Upgrade an iMac? - Need Advice

[JoeM]

My sis has an iMac Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz (2008) with the standard 2 GB RAM which she uses with Adobe CS 6 for mostly Photoshop and InDesign work with Suitcase 6. She says it's very slow and was wondering if she can get enough of a performance improvement by adding more RAM (4GB to bring it to the max of 6 GB) or if she should start saving to buy a new Mac.

Any thoughts or advice from iMac users? TIA

[Gareth]

SSD, but I would start saving also...

[Robert M]

Joe,

Neither. Considering what she does with the machine, I'm inclined to say it's long overdue for replacement. So, my inclination would be to sell the old machine to get what little money out of it is possible and replace it with a newer model.

That said, if money is an issue and she can't afford a newer machine, then a RAM upgrade and SSD are a wise investment. They'll bring new life to the machine and buy her time until she can afford to replace it. The key expense isn't RAM. It would be the SSD and installation.

I don't like working in iMacs. So, I'd likely buy the SSD and farm out the job to a qualified shop. The combination of RAM, SSD and installation should still be much less than the cost of a newer machine of suitable performance.

Robert

[mattkime]

With more ram and ssd it should be a great web surfing machine. maaaaybe a passable photoshop machine for smaller images. past that, its new machine time.

[clay]

If using professionally, find something newer. If just for occasional PS/ID work, putting $100 into it (some RAM and a small SSD) could be enough to give it a few more years of useful life.

Of course, if you/she has an active craigslist locally, you might be able to find a newer machine for $100-$200 with 4gb RAM already.

[jdc]

All of the above =)

On a budget -- going to 4 GB of ram is far, far more cost effective and 6 -- $30 for 2 X 2GB, but a single 4GB stick is $100. ouch.

SSD is mandatory. The 24" iMacs from those years are pretty easy to get into -- OWCs guides are great.

You can go internal (search just in the last few days where we talked about it) or if that sounds daunting -- even moving her boot drive to a SSD via USB 2 can make a difference. Im not sure why some people hate on this, but I can tell you from personal experience that my near identical 2007 iMac ran with a budget 120 GB SSD externally via USB 2 for some time, and it was snappier than the internal 750 GB HDD.

On a super budget, technically she could get away with a 128 GB SSD and a $10 USB 2 case. (although 256 GB is a better buy)

Now, if she wants new, then CL for a 2011 or 2012 21.5" iMac. If you can find a 2012 for the right price, then get it. USB 3. But honestly, based on her usage, USB 2 is more than fine, so a 2011 iMac would also work if thats all the budget allows...

[Bill in NC]

buy a newer iMac.

Last year I bought a used mid-2011 21.5" iMac w/ i5 processor for $400 off ebay, complete with all the accessories in the original box.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/im...specs.html

Since it has 4 memory slots I added some leftover RAM to bring it to 8GB, but it could go to 32GB for about $120.

No problems running it from an external SSD, even via its USB 2.0 ports (has both FW800 & Thunderbolt if you want a faster, but more expensive external SSD solution)

[JoeM]

Thanks so much everyone! I will pass on all the information here to her. She was primarily a DTP person for over 30 yrs doing ads, brochures and long form books but took some time off to take care of our mom in the last part of her life.

My mom passed in May so at this point she is looking to enter back into work full time and is presently freelancing. I think she might bump up her current old iMac to get by until she finds a full time job and can replace it with a new one.

[Zoidberg]

Speaking of getting something newer that's not quite new.

Assuming it's this model: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/im...specs.html

I agree in general with the "Buy a Newer Mac" comments. If money isn't tight, any newer Mac will be a better setup for you.

If money is absolutely at a minimum, I'd take whatever RAM I could scrounge up (cough cough) to extend the life a bit.

If storage space is tight, since this model has a FW800, you could add a Thunderbolt drive using a FW800 to TB adapter (and thus have a TB drive ready when you upgrade to a newer Mac with a TB port).

added * Note that most Thunderbolt drives (at least the ones I've shopped) also include USB3 as a connector port. The above is meant to be a stop-gap solution for dealing with an older Mac that only features USB2/FW800 (or 400).

also added * Wait, do I have that backwards? That adapter doesn't work in both directions, does it? Dammit, I need more coffee before I type things.

[jdc]

TB is waste of good money.