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Which way to go?

C

camardelle

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 17, 2011
359
6
Texas
I’m at a point where I need to do some upgrades to my 2011 iMac base 21” model. It’s gotten a little long in the tooth so I’m thinking upgrade or replace.

First, I’m not a power user like a lot of guys here are I’m sure. Websurfing and some video editing of GoPro vids are really the biggest system things I do.

I’m torn between a another base leveliMac, or moving to the mid level Mini.

In addition to having an older iMac, the eyes I’m currently running on the 60 year old retiree body ain’t what they used to be either. The 27” iMac is really appealing, but not in the budget.

I could get the middle Mini with 16 gigs of ram and use excess funds for a larger screen, and then use a tv for a monitor, right? With the hdmi adapter, right?

I’d appreciate advice from the experts here. Always loved the mini and am currently running an ‘09 version as a second computer for my powder coating and business endeavors.

All input is welcomed. Thanks in advance.
 
There are 1.4, 2.6, 2.8 and 3.0ghz Mini's. Curious as to which you consider the "middle"? Regardless, it would probably fit your needs. I agree with getting 16gb since it can never be upgraded so it's best to max it out. I think the base 21" iMac would be faster in terms of CPU, maybe as much as 50% faster than the 2.6 ghz Mini (if that's the one you mean). Not sure how the graphics compare but suspect the iMac would win there since it's three years newer than the mini.

Only you can decide whether an all-in-one design is preferable to separate components. There have been signs that a new Mini is coming but no indication of when. If you like the Mini and can wait (maybe as much as a year?) that might be worthwhile since the 2014 models were a disappointment for many people and they aren't getting any younger. ;)
 
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Honestly the current Mini is really long in the tooth too. It would probably be absolutely fine for your purposes, but paying full 2014 prices for 3-year old hardware would bother me. If your current computer is working fine and you can wait for a while, possibly a long while like many months, I'd wait for the next model which is almost certainly coming.

Some other minor points:

Cheap TVs don't make for good monitors. Cheap TVs have sub-par Chroma (4:2:2 or 4:2:0 instead of 4:4:4) which might display TV shows just fine, but is completely inappropriate for a computer display because it results in very muddled text. A quality TV will be just fine.

Also, if you plan on 4K at any point in the future, know that the current Mac Mini won't do it.
 
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OP wrote:
"The 27” iMac is really appealing, but not in the budget."

Take a look at this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202117459305?siteId=0&AdChoicePreference=true&rmvSB=true

Late-2015 i7 model, over $900 off the original price, and it comes with the Apple factory warranty.

DISCLAIMER:
I have no financial interest in the above -- just saw it yesterday and archived it.
(oops, too late -- you bought already -- perhaps someone else might be interested)
 
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