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Mac Mini Refresh>??

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Retrosonic

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 13, 2009
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I am seriously looking to buy a Mac Mini or a an IMAC soon.

I intend to do some video editing, photo work, DVD creation, etc.

I hear that the upcoming models will have the Sandy Bridge i5 or i7 processor, and better graphics.

Would i5 or i7 be suitable for Video editing? Would I *have* to bump up the Ram to 8G? See, if I had to do that, I might be better off just buying an IMAC, which *is* a better machine.

The Core Duo processors stunk for video, IMHO.

Any info would be appreciated.

thanks!

Retro
 
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If you plan to do video editing, even though the Mini can handle it, I would opt for the iMac. The recent update brings Quad-Core processors across the board, while the next mini will likely stay only dual-core (and the graphics will also likely be the Intel HD 3000 which is arguably worse than the 320M which is in the current mini).

Go for the iMac.
 
Yes as the above posters said iMac's will probably be much more juicy due to quad-cores and dedicated GPU's.
On a sidenote, you mentioned the price of upgrading RAM. It'll be cheaper if you do it aftermarket, with non-official modules, so you'll probably still be quite below the price of an iMac.
 
zedsdead said:
If you plan to do video editing, even though the Mini can handle it, I would opt for the iMac. The recent update brings Quad-Core processors across the board, while the next mini will likely stay only dual-core (and the graphics will also likely be the Intel HD 3000 which is arguably worse than the 320M which is in the current mini).

Go for the iMac.
Click to expand...
Something similar to the base 13'' MBP is pretty likely to be the next update of the Mac Mini, so a Dual Core i5 sounds probable and the HD 3000 is a pretty safe guess as are 4GBs of base RAM. If you already have a monitor setup, I would actually opt for the new Mini, as it would do the job well (dual core i3/5 have hyperthreading = 4 addressable virtual cores). You would be well under the price of a base iMac, if money is an issue. The weak GPU of course would be a reason to opt for the iMac...if it's really important for your editing software.
 
Thank You

Thank you guys for all the suggestions.

Money is an issue right now, plus I already have the monitor, keyboard, mouse from my old MDD machine (which is still running fine, believe it or not) and an external Hard drive enclose with 1T of space.

So, It looks like I'll buy the new i3 Mini as soon as they announce it.

Does anyone know when that might be?

thank you,
Retro
 
Retrosonic said:
Thank you guys for all the suggestions.

Money is an issue right now, plus I already have the monitor, keyboard, mouse from my old MDD machine (which is still running fine, believe it or not) and an external Hard drive enclose with 1T of space.

So, It looks like I'll buy the new i3 Mini as soon as they announce it.

Does anyone know when that might be?

thank you,
Retro
Click to expand...

It would appear to be any time now until a few months. Should be soon, but Apple once skipped a year when updating the Mini...let's hope that does not happen again.

I also am waiting on the update to get one to hook up to a TV.
 
Retrosonic said:
So, It looks like I'll buy the new i3 Mini as soon as they announce it.

Does anyone know when that might be?
Click to expand...

Actually, alot of people expect the new Mini to use i5 (upgraded to i7) mobile processors. Same specs as the 13" MBP.

And no, noone knows when it might be except for some highranking Apple-people. If the date is set yet. As far as my opinion matters, I'd also say somewhere this summer. Pretty much what zedsdead said.
 
I am in the market for a Mac Mini too to use purely as a music sever. I am hoping they offer a SSD option. At this point I will likely wait until Lion is released to buy one though.
 
McRCN said:
I am in the market for a Mac Mini too to use purely as a music sever. I am hoping they offer a SSD option. At this point I will likely wait until Lion is released to buy one though.
Click to expand...

You do realize it's probably going to cost $30 to go from S-Leopard to Lion?

Not really worth waiting for -- and of course I'm still of the opinion that the new Mini isn't coming out until the winter, assuming the line isn't discontinued.
 
The money is not the issue. Besides it is likely that Lion will be out before the mini now.

BTW, not all OS upgrades have been $30. The one before last was like $129.
 
Most OSX updates have been $129. I would expect Lion to cost that. Snow Leopard was the exception.
 
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