I want an Apple desktop...experience.

[tomster2300]

I've been a happy MacBook owner for two years now, and would like to add a desktop to my collection...or at least the experience of one.

So, should I just buy a large lcd screen, mouse and keyboard for my MacBook, or should I get an actual desktop, like a mac mini (and all the peripherals)? Are the mac minis worth buying, or should I only consider an iMac and up? I have a desktop running Vista, and I used to share its lcd with my MacBook via a switch. I just got tired of having to move everything around on my desk to make room for the MacBook, and then plugging everything up was a chore. I'd kind of like a permanent, Mac desktop solution the more I think about it...

With a mini I could use all the Vista peripherals and just change between the two via the switch...which wouldn't be too bad actually.

I do audio / video editing, as well as graphic design work. I do my gaming on either my xbox 360 or my Vista desktop, so I'm not looking for a gaming rig.

So, what do you guys think? Has anyone been in this situation?

Thanks!

[applecultvictim]

I've been a happy MacBook owner for two years now, and would like to add a desktop to my collection...or at least the experience of one.

So, should I just buy a large lcd screen, mouse and keyboard for my MacBook, or should I get an actual desktop, like a mac mini (and all the peripherals)? Are the mac minis worth buying, or should I only consider an iMac and up? I have a desktop running Vista, and I used to share its lcd with my MacBook via a switch. I just got tired of having to move everything around on my desk to make room for the MacBook, and then plugging everything up was a chore. I'd kind of like a permanent, Mac desktop solution the more I think about it...

With a mini I could use all the Vista peripherals and just change between the two via the switch...which wouldn't be too bad actually.

I do audio / video editing, as well as graphic design work. I do my gaming on either my xbox 360 or my Vista desktop, so I'm not looking for a gaming rig.

So, what do you guys think? Has anyone been in this situation?

Thanks!


Buy it and you ll be one happy camper, I was in a similar situation with you (blackbook) and I am, literally, elated for buying a 24" white imac c2d.


I would suggest you find yourself a nice used white imac to have everything there, 20" go for relative peanuts these days, they have a nice bright antiglare screen, you can move them around easily, they are just super for everything you want, the have a nice gfx card and better viewing angle and panel than the current aluminium imacs.

The current ones are great too and I would suggest them, provided you don't care about the glare. I do so it's a no no.


The mini with the new nvidia graphics is one mean machine, I cant speak enough highly of it, there's no reason to even hesitate buying it, it's super cheap at about the price of a netbook, less than the "brand netbooks" of sony etc, but it dwarfs by far a netbook in every single way. You get bored with it it's going to sell easily on ebay. Wanna travel, just take it along and hook it to a friends monitor. Hdd drives at 2.5 are growing larger and cheaper every day so you can mod it for even more drive space...or stick an ssd there and this baby will fly.

Whatever your thoughts, do yourself a favour and get a mac soon. :D:D:cool::cool::apple::apple:

And try not to locate it physically close to that vista machine, shame for it to be close to crap...just kidding.:)

[Mac1212]

I've been a happy MacBook owner for two years now, and would like to add a desktop to my collection...or at least the experience of one.

So, should I just buy a large lcd screen, mouse and keyboard for my MacBook, or should I get an actual desktop, like a mac mini (and all the peripherals)? Are the mac minis worth buying, or should I only consider an iMac and up? I have a desktop running Vista, and I used to share its lcd with my MacBook via a switch. I just got tired of having to move everything around on my desk to make room for the MacBook, and then plugging everything up was a chore. I'd kind of like a permanent, Mac desktop solution the more I think about it...

With a mini I could use all the Vista peripherals and just change between the two via the switch...which wouldn't be too bad actually.

I do audio / video editing, as well as graphic design work. I do my gaming on either my xbox 360 or my Vista desktop, so I'm not looking for a gaming rig.

So, what do you guys think? Has anyone been in this situation?

Thanks!
well, i don't know how much you want to spend, but i can tell you that you will be happy with an iMac.

