Decision help, please!

[L33TpandaBAKA]

Ok. Well, for the past.. two months i believe our familes main computer (An awful.. looking.. Windows computer) has not been connecting to the internet. I've actually fixed that problem and this has nothing to do with what i want to ask!..

QUESTION STARTS HERE-

Well, For christmas i'm getting my own computer. I need it for school because now that my brother's in high school, because Mum & Dad thought we would need seperate 'study places'.
In the short amount of time i've had to decide, i've decided on (i -THINK-) a MacMini.
All i'll need a computer for is Word Processing, Msn, (or Adium <- Yes, i've done my study ) iTunes, internet, VideoWatching and the rare photoshop (not intense photoshop either.. like.. colouring in a simple picture).
Do you think the standard MacMini (1GB Ram, 80GB HD etc) would be good enough for me?
Since, i have to pay for half of it (I've already been to Japan and gotten a new piano this year) i can't really go for anything else. So.. What do you think? Is it enough for my daily needs?

Thanks heaps, =]
Panda

 

[motulist]

In terms of horsepower, the Mac mini is more than powerful enough to handle all the tasks you listed. The only reason for you to consider a more expensive machine would be to get a laptop. For just a couple of hundred more you could get a macbook. But if you think that you'll only ever be using it one place, then get the mac mini.

 

[L33TpandaBAKA]

In terms of horsepower, the Mac mini is more than powerful enough to handle all the tasks you listed. The only reason for you to consider a more expensive machine would be to get a laptop. For just a couple of hundred more you could get a macbook. But if you think that you'll only ever be using it one place, then get the mac mini.

Well, if i had the chance to choose between a 17innch core2duo iMac with 2.0gHz and 1GB ram, what should i choose?

 

[vansouza]

http://www.opensourcemac.org/ First of all enjoy this link.

Second, my advice is always to buy what you can afford. The mini will do nicely with the work you detailed. My mini had 1.25 gigs of ram and I used a firewire external to boot from because it was faster. That was two years ago, I suspect the new minis do not have that problem. Neither of your choices is very portable so you can cut that from your choice equation. You need to decide which of these best fits your needs and what you can afford. Sit at your desk and play it out and see which it the one you want. I can tell you that before I got my 24 inch iMac, not the one below but my first one, I cut it out on card board and played it out... when I realized the screen would fit very nicely, I got it. I know it sounds silly as solutions go, but it might work for you also. Try not to let anyone see you by the way... good luck...

 

[airjuggernaut]

Well, if i had the chance to choose between a 17innch core2duo iMac with 2.0gHz and 1GB ram, what should i choose?

iMac, without a doubt.