Mac Mini w/ Cinema Display or iMac G5?

[LucasLand]

I was seriously thinking of upgrading fom my 1.25ghz eMac to the iMac G5 1.8ghz. But the recent MacMini announcement has got me thinking. maybe I should buy the 1.42ghz mini along with a 20 inch display. It would be around the same in cost. But which one.? I know the iMac has a G5, but a mini w/ display would allow me to upgrade later on with future mini upgrades at a lower cost. What do you think?

 

[dejo]

...but a mini w/ display would allow me to upgrade later on with future mini upgrades at a lower cost

What kind of future mini upgrades are you thinking about? It doesn't have a whole lot of upgrade potential. (Then again, neither does the iMac G5 you're considering).

 

[yoman]

What kind of future mini upgrades are you thinking about? It doesn't have a whole lot of upgrade potential. (Then again, neither does the iMac G5 you're considering).

I think he is thinking of throwing out the mini and buying a new version when it comes out. Like a mini 1.6Ghz G4 or mini G5

 

[MacCoaster]

Get the Mac mini and the 20"

That's definitely a better decision if you want to upgrade later to a newer computer. Especially if it's going to be a Power Mac.

 

[fistful]

In the short term it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to spend twice as much on your monitor than your computer. on the other hand in the long run for upgradability purposes it makes sense. The specs of the mini Mac is pretty much on par with the speed of my powerbook at this time and I can see me using it for another year or so, by that time if the current mini is successful it'll probably have a g5 by then. If I hadn't already bought my pb I probably would have done something similar to what you are considering now.

 

[LucasLand]

Eventually upgrading to the power mac would be interesting. I just hate how big the power mac is. I always hated big towers on the desk. Any chance that power mac will shrink?

 

[Sun Baked]

Eventually upgrading to the power mac would be interesting. I just hate how big the power mac is. I always hated big towers on the desk. Any chance that power mac will shrink?

No...

It will soon grow big enough to collapse your desk.

Introducing the Mac Hernia...

 

[Nermal]

I just hate how big the power mac is.

I hate how big it is too. It needs to be bigger.

Seriously though, I like its size - bigger computers look faster. Plus my cat likes the size too - he often sleeps on top of it! (MDD G4)

 

[3Memos]

my cat likes the size too - he often sleeps on top of it! (MDD G4)

Cool! You should post a pic.

 

[SuperChuck]

I say go for the G5. For starters, it's a better computer, and it will be the computer that you will be using until you upgrade. Why skimp on your current computer for the purposes of getting a different computer down the road?

Also:

1) iMacs have always had a rock-solid resale value, and the price of displays will have gone down in a few years.

2) Tiger will include optimized features that make use of 64-bit technology, but only on a G5.

3) It is jaw-droppingly beautiful.

 

[dswoodley]

I was seriously thinking of upgrading fom my 1.25ghz eMac to the iMac G5 1.8ghz. But the recent MacMini announcement has got me thinking. maybe I should buy the 1.42ghz mini along with a 20 inch display. It would be around the same in cost. But which one.? I know the iMac has a G5, but a mini w/ display would allow me to upgrade later on with future mini upgrades at a lower cost. What do you think?

I'd go the route of the mini. I bet within a year to 18 months it is a full blown media center and then you'd still have an awesome display for a new mini.

 

[Tuned MP5T]

Are there rumors that Apple will release a 17" Cinema Display? Wouldn't that be price effective for the market the Mac Mini is aiming at?

 

[sjpetry]

Get the iMac G5.

 

[diamond geezer]

Go the G5 imac.

Reasons:

2 x RAM slots

3.5 " SATA hard drive rather than 2.5" "laptop" drive

G5 with 64MB video rather than G4 with 32MB video.

More ports

 

[arrowhead]

Are there rumors that Apple will release a 17" Cinema Display? Wouldn't that be price effective for the market the Mac Mini is aiming at?

I hope that the rumor to be true. 17-inch or even 15-inch Cinema display, targeting the mac mini buyers will be great.

 

[panphage]

The 20" Cinema is a better display. The iMac G5 is a FAR better computer. I'd probably go with the better monitor...but then I have a cube that I can now upgrade to dual 1.7 G4s.

It's about a tossup to me. The standalone display would be better for design work (while not being as good as a big quality crt) but the G5 would handle big files better. For general use I'd almost definitely recommend the G5. That's a sweet computer for the dough.

