imac or mini

If you are thinking of buying a monitor or already have one, get the Mac Mini, and you can later upgrade it to 4GB of RAM and a larger/faster hard drive.

Or

You can get an iMac and use an external monitor to extend your desktop.

It really depends on what you wanna do with it. If you already have a monitor and keyboard, then the mini is key.

The Intel iMacs are widescreen, not square. Even the G5's were wide.

i think the mini is the one suit for you.
You dont need a really faset computer for music and photos.

rick0530 said:

i think the mini is the one suit for you.
You dont need a really faset computer for music and photos.

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I second that. I think the Mac Mini is such an underrated machine. We use them at work and I can load many applications without it crapping out on me. After the iPod, I think the Mac Mini is the second best thing Apple has come up with.

New Mac Mini owner here. Coming from the PC world (still dabbling in Windows until everything gets transferred), and I just love OS X.

Had it on my MSI wind just to get a taste of it.

I plan on running my business from my mini and don't think I will have too much of a problem.

I upgraded the HD to WD scorpio blue 500gb, and bumped the RAM to 4gb. It was peppy without the bump as I wanted to make sure everything worked before I opened it up. It's MUCH quicker with the upgrades. This thing is smokin' my quad core dell right now. The OS really makes a difference.

If you do plan on bumping the RAM and HD, just take your time. Watch the videos and be patient. I slid a razor blade in between the case (you'll see what I mean when you get it), and this left enough of a gap to then slide the putty knife in there to pop it open.

I had dual monitors for the dell, but had trouble with the "older" VGA working out, so I just picked up the HP 2159m from Amazon for $201.97 with free ship and the mini DVI-DVI connector works just fine.

Good luck with your decision!

jortymor said:

Seems like the mac mini is leading between the two. Does anyone have photos of their mini with monitor.

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Here ya go. I'm running both my mini and my gaming pc through this monitor. I've got the pc plugged into the dvi slot and the mini plugged onto the vga slot and I just push a button on the monitor to switch between the two.

I originally bought a 20 inch iMac. It was a really nice computer but I had just built my pc and it was a little difficult trying to figure out how I would use both computers. I was able to return the iMac, buy the base mini, 4gigs of ram, a 320gig 7200rpm hard drive, the Samsung monitor, wall mount, mouse and apple keyboard, and still have a little money left over. I use it for iTunes, iPhoto, internet, etc and its wonderful. Use the PC for gaming and internet.

arcadeforest said:

Here ya go. I'm running both my mini and my gaming pc through this monitor. I've got the pc plugged into the dvi slot and the mini plugged onto the vga slot and I just push a button on the monitor to switch between the two.

I originally bought a 20 inch iMac. It was a really nice computer but I had just built my pc and it was a little difficult trying to figure out how I would use both computers. I was able to return the iMac, buy the base mini, 4gigs of ram, a 320gig 7200rpm hard drive, the Samsung monitor, wall mount, mouse and apple keyboard, and still have a little money left over. I use it for iTunes, iPhoto, internet, etc and its wonderful. Use the PC for gaming and internet.

Click to expand...

sweet setup your making me want a mini lol

This is a difficult battle I am currently facing myself. I purchased a 23" Apple Cinema Display (great monitor) with a Mac Pro I used to own. I decided the Mac Pro was too much power for me and I sold it on eBay, it was a huge machine and basically too much for my needs and I could use the money back.

So, I currently have been using my MacBook Pro as my main computer and I don't like having to hook the monitor up every time I use the machine. I really want a static desktop Mac again with a desktop power hard drive.

My battle of the Mac mini vs iMac has been swirling in my mind. The Mac mini uses a smaller laptop sized hard drive. When you deck out the mac mini with 4GB of RAM you are getting up there in cost, the 20" iMac is just $1199, but it comes standard with 2GB RAM too. (I have an issue with having a minimum of 4GB of RAM). The 24" iMac comes with 4GB of RAM, and then you are looking at various video card options. I question why to get a 24" iMac when I have a 23" Cinema display sitting around collecting dust. I may be better served by a Mac mini allowing me to use my display and have a decently fast desktop mac which is fine for web use and iTunes. I don't really use my Mac for any heavy studio or production uses, although I like to playback fullscreen video and do some light audio work with Reason, and I like to run Photoshop occasionally. I think the Mac mini will serve my needs fine but I just need that 4GB of RAM. It's probably a psychological issue with me, 2GB could probably get me by fine. My main likes of the iMac are the all-in-one design, the fast desktop size 3.5" hard drive, and the ease of upgrading the RAM. I have heard horror stories of having to use a putty knife to upgrade the RAM on the Mac mini. The iMac RAM upgrade is easy and it is easily accessible under the screen. The speed boost with the iMac is another plus of the unit. Mac mini is capped at 2.0GHz and an expensive 2.26GHz. iMacs start at 2.66GHz which is plenty fast for everything. The Mac mini gives a bit of portability and the ability to hook to any DVI monitor. Additional 5 USB ports is nice. There are just many issues to look at in this battle and there is no right answer. I would not pick the Mac mini based on a budget concern. I would look at all the pros and cons of both machines (as I have). The Mac mini provides a portable unit. The iMac provides a fullblown desktop experience. You must realize the Mini can get expensive when opting for the fast processor and more RAM. The 20" is only a couple hundred dollars more. Many things to consider. It's a tough battle.

I just ordered a 20" iMac recently I'm just waiting on it to arrive. It actually hasn't shipped yet and I haven't recieved an email about my order yet either. It's been about 24 hours since I ordered and they said will ship in about 24 hours. I paid the extra money for 2 day shipping so hopefully they ship it tonight.

Anyway, I've seen a couple posts about screen quality. Are people saying that the 20" looks different then the 24" in quality or do they mean the 24" just looks better. I'm assuming it's obviously going to look awesome because I don't have a 24" to compare it to.

Personally I think that if you are need to but a display for your new computer the iMac is worth it.