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Which should I buy: Mac Mini or Dell?

J

JoelHodder

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 2, 2009
37
0
Oxford
Right. Two options:

Mac Mini 2009 (stock model and then upgrade ram and hard drive soon)

or

Dell Studio XPS (one with i7)

The Dell would work out at about £550-600 and the Mac Mini about £450.

I have always wanted a Mac however, windows 7 isn't too bad...

I already have a Full HD 24" Monitor which I would use with either computer.

I do have a PS3, so the XPS which could be used for the odd intense game could be considered unnecessary.

I don't think I would notice and appreciate my purchase as much with the Dell because I already use W7 on the big monitor, whereas OSX is a nice change that i'm willing/wanting to make .

Also, would the mini be able to output 1080p iTunes downloads, or from other sources, to the monitor without any lag?

I don't need the power of the i7 but then again you can never have too much power:p. The mini (with 4gb ram) should also be able to photoshop nicely shouldn't it?

I know this is a mac forum, but any help would be appreciated...what would you buy (bearing in mind budget is literally £600-650)?

Thanks!
 
That's like comparing a SMART car to a Corvette. The XPS will be lightning fast and loud at everything, and the Mac Mini will be silent, and energy efficient, and get you where you need to go at its own pace.
 
GodWhomIsMike said:
That's like comparing a SMART car to a Corvette. The XPS will be lightning fast and loud at everything, and the Mac Mini will be silent, and energy efficient, and get you where you need to go at its own pace.
Click to expand...

It shouldn't be quite that slow though surely. It'll browse the web extremely snappily, have iTunes going and some other things going without crashing or slowing surely?

ADent said:
Don't forget to factor in the price of the Windows 7 upgrade.
Click to expand...

True...probs will only be about £20 if I wait for the coupon scheme thingy. I may aswell buy the mini now because Snow Leopard is only £7.95.
 
JoelHodder said:
It shouldn't be quite that slow though surely. It'll browse the web extremely snappily, have iTunes going and some other things going without crashing or slowing surely?



True...probs will only be about £20 if I wait for the coupon scheme thingy. I may aswell buy the mini now because Snow Leopard is only £7.95.
Click to expand...

I never said the Mini will crash, it will work fine, but hardware-wise, it is basically compairing a Mini to a base model Mac Pro. You could do the same on both, but things like ripping/encoding will take quite a bit long on the Mini. The Mini is quiet, silent actually, where the Studio XPS is a very loud machine.
 
I walk into the Chevy dealer and ask the salesman, should I buy a Chevy or ford?
Whatdo you think the answer will be?
 
The Mac of course.

It's the most logical solution as it doesn't prevent you from running Windows 7 and it's the cheaper solution.

Plus you get Snow Leopard for ten freakin' bucks.

Order that baby!
 
nuckinfutz said:
The Mac of course.

It's the most logical solution as it doesn't prevent you from running Windows 7 and it's the cheaper solution.

Plus you get Snow Leopard for ten freakin' bucks.

Order that baby!
Click to expand...

Thank-you!! I'd completely forgotten about boot camp and vmware etc.!!!!:D
 
nuckinfutz said:
The Mac of course.

It's the most logical solution as it doesn't prevent you from running Windows 7 and it's the cheaper solution.

Plus you get Snow Leopard for ten freakin' bucks.

Order that baby!
Click to expand...

Actually if he buys the Mini from Apple - I believe he gets the SL upgrade for FREE!

+1 for Mini - maybe I'm a little bias since my wife's dell laptop (that is 2 months out of warranty) has stopped charging. :rolleyes:
 
i7

I love my Mac Mini, but seriously, the Core i7 is as close to a perfect CPU as the consumer grade can get right now. I say go with the mini if you're just sitting around playing with your pud, email, net, and light gaming but if you're a power user or want something that will pull slightly more mileage, or be able to work with a decent GPU for gaming go with the Dell.
 
rkdiddy said:
Actually if he buys the Mini from Apple - I believe he gets the SL upgrade for FREE!

+1 for Mini - maybe I'm a little bias since my wife's dell laptop (that is 2 months out of warranty) has stopped charging. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

If I get the SL upgrade for free, then thats just another reason to get the mini!!!:p

cainnovacaine said:
I love my Mac Mini, but seriously, the Core i7 is as close to a perfect CPU as the consumer grade can get right now. I say go with the mini if you're just sitting around playing with your pud, email, net, and light gaming but if you're a power user or want something that will pull slightly more mileage, or be able to work with a decent GPU for gaming go with the Dell.
Click to expand...

