Mbp > mm

[Daniel97]

I need some advice guys.

My fiance is pregnant and i have so far sold nearly all my worldly goods to be able to afford to buy all the essential baby bits before it is born.

iMac/iPad/xbox/guitar yadda yadda

Anyway ..

I am left with my 2011 MacBook Pro 13"

My thoughts were to get rid of this and get myself a Mac Mini and connect it to my 46'' LED TV. This would give me enough spare cash to be able to buy ourselves another iPad as we soley miss the one we had .. It was very useful.

This allows me to have both a mac to store our media and do word processing etc AND have the mobile iPad.

My problems

1) Where can i reputably sell my MBP and not get ripped off? (Im in UK)
2) If i connect my mac mini to the TV can i use HDMI? Will the picture look okay or will it look a naff resolution?
3) Will i get much of a speed difference and will it be sluggish?
4) Is it easy enough to sit with a keyboard and trackpad on my sofa and surf the net and mac or is it difficult?

Thanks

Danny

 

[Lee Adama]

you can use the hdmi and get video & sound.

it's a snappy little computer. The MBP is probably snappier. But the Mac Mini is no slouch for basics.

i use mine with a Samsung 32" lcd tv as monitor. Works out great for me.

 

[Daniel97]

would the resolution fill my display or would i get horrible black borders?

 

[Sdevante]

You can ensure it fills the screen with Overscan or whatever it's called in the system preferences.

Whether it looks good or not depends on whether your tv sucks or not.

Mine looks ok on a samsung 42", but I prefer 1920x1080 on a 23" monitor better.

 

[Adamantoise]

If I were you I won't sell it.

You're going to sell it for roughly $900 ... You're going to pick up a Mini for $599 (assuming you're getting the Base as you're strapped for cash).

The 13" Macbook Pro can do everything that the Base Mini can do, and it's portable.

But it all depends on how badly you need that $300 saved.

Good luck!

 

[TheRdungeon]

Agreed, I'd honestly just keep the macbook

 

[Mr.C]

I agree keep the MBP.

 

[alust2013]

Using a TV, especially a big one, as a monitor will always look grainy unless you're just watching videos. I think it would probably just be better to keep the computer you have

 

[rokey]

I've had several Macs and iPads, etc...

I love my current Mac mini 2011 base model with 8GB ram, apple keyboard, apple trackpad, twelvesouth magicwand, an hdmi cable, and my samsung 40 inch LED tv. running 1920x1080 it's great, there are no bars, and it fills my screen beautifully. it does not appear grainy at all from a viewing distance of about 9-10 feet. honestly, i choose to run 1280x720 due to that it enlarges the font across the entire machine, and it still looks great. good option, but you probably couldnt save any money in the process.

 

[theSeb]

Sell the kid. A healthy baby can reach up to $50,000. Then you can get a Mac Pro and other goodies.