[Hellhammer]

iMac is fantastic computer but are you ready to spend ~1500$ on new Mac? You already have a MacBook so how about just buying a nice monitor and nice MacBook stand (http://store.apple.com/us/product/TN740ZM/A?mco=NDgzOTUxMg) so it's not filling the whole table.

[BlackMax]

My MacBook is my primary desktop computer. I have a 20" LCD monitor and a wireless Apple keyboard and mouse. It functions great as a desktop.

[jmpage2]

iMac is fantastic computer but are you ready to spend ~1500$ on new Mac? You already have a MacBook so how about just buying a nice monitor and nice MacBook stand (http://store.apple.com/us/product/TN740ZM/A?mco=NDgzOTUxMg) so it's not filling the whole table.

Well, if he bought the 24" Mac ACD as well as the Mac keyboard and mouse he would be at $1000 anyway. $500 more and he gets a really nice high performance computer as well.

[Hellhammer]

Well, if he bought the 24" Mac ACD as well as the Mac keyboard and mouse he would be at $1000 anyway. $500 more and he gets a really nice high performance computer as well.

He doesn't have to buy ACD... You can get other brand monitor for less than 200$

[rwilliams]

Well technically, the Mini and iMac are laptop parts in a desktop frame, but I get what you're saying. You just need something stationary. I'm trying to justify the purchase of a Mini vs. a PC desktop with more RAM and more disk space for the same price or less, since I'd likely use either of them as a file server.

[jmpage2]

He doesn't have to buy ACD... You can get other brand monitor for less than 200$

Funny. I thought part of the experience of owning a Mac was getting a computer with an ultra high quality display.

[Hellhammer]

Funny. I thought part of the experience of owning a Mac was getting a computer with an ultra high quality display.

Why does he need to get Apple display? Average consumer survives fine with lower quality display if it does its job. Only professionals need very high quality displays.

And when talking about quality, I had to send two iMacs back because of dead pixels and my current one still has 2.... Is that quality? I think it isn't

[anamznazn]

For some reason, the mac mini doesn't give me that desktop experience. It still feels like I'm connected to my laptop with an external display. Maybe it's just me....but an iMac would be a surer bet for that experience.

[yoppie]

I used to hook up my MacBook to my HP monitor so that I could have the best of both worlds but unplugging/plugging everything got old after a while so I stopped. I just purchased a mac mini yesterday (to be delivered tomorrow) so that I wouldn't feel like I'm wasting my money not using my monitor.

I suggest you try a notebook with a separate monitor for a while and see how you like it. It's really not bad especially for those time when you want to go portable. If it turns out, you don't like it (or tire of the unplug/plug dance) then add the mac mini (as a second mac!) for a much cheaper price.

[jmpage2]

Why does he need to get Apple display? Average consumer survives fine with lower quality display if it does its job. Only professionals need very high quality displays.

And when talking about quality, I had to send two iMacs back because of dead pixels and my current one still has 2.... Is that quality? I think it isn't

You find me a $200 PC monitor that has the display quality of any Apple display and we'll chat about the comparability.

Only professionals need high quality displays? If what you were saying was true then Apple would never sell a display and PC manufacturers wouldn't bother making higher displays either.

I have done amateur photography for years and have always limited myself to "consumer grade" displays and fought all of the challenges of crummy viewing angle, poor color accuracy, etc.

I don't have any of these problems when doing photography on my iMac with LR2.

I can think of plenty of other consumer uses for a high quality display as well, such as video editing of home movies, watching high quality HD content on their computer, etc.

All manufacturers have problems with pixels out on their displays. $3000 professional units we get for major installations have the occasional bad pixel, so don't feel too picked on that your iMac has one.

[blackhand1001]

You find me a $200 PC monitor that has the display quality of any Apple display and we'll chat about the comparability.

Only professionals need high quality displays? If what you were saying was true then Apple would never sell a display and PC manufacturers wouldn't bother making higher displays either.

