Any reason not to buy a Core Duo (not a Core 2 Duo) imac?

[Wailer]

There were a few Core Duo imacs made in back in 2006.

Everymac.com 20" 2.0 ghz Core Duo imac

I know the max ram on these is 2gb. It appears that one can upgrade the processor to a Core 2 Duo, but I'm not sure that is worth it since the Core Duo is fairly comparable per primatelabs benchmarks.

I have 2 questions:

1) Is there anything that a Core 2 Duo can do that a Core Duo can't do (ie Snow Leopard?). I remember reading that Plex doesn't support a Single Solo machine, like the early mac mini, but I don't recall if it also said it excluded Core Duo as well.

2) Other than the ram limitation and (weak?) 128mb ATI video card, does anyone know of any other problems with the 2.0ghz 20" white Core Duo imacs?

[Filliam H. Muffman]

One guide said that graphics card with 256 MB of VRAM is sort of a bare minimum for enabling all the eye candy in Snow Leopard. The Core Duo is not full 64 bit. Besides the the 2 GB RAM limitation, it can run 10% to 15% slower than an identical speed Core 2 Duo on processor intensive functions.

I think the second generation Core 2 Duo iMac (800 MHz Bus) and the current Mac mini (Nvidia graphics) are the most future proof desktop models.

[anonymouse1]

Is the price that good? Better off with a C2D, IMHO.

[AlphaDog]

Check into installing Windows on it, if that's anything you might want to do. I have a Core Duo 20", and there's something the Core 2s can do that the Cores can't. Since I have no desire to install Windows, I've conveniently forgotten what the limitation might be.

[Wagman849]

I am currently using that exact machine (20" Core Duo 2gig 250HD...looking to upgrade to a MacbookPro. I bought it the second they announced them and have loved it since -- no issues whatsoever.

Wags

[Wailer]

Thank everyone.

I think I could get it for a good price. Or at least less than I recently sold a 20" g4 imac for.

I'm looking for a good kitchen/kid computer. It was just too scary letting the kids near the g4 imac.

I figure the 128mb ATI video will probably be better than my 144mb GMA X3100 shared. I don't plan on doing any processor or graphic intensive stuff. No plans to run windows on it, but I hadn't thought of that as a possible limitation.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

IIRC, Core Duos are 32-bit processors, Core 2 Duos are 64-bit. Could make a difference down the road with Snow Leopard or OS revs to follow.

EDIT: I wouldn't consider the purchase of a Core Duo machine at all.

[Ted King]

http://www.geekpatrol.ca/2006/09/imac-co...omparison/

[DRR]

3 years is about the point where I notice that the backlight in my LCD starts getting weaker and more inconsistent. This is anecdotal, and mostly from experience with portables, not iMacs.

[sekker]

I have that identical machine, and it runs XP and Mac OS X 10.5 great.

It's a fine kids machine still.

If it's in good shape, it's a fine purchase for the right price.