Macmini Solo or Duo

[^squirrel^]

Hi,

I'm wondering if you guys could give me a second opinion on what mini to get.

Here is what the girlfriend will be using it for...

Email
Video conferencing
iTunes
iDvd
iMovie
Front Row
Surfing the Net

She won't be using games at all.

However, will there be a noticable difference when loads apps between the solo and duo? I was going to upgrade what ever one i get to a 100gb drive and throw in a iSight.

Is it worth paying the extra £70 for the duo?

Thanks in advance all

Darren

 

[SilentPanda]

The duo will help with the video encoding/decoding (DVD, video conferencing, and iMovie) but none of the other stuff will benefit that much from the duo. I would say it'd help with iMovie most, video conferencing next, then DVD decoding... but DVD decoding is fine on a G4 chip and video conferencing is pretty decent on a G4 chip. Unless she's using it to edit super-awesome long videos with iMovie... I'd go with the solo. But if you can afford it... the duo never hurt anybody... I think.

 

[~Shard~]

I'd recommend the Duo. It's not that much more money, relatively, and will increase the machine's longevity. As Silent Panda mentioned though, the Solo will most likely handle everything your gf needs, so you can't really go too wrong with either.

 

[kgarner]

Never buy a computer based solely on your current activities. There will always be something down the road that comes along that you will want to do and if you buy based on what you do currently you might not have enough machine to performthe new task. The Duo is only a little more and will last longer in those terms than the Single.

That's my $0.02

 

[~Shard~]

Never buy a computer based solely on your current activities. There will always be something down the road that comes along that you will want to do and if you buy based on what you do currently you might not have enough machine to performthe new task. The Duo is only a little more and will last longer in those terms than the Single.

That's my $0.02

Yep, good point, that's what I was eluding to as well with my above post. It's best to buy as much machine as you can (reasonably) so that it will last you as long as possible. It will undoubtedly save you money in the long run.

 

[^squirrel^]

Je wiz guys you are quick today!!!

Thanks to all have replied so far.

Some very vaild points there regarding future use. I was thinking maybe buying the solo now and at some point down the line either put a top of the line Yonah in or Merom?

Maybe it's worth just going with the Duo for now and then later if she requires more processing power then I can always upgrade the cpu.

 

[lesbarn]

Mac Mini Solo Great Machine

I think you are choosing wisely. I just got a Mac Mini solo yesterday inorder to play with boot camp and keep the price down. I have been very impressed. It runs both Mac and Windows xp very well. It is a great deal faster than the original Mac Mini. I was showing a demo of boot camp this morning and a lot of the people in the room were amazed at the small size and good preformance.

 

[Dont Hurt Me]

Get a solo, the cpu is in a socket now so she can allways get a faster cpu one day if needed and just pop it in. She doesnt really need more machine from what you have posted.

 

[^squirrel^]

Get a solo, the cpu is in a socket now so she can allways get a faster cpu one day if needed and just pop it in. She doesnt really need more machine from what you have posted.

That's what i thought, but for only an extra £70.......

I guess if i got the solo now i could always get a Yonah 2.16 later on.

It's a tricky one.

EDIT: Also this will be her first Mac as i'm trying to convert her. I want her experience to be as good as poss, so it means that it needs to be pretty sharp at opening apps and run smoothly!

 

[SilentPanda]

Seriously... if you can afford the duo get the duo. Don't think in your head, "I'll get an okay machine now then later put in some chip that is better." Admittedly I don't keep up on the CPU upgrade capability of the Intel Macs but... why bother? Why not get an better computer now and then wait even a little longer for either a better chip than the one you mentioned to come out or for the chip you did mention to have it's price go down.

Don't short yourself now in hopes of upgrading later if you can afford it.

