Any advantage of Mac mini + ATD over new iMac?

[AC Rempt]

Originally Posted by 53x12

For sure. But someone like myself coming from a current iMac or someone coming from a laptop without a monitor, a monitor purchase would have to be included. Sure you could go with something cheaper than the ATD.

I like the idea of the ATD because it will work well with my MBA as well as my new mini via the included ports. I worry about having a working system at all times since I need one for work, and being able to swap out the Air for the mini in case of trouble is very attractive. I also keep multiple, cloned backups, so it would be effortless to slide the Air in place and boot off the clone.

What's making me a bit hesitant is a sense that an update is just around the corner combined with saving a few hundred bucks.

[53x12]

Originally Posted by AC Rempt

What's making me a bit hesitant is a sense that an update is just around the corner combined with saving a few hundred bucks.

If you need one now you can get the refurb for a good deal or go used. If you like the update sell that one and upgrade. I doubt the update will be more than the iMac design along with USB 3, TB...etc. Doubt we see retina display at this point.

[AC Rempt]

Good points, and I was thinking I could always upgrade, but then there's the extra cost. I know I'll be fine with the ATD resell value, but I'll still have to put out some cash for the upgrade.

I agree about the retina display, and I wonder if the mini could even push that level of detail.

[53x12]

If you don't need it now just wait and see what the updates brings. At that point others will be selling the ATD to upgrade so you either get the new one or a used/refurb for a good deal. If you must have USB 3, that is the only reason worth waiting. Being thinner doesn't really make a difference imo.

[AC Rempt]

Took the plunge, and I'm pretty happy, but not delirious. It doesn't seem like a huge speed bump over my 2010 iMac, but I'm about to install an SSD. Hopefully, that'll make an obvious difference.

I'm also a fan of the TB display. It looks great, and the ports on the back make it much easier to have hide all my cables.

[aussiew]

Hi there, I have been thinking about the same concept. Having a iMac 2008 model with 4GB ram has been great for me so far. However since I have intensified my taks with photography using Lightroom and Photoshop at the same time, it tends to slow down dramatically.

I am looking into buying an iMac min and an ATD or an iMac 21" (that is my budget).

I wonder if there is anyone out there that is using this software and working heavily on photos.

What are you using? What do you suggest?
Is the iMac Mini GPU strong enough for this type of work?
The mini having a laptop processor (I think), would this be a disadvantage in performance for what i need?

thanks in advance

aussie

[aussiew]

Originally Posted by chouseworth

Unless you are a gamer, and require the high powered graphics, I think the Mini/ATD is the best choice. You can use the ATD for many years with other computers and you can update the mini with the best SSD technology down the road, which will undoubtedly be far better from a price/performance standpoint than what exists now. I have the Mini/ATD combo and just love it. I am a semi-pro photographer and it serves my needs perfectly.

I went through all the quotes in this thread and the one that most relates to my needs is this one. As you are a semi-pro photographer, as well as I, my interest is to know from you or any other persons in this field, how fast or slow the GPU on the mini is when working on several layers in PS CS6 retouching raw photos of 28MB in size, while having LR running in the background. This is the slow experience I am currently having with my iMac cor duo 2008 (obviously I am asking more out of it than it could bare).

Would be interested to hear from any critics related to the mini.

On another note, any ideas when the next mini version is coming out? perhaps it would be built on ivy bridge

cheers

aussie

[paulrbeers]

Originally Posted by aussiew

I went through all the quotes in this thread and the one that most relates to my needs is this one. As you are a semi-pro photographer, as well as I, my interest is to know from you or any other persons in this field, how fast or slow the GPU on the mini is when working on several layers in PS CS6 retouching raw photos of 28MB in size, while having LR running in the background. This is the slow experience I am currently having with my iMac cor duo 2008 (obviously I am asking more out of it than it could bare).

Would be interested to hear from any critics related to the mini.

On another note, any ideas when the next mini version is coming out? perhaps it would be built on ivy bridge

cheers

aussie

The current mini is ivy bridge based. The next will be haswell, but won't be released until probably next fall since haswell isn't due to be released until this summer and the mini is usually the last mac updated.