 

[mrgreen4242]

In the short term it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to spend twice as much on your monitor than your computer. on the other hand in the long run for upgradability purposes it makes sense. The specs of the mini Mac is pretty much on par with the speed of my powerbook at this time and I can see me using it for another year or so, by that time if the current mini is successful it'll probably have a g5 by then. If I hadn't already bought my pb I probably would have done something similar to what you are considering now.

It doesn't make sense in the long term either. If you decide to upgrade in 18 months or 2 years to a PM, a 20" ACD will probably be sub-$500. New technologies like OLEDs will push the cost of high quality displays down fast.

So, you can spend $1500 on either a fast machine with a nice screen, or a much slower machien with a very nice display, then in 2 years resell either the whole thing (in the iMac case) and spend another $1000 or whatever on a PM and 20" display, OR resell the computer only and spend $1500 for a PM, and have a 2 year old display.

You won't save any money getting a mini+ACD over an iMac, but you will be left with an outdated display, when higher resolution, brighter, and overall nicer ones will be available.

Just my $.02,
Rob

 

[narco]

I'd get the mini as well. Later on down the road if you want to upgrade to a Powermac, you can still use the mini for a number of other things.

Fishes,
narco.

 

[maya]

Go the G5 imac.

Reasons 1:

2 x RAM slots

Too expensive to max it out at present.

Reasons 2:

3.5 " SATA hard drive rather than 2.5" "laptop" drive

Can use an external HDD and have flexibility.

Reasons 3:

G5 with 64MB video rather than G4 with 32MB video.

Current iMac G5 GPU sucks.

Reasons 4:

More ports

The iMac G5 has no Audio IN, FW800, etc.. Not much of a difference from the ports that the Mac mini has.


Buy the Mac mini, is flexible and both Mac mini and iMac G5 have limited upgrade potential.

Buying the ACD separately will also mean down the road when there is a Mac mini G5 you could connect the Mac mini G4 to it without worrying about space. Thus have 2 computers connected to each other.

 

[maya]

It doesn't make sense in the long term either. If you decide to upgrade in 18 months or 2 years to a PM, a 20" ACD will probably be sub-$500. New technologies like OLEDs will push the cost of high quality displays down fast.

OLED manufacturers are having trouble producing a 20" display and you are telling me that the price of a 20" LCD will fall. ROTF.

These OLED Big Displays will cost and arm and a leg when its released, it will be a good 3-5 years before it pushes 20" LCD technology down fast. The only other thing that can drop the 20" LCD price is if the bigger LCD drop in price and even bigger LCD displays are released.

OLED is also not that great at present since the life cycle for it is not stable.

 

[Nermal]

Are there rumors that Apple will release a 17" Cinema Display? Wouldn't that be price effective for the market the Mac Mini is aiming at?

I hope they do, I'm in the market for a 17" LCD. I can understand that they shouldn't release one right now though, because a lot of new users would think that they *must* use the Apple display. By spacing them apart, this assumption is avoided.

 

[mpw]

When I first saw the mini I thought 'bugger' as I'd just upgraded to an iMac but having thought about a bit I think once I add the BTO items to the mini that I'd want the price difference doesn't make sense for me so I'm glad I went down the iMac route.

If money were not an issue I'd really want a 23/30" ACD with the power of a Dual PM 2.5Ghz but think the perfect system would be when Apple put a slot loading optical drive in the back of the 30" display so I can vesa mount it chase in the cables to a hidden G5 tower and use a wireless KB&M for a clear desk.

 

[solvs]

I'd get the iMac. It's a better machine. You could always sell it later to update. If you don't mind the speed hit, the Mini isn't bad, but it depends on what you really want to do with it.

 

[3Memos]

I'd get the iMac. It's a better machine. You could always sell it later to update. If you don't mind the speed hit, the Mini isn't bad, but it depends on what you really want to do with it.

I would go with the iMac as well. Apart from the faster G5, it's integrated thus there isnt a whole lot of wires to contend with. Moving the iMac is fairly simple as well, since the power supply is built in, and the monitor is similiar to Apple LCDs. Better speakers, but most importantly, it has 3.5" HDs which means later you can upgrade to 400GB if you wish. You'll fill up the 40GB or 80GB HDs in no time.

 

[maya]

Someone start a POLL for this guy.


iMac G5 or Mac Mini with 20" ACD. next he will ask if he should get the 20" or 17" iMac G5 or is 1.6GHz or 1.8GHz a better option. Or Mac mini 1.25Ghz or 1.42Ghz.


Pulling your leg, however someone get this guy started with a POLL.