Level 1

13 points

Buying used Imac advice?

Just came back from the genius bar and the verdict is in: My trusty 2008 Imac's hard drive is failing. It still kind of works, but after using the machine for a while I keep getting the endless beach ball and everything just slows to a crawl.

So, I'm thinking about buying another one instead of spending money fixing the old machine. Unfortunately, I don't have much money to spend, so now I'm looking at Ebay auctions to see if I can find a good used Imac there. I'd like to upgrade and get a newer version, if possible, but ideally not spend much more than 300-400$. Perhaps more if it's really worth it.

I'd love to be able to get an Imac that will run El Capitan, and hopefully have the capacity to upgrade to newer operating versions as well, if they become available. My old one is running Snow Leopard, which Chrome will soon no longer support. It would also be good to be able to run the latest - or at least close to the latest - versions of software. I might consider getting Photoshop, for example, and Final Cut Pro X, which doesn't run at all on my old machine. I've been looking at some: IMac Mid 2011 21.5" MC309LL/A 2.50Ghz i5 500GB 4GB Ram most of which seem to go around 350-450$ and look pretty good.

Or could I also consider an older computer with an older, but faster, processor? Or the newer the processor, the better, no matter how fast? What about graphics cards, for something like Photoshop or FCPX, would a newer computer be much preferable to an older one? An older computer may be cheaper overall, so if it doesn't make much of a difference in performance, perhaps it would be a better choice. Or if I can get an old one that was a very expensive model when it first sold, perhaps it would be just as good as a cheaper, newer version.

Anyway, just looking for some input before I'll decide what to do. As my old computer is still running for now, I may have at least a bit of time to find a good model. Would also consider an even newer model than 2011, if it would make a big difference. And does anyone know a good, trusted seller on Ebay who might have a bunch of Imacs available?

Thanks for any help or suggestions!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8), 2.4 GHZ Intel Core Duo 6GB RAM

Posted on Mar 25, 2016 9:12 PM

25 replies

quiensera Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 30, 2016 1:52 AM in response to babowa

So, I bought the I3 Imac from Ebay and it's already being shipped. Fingers crossed! The specs are: Model: A 1311, Serial: W8114294DAS, Intel I3 processor 3.06 GHZ.

If I try my Snow Leopard CD and it does not work, would I know that BEFORE erasing the hard drive? Or could it happen that I erase the drive and only THEN find out I may need another CD? The warranty is only 14 days, so it would be better to use the computer a lot during that time, even if it's with the pre-installed El Capitan, so I would be able to detect any possible defects. It would probably take a while to ship the correct discs and it would be good to be able to use the computer while I'm waiting.

There was also another post on the Mac forums where someone mentioned that perhaps these mid-2010 models came with a "special version" of Snow Leopard, so the retail CD wouldn't work. Not sure if that's true or not. Best would be to slip in the CD and then find out before erasing if it can install. I suppose if it works, then that should be the right version.

Read some reviews of El Capitan, most didn't seem to be very good, talking about the beach ball going and problems with Word 2011. Hope it'll work okay with mine.

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Mar 30, 2016 8:37 AM in response to quiensera

You will know it before you erase. Insert the CD - shut down or reboot with the C key held down instantaneously after the chime - hold it until you notice that it is booting from the CD. If it won't boot, you can shut down and then boot up normally. But, and this is the BIG but: since it has presumably had the firmware update, it might be better to try to use internet recovery and have it reinstall Lion (if it will). Remember all the things I mentioned previously about trying to do this and most of them failing.

At the very minimum - and I would not go ahead with any method without this: get an external hard drive and clone the currently installed system to it using CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper. That way, it doesn't matter what happens: you can always boot from your clone and clone everything back. If you make a clone, you can also boot from it, wipe your internal, and install Snow Leopard onto an erased drive. All of that is better and will work, whereas the methods in the first paragraph may (probably) not.

If you get the external drive, format it first to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and GUID Partition scheme (under the Partition > Options tab) - erase whatever is on it, it doesn't need it.

quiensera Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 30, 2016 10:49 PM in response to babowa

So, if I used SuperDuper, do I need an external hard drive with no other files on it? I have only one right now, and that one has a bunch of files, also back-ups from my old computer, although there is still a lot of space. Or could I use a thumb drive instead? How many GB would one back-up need? Of course, I wouldn't put any personal files on the computer before trying the re-install, so I wouldn't really lose anything personal, I would just need to find a way to upgrade back to El Capitan if I manage to erase the drive (or go to it directly somehow.) I haven't used SuperDuper before, so I'd have to figure out how to make the clone and then boot from it. So, I could erase the hard drive with it and, once it's erased, I shouldn't have a problem installing Snow Leopard (with the correct CD, of course)?

