My first Mac (but which one?)

[joechimy]

I'm new to the world of Macs and trying to decide which to purchase. My scope of use will be pretty basic; email, web (love those widgets), iTunes, iPhoto, and some Photoshop/Illustrator (I've given up on PC Gaming. Spent too many thousands over the years trying to keep a top of the line machine)

I was all ready to get the new Mini Mac w/ Superdrive and a Gig of RAM but I'm put off by the old video card with ONLY 32 Megs of RAM. Same basic story with the iBooks (whats up with the outdated video cards?) Don't want to pony up the dough for a PowerMac tower (thanks to the Intel switch) and the iMac or PowerBooks are almost as expensive.

I really want to hook up whichever Mac I get to a big screen HDTV and surf the net from my couch, but I'm not sure (beyond the MiniMac) which have the proper outputs to connect to a HDTV.

PLEASE HELP!

[AstrosFan]

Originally Posted by joechimy

I was all ready to get the new Mini Mac w/ Superdrive and a Gig of RAM but I'm put off by the old video card with ONLY 32 Megs of RAM. Same basic story with the iBooks (whats up with the outdated video cards?) Don't want to pony up the dough for a PowerMac tower (thanks to the Intel switch) and the iMac or PowerBooks are almost as expensive.

I really want to hook up whichever Mac I get to a big screen HDTV and surf the net from my couch, but I'm not sure (beyond the MiniMac) which have the proper outputs to connect to a HDTV.
PLEASE HELP!

It sounds like your priority is something you can hook up to HDTV, with a second feature being something with low-cost, correct?
The Mac Mini & PBs have DVI output, while the iMac and iBook have S-video or composite video output, but not DVI.
So it depends a bit on how important it is to you to have HDTV output.

From a pure cost standpoint, I think that the iMac is one of the best values in the Apple lineup right now.
Maximizing the RAM (third-party, NOT through Apple) is a great idea.
I think you'll appreciate the improved speed from the G5 as well as upgraded RAM.

Hope that helps some - good luck!

[joechimy]

Thanks for clearing up which outputs are available AstrosFan. I agree, the iMac looks like a great machine. I realy would like my HDTV to be the main display for my Mac and as I understand DVI is the way to go.

Does anyone have experience with the MiniMac's video card? Am I crazy, is 32 Megs enough to power Tiger OS, Widgets, Photoshop/Illustrator, etc? Or should I wait and hope for a PowerBook update in the near future (wish the 12inch didn't have built in 256 --- come on Apple up that to 512 already!)

[joecool85]

The Mac Mini will do PS and run Tiger ok, but thats about it. Only ok. I would wait for a PB or mini update if those are the products you really want. For right now it sounds like an iMac is your best bet.

[Capt Underpants]

Originally Posted by joechimy

Does anyone have experience with the MiniMac's video card? Am I crazy, is 32 Megs enough to power Tiger OS, Widgets, Photoshop/Illustrator, etc? Or should I wait and hope for a PowerBook update in the near future (wish the 12inch didn't have built in 256 --- come on Apple up that to 512 already!)

The new Powerbooks do have 512 MB RAM built in.

[EGT]

The portability of the Powerbook is great, and it'll be able to do all the stuff you want. Bit pricey mind.

Updates are supposed to be sometime in September.

[davidcb13]

Originally Posted by joechimy

Thanks for clearing up which outputs are available AstrosFan. I agree, the iMac looks like a great machine. I realy would like my HDTV to be the main display for my Mac and as I understand DVI is the way to go.

Does anyone have experience with the MiniMac's video card? Am I crazy, is 32 Megs enough to power Tiger OS, Widgets, Photoshop/Illustrator, etc? Or should I wait and hope for a PowerBook update in the near future (wish the 12inch didn't have built in 256 --- come on Apple up that to 512 already!)

Im not sure if we are on the same page...but the 12" powerbook does have 512 mb of ram. and a 64 mb video card.I just bought mine a few weeks ago and I love it. Im going to be getting the Dell 20" widescreen moniter in a few weeks. The 12"powerbook comes with some type of weird mini digital output but it comes with 2 output plugs 1 for VGA and 1 for DVI

[joechimy]

True the PBs do come with at least 512mb, but I'm refering to the built in 256 (which makes the upgrades odd). I want a gig of RAM but its $415 to upgrade up to 1.25gb on the 12inch.

[Dont Hurt Me]

Mini will do what you want but i agree with 32mb lame video comment. We have a mini and its great but a 32mb video 9200 is still just that. The next bump should have a 64 mb video but that could be 2006. The 9200 is fine for everything but modern games meaning even UT2003 has to be turned all the way down to get playable frames and its all due to the 32mb video. Why they didnt use a 64mb fx5200 in it is beyond me. Its fine for the games my wife likes but Ill stay with my Alienware's 256mb 6800Gt for serious frames.

[46and2]

Originally Posted by Capt Underpants

The new Powerbooks do have 512 MB RAM built in.

When I go to the Apple store, the 12" PB has 256 built in and 256 in the slot. The 15 and 17 have one 512 stick built in.

[Capt Underpants]

Originally Posted by 46and2

When I go to the Apple store, the 12" PB has 256 built in and 256 in the slot. The 15 and 17 have one 512 stick built in.

Yes I was mistaken. I thought the 512 MB was on-board, but I was wrong.

[jiv3turkey748]

get the imac its the best value of any apple computer

[ajampam]

PB, if you want portability....iMac otherwise...mac mini may leave you feeling a bit unhappy knowing that it only has 32megs.....

[Ph4lynx]

get the powerbook, you'll be happier with it for longer than any other computer you could buy.

[kalisphoenix]

Buy a G4 Power Mac (not the Yikes!) and 1) buy a CPU upgrade or 2) just buy a top of the line PMG4. They're about $1000 on eBay loaded. Then buy RAM and a really good video card.

That's my advice. And if you still miss the laptop functionality, buy one used.