Upgrades…
So, as the rumors predicted, Apple has revved the iMac with some marginal processor, FSB, and RAM speed improvements. As a result, the brand new system I was looking at now comes with 2 GB of RAM standard, and has the option of being upgraded to a GeForce 8800 GS video card with 512 MB of RAM. Total cost: $1949 + tax (with upgraded card… vanilla is still the same $1799 it was yesterday).
At the same time, these spec bumps have triggered a price drop on the now-last-gen iMacs that I was also eyeing. The refurbished top-of-the-line 24″ system I was looking at last week has dropped from $1799 to $1599, with the added benefit of having a quad core processor over the newer one’s dual-core of the same speed (dunno how useful that is, but it sounds cool), a larger hard drive (500GB vs. 320GB), and the same 2GB of RAM standard. It’s also got the same Radeon 2600 Pro card as the newer model’s base configuration.
Initially, I was torn over which system to get… new hotness is always better, but such is always the case, and if you wait for what you want to be cheap enough to buy, it’s not the new hotness anymore. Given that I’m moving from a dual 2.3 GHz PowerPC G5 system with a gig of RAM, as opposed to fretting over a minor spec bump from an older Intel-based iMac, the improvements to performance will be considerable regardless of which system I buy, and the older one is still just as awesome as it was last week, only now it’s $200 cheaper. So, I’ve officially decided to get a refurbished 24″ 2.8 Core 2 Extreme iMac. Hooray!
Now, paying for it is the tricky part. Obviously, I don’t have the means to go throwing what is effectively a month and a half’s pay at a new system. However, I am looking into selling the G5 as a means to paying for the new system. Based on estimates I got a few months ago from a local reseller (Mac Odyssey), I could expect to get as much as $1799 for the G5. That’s completely insane! $1799 for a 3-year-old system that’s been deprecated by Apple moving to a new processor architecture! And these suckers are apparently in huge demand! The mind boggles. Anyway, I’ve also decided to sell my trusty, somewhat dusty, high-tech electronic light pen input device 23″ Cinema Display, since I don’t have room on my desk for two monitors (awesome as that would be), and since it’ll still fetch a pretty decent price (I’ve seen people asking as much as $650 for them on Craigslist) that I can put toward making sure I can cover taxes on the new machine.
Despite Mac Odyssey wanting to take a 30% cut of the sale for actually finding a buyer and handling the transaction, I’m still inclined to try and sell my G5 through them. Putting my primary system and monitor out for purchase on Craigslist for a combined cost of over $2000 kind of makes me nervous. I know the chances of getting screwed are relatively low if I handle things right, but I don’t want to risk someone managing to get my G5 without actually paying me for it first, because then I’d be effing screwed. With Mac Odyssey offering to handle not only the financial end, but also finding a buyer in the first place, I could probably expect to have a much faster turn-around time on the sale, and have my new computer in-hand within days, rather than weeks, of getting started with the proceedings.
I had mentioned last week that I wanted to go visit the local branch of Mac Odyssey and discuss options and what I would be expected to do prior to giving them my G5 for sale, but I discovered that the location closest to me was closed recently. I may make a trek tonight over to the Coeur d’Alene location and chat with them about what they can do for me. I want to make this happen relatively soon, because the refurbished last-gen iMacs are only going to be available for a limited period of time, and the G5’s resale value is only going to get worse. I’m just somewhat hesitant to get rid of my G5. It’s been a trustworthy machine (heh, almost said “little machine”) for the past 3 years, and it’s almost like ditching a friend or giving away a pet, stupid as that sounds. It’s also fairly mind-boggling that I can actually sell my older computer for more than it costs to buy a new one. Granted, it’s a more high-end system than the iMac was, and Apple systems retain their resale value for stupid lengths of time, but still, having a $2500 system retain about 67% of its resale value over 3 years is just completely nuts, and I keep expecting to have this end up being some eleborate prank that leaves me without a computer. Mainly, I’m so amazed by this because my family has a tendency to use computers until they can’t even be given away anymore. My dad is still rockin’ the P2 400 that we bought to replace the family’s old 486 DX2 system about a decade ago for crying out loud.
I can’t do anything just yet, because I’ve got some stuff to take care of for the Mysterium committee that would best be kept safe from the upheaval of computer trade-ins, but once that’s out of the way (hopefully this week), I should be free and clear to sell my old system. Now I just need to come up with a name for the new iMac… (this may explain why I have attachment problems… I name my electronics.)