An 21" iMac or an Apple Monitor + mini?

[odettesrts]

Nice to meet you. I'm a newbie here.

I want to replace my old notebook with a new desktop machine and I am going to use it for graphic designing.

Since I'm afraid to get a yellow-screen monitor, I would rather not to buy a 27" iMac. So I might choose a 21" iMac by upgrading to i7 or will it be better to get a larger screen monitor with mini instead?

Thank you

 

[alust2013]

I believe the yellow screen is rather uncommon now, and if it does happen, apple will replace it for you. But if you're going to get one of the two you suggested, definitely the iMac. It's got literally 4x the power of the mini, and is a far better value. Personally, if you want the 27" size, I'd just get it. My parents have a 27" at home, and it doesn't have the yellow tint, and it's a beautiful display.

Edit: Also, the apple display uses the exact same panel as the 27" iMac, so you would run the same risk that way.

 

[Badger^2]

Yeah, not even a contest.

any of the iMacs, even the base 21" crushes the mini in power.

Im sure there are many, many, many great 27" screens out there.

You could always go with a 21" and run a second screen with it, like a nice Dell 2410, about $500.

If its just 2D graphics -- moving up to the i7 probably wont do much. Moving to 12 gigs of ram (add it yourself) would be a biggere boost.

 

[EEXOOO]

Yeah, not even a contest.

any of the iMacs, even the base 21" crushes the mini in power.

Im sure there are many, many, many great 27" screens out there.

You could always go with a 21" and run a second screen with it, like a nice Dell 2410, about $500.

If its just 2D graphics -- moving up to the i7 probably wont do much. Moving to 12 gigs of ram (add it yourself) would be a biggere boost.

I agree. Get the base 21.5" iMac and in the future get yourself a good 27" 1440p display. Dell U2711 and the ACD 27" comes to mind.

 

[Michael383]

I'd go for the i7 21.5" iMac.

 

[iStudentUK]

Even the base 21.5" iMac beats the mini hands down. If you get a duff one exchange it.

(Even if you go for the mini I'd steer clear of Apple monitors. They are overpriced and only use mini-display port.)

 

[tsugaru]

Get the 27". Same price as an Apple Monitor and Mini, and it will run circles around the Mini.

The Yellow Tint issue isn't a big deal. Considering the panels are the same in both the 27" iMac and 27" ACD, it's moot. And I haven't seen a yellow tinted 27" iMac since I had my first 2009 i7 iMac. I had two replacements of that, both were fine colour wise. The 2011 I received (which has a bad RAM slot, but that's a different story) had a flawless display.

 

[NutsNGum]

iMac, everytime. Minis are still using core 2 duo chips, which are really starting to show their age.

 

[johnfkitchen]

I agree with the pro-iMac advice above, and now is NOT the time to buy a Mini. It's a long time since it was refreshed.

Click on the buyers guide link at the top of this page and scroll down to the Mac Mini section.

 

[odettesrts]

Thanks all for your kind and helpful replies. Is a Dell 2410 monitor even better than an apple's. Sorry for my ignorance, I once thought Apple's monitors were the best on the market...