Is this older (2010) IMac worth the money?

submitted by la_cues from self.technology

I want one of these all-in-ones for ease of setup. Never owned an apple product but I have appreciated the simplicity of these for a home desktop.

He's asking $150

Specs:

iMac (21.5 inch, mid 2010)

processor: 3.06 Ghz i3

mem: 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

graphics: ATi Radeon HD 4670 256 MB

Will I be able to comfortably use bigger web apps (business tools, labels and printing tools, accounting), and some light video editing, bandcamp, etc? Or will it just get bogged down slow?

Thanks you very much sorry for my dumb.

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[–]Myocarditis-Man 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'd be surprised if Apple is still providing security updates for a machine that old. If they are now, then they probably won't be for long.

However since it has Radeon graphics it should run Linux like a champ. Nvidia works with Linux too, but the problem is that Nvidia drops support for their older chips after a wile, making them incompatible with modern kernels. You wouldn't have that problem with Radeon because support for that GPU is built into the kernel itself.

So if you are at all experienced with or interested in Linux, I would say yes, if you aren't, I would say no.

Also make sure the memory is not soldered and is user upgradeable.

[–]Tums_is_Smut_bkwrds 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

$150 to surf the web or write email is fine. But if you want to get serious work done using modern software spend the money and buy current machine. Though if you're dead set on Apple then it's going to be pricey.

Besides an i3 with 4GB was kinda lame even back in 2010.

[–]LarrySwinger2 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Hey la_cues, glad to see that you're still here. I'm seconding what Myocarditis-man said. Give GNU/Linux a try. It has rough edges, but picking affordable hardware is easier. If you insist on getting a Mac, then take a look at this chart to determine what the latest macOS version is that's still supported. The newer you go, the longer it'll remain supported, but it'll obviously be more expensive. You could buy a somewhat recent model second-hand or maybe refurbished, and you don't have to pick the highest end model. A Mac Mini may be a better choice. I think that suffices for light video editing too, although I'm not sure; you'd have to double-check that. It can definitely handle web apps.

(Of course, a Mac Mini requires a separate screen, but that really isn't so difficult to setup. So long as you don't have to move the setup around a lot, there's no need to insist on getting an iMac.)

I also want to mention the Hackintosh route, but although that's become easier over the years, it may still be more effort than what you're looking for. I get the feeling you just want a good deal and be done with the matter. In that case, I'd evaluate whether or not you care about security. A 2010 iMac supports High Sierra, which is already outdated, but if you apply patches you can install Monterey (macOS 12) on it. Plus I'd look into upgrading the RAM to 8 GB or more.

Maybe consider getting a 2017 iMac. It costs twice as much, but it has 8 GB RAM and supports the latest macOS without any patches and it'll remain supported for a long time to come. This will definitely suffice for your needs.