I have done amateur photography for years and have always limited myself to "consumer grade" displays and fought all of the challenges of crummy viewing angle, poor color accuracy, etc.

I don't have any of these problems when doing photography on my iMac with LR2.

I can think of plenty of other consumer uses for a high quality display as well, such as video editing of home movies, watching high quality HD content on their computer, etc.

All manufacturers have problems with pixels out on their displays. $3000 professional units we get for major installations have the occasional bad pixel, so don't feel too picked on that your iMac has one.

2209wa

[Hellhammer]

You find me a $200 PC monitor that has the display quality of any Apple display and we'll chat about the comparability.

Only professionals need high quality displays? If what you were saying was true then Apple would never sell a display and PC manufacturers wouldn't bother making higher displays either.

I have done amateur photography for years and have always limited myself to "consumer grade" displays and fought all of the challenges of crummy viewing angle, poor color accuracy, etc.

I don't have any of these problems when doing photography on my iMac with LR2.

I can think of plenty of other consumer uses for a high quality display as well, such as video editing of home movies, watching high quality HD content on their computer, etc.

All manufacturers have problems with pixels out on their displays. $3000 professional units we get for major installations have the occasional bad pixel, so don't feel too picked on that your iMac has one.

BenQ E2200HD. Average consumers doesn't need ultimate high quality displays! I have BenQ E2400HD as my secondary monitor and okay, its colors and viewing angles aren't the best but it's fine for most people. I don't do photographing but I'm freelance web developer and I do some photoshopping as well. It's okay for my needs. When I bought it, I looked some 700€ displays as well but I couldn't see what makes them so expensive. Okay, their colors were better and viewing angles were awesome but why to pay 500€ more for things that I don't need. Apple displays quality is high I know (they use IPS panels, and they're more expensive than TFT panels) but why to pay a lot more for something you don't need. 700€ for monitor is ridiculous price, I can build quad-core PC for that money. If you have money to buy 700-800€ monitors go on, but I'm satisfied with my BenQ, it does its job better than fine. Also you can only hook up a Mac with MiniDisplayPort to 24" LED display, that eats lots of buyers

[zedsdead]

I say go with the best 24" iMac you can afford. You will not regret it. Amazing machines.

[Jackintosh]

I've been a happy MacBook owner for two years now, and would like to add a desktop to my collection...or at least the experience of one.

So, should I just buy a large lcd screen, mouse and keyboard for my MacBook, or should I get an actual desktop, like a mac mini (and all the peripherals)? Are the mac minis worth buying, or should I only consider an iMac and up? I have a desktop running Vista, and I used to share its lcd with my MacBook via a switch. I just got tired of having to move everything around on my desk to make room for the MacBook, and then plugging everything up was a chore. I'd kind of like a permanent, Mac desktop solution the more I think about it...

With a mini I could use all the Vista peripherals and just change between the two via the switch...which wouldn't be too bad actually.

I do audio / video editing, as well as graphic design work. I do my gaming on either my xbox 360 or my Vista desktop, so I'm not looking for a gaming rig.

So, what do you guys think? Has anyone been in this situation?

Thanks!

Mini is the way to go, a beautiful and elegant machine that does practically everything. And also exactly for the reasons you stated. As far as iMac, in my opinion, it's not worth limiting yourself to a permanent monitor for the life of your computer. With the Mini, you have a world of monitor choices, now and into the future.

[Feng Shui]

Get a 24" iMac.

[wilnis]

Hi-I was in the same situation and bought the new Mini with 4g of ram, hooked up my 23" Samsung, creative speakers I had and a $12 WalMart Logitech keyboard and it's a great desktop experience for me anyway. I did look at the imac but I had the peripherals so this was the best for me. Good luck in your choice. Regards-Bill

[Richard8655]

Go for the Mini. You won't regret it.

[panzer06]

iMac is fantastic computer but are you ready to spend ~1500$ on new Mac? You already have a MacBook so how about just buying a nice monitor and nice MacBook stand (http://store.apple.com/us/product/TN740ZM/A?mco=NDgzOTUxMg) so it's not filling the whole table.

