Which Mac should I get?

[ranny2]

Hi there,

I am looking to buy my first Mac to complement my iPad 2. Uses aren't very intensive: word processing, iLife, Internet browsing etc.

My options are:

Mac Mini:
2.3GHz i5, 8GB of RAM, 500GB HDD
Price: £670

MacBook Pro:
2.3GHz i5, 4GB of RAM, 320GB HDD
Price: £800

iMac:
2.5GHz i5, 4GB of RAM, 500GB HDD
Price: £850

Please bear in my that my funds are limited, the cheaper the better! Thanks!

 

[S.B.G]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Well do you need portability or not? That will determine a lot. If you don't, and already have a monitor, go for the Mini and all you need is a mouse and keyboard. Otherwise go for a base model iMac or if a laptop, get a regular MacBook, not Pro.

 

[treestar]

I would normally suggest the MBP because it's portable, but you already have the iPad 2. If you think you want a big landing zone at home, definitely the iMac. I don't think the Mac Mini offers the Apple experience. Notebooks are so in right now.

----------

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Well do you need portability or not? That will determine a lot. If you don't, and already have a monitor, go for the Mini and all you need is a mouse and keyboard. Otherwise go for a base model iMac or if a laptop, get a regular MacBook, not Pro.

Apple killed the MacBook when the MBA came out.

 

[ranny2]

I don't really need portability, so I guess it's down to the Mini or the iMac.
I don't have a monitor, but the price stated includes a £130 monitor, which I can choose at a later date. I would be able to afford the Mini much sooner, but I guess the iMac is more powerful. Do I really need the power though for my uses?

Thanks.

 

[S.B.G]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

I would normally suggest the MBP because it's portable, but you already have the iPad 2. If you think you want a big landing zone at home, definitely the iMac. I don't think the Mac Mini offers the Apple experience. Notebooks are so in right now.

----------

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

Well do you need portability or not? That will determine a lot. If you don't, and already have a monitor, go for the Mini and all you need is a mouse and keyboard. Otherwise go for a base model iMac or if a laptop, get a regular MacBook, not Pro.

Apple killed the MacBook when the MBA came out.

Wow! I totally missed that one. I never really paid a lot of attention to the regular MacBook so I never noticed they stopped selling it.

 

[S.B.G]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone 3GS: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_5 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8L1 Safari/6533.18.5)

I don't really need portability, so I guess it's down to the Mini or the iMac.
I don't have a monitor, but the price stated includes a £130 monitor, which I can choose at a later date. I would be able to afford the Mini much sooner, but I guess the iMac is more powerful. Do I really need the power though for my uses?

Thanks.

For what you say you want to use it for, the Mini will suit you just fine.

 

[treestar]

I don't really need portability, so I guess it's down to the Mini or the iMac.
I don't have a monitor, but the price stated includes a £130 monitor, which I can choose at a later date. I would be able to afford the Mini much sooner, but I guess the iMac is more powerful. Do I really need the power though for my uses?

Thanks.

The iMac will come with a lot more. Apple displays are gorgeous, you'll get the Bluetooth keyboard and get to pick between the mouse and trackpad. Please try to save for the iMac. It is also a lot less clutter in your home!