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Not sure what to buy

C

chris57

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 25, 2007
55
0
I've been contemplating buying a new mac for a few months now. I currently have the 1.25 GHz eMac shown here. I'm extremely happy with the performance and everything else about it. I mostly go online, listen to iTunes, and type papers. The only gaming I do is the Sims 2, and it runs great. The only thing I really need to upgrade is a bigger hard drive, but with the cost of a hard drive and buying the OS cd, its just way more worth it to me to buy a new computer.

So I'm sure that I don't want to put any money into this computer. I'm just not sure what I want to buy. Money is a little bit of an issue because I'm only in High School and currently don't have a job. It would be very possible for me to get around $400 for my birthday. I also have money saved. At first I really thought that I wanted a MacBook (refurb), but when I look at the price, I know I'd hate myself for spending so much on something i really don't need. So I looked at a mini. I already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I'd probably get the base model refurb. My only concern is how it runs. Will I be sacrificing anything over my eMac? It has to be able to run the Sims 2 as well as the eMac. So can anyone offer any insight to my issues? Thanks.
 
chris57 said:
I've been contemplating buying a new mac for a few months now. I currently have the 1.25 GHz eMac shown here. I'm extremely happy with the performance and everything else about it. I mostly go online, listen to iTunes, and type papers. The only gaming I do is the Sims 2, and it runs great. The only thing I really need to upgrade is a bigger hard drive, but with the cost of a hard drive and buying the OS cd, its just way more worth it to me to buy a new computer.

So I'm sure that I don't want to put any money into this computer. I'm just not sure what I want to buy. Money is a little bit of an issue because I'm only in High School and currently don't have a job. It would be very possible for me to get around $400 for my birthday. I also have money saved. At first I really thought that I wanted a MacBook (refurb), but when I look at the price, I know I'd hate myself for spending so much on something i really don't need. So I looked at a mini. I already have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I'd probably get the base model refurb. My only concern is how it runs. Will I be sacrificing anything over my eMac? It has to be able to run the Sims 2 as well as the eMac. So can anyone offer any insight to my issues? Thanks.
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The Mac Mini should run better then your eMac, As for Sims 2, it's not real intrusive, but you wouldn't want to have iMovie running in the background. Another option might be to wait, if you are planning on going to college you are probably going to want a notebook.
 
Actually, I forgot to add that I know i need a laptop for college. My mom said that for my graduation she'd at least help me get me a MacBook, so that's already set. Another thing is that I don't want to buy the mini and then have it updated. Are there any rumors of impeding updates? I know it hasn't been updated in a while.
 
chris57 said:
Actually, I forgot to add that I know i need a laptop for college. My mom said that for my graduation she'd at least help me get me a MacBook, so that's already set. Another thing is that I don't want to buy the mini and then have it updated. Are there any rumors of impeding updates? I know it hasn't been updated in a while.
Click to expand...

A Macbook sounds like would set you straight. You don't do too much intensive stuff. But if you do iMovie I think the macbook will be okay. Just load up the ram and it should last you a long while.
 
chris57 said:
Actually, I forgot to add that I know i need a laptop for college. My mom said that for my graduation she'd at least help me get me a MacBook, so that's already set. Another thing is that I don't want to buy the mini and then have it updated. Are there any rumors of impeding updates? I know it hasn't been updated in a while.
Click to expand...

Don't buy a mini now. It's due for an update. In order to run Sims 2 on the current MB or mini, you may have to lower the settings to have smoother graphics, but it should play. Others have installed bootcamp/xp, and have gotten good results with Sims 2. I agree that you should wait and get a MB for college. Rumor has it they will be getting a redesign this summer, so I'd wait as long as possible before purchasing.
 
chris57 said:
Actually, I forgot to add that I know i need a laptop for college. My mom said that for my graduation she'd at least help me get me a MacBook, so that's already set. Another thing is that I don't want to buy the mini and then have it updated. Are there any rumors of impeding updates? I know it hasn't been updated in a while.
Click to expand...

I would wait because of the possible update to the macbook and the more likely update to the mini
 
Thanks everyone. I'm definitely going to wait it out and see what gets updated. I'll let everyone know how it goes!
 
thegoldenmackid said:
you really do not want any more machines that you have to have.
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What he said:

If you know you're getting help with a macbook when you graduate and if you can live with your current comp until then, just use the money you would've used for the mini with the macbook money and get a refurb macbook pro.

Instead of two budget systems you get a semi-powerfull one (all depending on if you can wait).
 
What everyone says makes sense. The only thing that I really need the extra HD space for is music. I only have 1 gig left, and my music library is growing a lot since I got an iPod classic. I know I could manually update the iPod, but I don't like the idea of having my all my music on a portable music player that I cold drop and ruin at an time. So thats the main issue right now. Thanks for all the help!
 
Last edited:
Is getting and external HD out of the question. if you are happy with the emac then just get an external to boost the HD and wait the two years for the Macbook (pro if you can).
 
I use a Macbook as my only computer and I've never complained about the speed. And it's 2 years old at this point :)
 
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