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Help deciding between Mini and iMac

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philipcolett

macrumors member
Original poster
May 1, 2005
31
0
I am going off to college next month and I am trying to decide on a desktop mac for myself. I currently have a Macbook, which I am very happy with, however I need a desktop as well for backup purposes, and if my macbook ever crashes.

My decision is between a Mini and an iMac.

I have used a mini in the past, and have been happy with it. My main question is will I notice much of a performance difference between a 20" iMac Intel and a Core Duo Mini with a 20" or 24" Dell monitor?

I would like to get a Mini and a 20" Dell simply becuase it is much less money. I can get the mini and the 20" for about 1000, and with a 24" for about 1400. I will mainly be using firefox, itunes, iphoto. Once in a while I will use Photoshop and garageband, but not more than once a month. I know that ram is the most important, I have 2gb in my macbook, and have and extra 1gb chip for whichever one I get.

I do not want to spend the money on a powermac, as it is way past my needs.

Thanks for all the help.
 
What's the point of getting a Mini if you have a Macbook? Isn't the Macbook just as good - if not better?
 
What about getting the 20" monitor and an external hd for backup and using the macbook?

You could keep the money to run out to get a mini if you ever desperately need one (broken down macbook with a project due etc). Or even better, drink the money and keep ongoing projects on a usb flash drive so you can use the college computers if your macbook gives up.

If you don't fancy that, get the post update iMac. There's no urgency on you buying as you have the macbook already, so you could save for a while and get a more up to date one when you have the money.

Getting a less powerful computer as a desktop doesn't make a lot of sense to me. You'll most likely find you'll never use it.
 
What do you mean "post update imac"? Do you mean when they revise it, which I expect soon, as it has been almost 7 months. And money is not really the issue, I just dont want to throw it away on the 20" imac if I dont need it.
 
There are always better computers in the pipeline. The iMac (an the Mini btw) will most likely be updated soon, and in 6 months who knows? Maybe another significant update. If the iMac gets Merom, it may also get Santa Rosa when it comes out. It's possible that the mini will overtake the macbook by then, and it could be worth getting one at that point.

You don't actually need another computer now. Why not try out with your macbook and see if you can get by without a second. If you do find in November that you need a second computer, at that stage you could surely hang on until the New Year and get something even better (with Leopard and iLife '07 thrown in).

It's just if money is an issue (even a minor one) getting a mini at the moment is a bit of a waste.
 
Well, the smartest would be to just buy a stock Core Duo Mini, a 20" screen (Dell, Samsung, Apple, whatever...). Then putting your 1 GB stick into it. Just use Photoshop on the MacBook (hooked up to 20"), since it already has 2 GB RAM. The Mini is a great computer.;)
 
You're a college student. Just get yourself a decent external hard drive and save your money! You don't need to buy another mac as a backup solution and from what it sounds like (generally just web browsing, using iTunes, etc) you probably don't need a larger display. See how it goes and maybe buy something next semester if you really need to.
 
dietcokevanilla said:
You're a college student. .
Click to expand...

a college student with no shortage of cash by the sounds of it.

iMacs rock if you want an all singing, all dancing but fixed-ish option.

Mini's - to my way of thinking, anyway, give you a lot more options.
 
I guess I'm the only one thinking you should go with the iMac....

Only because it's what I did:

1) Space saver and clutter saver
Even with a Mac Mini You'll still have some clutter from cables - not from an iMac!

2) Screen Built in
Why buy a separate display when you can have it built right into one unit?

3) Faster Computer:
The Harddrive, Graphics and everything else in the iMac is much faster. Remember the Mini is a laptop in a box. You can't play games on it - you cant run many audio channels off it if you dabble in Garageband - the ram is annoying to upgrade etc etc. With an Imac, none of this is an issue - plus you can play games with ease
 
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