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EmC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Columbus, Georgia
 
2020-06-23, 20:05

Hi everyone. I have not posted here in forever. Marriage, a kid, and career have really soaked up all my reading the internet time.

I just received a refurbished 21.5" iMac 4K 3.6GHz Quad Core i3. I bought it because I wanted to have a dedicated computer at my desk. I have been using a mid-2015 15" Macbook Pro as my everyday computer up until now and I have to say I am not impressed with this new machine and am even considering calling support to see if something is still wrong with it.

Everything gets me a beachball. Click to open safari, bounce 15 times and a beach ball. Command-space for spotlight, beachball. If I am typing in Safari, and click the desktop or try to switch to the finder, beach ball. Every installer (office and creative cloud) take forever to finish (45+ minutes).

This cannot be the user experience? Is the HDD vs SSD that big of a deal? Or should I send it back for a refund?

What Adobe Updater‽ What‽ What‽ WHAT‽
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kieran
@kk@pennytucker.social
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2020-06-23, 21:23

Using the HDD in an iMac will definitely cause that. I have a base level iMac that has the HDD as well, but I hooked up an external SSD that I use as the boot drive. That makes it much more manageable.

The computers are just not designed for HDDs any longer.

If you want to keep the computer, hook up an external SSD and call it a day. Or, send it back and spend the extra money on getting one with an SSD.

I made the mistake fo buying the base level before and this will definitely be the last computer with an HDD I’ll ever buy.

No more Twitter. It's Mastodon now.
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
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2020-06-23, 21:49

Agreed, it likely the drive, Mac OS really doesn't like HDD's now days.
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EmC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Columbus, Georgia
 
2020-06-23, 22:01

Any experience with the Fusion drives? Are they a good enough compromise?

I can't believe these ship this way. Unusable.
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PB PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
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2020-06-23, 22:03

I didn't think they shipped with anything less than a Fusion drive these days. Should be better, but it won't knock your socks off.

[Edit] So I was wrong, didn't realize that only the Retina model shipped with a Fusion drive. Wow, what a rip off.
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2020-06-24, 10:47

Go download DriveDX and run it on your computer. The trial version will tell you want you need to knw. Report back what it says at the top. Green, yellow, red. All you need to know.

Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM View Post
I didn't think they shipped with anything less than a Fusion drive these days. Should be better, but it won't knock your socks off.

[Edit] So I was wrong, didn't realize that only the Retina model shipped with a Fusion drive. Wow, what a rip off.
Not quite.

All 21.5" iMacs ship with a crappy 5400 rpm 2.5" SATA disk. The Fusion drive is an upgrade option. That hard drive is so bad by today's standards that we won't even stock them in the store. No Fusion Drive or SSD, no recommendo!

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PB PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
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2020-06-24, 19:43

The non-Retina models are HDD only, which is crazy for 2020. I'd rather have a 256GB SSD than that.

Might want to look again, the 3.0Ghz 6 Core i5 21.5" Retina model does ship with 1TB Fusion drive by default, at least it is listed as such on Apple Canada's website. I wouldn't buy, cause 4k on a 21.5" display, I think my eyes would burn.




Last edited by PB PM : 2020-06-24 at 19:56.
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EmC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Columbus, Georgia
 
2020-06-24, 20:31

I called Apple today. Support said what I was describing was not "normal." They offered to exchange it, but I decided to return it and purchase a model with the fusion drive in it. I would really have preferred an SSD, but price along with delivery constraints make that a no go for me. Thanks everyone.

What Adobe Updater‽ What‽ What‽ WHAT‽
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2020-06-24, 23:02

Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM View Post
Apple Canada's website.
Aha! That makes sense. Apple's U.S. website offers the base model with a 1TB HDD.

And $1949? Holy crap! You guys need to get a new dollar! That thing is $1399 here.

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- Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9)
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PB PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
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2020-06-24, 23:32

It's the high end 4k Retina model, not the base model (the base 4k model is $1699). The base model iMac is $1399 here as well. As for our dollar, where the oil prices go, it follows, why I do not know.
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chucker
 
Join Date: May 2004
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2020-06-25, 03:10

Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM View Post
I wouldn't buy, cause 4k on a 21.5" display, I think my eyes would burn.
It's Retina, so the logical resolution is the same as the pre-Retina 21.5-inch iMac was.
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2020-06-25, 11:05

Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM View Post
It's the high end 4k Retina model, not the base model (the base 4k model is $1699). The base model iMac is $1399 here as well. As for our dollar, where the oil prices go, it follows, why I do not know.
The "base 21" you are referring to must be the HD dual core i5 thing (2.3GHz/8/1TB HDD) In the U.S., it is $1099. The computer you have specced, here in the U.S. is $1399 (3.6 quad i5/8GB/1TB FD). That same model is offered without the Fusion Drive for $1299.

- AppleNova is the best Mac-users forum on the internet. We are smart, educated, capable, and helpful. We are also loaded with smart-alecks! :)
- Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9)
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PB PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
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2020-06-25, 20:27

Look at the picture it's a 6 core i5 3.0Ghz with 4.1Ghz boot clock. The 3.6Ghz Quad is the entry level Retina model. Of course it's cheaper in the US, everything for anyone not in the US (not just computers) pays more due to exchange rate, so that's no surprise.
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EmC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Columbus, Georgia
 
2021-03-05, 18:27

And I sold the one with a fusion drive. Next time I’ll just wait for the SSD. For everything I’m doing that seems to be the bottleneck. I have a 2012 iMac at work with 16GB of RAM and external SSD over USB that runs circles around this thing.

I’m even tempted to patch it and try Big Sur on it.

What Adobe Updater‽ What‽ What‽ WHAT‽
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2021-03-05, 19:52

SSD's for the win!
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2021-03-05, 20:39

Quote:
Originally Posted by EmC View Post
. . . and external SSD over USB that runs circles around this thing.
So you boot from the external SSD and it runs just fine? I've been thinking about doing this for a trashcanMP that has a tiny stock SSD drive – grabbing a Samsung or Pluggable (or BYOD) 1TB external TB3 drive – and giving it some new life as a Boot Camp/Mojave under-the-teevee Steam machine. There's some weirdness going from TB2>TB3, of course, but the possibility of having a PC gaming rig has been on my mind lately.

I just want to play Doom Eternal, honestly, and I'm a WASD 'til I die guy.

So it goes.
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EmC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Columbus, Georgia
 
2021-03-06, 13:00

Quote:
Originally Posted by 709 View Post
So you boot from the external SSD and it runs just fine?
Yes. On top of that it is the cheapest 512GB no-name SSD I could find in town one day slapped inside this $10 SABRENT USB 3 enclosure. I did have a problem where an update wouldn't install and I had to create a new user to make it happen. No major issues. I bet a TB3 enclosure and a more reputable drive would work out well.

What Adobe Updater‽ What‽ What‽ WHAT‽
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kieran
@kk@pennytucker.social
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2021-03-06, 15:10

I boot my iMac from a 2TB external bus powered SSD as well. Runs like a champ.

This one has an HDD, so anything would be better than that.

I've been booting off an SSD for a few years now and it's never given me an issue.

No more Twitter. It's Mastodon now.
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2021-03-06, 15:46

Well I'm definitely doing this then – and if I can run it over USB3 that's all the better.
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