Which one of these options would you choose!?

[pemberton]

Hey guys,

I'm an interactive designer and have a pretty sweet deal lined up. My client is going to be purchasing me one of the three computer setups. I need your help in determining which would be best. I work primarily in motion graphics (after effects, c4d, etc.) graphic design (photoshop, illustrator, etc.) and other technical aspects.

Here's the choices:

OPTION 1
Souped-up Mac Mini
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
120GB Solid State HD
8x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics

or

OPTION 2
Stock Quad-Core Mac Pro
One 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processor
3GB (three 1GB) memory
640GB hard drive
18x double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB

or

OPTION 3
iMac 27-inch
2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive
8x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with 512MB

Any feedback would be great. Thanks dudes.

 

[macusersince5]

personally, I would stay away from the mini. Not a pro computer and not as good with AE than the imac or mac pro. The quad core mac pro really isn't worth the price compared the imac and you get the screen with it. thats just my personal opinion.

 

[Dr.Pants]

Is there a monitor you can supplement with the Pro? If not, head for the iMac.

 

[brentsg]

If there is no huge need for additional upgrades and storage later I'd go with the iMac.

 

[pemberton]

Thanks for the replies. Is there any reason to NOT get the Mac Mini? I'll have a monitor to supplement with all of these machines. I'd like room to upgrade if I need to add additional HDD and RAM in the years to come. What are your thoughts about the old version of the Mac Pro and that it hasn't been updated in a while? They must be coming out with a new one soon I would think... but even so, does it matter?

 

[brentsg]

Thanks for the replies. Is there any reason to NOT get the Mac Mini? I'll have a monitor to supplement with all of these machines. I'd like room to upgrade if I need to add additional HDD and RAM in the years to come. What are your thoughts about the old version of the Mac Pro and that it hasn't been updated in a while? They must be coming out with a new one soon I would think... but even so, does it matter?

Either of the other 2 options will run circles around the Mini for .. just about anything. That Mini is great for a lot of things but the architecture is in the stone ages compared to an i7 variant.

 

[alust2013]

The mini will be much slower compared to either of the other two options. Personally I would say go iMac. The 3GB ram that the Pro would come with would be a pretty decent hindrance, I don't even know why they sell it with so little. The iMac also has a faster processor and a built in screen so you would be ready to go out of box. Overall, it just makes the most sense.

 

[Durious]

If you plan to put in additional $ into the machine afterwards I'd go with the Mac Pro (i.e. for GPU \ Ram \ Additional HDD's). However I think the iMac you listed is likely the best choice.

Also I'd remove the mac mini as it's not really an option as it does not meet any of the needs you posted at an adequate level especially in comparison to the other two devices.

Good luck!!

 

[iMacThere4Iam]

Option 3. The 1 TB Drive and i7 will keep you current for awhile.

 

[wisty]

Unless price if a big factor, the i7 iMac looks a lot better than the Mini. And if price is such a factor, why are you even considering a Mac Pro?? The Mini has half the cores, and it's maybe 30% slower on single threads (though it's hard to compare across architectures). The iMac and MacPro will be much faster on photo/video processing, especially as software gets better at using 4 cores.

The MacPro will be slower than the iMac, but you can upgrade the HDD and Memory a lot more. It will also be more expensive, unless you are doing something crazy like ordering Apple RAM upgrades. Third party RAM is cheaper.

The MacPro will last you longer, but if it's expensive (and the world economy aint great today) it might be better to get a quick-fix iMac for now.

 

[donw35]

Mac Pro, in regards to the line up.

oh, and Hi everyone.