Mini, iMac, or MB Pro?

[TWO2SEVEN]

I will be making the permanent move from PC to Mac in the next few months.
I know the desktops are (allegedly) due for an update soon, so I will keep that in mind as well.

I will be using the computer for school (word processing, PowerPoint), web browsing, and iTunes.

I already have a Magic Mouse, keyboard, and monitor. However, if I go with the Mini I will want to get a better monitor.

My question is mostly about the processors. I would be getting the base model of each except for the mini. Any advice on which would be best would be great.

Thanks!

 

[warehouse40]

What do you have now PC wise? Depending on your portable needs, I would go with Mac Mini and MacBook Air.

If that breaks your budget I would say go for a MacBook pro and you can hook it up to your monitor and use it like a desktop, if that's how you do most of your computing, but you'll still have portability if you need it.

 

[TWO2SEVEN]

What do you have now PC wise? Depending on your portable needs, I would go with Mac Mini and MacBook Air.

If that breaks your budget I would say go for a MacBook pro and you can hook it up to your monitor and use it like a desktop, if that's how you do most of your computing, but you'll still have portability if you need it.

Right now I have an HP laptop that never leaves my desk. My iPad takes care of any portability needs.

Thanks for the reply!

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I do enjoy having dual screens, but I guess that is possible with either option.

 

[Yebubbleman]

I will be making the permanent move from PC to Mac in the next few months.
I know the desktops are (allegedly) due for an update soon, so I will keep that in mind as well.

I will be using the computer for school (word processing, PowerPoint), web browsing, and iTunes.

I already have a Magic Mouse, keyboard, and monitor. However, if I go with the Mini I will want to get a better monitor.

My question is mostly about the processors. I would be getting the base model of each except for the mini. Any advice on which would be best would be great.

Thanks!

Higher-end Mac mini (if you can spring for the 256GB SSD and the 750GB HDD, I say go for it, because it's not the easiest procedure to do to add those in later; same with the i7 over the i5), buy the 8GB RAM upgrade aftermarket from a place like Crucial.

I recommend this over the Mac Pro because (a) the Mac Pro is overdue for an upgrade and (b) it sounds like it's overkill for your needs. I recommend this over the iMac because, while the iMac is a faster machine, it's a worse designed machine, packing way too many heat generating components in a thinner-than-needed enclosure resulting in the single most failure prone computer in all of Apple's line-up. It's also form outweighing function, which a good computer does not make.

 

[evil_santa]

my main machine is a mac mini server (with the server turned off) it got the i7 2ghz 4 core chip , but the downside is the graphics card. I run the 2 drives at Raid 0 to make one faster drive, and run 2 monitors off it.

I use it for logic , reason ,cubase , FCP7 & photoshop with no complaints.

if you need better graphics get the 2,7ghz i7, AMD Radeon HD 6630M