What to get?

[TheGrandMoff]

Leading up to this keynote I had been leaning toward getting a 27" iMac. Now that they haven't updated it, other than the retina, I'm considering getting a upper-tier mini. Anybody have any advice either way? My usage case is electrical engineering school work (mostly running stuff from the campus server) and programming (iOS, but also embedded systems). I also play games occasionally, but nothing new, stuff like half-life 2 and minecraft.

Which one will give me the most bang for my buck? I'm tech savvy enough to know the difference in the specs, but I'm more interested in real-world usage. Thanks!

 

[cypriot]

What to get?

It depends if you want/have a screen mouse keyboard. If you dont have those and want apple ones its definately better to buy the imac. If you have them and can g with a cheaper monitor mini will be fine. Before the keynote i leaned toward mini but now i am not sure. Imac is quad vs dual core mini. 27 inch imac has user upgradable ram. Mini is rumored to have soldered but we dont know. Non-retina imacs screen is still beautiful retina havent changed that. If you can afford and you dnt have other peripherals i say go with imac. Other than that mini is better value.

Edit: also webcam, mic and speakers are included in imac. Mini's speakers are unsatisfactory. Although you can find these for cheap imac has good ones and they are nicely integrated all together.

 

[Beliblis]

Which one will give me the most bang for my buck? I'm tech savvy enough to know the difference in the specs, but I'm more interested in real-world usage. Thanks!

On the long run, Mac Mini will inevitably give you best bang for the buck: screens don't age & depreciate as quickly as computers.

Besides that: Apple has a bad track record with discrete GPU. They've done a 2011 iMac AMD GPU recall in the past – but they haven't for the 2011 MBP, so I wouldn't put my money on it.

Mac Mini = no dGPU = no ticking time bomb

 

[George Dawes]

I'm saving up for a mac pro , the new mini is a joke , and starts getting stupidly expensive when you trick it out with pcie flash.

£1700 for a tricked out new mac mini and just £800 more for a mac pro - bit of a no brainer innit ???

 

[cypriot]

I'm saving up for a mac pro , the new mini is a joke , and starts getting stupidly expensive when you trick it out with pcie flash.



£1700 for a tricked out new mac mini and just £800 more for a mac pro - bit of a no brainer innit ???

Thats why i recomended imac. Otherwise mini could be a way better choice.

 

[George Dawes]

Thats why i recomended imac. Otherwise mini could be a way better choice.

I don't want an integrated display thx

Two imacs I've had had display problems , a 17" G4 the screen packed up but the computer still worked , a 2006 imac dual core the screen has terrible dust problems behind the screen but still worked ok

Keep the thing separate is the best thing in my experience

What we need is something that slips between a mac mini an a mac pro but doesn't have a built in screen

I think we all want that