Macs are cheaper than ever. About 7 weeks ago, Apple introduced a new line of iMacs. The most affordable iMac model is only US$1,199 (Apple’s retail price for 21.5-inch Core 2 Duo iMac 3.06 GHz). The most expensive model comes with ATI Radeon HD 5750 with 1GB of video memory, which should be sufficient to play any computer game available for now.

My main machine was iMac Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz with 24″ screen for the past 26 months. As you probably know, I develop Mac applications these days. I don’t like Mac OS 10.6. And I still run OS 10.5 with iMac Core 2 Duo. The thing is that my job title requires that I make sure the applications that I develop are also compatible with both Leopard and Snow Leopard. So I finally decided to buy a new model. Initially, I was going to buy iMac Core 2 Duo 3.2 GHz with 27″ screen. The rational for Core 2 Duo 3.2 GHz over Quad Core 2.8 GHz is that not many Mac applications utilize all CPU cores. And the former is some Â¥28,000 (US$330) cheaper. After all, I’ve ended up with iMac Quad Core 2.8 GHz with 27″ screen.   Continue reading →