Last minute dilemma! HELP!!

[rusty2192]

We are heading to the Apple Store tomorrow morning to take a look at all of the new hardware and possibly buy something. I am thinking about getting either a Mac Mini or an iMac. The problem is, I can't decide which, and i don't have a lot of time before then. The Apple store is about 70 miles (an hour drive) from here, so i would really like to get it in this trip.

The main purpose for the time being would be ripping/encoding DVDs and possible BluRays in the future. I want something that would last a while and be able to handle some light picture and video editing in the future (which all macs can handle, so that isn't too big of a deal).

I can't decide if i want the base Mac Mini (the high end one doesn't seem like a value to me), the iMac (most likely the base 21.5", but not necessarily), or tonight I have been second guessing my decision to buy such a great piece of machinery because of the investment involved. I love my MacBook, so I know I would love any mac, but for as little as the computer would be used in the near future, I have found some PC desktop systems for less than $500 that I think would more than handle what I need, and then I could possibly get an iMac in the future after quad cores are standard.

What do you guys think? A mac, or go cheap for now and get a PC (I can't believe I am even considering going back to that mess, but with Windows 7, its actually an option again).

 

[airbusking]

Why the rush? Have you considered the Mac refurbs either the iMAc or mini? Think that's better than an PC option.

Probably would not buy the new iMac until they fix whatever the problem is with them.

 

[bumzo1]

I would personally get the iMac. It has all of the power you will need and more and its hella sexy. The screen is amazing and for pictures the addition of the SD card slot will be helpful. Good luck!

 

[rusty2192]

The iMacs are awfully sexy. I stopped by best buy this evening since I was in the area, and they had the new ones out.

As far as the refurbs go, I don't really want anything that is in the store now since they are all outdated. I haven't completely made up my mind that I will get anything tomorrow. We are mainly going just to play around. This will my fiance's first time ever in an Apple store, so we are making a day of it.

As to the problems with the iMacs, I'm not really too worried about that. From everything I've read, there are lots of great iMacs out there and only some are having troubles. If I did have trouble, I would get it corrected under AppleCare. I got my MacBook when it first came out and have had zero trouble whatsoever.

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

The iMacs performance issues are isolated. Engadget's test units weren't affected and none of the iMacs in my local Apple Store had problems.

I recommend an iMac, just like bumzo1 because it offers a better system than a Mac Mini. It's an AIO solution.

 

[Winni]

The main purpose for the time being would be ripping/encoding DVDs and possible BluRays in the future. I want something that would last a while...

What do you guys think? A mac, or go cheap for now and get a PC (I can't believe I am even considering going back to that mess, but with Windows 7, its actually an option again).

PCs aren't "a mess" - their users make them a mess, because most of the time they don't know what they're doing. The reason why Macs don't appear to be that much of a mess - at a first glimpse - is that they are much, much more RESTRICTED than PCs.

Anyway. You mentioned BluRays. Do you believe that Apple will EVER sell a Mac with a BluRay drive? I don't think so, and the reason for that is very simple: The iTunes store. When you're betting your company on music and video DOWNLOADS, then you certainly don't want to champion the last physical medium. And, yes, I think BluRay will be the last physical medium; it was already obsolete when it was launched, and it won't have any successors.

But since you're interested in BluRay, a Mac simply is not an option, because they don't have such drives.

Long story short: For the price of the iMac, you could get a hell of a Quad Core PC that will last much longer than the iMac or the Mac Mini.

Oh, and one word about Windows 7: It's Vista SP3, with an overhauled user interface. (Anybody remember Windows 2000 and XP...?) Yes, it is a bit faster than Vista was, but just as with Vista, you better make sure that you install the 64-Bit version on your machine.

 

[Winni]

It's an AIO solution.

Which is exactly the killer argument AGAINST the iMac. You will run out of disk space quickly, which leads to tons of external hard drives on your desk - and that's not a pretty sight. Then, when you want to have some faster graphics card or CPU or just a larger screen, you will dump the whole system and buy a new one. I know, this is what Apple calls "upgrading". But that's Apple's way of abusing words. After all, they even call that one-way overwrite procedure in iTunes "synchronization".

AIO systems have very limited uses for a very narrow time frame, which makes them the most expensive choice.

 

[rekhyt]

I would personally get the iMac. It has all of the power you will need and more and its hella sexy. The screen is amazing and for pictures the addition of the SD card slot will be helpful. Good luck!

I would too. It's just an amazing piece of computer and it would be the desktop I would want to get.

 

[rusty2192]

Anyway. You mentioned BluRays. Do you believe that Apple will EVER sell a Mac with a BluRay drive? I don't think so, and the reason for that is very simple: The iTunes store. When you're betting your company on music and video DOWNLOADS, then you certainly don't want to champion the last physical medium. And, yes, I think BluRay will be the last physical medium; it was already obsolete when it was launched, and it won't have any successors.

But since you're interested in BluRay, a Mac simply is not an option, because they don't have such drives.

Actually, no I don't think Apple will ever add BluRay. They are too stubborn for that. The solution I had in mind used my PS3. After doing a little (and I do mean a little) research, I believe there is a way to rip the BluRay ISO from a Linux install on the PS3. I could be wrong about that though.

 

[v66jack]

I can only really see this one way, if you buy a $500 PC now, then when you come to buy a mac it's already cost you $500 plus whatever Apple want to charge you for a imac or mac mini! Plus apple have said that there wont be any more updates to hardware this year (there's a thread on here somewhere about that) so you know your machine wont go out of date too quickly!

I don't know much about the whole Blu-ray ripping thing, but for every barrier that apple put up to stop us doing something there is usually someone somewhere who has worked a way around it! I've found a bit of googleing usually gives an answer to everything!

 

[MacKiddyWiddy]

Imac for sure

better spec, and once you have compensated for a screen, keyboard and mouse, they are similarly priced

 

[rusty2192]

Just finished setting up my new iMac!!

Well, just got finished setting up my new iMac!! This thing is amazing. I was about to just not get anything today, but my fiance actually wanted to get an iMac. When I suggested a Mac Mini, she said that she wanted to go all out and get an iMac because of the awesome display.

I ended up getting the higher end 21.5". Hopefully the graphics card (or whatever the problem is) doesn't give me any trouble like it has some. The ones at the Apple store worked great, so it can't be all of the iMacs.

 

[brendu]

great choice, i just got on and was reading through, was gonna recommend you get the iMac, so im real glad to hear you did... you will not be sorry, can you post the specs on your machine, im just curious if you got the 1TB HDD model because i doubt youll ever fill that up... enjoy it!

EDIT: so i just read your sig and realized my question was stupid... anyways enjoy it.