I am new to Mac and need some advise on buying an iMac 20" w/2gb or Macmini w/2gb and a Dell 20" widescreen. I like the idea of the separate monitor, but is it worth the loss of speed and harddrive space plus the graphics. I am not big on gaming but would like to do some home movie editing and iphoto. Also should I go with bluetooth kb and mouse or wired. Thanks for the help.
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iMac 20" or MacMini w/Dell 20"
- Thread starter dorae4
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probably not, unless you plan to keep the screen for longer than the computer (or use it with another computer) I'd get the iMac, but make sure you up the RAM to at least 1GB with either computer, i would personally go for the wired keyboard, as the mouse can have two buttons and is lighter and the keyboard/mouse don't need recharging, but if you need the space then go for wireless.
iMacs are pretty nice now and can do pretty much everything. It would be my choice between the two. If you had a monitor now its a different game. Apple has a gigantic hole between Mini and Powermac in my view for those with monitors.
I'd get the iMac (iSight can be fun for awhile). My recommendation is to get the stock and upgrade ram by yourself. It's much cheaper that way and would save you time because stock machines are quicker to ship. RAM is a tiny package that shouldn't take over a week, so you can enjoy your machine until it comes. If you upgrade via Apple, you're going to have to wait still.
And you can always go for the educational discount/free nano promo. I've never seen them check online.
Ordering it completely 3rd party isn't such a bad idea, especially since it can save you tax. Only downside is that Apple ships out surprisingly quick (iPods at least.. I've heard many occasions that people receive their Macs as well, but wouldn't know from personal experience).
And you can always go for the educational discount/free nano promo. I've never seen them check online.
Ordering it completely 3rd party isn't such a bad idea, especially since it can save you tax. Only downside is that Apple ships out surprisingly quick (iPods at least.. I've heard many occasions that people receive their Macs as well, but wouldn't know from personal experience).
as pretty much everyone else has already said..... my vote is for the imac.. the mac minis are good for their price, but the imacs are certainly more powerful..if price isn't an issue, then go for that.
Thanks for the help everyone. The iMac was my first choice so I will go with that. I will be buying with edu discount and getting the free ipod. BTW the price for 2GB from apple is 270.00(upgrade). That does not sound to bad to me. And I dont mind a few extra days to wait for it. I checked Crucial and they want 170.00 for 1GB. Am I right on that. Plus I was going with the 256 vram upgrade also.
dorae4 said:
yeah, but here's a Crucial 2 Gigger for 149.99 + Tax.
It's not too hard to put in either.
EDIT: actually just 149.69+tax (OOOOOOOOOOOO 30cents!!!) upgrade the video but keep stock ram and upgrade your own. enjoy
I'm also eyeing for the iMac 20". How is the image quality of the screen? (of course you would say great). But compared to a CRT and compared to a Dell 20" for example.