I see your point, but I will only really be doing those things you mentioned...whats a pud?

If only I could stick OSX on the Dell without any problems;)...

Again thanks!
 
ADent said:
Don't forget to factor in the price of the Windows 7 upgrade.
Click to expand...
lets not forget the snow leopard price either

any new vista pc bought in june (until october) will get a free upgrade to windows 7. or at least that's the info that's been leaked.

buy the dell, it's worth the money and windows 7 (which I'm currently running the release candidate as my primary OS) is just great. it won't end world hunger but you'll never see a blue screen again unless it's something like memory failure or something that awful.

but then again your asking a mac community about mac vs dell, so it kind of seems you want people to back the mac. :apple:

i7 is a beast though,
-Tyler

oh and you can stick the full os x retail on the dell via the chameleon boot loader, worth a look if you have some tech experience
 
Hi,

Get a macbook pro 13inch for 480 with universtity student discount printer rebate and free iTouch. To get round the student discount go into quickchat and ask for the link
 
auto123 said:
lets not forget the snow leopard price either

any new vista pc bought in june (until october) will get a free upgrade to windows 7. or at least that's the info that's been leaked.

buy the dell, it's worth the money and windows 7 (which I'm currently running the release candidate as my primary OS) is just great. it won't end world hunger but you'll never see a blue screen again unless it's something like memory failure or something that awful.

but then again your asking a mac community about mac vs dell, so it kind of seems you want people to back the mac. :apple:

i7 is a beast though,
-Tyler

oh and you can stick the full os x retail on the dell via the chameleon boot loader, worth a look if you have some tech experience
Click to expand...

I was considering that path, but I really cba to do it tbh:p I'm waaaay to lazy atm (as you can see through my numerous 'cba', 'atm' shortening thingies!).

Lukeyboy01 said:
Hi,

Get a macbook pro 13inch for 480 with universtity student discount printer rebate and free iTouch. To get round the student discount go into quickchat and ask for the link
Click to expand...

Could I do this with the Mini? I don't need/want a MacBook as I already have a netbook and laptop which I like.
 
I am not joking when I say the XPS is noisy. Look at the Dell forums and reviews. Where you plan on putting the computer tower, put a small dust buster or small chargeable vacuum, turn it on, and do your work with the laptop you have now where you'd be sitting. From what I've heard, that's what you can expect in the noise department. But, it will be insanely fast.
 
GodWhomIsMike said:
I am not joking when I say the XPS is noisy. Look at the Dell forums and reviews. Where you plan on putting the computer tower, put a small dust buster or small chargeable vacuum, turn it on, and do your work with the laptop you have now where you'd be sitting. From what I've heard, that's what you can expect in the noise department. But, it will be insanely fast.
Click to expand...

Just popping in to read the comments...no idea how the two compare (sorry) but that is LOUD!

My old PC was an airplane it was so loud at times. Once I bought my iMac I could go downstairs (where I keep my mac) and stop and wonder if it was on or off. The Macs are VERY QUIET. PCs tend to start getting louder with each keystroke/minute.

Mac Mini is small and a good steppingstone. Worst case scenario is you end up not liking it but use the Mini in your car as a DVD/Media Center or as your DVR/Movie center for your TV and buy the PC....or even sell the Mini for about face value if you don't like it.
 
The deed has been done! I ordered a Mac mini, aluminium wired keyboard w/num pad and a free c4480 printer last night! Should be here tomorrow (Friday 26th) or Monday:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
i too want to say Congrats.

you will like it...come back with questions if you have any.
 
donjuan2009 said:
It was very simple, Get the mini and install windows 7 with bootcamp and have the Best of both worlds..
Click to expand...

Yep I might do that after upgrading it. I'll try and avoid Windows altogether, but if needed I will give bootcamp a go. It feels great to have finally ordered and to soon be the proud owner of a Mac (FINALLY!:)). I just got an email saying it had been shipped today, so tbh I doubt it'll arrive tomorrow, probably have to wait until Monday:(. Oh well, gives me more time to sort out my desk and prepare a nice living environment and lifestyle for my new baby:p
 
your loss, but still enjoy your new personal computer :D

if a pentium 4 with 512mb can run windows 7 (done it myself) then your mini can do it without trouble,
-Tyler
 
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