I am debating to either get a Mac Mini or an iMac. I will be downloading stuff quite a bit, listening to music, watching movies, doing homework, burning dvd's. Hard drive space isn't doesn't matter to me as I have 2 external hard drives that I store a lot of my stuff on. I am moving from a PC to a Mac. I used to have a Mac years ago, but I had to switch b/c of school. I still have my PC monitor, keyboard, mouse, and speakers. I just sold my PC for $800. I know if I get the iMac I will have to add cash but that is okay. If I do the iMac I could sell my monitor. I have a Gateway FHD2400 right now. What do you all think I should do?
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Mac Mini or iMac
- Thread starter getbigg21
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I would get the mini. I actually have the same idea right now. I was going to get the 27" imac, but for what I will be using it seems a bit overkill having my mbp as my main machine and school/office computer, plus I would need to add cash after selling my netbook.
If you got any of those models you'd save quite a bit as the baseline iMac is something like $1200. You should go with that
I say get the high end model only if you don't want to open up your Mac Mini. If you want to actually save money, get the low end model and when you need more RAM/hard drive space buy it.
well my wife has the new Macbook. doesn't the new Mini has the same specs? i was using her's and it was running quite okay
Yes, the newest white Macbook and the newest low end Mac Mini have the same specs.
Save money, but dont waste money
I was thinking of getting a mini when I heard about the refresh last week. Here's the thing: buy a mini, upgrade the cpu and RAM, add a wireless keyboard, add a mighty mouse, add a 24" mac monitor (yes, you can get a $250 samsung, but it is not the same, and while you'll have a few extra bucks in your wallet, they wont change your life)... add it all up and the 27" imac is a much better deal. And, if you equip it with an i7 and some extra RAM, it will be a potent machine for the next 6 - 8 years... that's like a $1 a day for the best general purpose mac ever constructed...
Also, I received a nice canon MFP for FREE with my purchase.
I was thinking of getting a mini when I heard about the refresh last week. Here's the thing: buy a mini, upgrade the cpu and RAM, add a wireless keyboard, add a mighty mouse, add a 24" mac monitor (yes, you can get a $250 samsung, but it is not the same, and while you'll have a few extra bucks in your wallet, they wont change your life)... add it all up and the 27" imac is a much better deal. And, if you equip it with an i7 and some extra RAM, it will be a potent machine for the next 6 - 8 years... that's like a $1 a day for the best general purpose mac ever constructed...
Also, I received a nice canon MFP for FREE with my purchase.
I'm getting the low end I think. I'm keeping my hard drive so I'm not going to worry about space and I've upgraded ram before on a mini plus my friend has extensive experience with minis as he runs one as a server and another one as a media center which is more or less what I'll be doing. I'm just waiting to get it tomorrow at the chandler apple store, sell my netbook tomorrow and I'm set.
The only reason I didn't go for an imac, even if I really want the high 27" one, is because I have a beautiful tv and selling that plus my netbook still means I would have to say goodbye to almost a thousand dollars for what was basically my home pc/movie center. Getting a mini allows me to save a couple bucks, keep my tv and be realistic about what I will be using my new mini for.
If you can afford a quad-core iMac, that's the way to go. Otherwise, if you have keyboard, mouse and display a Mini is in order for your purposes.
Yeah I'm waiting for a guy to pick up my PC and then I'm heading over to the San Tan Apple Store to pick up the Mini. I think that I'm going to go with the low end one. I have been playing around with my wife's new Macbook she got this past weekend and it is working pretty good. I think the new low end Mini will work just fine. At first I was going to sell my PC with the monitor, keyboard/mouse, etc and then get the new Mini Server. I was thinking about it and I think it would kind of be a waste. I was going to get it to use to keep all of our music, video's, document, etc and stream them to our laptop, but i don't know now.
I'm also trying to decide if I want to get a mac mini. I think I would do fine with the low end one after I bump up the RAM to 4GB.
Also, I've read a lot of threads about upgrading the memory on a mac mini yourself. However, is it really worth it? For example, the apple online store charges $90 to go to 4GB of ram (if you have the education discount)... and right now im seeing 4GB of Crucial RAM going for about $80-$85. So unless I'm missing something, I might as well have it installed by Apple, right?
Also, I've read a lot of threads about upgrading the memory on a mac mini yourself. However, is it really worth it? For example, the apple online store charges $90 to go to 4GB of ram (if you have the education discount)... and right now im seeing 4GB of Crucial RAM going for about $80-$85. So unless I'm missing something, I might as well have it installed by Apple, right?