Which used iMacs to avoid?

Avoid any that don't come with the original Apple install CDs and if the seller is promising extra software (such as MS Office, Photoshop, etc...) make sure the original CD's are included. Without those CD's you are setting yourself up for failure.

When possible ask the seller to meet you at an Apple Store to have machine checked out by Apple prior to purchase. This is good for both the seller and buyer as it ensures the machine is sound before buying it.

As far as any models to avoid, no they're all pretty good. Just get one that is an Intel based iMac.

Regards,

Roger

The 24" 2007 models seemed to have issues with overheating. The HDD would fail, then cause a cascading effect across the entire system if it wasn't caught quickly enough.

But for the most part, it's just the usual case of every now and then there's a bad batch produced. Just like any other mass produced product. The line as a whole is fine, but a particular run from a specific factory over a given set of dates may be total garbage because one of their suppliers sent a bunch of defective parts, or something went wrong with one of the machines, etc.

The advice of getting the system checked out by someone is good. Just like buying a used car, you want to make sure the seller isn't trying to hide anything. While with computers you can't exactly pour heavy motor oil in to cover up engine knocking for a time, never underestimate the ingenuity of a scam artist. For every one that is completely obvious and can be spotted a mile off, there's probably three more you'll never know about.

Scott Billings wrote:
The 24" 2007 models seemed to have issues with overheating. The HDD would fail, then cause a cascading effect across the entire system if it wasn't caught quickly enough.

I have to disagree with this, my iMac is a late 2007 model that is running as well today as the day it arrived. It's currently running at a very cool 38 degrees. My room temp is 21 degrees.

Hi David

Way over-simplified, size and model also matters.
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The graphic's line-up is probably the most important consideration when buying a used 06.

The Early 2006 17 and 20" Core Duo models have a dedicated ATI graphic's card
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP35

The Late 17" Core 2 Duo model has a GMA 950 graphics processor.
The Late 20" Core 2 Duo model has a dedicated ATI graphic's card.
The Late 24" Core 2 Duo model has a NVIDIA 7300GT or upgraded NVIDIA 7600 GT
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP28
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Personally I know of at least 5 other Early 06 Core Duo's +(including mine)+ and a few Late 06 Core 2 Duo's that were bought new and still work just fine. Out of all those +(knock on wood)+ only 1 Late 17" had the Logic board and HD replaced by Apple Care over a year ago. Remember that those models are 4½ and 4 years old respectably and it's not surprising that a fair % have either been replaced by a newer model, passed on to family or just passed-on.
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Just me, but if I was shopping for a used 06, I would go with either with one of the Early 17" or 20" models, or the Late 20" model.

Dennis

I have a 17" Late 2006 2Ghz C2D iMac with 3GB Ram and the ATI X1600 GPU.

The Biggest Issues was that the LCD developed a Skinny Solid Green Horizontal line right done the middle. And this is a Common problem with Early and Late 2006 17" Models ( I don't know about the 20" or 24" models).

I'm not familiar about the over Heating Issues. I opened up my iMac ealier this year and I peplaced the stock 160GB HD for a 500GB HD. No easy task but it is it can be done with time taken. All I noticed was it was kinda dusty in there. I didnt have an air can so I clean off what I could and cleaned out the fans a bit. The Stock 160GB Drive was still in perfect working order, I just needed the extra space.

When it came to repairs over the years

#1 A new Logic Board. The one it had was fine but I keep hear a slight click noise before any sound would get played. Turned out it was normal to happen and it's a power saving feature that shuts down the sound when not in use and imediatly comes back as soon as sound gets played. Tech dudes at the Apple Store didn't even know about that sound until they pluged in they're headphones to other MacBooks and MacMinis which did the same. So I guess I made them aware LOL. They replaced the Logic board anyways

#2 Super Drive. After a few months, it vibrated chattered, and scratched my DVDs. They replaced it.

#3 The LCD... Replaced AFTER my 3 year AppleCare coverage expired by a month. Apple replaced it free of charge as it is a common issue with all 2006 models.

Other than that, it's been a great Mac in terms of performance. I gave it to my Parents to rid them of a custom built PC I made them 5 years back so I can hook them onto Mac OS X. Mom now uses the Mac everyday.

But keep an eye on the refurnished Mac page. Apple puts up lots of great deal every day, and they are all covered with applecare with the option of adding an additional 2 years ( 3 Years total ) of coverage. It's the only way I would by an iMac @ discount. If anything goes wrong with 1 you by elsewhere with no coverage at all, ur pretty much on your own.

Good write-up Christian,

Sorry to here that you had some issues with your Late 06.