Is there any way to tell if the computer has had that firmware update, and perhaps disable it, before inserting the Snow Leopard CD? If I get the custom-made one that Michel mentioned, would I still have that firmware problem? Did you use a retail CD, or the original discs, when you tried to install Snow Leopard? Did you have the exact same model?

If it installs Lion, could I still go from there to El Capitan, or wouldn't it work, because that version of Lion would not be officially licensed to me?

Hmmm, this whole thing seems more complicated than unlocking that one guy's I-phone, lol.

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Mar 31, 2016 8:25 AM in response to quiensera

So, if I used SuperDuper, do I need an external hard drive with no other files on it?

Yes. A clone needs its own partition or drive. You cannot mix it with other things. And, the drive needs to be formatted so it will be bootable. You could try to partition you current external drive, but, depending on what is on it, it may or may not work and may even erase the current contents.

A clone will be the exact same size of the contents on your internal drive - it is an exact "clone" copy.

Is there any way to tell if the computer has had that firmware update,

No.

If it installs Lion, could I still go from there to El Capitan

Absolutely yes. When it first installs the OS on an erased drive, it will be as though you are getting a factory fresh install. You will set it up with your own Apple ID, etc. Once all that is finished, go to the app store and first check if there are any updates to the new install. If yes, do that first. After that, go back to the app store and download El Capitan.

quiensera Author

Level 1

13 points

Mar 31, 2016 6:02 PM in response to babowa

Someone else also suggested to create a bootable USB stick and then install El Capitan right away with it, without going to Snow Leopard first. I would have to use Terminal to create it, but there are instructions online. Maybe that's an even easier method, if it works?

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Mar 31, 2016 7:44 PM in response to quiensera

I've never done it so I wouldn't be able to comment. I also do not care for the USB sticks - I've made two and neither worked reliably (and I am able to comprehend instructions, LOL). I also do not know if you can erase the drive with a USB stick - I would guess not, but don't know. I prefer reliable methods and clones are as you can test them as soon as you've made one.

quiensera Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 1, 2016 10:45 PM in response to babowa

Just got the computer. So far, so good. It's in great shape, looking almost brand-new. Writing on it right now. When I turned it on, it said that an update to El Capitan was available and asked if I wanted to install. I clicked "yes," just to see what would happen. It actually downloaded and let me install the update. So, it's now running the latest version of El Capitan. Not sure if I'd be able to install another update that way or not. Part of me doesn't want to do all of that erasing and re-installing, it's working so well right now. But still, probably better. I'll try to get that USB stick going. That might be the easiest thing if I can make it happen. There are instructions where you pretty much just paste and copy a command into Terminal and it formats a bootable drive with which you can then erase the disk and install El Capitan. Looks simple enough, I can try and then see if I can boot with it and what options that will give me.

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Apr 2, 2016 7:47 AM in response to quiensera

Maybe the seller did the right thing: erased the drive and used internet recovery to install the OS; however, he would have had to input an Apple ID/password at that point, so I must say that I have no idea at this point. Did you have to enter your ID/password at any time? You can try one thing as a test: log into the app store with your Apple ID and see if it lists the apps that are installed under purchases such as iMovie for instance and see if it will allow you to either download and/or update them.

quiensera Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 3, 2016 10:44 PM in response to babowa

Okay, so I did it! In the end, it was all super easy, following these instructions: http://macs.about.com/od/OSXElCapitan/ss/Create-a-Bootable-OS-X-El-Capitan-Insta ller-on-a-USB-Flash-Drive.htm

You pretty much just format the drive, copy/paste a command into terminal and, a few minutes later, you have the bootable installer drive, which you can keep and reuse as often as you like. Once you have created the installer, you can turn on the iMac while holding down the option key, then select the flash drive to boot up from there. It will give you options to go to disk utility to erase, install El Capitan, or also to restore from Time Machine backup. I erased the drive, which took only a few seconds, as there was almost nothing on it. Then I went to "Install El Capitan" and about an hour later, I had the newest version installed. Used my Apple ID to set it up, and it all works great now. 🙂

Thanks a lot for all of your help!

babowa

Level 9

78,568 points

Apr 3, 2016 11:16 PM in response to quiensera

That is great to hear! Enjoy your Mac!

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Buying used Imac advice?