Cheap mac to compliment my 24" Dell LCD?

degminsec · Jun 10, 2005

Hi everyone. I want to buy my first mac, but I just spend a great deal of $$ on a new, hot Dell 24" monitor. So, I have less than $1000 for the mac. But it's ok, because my plan is to give this one to my wife in a year, and then I'll be ready to get a better, high-end Mac to use with this tasty monitor (just graduated medical school, so I should start making at least a little $$ soon). My options:

A friend is willing to sell an eMac 1.25 with 512 ram for $600.

A mac Mini?

An older powermac?

Here are my questions:

1) While I will be a mac newbie, I love playing with my digital camera/photoshop and would like to burn some DVD's with iLife with my wedding photos, so I want at least some good graphical performance... Also I'd love to try out Tiger OS... Would the mini or emac be able to handle this?

1) How do I tell if these would work with the Dell 24" LCD? (esp. the eMac or the mac Mini?, as these are the obviously cheapest options) in terms of the graphics card compatibility?

2) Does anyone have any idea if there will be a new Mini soon? l'd love just a little bit of a faster processor/bigger hard drive...

Thanks,
DAN

CanadaRAM · Jun 10, 2005

degminsec said:
Hi everyone. I want to buy my first mac, but I just spend a great deal of $$ on a new, hot Dell 24" monitor. A friend is willing to sell an eMac 1.25 with 512 ram for $600.

A mac Mini?

An older powermac?

digital camera/photoshop and would like to burn some DVD's with iLife with my wedding photos,
I'd love to try out Tiger OS... Would the mini or emac be able to handle this?
How do I tell if these would work with the Dell 24" LCD?

The eMac is nowhere for you, as it has its built in 17" monitor.

The obvious choice is a Mac Mini 1.42 with a Superdrive.
You don't need a special video card for movies photos and 2-D graphics.
My Mini runs the Dell 2005FPW just fine at 1650 x 1080, the Mini will do up to 1920 x 1200
Bigger hard drive you can do with Firewire.

Besides, every woman I have shown the Mini to goes "oooh isn't that cute" which bodes well for the spousal acceptance factor.

echeck · Jun 10, 2005

degminsec said:
2) Does anyone have any idea if there will be a new Mini soon? l'd love just a little bit of a faster processor/bigger hard drive...

There's a lot of speculation right now about an update to the Mini coming soon due to shipping delays. Historically this has been a good indication that an update is coming, when shipping delays start to crop up out of nowhere.

That said, I would wait for this update because it sounds like the Mini would be a perfect candidate for you. I wouldn't bother with the eMac, a great little machine though it is, a Mini would better suit you.

And welcome to the world of Apple and OS X Tiger!

nagromme · Jun 11, 2005

I recommend the Mini. If it's going to be a "left over" computer, wouldn't you like it to at least be small and unobtrusive?

Plus you can't beat that price. Just make sure your display meets the resolution limit someone posted above.

The eMac will only MIRROR to an external display, so it won't match the res of your 24". And I love mine, but it's heavy!

Either one will have enough power to do what you ask. More power is always nice--a G5 or whatever--but not needed.

Do get at least 512 RAM, preferably more. The Mini has a laptop (= slower) HD, and the more RAM you have, the less you'll rely on it. Things will run faster.

And I also suggest waiting for an update. There is almost certainly one coming in the next 2 months or so. Then look at the options, and make sure you get the SuperDrive if you wish to burn DVDs.

Welcome! You're in for a treat with Tiger.

Willy S · Jun 11, 2005

nagromme said:
I recommend the Mini. If it's going to be a "left over" computer, wouldn't you like it to at least be small and unobtrusive? Plus you can't beat that price. Just make sure your display meets the resolution limit someone posted above.

The eMac will only MIRROR to an external display, so it won't match the res of your 24". And I love mine, but it's heavy!

Either one will have enough power to do what you ask. More power is always nice--a G5 or whatever--but not needed.

Do get at least 512 RAM, preferably more. The Mini has a laptop (= slower) HD, and the more RAM you have, the less you'll rely on it. Things will run faster.

And I also suggest waiting for an update. There is almost certainly one coming in the next 2 months or so. Then look at the options, and make sure you get the SuperDrive if you wish to burn DVDs.

Welcome! You're in for a treat with Tiger.

I read on these forums that you can pan (opposite of mirror) the eMac with a hack.

I think Mini is about to get an update next Tuesday since Apple won´t ship any in next 1-2 weeks.

law guy · Jun 11, 2005

Willy S said:
I read on these forums that you can pan (opposite of mirror) the eMac with a hack.

I think Mini is about to get an update next Tuesday since Apple won´t ship any in next 1-2 weeks.

Interesting info on the ship delay times. It would be nice to see the Mini with a 128 MB ATI 9700 card in there from the PB 15 /17 line as at least a BTO option given that you have to live with what it ships with.

For the original poster - I've seen some in-stock G4 1.25 PMs at insight, but only combo drive, for 1295, and a bigger footprint than a mini.

WHY not get a Mac notebook to use? I think your Dell 24" requires a certain level of video card (but check the Dell sight - they note that a minimum level of card is required for the 24 ) I'm not sure if a 12" ibook would work with the card in there - but a possibility to explore. Having a notebook is always useful.

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Cheap mac to compliment my 24" Dell LCD?

degminsec

macrumors newbie

CanadaRAM

macrumors G5

echeck

macrumors 68000

nagromme

macrumors G5

Willy S

macrumors 6502

law guy

macrumors 6502a

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