mac mini or imac?

[brianbkny]

i have a 15" macbook pro that will be 2 years old in december.

i finally moved into an apartment with an office and my own desk. im thinking about buying a desktop to use in conjunction with my macbook pro that i use on a semi-daily basis at work.

i do light editing and designing with photoshop, illustrator and some work in dreamweaver also some dvd burning, movie conversion (for my iphone as well as for dvds).

i just need something that i could store all my music and movies on and plug in a drive to that to do a weekly backup as well as all the stuff i listed above, instead of using my mbp while at home. between using my mbp and something else, i figure a mini would do fine. problem is, after i buy the mini, a monitor (probably a dell widescreen), keyboard and mouse, its almost the same price as an imac.

should i just go for the imac over the mini? especially now that the mini might be phased out?

 

[aaronw1986]

i have a 15" macbook pro that will be 2 years old in december.

i finally moved into an apartment with an office and my own desk. im thinking about buying a desktop to use in conjunction with my macbook pro that i use on a semi-daily basis at work.

i do light editing and designing with photoshop, illustrator and some work in dreamweaver also some dvd burning, movie conversion (for my iphone as well as for dvds).

i just need something that i could store all my music and movies on and plug in a drive to that to do a weekly backup as well as all the stuff i listed above, instead of using my mbp while at home. between using my mbp and something else, i figure a mini would do fine. problem is, after i buy the mini, a monitor (probably a dell widescreen), keyboard and mouse, its almost the same price as an imac.

should i just go for the imac over the mini? especially now that the mini might be phased out?

My vote would be for the imac.

 

[KelchM]

i have a 15" macbook pro that will be 2 years old in december.

i finally moved into an apartment with an office and my own desk. im thinking about buying a desktop to use in conjunction with my macbook pro that i use on a semi-daily basis at work.

i do light editing and designing with photoshop, illustrator and some work in dreamweaver also some dvd burning, movie conversion (for my iphone as well as for dvds).

i just need something that i could store all my music and movies on and plug in a drive to that to do a weekly backup as well as all the stuff i listed above, instead of using my mbp while at home. between using my mbp and something else, i figure a mini would do fine. problem is, after i buy the mini, a monitor (probably a dell widescreen), keyboard and mouse, its almost the same price as an imac.

should i just go for the imac over the mini? especially now that the mini might be phased out?

Personally, I really don't like all in one desktops. If the thought iof throwing out your monitor with the rest of your computer in 2 years doesn't bother you, maybe the iMac is the way to go.

 

[soberbrain]

i do light editing and designing with photoshop, illustrator and some work in dreamweaver also some dvd burning, movie conversion (for my iphone as well as for dvds).

For these tasks, the iMac will perform better since it has a graphics processor.

 

[remmy]

Personally I would still use the MBP but with external display, storage etc. It would have a bit more zip than the mini wouldnt it?

 

[seattle]

The iMac would be my vote since the Mini is really much older hardware.

 

[brianbkny]

Personally I would still use the MBP but with external display, storage etc. It would have a bit more zip than the mini wouldnt it?

it gets too hot with the external display, ive tried it. i have an external, but i dont like carrying it around or plugging it in whenever im home so i get the automatic backup. i also want to run some programs while im not at home and if im traveling with my mbp, i can't have them running.

im thinking i might do a refurb imac

 

[nidserz]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/107)

Another vote for the iMac. I was in a similar situation and considered the mac mini, but it is getting outdated and when you factor in a monitor cost, keyboard, and mouse you have a competitive cost of an iMac (especially if you consider a refurb like yourself). The iMac has dedicated graphics and faster processor.

 

[tekcontrol]

depends on you budget

Macmini is a price concept machine, it's a good computer if you plan to spend no more than 200$ between keyboard, mouse and monitor, it's even a good idea to use a 17" monitor (used) and a cheap keyboard and mouse.

In the other side iMac, the smallest one, has a nice 20" screen, 2.4 ghz (vs 1.83 on macmini), 250 gb hard drive (vs 80 gb on macmini), superdrive (vs combodrive) and webcam (not present on a macmini).

So if you could live with a cheap macmini, it;s a good option just for a backup machine, but if you plan to do a little bit more and could pay for that macmini is a lossless option.

 

[brianbkny]

now the question is if i should buy a

- apple refurb 2.4ghz for $1099
- new one with edu discount + wireless KB/MM for $1199
- used 2.0ghz 20" for $950

are apple refurbs good?

 

[aaronw1986]

now the question is if i should buy a

- apple refurb 2.4ghz for $1099
- new one with edu discount + wireless KB/MM for $1199
- used 2.0ghz 20" for $950

are apple refurbs good?

Refrubs are generally fine, but for $100 i'd get a new machine.

 

[ravenvii]

iMac for the win. They haven't updated the Mac mini in a long time, so it's not a good value for the money right now.

Refurbs are good, no problem. Comes with the same warranty, looks new, etc. But for just $100 difference, I'd think about it a bit first. To be honest, if I'm you I'd get a new machine.

 

[DarkRevenant]

iMac over Mac Mini.

New iMac with edu discount over refurb iMac, especially since you can get a printer and iPod to boot with the purchase of a new machine.

 

[NEiMac]

The Mac Mini's are awesome little computers, but I have to agree with most others here. Go for the iMac, the one with the ATI 2600 if you can aford it. On another topic nothing to do with this really, would love to see apple update the mini, might even get one myself.