 

[^squirrel^]

Seriously... if you can afford the duo get the duo. Don't think in your head, "I'll get an okay machine now then later put in some chip that is better." Admittedly I don't keep up on the CPU upgrade capability of the Intel Macs but... why bother? Why not get an better computer now and then wait even a little longer for either a better chip than the one you mentioned to come out or for the chip you did mention to have it's price go down.

Don't short yourself now in hopes of upgrading later if you can afford it.

Yeah you're absolutely right, I'll go with the Duo!

Thanks very much lads, once again the MacRumors community yet to fail me. Good on you!

Case closed

 

[j26]

EDIT: Also this will be her first Mac as i'm trying to convert her. I want her experience to be as good as poss, so it means that it needs to be pretty sharp at opening apps and run smoothly!

Then it has to be this little beauty!

 

[^squirrel^]

Then it has to be this little beauty!
View attachment 45017

LOL that's pretty sharp alright!!!! That thing wouldn't even get out of 2nd gear!

What a machine though....maybe if i won the lotto!

 

[timswim78]

I'd suggest buying a Solo and applying the savings to purchasing more RAM.

Thinking towards the future, if your girl decides that she needs more horsepower, buy a Duo chip and throw it in.

 

[DeathChill]

I'd suggest buying a Solo and applying the savings to purchasing more RAM.

Thinking towards the future, if your girl decides that she needs more horsepower, buy a Duo chip and throw it in.

This man has it right.

RAM is EXTREMELY important in OS X. You can put a slower CPU in it and throw a little more RAM in and you won't notice too much of a difference for general usage.

 

[^squirrel^]

This man has it right.

RAM is EXTREMELY important in OS X. You can put a slower CPU in it and throw a little more RAM in and you won't notice too much of a difference for general usage.

I would have thought 1gb would be enough for what she'll do?

I'd be more inclined to buy her an additional hard drive as she'll be putting all our holiday pics and videos on there.

 

[badmofo9000]

I would definately get the core duo.

 

[After G]

Get a Core Duo and up the RAM if you are doing this from a "save money" standpoint. You're basically paying at-cost for the processor. Looked at Newegg and saw that the lowest spec Core Duo was $239. The Core Duo mini costs $200 more than the Core Solo mini (before tax). Looks like you save when buying from Apple.

If you are thinking of upgrading later, get a Core Solo, but up the RAM, and WAIT for Merom. Don't be tempted into buying a Yonah.

 

[balamw]

Video conferencing

I was going to upgrade what ever one i get to a 100gb drive and throw in a iSight.

Have you considered the iMac 17"?

The price difference between a 1GB+100GB+iSight Core Duo mini+KB/mouse, and a stock 17" is only $225 in the US, and it is a faster Core Duo CPU, a faster & larger drive plus the all-in-one design can be a big plus for video conferencing...

That said, a Solo mini would also be fine machine for any of those tasks, but once you start considering the Duo...

B

 

[^squirrel^]

I did think about that but we would like to hook it up to our living room TV.

Then she can do her shopping from the couch.

Kind of want it to act like a cut down media centre.

 

[balamw]

I did think about that but we would like to hook it up to our living room TV.

Actually that was one of the other things that pushed me to an iMac. Since they now support screen spanning/mirroring the TV can be hooked up to the DVI port and the Mac can still be useful when someone is watching TV. With the mini, I'd have to choose to hook it up to one or the other.

The mini does have one advantage here though in that it's designed to output HDTV compatible reolutions. Though the weaker shared memory GPU detracts from this a bit...

B

 

[sunfast]

Then it has to be this little beauty!
View attachment 45017

It'd certainly open apps fast

 

[^squirrel^]

Actually that was one of the other things that pushed me to an iMac. Since they now support screen spanning/mirroring the TV can be hooked up to the DVI port and the Mac can still be useful when someone is watching TV. With the mini, I'd have to choose to hook it up to one or the other.

The mini does have one advantage here though in that it's designed to output HDTV compatible reolutions. Though the weaker shared memory GPU detracts from this a bit...

B

That would be nice, but it's not going to fit under the TV