Any reason to keep Mac Mini once I get my 2011 Macbook Pro 15"?

[Sapporo Ichiban]

I'm about to put the order in for a new 2.2ghz 15" Macbook Pro with high-res antiglare screen and I'm just wondering... is there any point to keep my 2010 2.4ghz Mac Mini?

I've upgrade the ram to 4gb and so far it's been serving me quite well. It's plugged into my 40" Samsung HDTV via hdmi and I love how portable it is. I've been primarily using it for watching movies, browse the net, watch too much porno, occasionally write papers for school but it's not effective as a work station or for digital photography since I'm looking at a giant tv from 6-7 feet away.

I currently use my Mac Mini with the wireless keyboard and a magic track pad.

So thus I have a few questions for people that are better suited to answer them than people that typically work at Apple stores.

1) If I use my hdtv as an external monitor for the macbook pro from time to time, will the display quality remain the same if I use a mini display port to hdmi adapter VS hdmi to hdmi?

2) What can I really do with the Mac Mini once my Macbook Pro arrives? It seems like the Mac Mini will be severely underpowered compared to the new laptop.

3) Will there be a performance gain in watching 720p anad 1080p downloaded movies on the new Macbook Pro vs Mac Mini?

4) Will the Macbook Pro be a lot noiser than the Mac Mini?

 

[sk3tch]

I just sold my 2010 2.4 Ghz Mac mini last week on eBay...I was able to get ~$700 for it which is a nice chunk of the high-end 15.4" that I bought.

To answer some of your questions:
- No loss in quality from mini-Displayport > HDMI versus HDMI > HDMI - I used both connections for a dual monitor setup with my 2010 Mac mini. In fact, that's the only downside of the MBP in my mind - no dual monitors (currently, at least - unless a new adapter comes out).
- Movies will play the same on both for the most part. Both are far overpowered for 720p and 1080p content.
- MacBook Pro is a lot noisier, when you're putting it under load - but otherwise it's pretty silent.

As for what you should do with the Mac mini after you get your MBP - that's up to you. If you actually need another workstation or want to use the Mac mini as a media center PC...those are good uses. But is that worth ~$700 to you? You could easily buy a Google TV ($300), Boxee Box ($200), or Apple TV ($100) to take over that task.

 

[oddlyepic]

I recently sold my mac mini on eBay and put the money towards a new 15" macbook pro.

The new mbp should run 1080p files better than the mac mini.

I used it the same way you did, as an HTPC. I picked up an miniDP to hdmi adaptor with audio support.

 

[Rizvi1]

I have my mid-2010 15" 2.4 ghz MacBook Pro i5 as my primary computer. In the past 10-ish years my primary computer has always been my MBP (known earlier as the PowerBook). But for the past 5-ish years I've always kept a Mac Mini at home too. Curently, I'm using the 2.53ghz Mac Mini.

It's nice to have a quick computer that's always running. On weekends when I'm doing something around the home office, I'll always have movies I've downloaded playing on it. I'll be doing my primary tasks on my MBP though.

I'm hoping to get another monitor for it. I'm not sure if it'll be a matching Dell U2410 or a different one. Then I can have simpler tasks running on the Mac Mini too (like my endless supply of documents I have to scan and backup)