Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Which should I buy: Mac Mini or Dell?

i dont know if this is any help, but I have a core i7 system that I built myself..

in fact, i even got osx running on it for a while, although it wasnt perfectly stable.

I find myself playing games so damn rarely that I am going to the apple store tomorrow to buy a mac mini (my first mac computer purchase!)...
im sick of having to turn this huge computer off all the time because of the heat and noise it creates. It is also unstable and I have tested the memory and every different possible configuration.

it will be nice to have a nice quiet dependable desktop computer to use when i need to surf the net or edit a video real quick...i cant imagine that I will see a huge difference between the mini and my i7...
...i have a feeling i will be putting the i7 on craigs list if i dont use it much after the mini purchase tomorrow!
 
hefeglass said:
i dont know if this is any help, but I have a core i7 system that I built myself..

in fact, i even got osx running on it for a while, although it wasnt perfectly stable.

I find myself playing games so damn rarely that I am going to the apple store tomorrow to buy a mac mini (my first mac computer purchase!)...
im sick of having to turn this huge computer off all the time because of the heat and noise it creates. It is also unstable and I have tested the memory and every different possible configuration.

it will be nice to have a nice quiet dependable desktop computer to use when i need to surf the net or edit a video real quick...i cant imagine that I will see a huge difference between the mini and my i7...
...i have a feeling i will be putting the i7 on craigs list if i dont use it much after the mini purchase tomorrow!
Click to expand...

Good for you!

I'm loving the Mini, although I have already filled up the pathetic hard drive and 1gb ram just isn't enough:(

Sooo, i'm going to have to buy 4gb ram and a bigger hard drive (still undecided between 500gb WD Scorpio Blue or Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500gb or the 320gb WD Scorpio Black), but after these upgrades i'm sure it'll be lightning fast.

ATM it takes ages and kinda hangs when opening iPhoto or anything intensive, but it still manages Firefox, downloads, MSN, Mail, iTunes etc really easily. I'm pleased with it, and glad I bought this over the Dell, and I hope you enjoy your purchase, but just have £50 set aside for some more ram!
 
JoelHodder said:
Good for you!

I'm loving the Mini, although I have already filled up the pathetic hard drive and 1gb ram just isn't enough:(

Sooo, i'm going to have to buy 4gb ram and a bigger hard drive (still undecided between 500gb WD Scorpio Blue or Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500gb or the 320gb WD Scorpio Black), but after these upgrades i'm sure it'll be lightning fast.

ATM it takes ages and kinda hangs when opening iPhoto or anything intensive, but it still manages Firefox, downloads, MSN, Mail, iTunes etc really easily. I'm pleased with it, and glad I bought this over the Dell, and I hope you enjoy your purchase, but just have £50 set aside for some more ram!
Click to expand...

I love my Mac Mini too lol. I just hate the 1GB, according to iStat Nano, I am using more than half of my RAM just browsing the web.
 
MacMini2009 said:
I love my Mac Mini too lol. I just hate the 1GB, according to iStat Nano, I am using more than half of my RAM just browsing the web.
Click to expand...

Yeah iStat nano says i'm using about 3/4 of mine :S

In your sig it says coming soon: 320gb Scorpio black. Why did you choose this particular one? I can't decide:confused:
 
Hopefully Apple has built some good hardware accelleration for video playback into their recent core revisions or trying to play 1080p media will be a bit on the choppy side. At least they are using a good video chispet now instead of the Intel integrated graphics. You can do some good work with that little 9400m. Good luck with your new purchase. I have a mini (older model) I use at home as a media jukebox and to test software on. If you are going to put Windows 7 on it, you might try with the Release Candidate (since it is free). Pick it up over at TechNet here: http://tinyurl.com/832nco
 
JoelHodder said:
Yeah iStat nano says i'm using about 3/4 of mine :S

In your sig it says coming soon: 320gb Scorpio black. Why did you choose this particular one? I can't decide:confused:
Click to expand...

Well it is slightly faster than the 500GB Scorpio Blue, and I only really need 320GB of space so I that's why I am choosing it.
 
that dell is a much better computer. if it was me, i would get the Dell and go and buy a leopard license and put os x on it.

But if you dont feel comfortable doing it, for legal reasons or for technical reasons, get the mac mini.

but ur getting a much better os with the mini, and i guess thats a bigger thing.
 
I am at the same crossroads. Buy a Mac Mini or build a Windows PC!!

I quite like the idea of a small, silent but powerful Apple Computer on my desk!

Upgrading the ram to 4 gig and putting in a better Hard drive would make for an even better machine?
 
I see on here that some say it has a 3 year life.

What i am after, above all, is a very quiet, small yet powerful desktop Computer. The Mac Mini looks like a superb contender. I have never owned a Mac but i know that Windows can work with Bootcamp. I use Microsoft Publisher and Word.

If i didn't put Windows on the MAC could i use Publisher and Word? I have quite a few documents that i use regulary in publisher.