Nice refurb iMac 24 2.8 with ATI 2600 is only $1199. Mini with the right upgrades is close to $750 (base plus 4GB & 320/500GB HD) plus a decent monitor at around $250-$300 and you've almost bought that iMac which has a faster GPU, and more disk space and a very nice 24" display.

Of course I do love my little mini. It's completely silent and works great. But I still want an iMac. O' the joys of owning Macs.

Cheers,

[arcadeforest]

Mini is the way to go, a beautiful and elegant machine that does practically everything. And also exactly for the reasons you stated. As far as iMac, in my opinion, it's not worth limiting yourself to a permanent monitor for the life of your computer. With the Mini, you have a world of monitor choices, now and into the future.

I couldn't agree with you more on that point.

[Hellhammer]

you've almost bought that iMac which has a faster GPU, and more disk space and a very nice 24" display.

Did you mean faster CPU? iMac with GT120 costs 1799$ and Mini is around 1000$ with upgrades and monitor.

[bex753]

Apple need to go back to providing a proper tower IMOP that you can had hardware to without loosing your warranty

With the mini base only coming with 1gb of memory and not being (officially) user upgradable I for one would never consider it

[panzer06]

Did you mean faster CPU? iMac with GT120 costs 1799$ and Mini is around 1000$ with upgrades and monitor.

The 2600 being better than the 9400m in the mini.

Cheers,

[DaveF]

I've been a happy MacBook owner for two years now, and would like to add a desktop to my collection...or at least the experience of one.

So, should I just buy a large lcd screen, mouse and keyboard for my MacBook, or should I get an actual desktop, like a mac mini (and all the peripherals)?
Useful questions:
* What's your budget?
* How much time is spent at-desk and not-at-desk?
* Would you need / want to keep two separate Macs synchronized in apps, data, music, etc.?
* How much do you dislike unplugging cables?

I have a laptop for home, mostly used at the desk. I plug in:
* one USB, for the hub which has mouse, keyboard, TimeMachine drive, iPod cable
* speaker cable
* video cable for second monitor

It's a minor inconvenience to plug/unplug as I come and go from the office. But it's easier, affordable, and takes less room than managing two computers for myself.

My wife, a graphic designer, has no interest in a laptop, and uses a desktop solely.

Since you're apparently happy doing graphic / video work on a MacBook, there's no downside to using it as a "desktop". If budget allows, I'd suggest the iMac over the mini. The mini is especially overpriced and still requires a keyboard, mouse, monitor; If you're buying those, just use your MacBook.

[arcadeforest]

Apple need to go back to providing a proper tower IMOP that you can had hardware to without loosing your warranty

With the mini base only coming with 1gb of memory and not being (officially) user upgradable I for one would never consider it

I have to agree with you on the tower. As far the mini goes if you would never consider one then I feel that your missing out on a wonderful machine. Upgrading the hard drive and ram is a breeze. In the end you have a decent, capable computer at a resonable price (for apple anyways).

[jmpage2]

Did you mean faster CPU? iMac with GT120 costs 1799$ and Mini is around 1000$ with upgrades and monitor.

They aren't even comparable. Even 'with upgrades' the Mini has a vastly slower CPU than the iMac and the video is MUCH slower on a Mini than a GT120 equipped iMac.

As to your previous comments re: display quality, you yourself admit that the higher end Mac display has much better color, viewing angle, etc. You can't deem that "it's more than most consumers need", such a statement is laughable.

Obviously consumers "need" it or they wouldn't buy it.

Consumers don't need an iMac quality display any more than they "need" an Audi or BMW over a Toyota or Honda but I see plenty of Audi and BMW where I live.

[Hellhammer]

They aren't even comparable. Even 'with upgrades' the Mini has a vastly slower CPU than the iMac and the video is MUCH slower on a Mini than a GT120 equipped iMac.

