20" iMac 2.4 ghz

[Fox]

Here's my situation. I have an old G4 tower that needs replacement in my lab and I have a 20" 2.16 ghz iMac in my office. If I buy something, I would like it to be an upgrade over what I have in the office, and then I would move the existing iMac to the lab. I saw a 20" iMac aluminum 2.4 ghz refurb in the Apple Canada online store the other day for $999. It's gone now, and the next cheapest, still there, is the 2.66 ghz iMac (256 mb VRAM) for $1199 (which I could get new for $1249 educator anyway). I'm not a video-intensive user and have found my 2.16 iMac to be perfectly satisfactory (but would still want the newest unit in my office). Would the 2.4 provide much of an upgrade over the 2.16 or would I be better off to get the 2.66. I tried out the latter in a Future Shop, and it seemed lightning fast, so would the 2.4 feel similar? (They didn't have one there.)

I thought of just getting a mini for the lab, but I'm concerned about its portability (theft) and anyway, I would have to replace the monitor for it.
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Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse

[philiparcario]

GET THE NEW 2.66 I shout cause it is nite and day faster then the 2.4.
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2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[philiparcario]

Plus the new 2.66 has an 8gb ram top end. thats is really high now like 700 for a pair of 4gb sticks but in a year. it may be 300 to go to 8gb ram. the 2.4 cant go any higher then 4gb ram see link
to compare.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station