New to Mac and new to iphone

For your purposes the major differences will be ease of portability. It sounds like you want a laptop if you are going to be moving about.

maccabi77 said:

I am starting an iphone course, and looking for advise of what computer to buy.
during the course I will be able to use a mini but only on premesis. What should I buy to use at home?
A mini Mac that could be used maybe as a portable computer, or an imac or maybe a laptop which is more expencive, Taking into account I will be bying a second hand computer as to save on money.
What are the major diferences between the computers

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Any Mac will handle the basics- surfing, watching movies, email, running most programs.

If using it for a demanding application like photo manipulation, a basic Mac book will work for that too. I don't know much about them, but I would not choose a mini for anything other than the basics mentioned above. For something like that, more RAM is better.

Doing anything with high video demands, a good video card might help. Go to Apple's page and read through specs and what they say each model can handle. Most likely, it would be a higher end iMac or a MacBookPro.

For home use, it would be an iMac, a MacBook Pro (mobility) or a Mac Book (for mobility). You'd have to investigate which model best handles your needs. Again, if it is the basics, a Mini could be considered.

I've had MacBook Pros and iMacs. I like both, and have to say that for Graphics work, the iMac is good because you can keep the monitor angle the same from day to day - although if you use an external monitor on the MBP this is negated. It's really a matter of Portability vs Screen Size vs Power. It goes something like this...

Obsessive portability for basic stuff = MacBook Air
Performance & Portability = MacBook Pro 13" or 15"
Screen size & power = Beefy iMac or Mac Pro
Good balance among all three = 17" MacBook Pro (now discontinued, dammit)

I personally don't see the sense of the Mini; For a few hundred more you can a machine several times as good in every area.

Melrose said:

I personally don't see the sense of the Mini; For a few hundred more you can a machine several times as good in every area.

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The mini is good if you have your own monitor and want something that's very quiet. I have a mini now, having moved to it from an iMac. I loved the iMac, but it kept having screen issues, and I got tired of taking the entire computer in to get worked on all the time. I finally got to the point where I decided I never wanted another desktop where everything was lumped together.