Mac mini + iPad or MBP?

[Polekat]

My pc died a month ago, gonna jump to Mac when income taxes come in. I had initially been thinking of going laptop only, but now I'm not sure. Was leaning toward the 15" MBP, but started wondering if I should go with a Mac mini and iPad combo.

I (think) I would be able to use my current monitor and keyboard from my now dead pc for use with the mini.

My uses would be:

• general internet
• some photoshop for my amature photography (DSLR)
• possible app development
• some video editing

My calculations:
Mac mini $700
iPad 32GB WIFI $600
Total = $1300

or

15" MBP $1800 (would hold off till after anticipated upcoming refresh)

Just looking for some opinions.
What say you?

 

[Photics]

I think the Mac Mini / iPad combo would be better for App Development, because the iPad could be used for testing.

 

[jmpnop]

Mac Mini and MBP are pretty much same, not worth getting. As said, Mac mini + iPad would be better since you can test your apps on it. And IMO iPad is much better for general tasks such as email, browsing, etc.

 

[blesscheese]

Here's my opinion

I got my MacBook Air because I wanted the most powerful & portable device.

Then, 6 months later the iPad came out. For what I do, I too have thought about the Mac Mini & iPad combo.

It depends upon what you do at home and what you want to do on the road. On the road, I basically just wind up surfing and checking email, with light word processing, so the iPad would be perfect for me. At home, where I don't need the portability, the mini again would be perfect, and slightly more powerful than the Air.

Since I wind up in hotel rooms in the evening, and the Marriots I stay at have TV's with video hook-ups, I have even thought about just packing a mini in my suitcase, and using that on the road.

 

[Polekat]

Thanks for the thoughts. It is starting to look like maybe a mini and an iPad might be the way to go. I find my self sitting on the couch and web surfing on my iPhone more than my Dell mini 9" nowadays so an iPad would be even better. Now I guess I'll have to wait and see what the iPad 2 will have as well as the MBP update.

 

[Bozola]

After almost a year of iPad ownership, I can state the following.

My habits have come down to anywhere computing and dedicated computing.

Ipad is perfect for the former, big screen/iMac and a desk for the latter. Laptops don't fit my bill YMMV.