[SVTmaniac]

Originally Posted by blanka

Make that BETTER quality.
A Dell U2713HM for example is better on all aspects, and 400 bucks cheaper.
And hey, if a screen is ON and you work on it, you won't see the housing. So whether a screen is pretty, can ONLY BEEN SEEN WHEN NOT BEHIND THE COMPUTER, and you should do other things then anyway, like kissing the girl, purring the cat or having a good meal. Nice looks of a TBD is fun for 1 hour max, then you had that part. And the match with the mini does not matter, because when you want less cable clutter than with an iMac, you are better off glueing or double-side-taping your mini UNDER your desk. Match it with a nice black 3$ logitech mouse whichs eats ANY APPLE MOUSE EVER FOR BREAKFAST when it comes to using a mouse as a mouse, and throw in a generic black PC keyboard for 10$ which types better than the total flat apple-crap-keyboards.

Hey there is nothing APPLE on my DESK. PERFECT! NO BURGLARS and they will take you SERIOUS for your work and don't wonder whether you could have spend too much money.

The Dell has qualities you can use all the time
- ergonomic settings (tilt/swivel/height/pivot)
- 24p playback (for films, almost no other monitor handels other framerates than 60)
- better uniformity and better sRGB calibration
- matte display
- support for more machines (XBOX/PS3, laptop, mini)

I'm sure the Dell is a great Monitor, but it's not $400 cheaper, it doesn't have 3 USB 3.0 ports or a firewire port or a LAN port built in so thet you can hide all your wires. I got my ATD at Best Buy for $890 out the door. For the little bit of difference it was worth it to me. To each their own though.

I've been using my new 2.3 i7 Mini with ATD for about two weeks now. I am a professional photographer and the first thing I did was upgrade the Mini to 16gb of ram an put a 256GB SSD in and made a fusion drive. It has been PERFECT for me and I can blaze through 1000 40MB each RAW Files in Lightroom 4 like they are nothing. Coming from a Core 2 DUO PC this little Mini with the ATD is a beast!

[aussiew]

Originally Posted by SVTmaniac

I'm sure the Dell is a great Monitor, but it's not $400 cheaper, it doesn't have 3 USB 3.0 ports or a firewire port or a LAN port built in so thet you can hide all your wires. I got my ATD at Best Buy for $890 out the door. For the little bit of difference it was worth it to me. To each their own though.

I've been using my new 2.3 i7 Mini with ATD for about two weeks now. I am a professional photographer and the first thing I did was upgrade the Mini to 16gb of ram an put a 256GB SSD in and made a fusion drive. It has been PERFECT for me and I can blaze through 1000 40MB each RAW Files in Lightroom 4 like they are nothing. Coming from a Core 2 DUO PC this little Mini with the ATD is a beast!

Hi SVT,

great to hear that you use the mac mini on a similar way on what I plan to do. How is the GPU performing when it comes to large photoshop workflow?

cheers

aussie

[SVTmaniac]

Originally Posted by aussiew

Hi SVT,

great to hear that you use the mac mini on a similar way on what I plan to do. How is the GPU performing when it comes to large photoshop workflow?

cheers

aussie

The GPU so far has been great. My workflow usually consists of switching between Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 frequently and the Mini handles it well. Last night I stitched together a 12 shot Panorama all in RAW with CS6 and it did it in under 3 minutes. My old PC would have taken about a half an hour to stitch that large of a Panorama.

No slowdowns when applying filters to large TIFF with multiple layers either.

[aussiew]

Originally Posted by SVTmaniac

The GPU so far has been great. My workflow usually consists of switching between Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6 frequently and the Mini handles it well. Last night I stitched together a 12 shot Panorama all in RAW with CS6 and it did it in under 3 minutes. My old PC would have taken about a half an hour to stitch that large of a Panorama.

No slowdowns when applying filters to large TIFF with multiple layers either.

Hi SVT,

thanks a million. Now I have a better perspective of the mac mini.


cheers

aussie