Why Mac Mini instead of iMac?

[Stan Mikulenka]

Hi again,
this is my monitor arrangement. You can move the monitors picts around (like on top of each other, etc {whatever suites you}, you can grab the white menu bar & move it to the other monitor then that monitor becomes the main one {where your menubar will appear})

 

[Lefix]

If you have a good size display already (20"+ Flat Panel LCD/LED LCD), then get the Mac Mini, but if you don't have a display then get the iMac.

I'm using my Mac Mini with a ASUS 23" Full HD Monitor, connected with DVI and audio with the 3.5mm, the resolution is wonderful

 

[Baby Mac]

Since you posted in the mini forum, you got a lot of favorable mini opinions. All valid points I might add. I wonder how this thread would go in another forum?

 

[DoFoT9]

Since you posted in the mini forum, you got a lot of favorable mini opinions. All valid points I might add. I wonder how this thread would go in another forum?

thats a good point! i didnt even realise where it was! imagine putting it in the MacPro section or iPhone section

while the mini is a great machine, i still say iMac. just better performance overall.

 

[Time Clock]

I too, cannot stand the glossy display. Therefore, I bought a refurb last gen Mini and an Ultrasharp U2211H, and I've been pretty satisfied. And it fit within the budget I set for myself.

 

[old-wiz]

I finally convinced my wife to let go of her NINE year old PC which ran Windows 2000 and bought her a base model mini with an upgrade to 4gb ram. She still uses her old 22" dell monitor, which she loves and adjusted to the Apple keyboard with no problems. She likes the Mac now and not having to deal with spyware, malware, viruses, updating virus protection, etc. I also bought an external firewire drive for time machine and SuperDuper and a copy of Microsoft Office as she has to work with some Word documents that don't work correctly under Pages. She is quite happy with the system. E-mail and surfing and word processing are most of her use.

 

[Epsilon88]

I chose the mini for price (already had monitor).

 

[calaverasgrande]

The iMac is a better deal if you have to buy a screen, keboard, mice for the mini. The idea is you can replace a desktop pc with a Mac mini and reuse all your old stuff.

I see this repeated ad nauseum. I just have to call shenanigans on it.
Mac mini is $700, iMac is $1200. A monitor, keyboard and mouse come out to quiet a bit less than $500 difference.
You can easily pick up a whoppper of an LCD for $200 or so these days. and the mouse and kyeboard will net you about $100(less if you go with MacAlly alternatives). So you have $300+ left!

The iMac does have the i3 chip though, which is a bit better than the core2duo, but not nearly as cool as an i5 or i7.

 

[farmermac]

I see this repeated ad nauseum. I just have to call shenanigans on it.
Mac mini is $700, iMac is $1200. A monitor, keyboard and mouse come out to quiet a bit less than $500 difference.
You can easily pick up a whoppper of an LCD for $200 or so these days. and the mouse and kyeboard will net you about $100(less if you go with MacAlly alternatives). So you have $300+ left!

The iMac does have the i3 chip though, which is a bit better than the core2duo, but not nearly as cool as an i5 or i7.

You forgot about speakers. If you got equivalent components (21" ips panel, magic mouse and apple keyboard) it narrows the gap.

The $300 takes care of the spec bump - wether you want it or not its in the imac. larger hard drive, more ram, faster CPU, speakers

 

[DarrenCarnall]

I had a 6 year old PC with two 19" widescreen monitors, but teh PC had become so slow it was unusable.

I finally decided to get a mac, and was deciding between a mini and an iMac. After lots of reading and thinking I went for the mini... and it's perfect! Does everything I need, never slows down... runs both monitors brilliantly (and means I have space under my desk where my big PC used to be now!!)

 

[fa8362]

The Mini is the best computer I've ever owned, including PC towers and Mac towers. Why? Because it's the smallest, quietest, most versatile, and it uses almost no power. It will do anything most any other computer will do, just a bit more slowly, which is typically irrelevant.