As to your previous comments re: display quality, you yourself admit that the higher end Mac display has much better color, viewing angle, etc. You can't deem that "it's more than most consumers need", such a statement is laughable.

Obviously consumers "need" it or they wouldn't buy it.

Consumers don't need an iMac quality display any more than they "need" an Audi or BMW over a Toyota or Honda but I see plenty of Audi and BMW where I live.

I understand your point. LED display id gorgeous and very good one, but I'm happy with my BenQ. Everyone can buy what they want

[MinorBidoh]

As much as I love the mini, I'd say get a usb hub and an apple display. Switching between computers just isn't an cool. I've tried it and frustration left me like stressed Eric. Don't get a stand for MB, unless you need more screen real estate, instead get a stand for the display so you can slip the MB underneath. Wireless keyboard and mouse and decent speakers and that would be experience. Give it a year or so till you need to upgrade the MB and in low and behold your current reserves for a desktop is sitting there (minus the display).

[BulletToothTony]

I understand your point. LED display id gorgeous and very good one, but I'm happy with my BenQ. Everyone can buy what they want

I'm with you hellhammer, we both got bad displays and for the price apple should really have the upper hand on better quality products..

And i absolutely agree that spending over $1000 for a monitor is not needed unless of course is needed.. I would also buy a $200 monitor.. Is not that i don't like apple i obviously have apple products and love them but that doesn't mean that apple is the only option for everyone.. I love to have good quality products.. an 24" imac for 1199 is great.. just a monitor for that much.. i'm not that dumb ;)

[tomster2300]

Useful questions:
* What's your budget?
* How much time is spent at-desk and not-at-desk?
* Would you need / want to keep two separate Macs synchronized in apps, data, music, etc.?
* How much do you dislike unplugging cables?

I have a laptop for home, mostly used at the desk. I plug in:
* one USB, for the hub which has mouse, keyboard, TimeMachine drive, iPod cable
* speaker cable
* video cable for second monitor

It's a minor inconvenience to plug/unplug as I come and go from the office. But it's easier, affordable, and takes less room than managing two computers for myself.

My wife, a graphic designer, has no interest in a laptop, and uses a desktop solely.

Since you're apparently happy doing graphic / video work on a MacBook, there's no downside to using it as a "desktop". If budget allows, I'd suggest the iMac over the mini. The mini is especially overpriced and still requires a keyboard, mouse, monitor; If you're buying those, just use your MacBook.

Unfortunately my budget is not very large. I really can't afford anything around $1,000 right now. A purchase of that much would be hard to justify with both my MacBook and Vista desktop still running strong; especially since I just built the desktop about two years ago.

I'm still considering the mini though. How poor of a computer is it? Can the fans go above 6,000 rpm? Is it basically a MacBook inside a cube container, or is it a bit more powerful? Basically, is it worth the $600 price tag?

As with being satisfied doing my work on my MacBook...I'm not completely satisfied, but it's what I have right now. My biggest concern is how hot it runs and how poorly it dissipates heat. It's pretty sad how bad a job it does.

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far. This has been a very insightful and interesting read. Keep your posts coming!

[zedsdead]

Based on your last post, it seems you have two major options:

(1) Either get the Mini and connect it to your current LCD set-up

or

(2) Wait and save up for an iMac.

I strongly suggest the latter. The Mini is a very apt machine, but since you Macbook is only two years old, the iMac will be a much greater leap in performance. I really urge it.

[DaveF]

Unfortunately my budget is not very large. I really can't afford anything around $1,000 right nowThen without reservation you should connect a keyboard, mouse, monitor to your MacBook and use it as a desktop as desired. If you decide you want a mini, you can buy it and you'll already have the keyboard, mouse and monitor it requires :)

If you want to save a lot of money, use a KVM switch to connect your Vista machine's keyboard, monitor and mouse to your MacBook. You can get a KVM switch for as low as $25.

[sortie]

KVM switches are as cheap as $25, but you should be wary of any under $50 usually. The lower end switches tend to have poorer video and less stable USB.