Like you for space, I also swapped out the 160GB Seagate Barracuda for a 320GB WD Caviar Blue after my Apple Care ran out. The 160GB Seagate still works fine in a USB Enclosure and backs up my user data in addition to my FireWire Time Machine and Clone drives.

I also agree that buying a used iMac from just anyone without knowing it's history is very risky, unfortunately not everyone can afford a New or [Refurbished 21.5 iMac|http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB950LL/A?mco=MTU0MzQ1NTg] with Apple Care.

Well, let me just compare that against the 5 or so of them that I had to replace the HDD and logic board on in about a one week period a few months ago. Wonder which one I'm going to put more stock in... Personal first hand experience with multiple systems, or some random person claiming their solitary system is working fine. Tune in next time for the exciting conclusion!

Well, let me just compare that against the 5 or so of them that I had to replace the HDD and logic board on in about a one week period a few months ago.

If you told me you were exposed to x hundreds or thousands of the vintage in question in a work or lab environment and the logic board and HDD failure rate were a specific percentage then I'd give your statement more credibility. As it is, your statement is as much opinion as mine. For example if you told me "My company, school, lab, etc...has X late 2007 24" iMacs, of those X machines we have experience X % failure on logic boards and/or HDD's" then we'd have something to work on. However if you tell me I work in a repair facility that services Macs and had to repair 5 or so HDD and logic boards, that doesn't tell me anything.

I told you that in the space of about a week I had ~5 of these things all suffer the same fate... As opposed to you saying your one system is still working.

In the grand scheme of things, no, mine isn't a whole lot better than yours... But no matter how you want to slice it, I'm still offering up more evidence to support my statement compared to you.

Scott Billings wrote:
I told you that in the space of about a week I had ~5 of these things all suffer the same fate... As opposed to you saying your one system is still working.

In the grand scheme of things, no, mine isn't a whole lot better than yours... But no matter how you want to slice it, I'm still offering up more evidence to support my statement compared to you.

You aren't offering any more evidence than I am so far. So let me ask this, do you work in a repair facility that services broken computers or do you work for a school or firm that has multiple late 2007 iMac's in a work environment? If the latter what is the failure rate percentage... offer up some statistics. If the former your comment is analogous to a hospital nurse that had 5 cases of pneumonia in a week and concludes there is a pneumonia problem in the general populace.

Does that mean they aren't necessarily reliable? Over the past 10-plus years I've bought 2 beige G3's and 2 G4's off ebay and had very, very good results with all of those machines. They can be upgraded AND repaired. If one develops a problem with an iMac's monitor (or GPU, or CPU), for instance, one is pretty much outa luck. Right? And, they aren't very upgradeable. Right?

What that means is the seller isn't being honest in some fashion or is careless and lost the original media. This can mean anything from you are buying stolen property to you are dealing with someone that doesn't take care of their possessions. In the event you need to re-install or perform some repair these discs are invaluable. You can buy new install discs from Apple but if you have to buy them then that's an additional hassle and detracts from the value of the machine. However if the seller is promising 3rd party software without the media then the software is worthless because you'd have to buy new software in order to replace the media.

I'm looking to go "Intel" because it seems the writing is on the wall about Apple no longer supporting PPC.

That's an understatement! Apple hasn't made PPC machines since 2006, in computer years that makes these machines dinosaurs.

Since someone dredged up this thread again, and I missed the response the last time.

I previously worked at a school with a number of 2007 iMacs, and now I work in a repair facility that handles store returns. But you again appear to have failed to think this through, which seems to be a real problem with people these days, and the more active posters here in general.

Suppose I offer up some statistics. How do you verify them? I could say that out of 10,000,000 systems sold, only 10 come back. Would you believe it? I wouldn't, for at least four reasons. I've already given you one, let's see if you can figure out the other three. One is a given, the other two might take a little more thought. Take aspirin for any headaches.

In any case, I offer up 5 examples, you offer up one. By my math, that means I'm offering up 5X the evidence. So if we use your example... I have 5 cases of pneumonia you have one person who isn't sick at all. If we're trying to establish the possibility of a pneumonia outbreak in the area, which one do you suppose we should pay more attention to? How much of a building has to be consumed before you'll admit that it is on fire? Is it 5%, 10%, 15%, what?

No matter how you look at it, a sample size of 5 is a better representation of a population compared to a sample size of 1.

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I'm at a loss of what this has to do with buying a used Mac?

Well put Roger, good job!

ha' where do some get off with such rudeness, implying drudgery and whatever was edited when an OP has further questions and concerns.