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Will a MacMini work for me?

S

Sal Collaziano

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 7, 2007
331
24
Royal Palm Beach, FL
In November, I replaced my HP notebook with a MacBook Pro - switching from Windows to OS X. I'm so happy with the switch that I'd like to replace my Dell desktop now..

I'll need Parallels running in Coherence mode to operate Novell Groupwise, Flashpaper2 and maybe a few other minor things.

I'll mainly be using Dreamweaver and Photoshop (VERY light Photoshop work - just image editing).. But anyway - even that with Parallels running - is it too much for a MacMini to handle?

The Mac Pro is overkill as my MacBook Pro does everything I need. If FlashPaper2 was available for the Mac, I wouldn't need Windows at all.
 
Why can't you use your MBP to do everything? and just buy a good external HD and a nice monitor.
 
It will work. Whether or not you are pleased with the performance you'll get only you can answer.

If your MBP only has 2gig RAM and you're able to do everything on it to your satisfaction, then the mini will be perfect for you. If you're maxed to 4gig RAM on your MBP then the mini might be an issue. But you'll probably be fine with it.
 
irishgrizzly said:
Why can't you use your MBP to do everything? and just buy a good external HD and a nice monitor.
Click to expand...

I actually do have an external hard drive for my MBP, but I'm using it for backups at the moment. I also have a nice 20 inch Dell monitor that I can use with either a MacBook or MacMini.. BUT.. I need Macromedia FlashPaper2 and Novell Groupwise - which I can only get working in Windows...
 
The only limiting factor on the Mac Mini is the 2 GB memory. Running Windows using Parallels will require about 512 MB of memory, plus the 512MB-1GB memory OSX needs to do its things, and the rest for everything Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

As irishgrizzly mentioned, you could just use the MBP and get a very nice Apple Cinema Display for the price of a Mac Mini.
 
Yes, I have 4gigs of RAM on the MBP. I guess that's what has me concerned...

saltyzoo said:
It will work. Whether or not you are pleased with the performance you'll get only you can answer.

If your MBP only has 2gig RAM and you're able to do everything on it to your satisfaction, then the mini will be perfect for you. If you're maxed to 4gig RAM on your MBP then the mini might be an issue. But you'll probably be fine with it.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. Sounds like the 2gigs on the MacMini is cutting it REALLY close.. Maybe I should just hold off for now and wait on the possibility of a 4gb MacMini to make the move...

I have to tell ya.. After a few months experience on the Mac, I'm very anxious to leave Windows for good...

dbam987 said:
The only limiting factor on the Mac Mini is the 2 GB memory. Running Windows using Parallels will require about 512 MB of memory, plus the 512MB-1GB memory OSX needs to do its things, and the rest for everything Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

As irishgrizzly mentioned, you could just use the MBP and get a very nice Apple Cinema Display for the price of a Mac Mini.
Click to expand...
 
Max it out to the 3 gig or 3.3 gig if you think .3 gig will make a difference. ;)

I'd bet you'd be happy with it.*



*Advice on the internet should always be taken with a huge dose of "God knows if these people know anything" reality. ;)

Sal Collaziano said:
Hmm.. Sounds like the 2gigs on the MacMini is cutting it REALLY close.. Maybe I should just hold off for now and wait on the possibility of a 4gb MacMini to make the move...

I have to tell ya.. After a few months experience on the Mac, I'm very anxious to leave Windows for good...
Click to expand...

I'm same as you. After 1 month with my new MBP I had 2 mini's and only 1 pc left. It'll be gone by end of the month.

Unfortunately, I haven't installed photoshop on the mini's yet to help you there. parallels runs just fine for word processing / dreamweaver, but I haven't run it with photoshop at the same time.
 
Hmm.. I didn't know that... I didn't even know that you can open the thing up. Is there a how-to somewhere? I added two 2 gig memory chips from Crucial to my MBP. I wouldn't mind doing the same with a MacMini..
 
There are guides out there with videos and the whole nine yards. It ain't pretty, but it's not all that difficult either.
 
I run photoshop and imageready on my 2nd gen MacMini (see sig.) As long as I'm not messing around with images of resolutions greater then 3000x3000ish, it's fine. After you get above that it still works, just a bit more sluggish.
 
Load it up with RAM and you should be fine.

I have a MBP and a mini, and I love the combination. There are a lot of times it is nice to have two systems. It is not efficient, but I do understand the attraction.
 
Buy the Mac mini

I've been a Mac user since 1990. MY last two macs were the 14" iBook, and the original iMac. Both of these computers have the monitor built into the computer. The monitor on both computers failed twice. The first time fixed on warrenty, the second time not covered by warrenty and outragiously expensive ($1000 to fix the iBook). After these failures I (tho' a real mac fan) couldn't get myself to buy another mac with a built in monitor. I bought the mini mac and spent $250 on a 22" monitor.

I still have 3 older macs, 1990 IISi, 1994 Quadra 800 and a clone, Starmax 300/180. All of these still run without issues, other that old age. I'm not so pleased with the quality of the current macs.
 
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