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Mac Mini + iPad2 for Uni, Good idea?

Mirai 11

Mirai 11

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 3, 2005
332
0
Now then,
I'm finally going to get rid of the aging iMac ive had, which will be 5 years once i'm at Uni, i've been offered a place at Manchester Met to do Business iT :)
So this has made a great excuse/use for a new Mac setup
So this is the idea:
By the time its Uni, iPad 2 will be out, and will be using that for lectures, notes, library, assignments and the like, and saving it all to Dropbox too
Mac Mini, connected to the tv, which will be in the Dorm, so once i'm done with lectures, i sync iPad, do whatever i need to there on the Mini
Whats the opinion?
 
I can't justify £1500 for a Macbook Pro, even with the education discount, the price is insane, and i know i can get a cheaper model, but for a laptop, i'd only want the intel i series
 
SuperDA said:
I can't justify £1500 for a Macbook Pro, even with the education discount, the price is insane, and i know i can get a cheaper model, but for a laptop, i'd only want the intel i series
Click to expand...

MacBooks start at £849.00 and MBPs start at £999.00 before the education discount. Either should suit your needs quite well.
 
SuperDA said:
...but for a laptop, i'd only want the intel i series
Click to expand...

Well that doesn't really make sense since you're willing to settle for an A4 in the iPad and the C2D in the mini, but whatever floats your boat. Buying two devices at the same time just means you'll need to upgrade them at the same time a couple years down the line. Neither seems to fit your needs very well, either. But that's just my opinion.
 
miles01110 said:
Well that doesn't really make sense since you're willing to settle for an A4 in the iPad and the C2D in the mini, but whatever floats your boat. Buying two devices at the same time just means you'll need to upgrade them at the same time a couple years down the line. Neither seems to fit your needs very well, either. But that's just my opinion.
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lol, i think your right the more i think about it now.
Why not just have one thing instead, one thing that i can carry around, take notes on the pro and do the assignments on the same thing.
Point proven, i was talking bollocks lol.
As my sig says, getting rid of the first Intel iMac won't be easy, and i reckon i'm not gonna get anything for it now, £3.50 i say..
i may as well give it away to family.
But as i said, for a pro, i'd want it to be 15 inch with the i5, but i'd like to have something to dock it into when i get back to the campus, and maybe something to connect it to the tv still.
 
miles01110 said:
Well that doesn't really make sense since you're willing to settle for an A4 in the iPad and the C2D in the mini, but whatever floats your boat. Buying two devices at the same time just means you'll need to upgrade them at the same time a couple years down the line. Neither seems to fit your needs very well, either. But that's just my opinion.
Click to expand...
Why would they have to upgrade in a couple of years time? They seemed to have made their imac last 5 years.
 
No 'they', just me :)
Well i remember when i bought the iMac, about a week later the 24 inch model came out with core 2 duo for the same price, and i was gutted. So this time i do want to make sure i have the latest chip at least, but i'm sure by the time i purchase a Macbook Pro next august the new core-whatever's will be in.
I'd give the iMac to family as a spare i reckon, and in the meantime look round for good docks and cases. Any recommendations?
 
Airforcekid said:
I am against this what if this one laptop fails all your notes etc gone for a week if your lucky get a base Air and Mini or iMac if you can afford it. Sync the devices with dropbox etc and this ensures you always have a working computer.
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If you just have a laptop and you sync via dropbox, and your laptop fails, you can just grab your notes from the dropbox website anyways.
 
What do you want a dock for? Also you could connect the mbp to the tv using a mini dp to hdmi cable, this is what i do.
 
ive got this idea of just having the macbook and placing it in this dock in the dorm, so it connects right away to the power adapter, monitor and speakers, with some extra usb's for anything else
 
Sounds like a great idea to me, I have a mac and and an iPad - it's a great combination. The iPad with its huge battery life is great for taking notes in lectures etc, if you forget to charge it one day it probably wouldn't be a problem!
signature_silverapple.jpg
 
no no, macbook 13 inch seems alright now, i can take it round whenever i can, and just dock it at the dorm. and i can sort my iphone out if anything happens too.
:)
 
Update.
Well after thinking about it, i'm going to stay to the original plan. At the end of the day, i need a mac to just work, and i don't mind if its core 2 duo or i5, long as it works, and at the end of the day, a system from this year or next year, will definitely be faster than the iMac i have now, and for me, thats enough :)
The iPad will be the 2nd gen, saving for it now, and hopefully, it'll be announced in a month's time, so im looking forward to that :)
 
Another vote for just a MBP, I'm in College right now and that works the best for me. What happens when you need to meet in the library with a group and show them your slides, work, etc. It will be so much easier on a laptop than an iPad.
 
I have a mini, iPad and a MBP. I use the MBP the least out of the three, if that helps.
 
pdot said:
I have a mini, iPad and a MBP. I use the MBP the least out of the three, if that helps.
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I have a 2008 mbp connected to my 40 inch tv in my bedroom with the magic mouse and wireless keyboard set up to use from my bed. I have my iPad with me at all times. Watching tv in the living room or just around the house. I was going to go with your same set up but sometimes you may need your computer to go mobile too. How about the white MacBook and an iPad?
 
SuperDA said:
No 'they', just me :)
Well i remember when i bought the iMac, about a week later the 24 inch model came out with core 2 duo for the same price, and i was gutted. So this time i do want to make sure i have the latest chip at least, but i'm sure by the time i purchase a Macbook Pro next august the new core-whatever's will be in.
Click to expand...

By next August Sandy Bridge processors will be here :D
 
I just got an ipad 16 GB wifi 3g & I use it along with my Mac Mini more than ever... my 13"mac book pro annoys me and seems heavier now it's much longer to turn on. My ipad gets me where I need to be quick and fast.
 
rnelan7 said:
Another vote for just a MBP, I'm in College right now and that works the best for me. What happens when you need to meet in the library with a group and show them your slides, work, etc. It will be so much easier on a laptop than an iPad.
Click to expand...

True. Or what if you would like to work on a paper elsewhere like the local coffee shop or the library at 12:00 in the night. neither the ipad nor the mac mini would help. Also Im not sure if it would be easy and efficient to take notes on an ipad compared to a laptop.

Also anyone who has a computer should have some kind of backup so the argument of losing ones data due to a laptop fail is a non issue. Also i currently use dropbox for all my school documents so even if my macbook fails i do not lose my data.
 
Use a pen and paper for notes, and get whatever computer fits your entertainment needs (It will easily fulfill email and powerpoint needs).
 
ok one question, when are you planning to buy it by? i assume the summer right... well the MBP line is going to be updated soon so maybe youll see the SB i processors! wait on it, dont buy as soon as iPad 2 comes out! you never know!!!
 
The mac mini although not an i series processor is still a good machine. I use mine to run as a media server. Works really well when hooked up to a tv with plex and front row.

The ipad 2 will be a far better machine. I still think that the iPad 1 is crippled in terms if what it should be.

More Ram and a camera are just no brainers. A better processor and connectivity with a better screen will be a bonus if the eventuate.

For you I would think about a mac laptop- a better option for uni.
 
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