On Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 11:43:01 PM UTC-4, [email protected] wrote: > > > > On Apr 22, 2015, at 7:31 PM, Jim Scott <[email protected] <javascript:>> > wrote: > > > > Most standard Apple rotating disk hard drives are 5400 rpm units, which > are reliable but noticeably slower than a 7200-rpm unit. A Fusion drive > combines a 128 GB SSD (solid state drive) with a 5400-rpm spinning platter > drive, using Apple’s proprietary drive software. The theory and intent is > to load the most-used applications and operating system on the much faster > SSD and to use the SATA hard drive for storage. My experience with a 1.28 > TB Fusion drive in a late-2012 27-inch iMac is that it compares favorably > to the 2 TB 7200-rpm hard drive I installed in a mid-2010 iMac, as well as > a “hybrid” (SSD + hard drive) 7200-rpm 2.5-inch unit I’ve used in a couple > of late model 13” MacBook Pros. > > I just clocked my systems. the Mini (Mid 2011, 2.3Ghz i5, 8gb RAM), with a > Fusion drive boots power on to login in 32 seconds. > > the MBA (13", Mid-2013, 1.3GHz i5, 4gb) power-on to login 14 seconds. > > so shorter for both than I remembered (I rarely reboot either) but shows > the advantage of an ssd over even the fusion drive. > > Again, from personal experience setting up mini's as lab workstations, the > base model hdd in these things are glacially slow in comparison. Even > downloading stuff off the internet was faster (This faculty member was > downloading ginormous 20-30 GB DNA restriction map datasets) because, it > turned out, that disk IO was the primary bottleneck on the system. > > > > > > Where storage is concerned, be aware that any late-2012 or newer iMac > has four USB 3.0 ports, as well as two Thunderbolt ports. This means really > speedy read/write access to really huge external storage devices. I’ve > played around with a 240 GB SSD inside a USB 3.0 Mac with a 3 TB external > hard disk drive, and the combination can’t be beat as a speedy, inexpensive > consumer-level setup > > Yes, I keep forgetting how insanely fast USB3 is. I helped a faculty > member set up Time Machine on her newish iMac plugged in the drive, and > told her "Oh it may take up to a couple hours to finish the initial > backup". We talked about some other things for about ten minutes and it was > done. > > Unless you're really set on an iMac, I still believe that your best value > for the budget will lie in getting a good Mini system (they also have 4 > USB3 and 2 thunderbolt ports), along with a third party monitor. You'll get > a larger monitor with a matte screen (no shiny glass to reflect glare!) and > lower price. Like the iMacs the memory isn't upgradeable so make sure you > get what you need up front. > > -- > Bruce Johnson > > "Wherever you go, there you are." B. Banzai, PhD > >
I am not *at all* dead-set on an iMac, it's just that's what I've been using for many years. The Mini+monitor idea sounds just fine with me, although since I already have a keyboard and mouse (I use the Logitech Trackball, M570, because of pain issues in my hand/wrist), would I really need to replace those? I will most likely get the best internal drive I can manage, because I've been increasingly unhappy with the molasses-like response of the standard-issue one. Also, since I haven't bought a monitor in probably 20 years, what suggestions do you have for models at around $150 or so? I assume a 24-inch (diagonal?) would be fine, I don't really need Cinerama on my desk. Thanks again! Bill -- -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iMac Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