So, just to recap, a Mac Mini is very very quiet, powerful enough for most applications and can be used to play some games; Call Of Duty etc?

A good idea to install 4 gig ram and a faster Hard drive?
 
Koolpc said:
I see on here that some say it has a 3 year life.

What i am after, above all, is a very quiet, small yet powerful desktop Computer. The Mac Mini looks like a superb contender. I have never owned a Mac but i know that Windows can room with Bootcamp. I use Microsoft Publisher and Word.

If i didn't put Windows on the MAC could i use Publisher and Word? I have quite a few documents that i use regulary in publisher.

So, just to recap, a Mac Mini is very very quiet, powerful enough for most applications and can be used to play some games; Call Of Duty etc?

A good idea to install 4 gig ram and a faster Hard drive?
Click to expand...

I don't know about Publisher. Yes the Mac Mini is very quiet yet powerful. Yes it is powerful enough for most applications. Yes it can be used to play some games. Yes it is good to install 4GB of RAM and a faster hard drive.
 
Koolpc said:
I am at the same crossroads. Buy a Mac Mini or build a Windows PC!!

I quite like the idea of a small, silent but powerful Apple Computer on my desk!

Upgrading the ram to 4 gig and putting in a better Hard drive would make for an even better machine?
Click to expand...

i actually decided to build the pc for a fraction of the mini mines very silent and has better specs than the mini hurray, although i would really like the small case design etc, ive always wanted one and since the price rose from 649 to 729 (i think, and this is in canada) its turned me off from buying one.:(
 
MacHappytjg said:
i actually decided to build the pc for a fraction of the mini mines very silent and has better specs than the mini hurray, although i would really like the small case design etc, ive always wanted one and since the price rose from 649 to 729 (i think, and this is in canada) its turned me off from buying one.:(
Click to expand...

What spec did you build?
 
Koolpc said:
I see on here that some say it has a 3 year life.

What i am after, above all, is a very quiet, small yet powerful desktop Computer. The Mac Mini looks like a superb contender. I have never owned a Mac but i know that Windows can work with Bootcamp. I use Microsoft Publisher and Word.

If i didn't put Windows on the MAC could i use Publisher and Word? I have quite a few documents that i use regulary in publisher.

So, just to recap, a Mac Mini is very very quiet, powerful enough for most applications and can be used to play some games; Call Of Duty etc?

A good idea to install 4 gig ram and a faster Hard drive?
Click to expand...

No Publisher support on Mac, you'd have to install Windows. Or just use Pages, it has many templates for page layout from Flyers to posters to papers to newsletters...
 
Koolpc said:
What spec did you build?
Click to expand...

2.5ghz dual core i had it overclocked to 3.06ghz stable but after having to reinstall xp i had to put it to stock and never put it back since, 2gb o ram, and a 250gb hdd i had laying around, with a gigabyte es2l mobo, Nvidia 9500Gt video card 512mb, i believe thats it and just around $500 it cost compaired to the 729 for the mini, the reason i made the pc instead was for the games. And on vista its a 5.1 rating 5.4 Ocd to the 3ghz
ps. sorry for the slack listing, im late and its tired.
 
MacHappytjg said:
2.5ghz dual core i had it overclocked to 3.06ghz stable but after having to reinstall xp i had to put it to stock and never put it back since, 2gb o ram, and a 250gb hdd i had laying around, with a gigabyte es2l mobo, Nvidia 9500Gt video card 512mb, i believe thats it and just around $500 it cost compaired to the 729 for the mini, the reason i made the pc instead was for the games. And on vista its a 5.1 rating 5.4 Ocd to the 3ghz
ps. sorry for the slack listing, im late and its tired.
Click to expand...

Looking at that spec, the Mac Mini is not too far behind!! I would have gone for the Mac Mini rather than the spec you built. Otherwise a much more powerful spec could have been chosen.
 
I think building a fast mini would take the price up over 1000, even then in the future it wont be fast enough for a lot of things, you'd probably need to upgrade sooner.

The dell will last you 4-5 years, mine just lasted 4 years before it couldnt handle hd video.

But if you want a mac then then the imac would be better
 
Do yourself a favor and buy the Mac. I use PC all day long at work and have for the last 15 years. They are not bad but they have nothing on the Mac. Good Luck!
 
Koolpc said:
Its the new Mac Mini i am looking at.
Click to expand...

Well first see if the base mini will suit your needs, its green, quiet and plainly put its quite a weak computer. I'd say it will have trouble handling day to day stuff (once the drive fills up, programs, files etc) and will feel slow in 2 years time.

The dell will last 4-5 years before it needs replacing.

If the mini base model meets your needs go for it, but if you want to uo the specs the price will go up considerably, and there is no point spending all that on a mini when the dell will be more powerful and cheaper.

Then there is the iMac, in between the mini and dell. I just ordered my iMac to replace a 4 year old dell
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back