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What would best suit my needs?

D

Danando1993

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 14, 2010
163
66
Hi, im wanting to upgrade from my macbook to a desktop mac but unsure what to buy. Imac i3, i5, i7? or mac mini?
It would not at the moment be used for intense things, i will mainly use it for photographs, internet surfing, emails, basic assignments and some light graphic design. I would like it to last a good amount of time as ill need it for university projects web design etc. Im not clueless with what i need but need some advice

Also occasional gaming

Thanks :)
 
Mac Mini and i3 iMac will meet all of your needs except, maybe, the gaming part. It depends on which games you want to play and how long you want to be able to decently play currently released games. In that respect, iMac is a better bet. Do you have a display already? Do you care about color accuracy in your photos or graphic designs? If 'no' to both, definitely iMac.
 
Types of games i would play would include Starcraft, football manager 2011 and perhaps WoW and CoD. I have currently got a 20" display but i would probably buy a new 1 if i bought the mac mini. Yeah the colours would matter for my graphic design work but not majorly.
 
I'd get an iMac. Good CPU and GFX for decent gaming and a nice large screen for Graphic Design stuff. I would also go for a 27" if you can manage that. The screen real estate is great for Graphic Design.

Just my 2 cents.
 
Danando1993 said:
Types of games i would play would include Starcraft, football manager 2011 and perhaps WoW and CoD. I have currently got a 20" display but i would probably buy a new 1 if i bought the mac mini. Yeah the colours would matter for my graphic design work but not majorly.
Click to expand...

Ok all of those games will play on the mini, but certainly not as well as on the iMac. Since both systems are closed, I'd say buy the best system you can if you're concerned about gaming in the future. But, if you're more casual, the mini should suffice as you can update sooner than the iMac due to its lower cost.

Now, if color correction matters, keep in mind the iMac has a very reflective display that is difficult to calibrate. It's an IPS panel so you get that advantage, but LEDs have not caught up to CFLs for color (well, RGB LEDs are great, but most are white LED). It all depends on how concerned you are. The iMac has a great display except for the glossy part. If you're not doing much print work, you should be fine though.
 
thanks for the help guys looks like an imac it is, one last thing how smooth would adobe photoshop run on an imac i3?
 
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