I'm finally considering one of the new iMacs, probably the 21" 2.7Ghz 1TB (as I really want the extra disc space over the 500Gb model, although it's a serious premium over the 2.5Ghz model!)

I had a look in an Apple store this weekend, and although I do a lot of photography work in Photoshop, I do think the 21.5" looks a bit easier to sit in front of for a long period, the 27" looks enormous... However I'd be interested to hear from people who've used both... (as the 2.7Ghz 27" is "only" £150 more than the 21.5" model).

John Lewis stores (the ones I visited anyway) still have the old i3 models on the shop floor, but new models on their website, same price as Apple.
Jigsaw24 are offering a few pounds of each model.
MacWarehouse are offering a free LaCie 1TB USB external HD, if you buy an iMac with a copy of MS Office 2011: http://www.macwarehouse.co.uk/cheap-app ... ster_promo (I currently use Office 2004 on an older Mac).

Any other good prices, only interested in the newly released models i5 models, not the older i3 ones.

Thanks!

edited to add, Warehouse Express (not MacWarehouse) won't stock them until the old range has sold out of stock in their stores...

If you know someone who's a student or teacher then you can get a massive saving.

There's not much margin in them so don't expect a cheap one on the web (Trade price is only a couple of percent lower than retail)

IIRC the monitor specs haven't changed at all in the new models, so any comparison between the two would still be valid now.

Jon

Yeah, the monitors haven't changed at all (in size and resolution anyway).

My little bro picked up a 27" iMac from the refurbished store not long ago. It was the previous model but he saved quite a lot.

Don't know if you'd be able to get a student discount on that also?

Nah, the refurb shop doesn't have an 'education' section, it's the same price for everyone. You might be able to get qa similar price though...

<quick check>

Actually, if you don't mind lower base spec, refurb is a pretty decent deal...

Refurb


Education


Note: PHPBB really needs some sort of 'table' attribute...

Sadly don't know any students But fortunately it's a business purchase so I will get VAT back

Just wondered if anyone had come across any offers, I've been buying Mac gear since the early 1990s so I know they are hard to find (but at least back then I was a student... but hang on the discounts then were appalling!)

I notice the photography specialist Warehouse Express is now stocking Apple gear and iMac, but despite a detailed launch e-mail a few days ago, all the models are surprisingly the old i3s...

Trade aren't getting any large amount of stock until the 11th. Apple tend to keep initial stock stock for themselves.
There's only a 1% margin on that model at the moment.

There's £85 off (inc vat) for students at college etc

Looks like you'll need to find yourself a student to befriend.

Thanks guys, as I said as a business customer, the VAT recovery is ok for me, ex VAT the 21.5" 2.7Ghz is £1041 or the 27" 2.7 Ghz is £1166.

Trade price on the 27" is £1155 + delivery
The 21.5" is £1031 + Delivery

Thanks saspro!

What's the general consensus re. value for money for the 21.5" 2.5 Ghz 4/500Gb at £833+VAT( £999) vs the 21.5 2.7 Ghz 4/1TB at £1041+VAT (£1249)? (That's £208+VAT=£250 difference for double the HD and 0.2Ghz faster...) £208 would buy 6 Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB drives... how I'm lamenting a new low cost Mac tower system stuffed with fast drives!)

Surely the small increase in speed wouldn't be that noticeable? Keen to see some comparative tests, but really want to buy asap, long before the magazines no doubt run them!

The only review I can currently find, is this of the 27" 2.7Ghz :
http://asia.cnet.com/product/apple-imac ... 483568.htm

I would suggest, as you're doing mainly graphic work, get the 27".
You can never have enough desktop real estate, the panel's lovely and you can still stick a second display on if you need to for palettes etc.
I'd bet good cash that you'll be more productive with the bigger display over a slight speed bump - so much so that that's the choice I made getting the 27" i3 vs the 21" i5.

Thanks interesting ProfessorF, thanks.

With your 27", do you find it's an ideal height / size to work on at a desk? (From just looking at the weekend I just found the 21.5" to seem "ideal" to sit in front of at arms length, but I totally agree you can't have enough screen space!). Also do you get any glare issues from such a big screen, there were some posts on PC Pro people mentioning getting eye strain via the huge screen?

It is a little overwhelming to start, but in a really good way.
I moved from a 21" 1600x1200 CRT to this, 27" 2560x1440. I'd always said I didn't want another display unless it was a higher resolution in every axis, and now I've got it. A lot of panels seemed to offer more width but less height, which isn't ideal IMHO.
My screen is sat pretty much opposite a large north facing window, so I don't really get any direct sun light on it, and I've no issues. Likewise working with the light on at night. It's a really bright panel, but that's what the brightness control's for. Mine's currently about the 60% level and that's about for my ambient light.
I've just checked, and my iMac is about 3 inches further than my arm's reach, and that's comfortable.
I find things like Final Cut, Photoshop/LightRoom just about right. I can't imagine I'd want to be connecting a second display at any time in the future, unless perhaps I was doing more serious editing and I wanted an output monitor.

If it's too much, just turn down the brightness. Anything smaller really does seem small if you're lucky enough to be accustomed to 27".

My 24" monitor seems a bit small, but when I first got it the brightness was set to "supernova" which burned my retinas.

27" wide screen just about fills the visual area I'm comfortable with when sat at a desk about 2 feet from it. Much bigger, and you have to move your eyes too much.