Mac mini ?? Son's first mac for homeschool

[Wanski]

My 11 year old son's PC has just about crapped the bed and I need to upgrade for homeschooling. He spends a great deal of time on it doing schoolwork and mindcraft games etc.
#1. Should I pay the extra $200 for the better graphics card. (I will upgrade the ram to 8gb off the start as I have with my other macs).
#2 Can a new Samsung 55" tv work as a computer monitor for the mini if we move his classroom downstairs?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Gav2k]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

1, yes for his gaming it'll be wise.

2, most defiantly.

 

[Wanski]

Correction ooops

He plays minecraft not mindcraft. He doesn't play the "gaming" software available though I'm sure in time.....
Does that change your thoughts about the $200 upgrade for the better videocard?

 

[Demosthenes X]

#2 Can a new Samsung 55" tv work as a computer monitor for the mini if we move his classroom downstairs?

This depends. For Minecraft, he'll love it. For general use? It might be less than ideal. A 55" TV will have the same number of pixels as a typical 24" monitor, so text on that screen won't look fantastic.

However, the mini supports dual monitors. I assume you have an existing monitor from the old PC: keep that for general use, and plug the mini into the TV via HDMI. Get the best of both worlds.

 

[dolphin842]

This depends. For Minecraft, he'll love it. For general use? It might be less than ideal. A 55" TV will have the same number of pixels as a typical 24" monitor, so text on that screen won't look fantastic.

However, the mini supports dual monitors. I assume you have an existing monitor from the old PC: keep that for general use, and plug the mini into the TV via HDMI. Get the best of both worlds.

I second this suggestion. For people who spend any decent length of time in front of a computer, investing in a quality monitor is a good bet. The TV will serve well for gaming (at a distance) as well as for presentations and things of that nature.

Also, if you have a Wii and a spare copy of Windows, turning the TV into a multitouch whiteboard can be a fun hands-on project!

Regarding the graphics upgrade: It's a good bet as well. It will allow for decent performance in non-demanding games, but more importantly, will help the Mac's interface operate smoothly farther into the future.