Mac Mini VS IMac?
Community Forums/General Help/Mac Mini VS IMac?
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| I'm a bit conflicted on these two. Recently the Mac Mini was overhauled, and the new one comes with a much better (2x speed) video chip, and by the time you added a decent 1080P monitor, and doubled up the RAM, it was working out a good £200 cheaper than the equivalent IMac. Now, of course, the IMac has been overhauled too. The entry-level model now has a Radeon 4670, which is a decent budget chipset, and the ram is 4GB as standard, so it's probably only £100 more expensive than a 4GB Mac Mini with a cheap monitor. Factor in the fact that the Apple display is almost certainly better, and has extra features, and it has the new Core i3 CPU instead of the Core 2 Duo on the Mac Mini. So now it seems to be leaning in favour of the IMac again. Am I right in thinking that the better display, better CPU and better GPU are more than worth the extra £100 over the Mac Mini? Other factors I should consider? |
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| Other factors I should consider? WIRES!I bought an iMac a couple of weeks ago. Both the keyboard and mouse use bluetooth, the only wire is the power cable from the back of the iMac. Oh, and call me picky but if I'm paying loads of money for a Mac, I want it to look like a Mac - not an "ooo what's that?" with a standard monitor/mouse/keyboard dangling off of it. |
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| Heh, I'm not fussed about looks, but wires are a good point. I already have an office full of wires, with my PS3, X360, PC and TV/Skybox/DVD, router and printer all criss-crossing one another. The Mac will probably end up in the living room, so it would be nice not to lay a trail of wires all over that room too. |
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| Oh... if it helps, I got my iMac from PC World (yeah, I know!), but they were twenty quid cheaper than Apple at the time (before Apple changed the graphics card and stuck thirty quid on the price tag). [edit] If you can live with Nvidia 9400 256MB graphics: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/apple-imac-mb950b-a-03957511-pdt.html That's the exact one I got and I can't fault it. |
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| That does help, actually. There's a PC World much closer (technically, just more convenient) than the nearest Apple Store, so as long as PC World have the new models and don't charge more, it'll be a much quicker trip. Thanks! |
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| A few things I would consider: * Cost * You can choose of your own monitor with the Mac Mini * Speed * If the iMac monitor breaks you have to send in your entire Mac to be fixed * Wires * The "i" factor ;) |
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| I went for the Mac Mini (October 2009 model). I was on holiday in the USA at the time, and the exchange rate was still quite good, so the Mini was great value. I love it! The Mac Mini is no longer a cheap Mac though. If I was basing my decision on today's prices, I'd opt for the iMac, or possibly one of the newer MacBook Pros. The Mac Mini is no longer a cheap Mac. Having said that, I've never been sold on the iMac's computer-stuffed-into-a-monitor approach. I already have a perfectly good monitor! |
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| Thanks for the advice, guys. I went with the IMac. As Milky Joe points out, the Mac Mini just isn't cheap any more, and since I would need another monitor anyway (I want to test our game at native res on the Mac) the iMac just seems to hold all the cards. Couldn't get it in store though. PC World are still trying to sell off the old IMacs (at very little discount) and I couldn't be bothered fussing about getting to the Soton store. Ordered it online and it's expect to arrive midweek, which is as soon as I could have gone up to Soton anyway. |
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| You won't be disappointed with the iMac, and the Magic Mouse is outstanding (and awesome on batteries - I've had mine a couple of weeks now and it still has over 80% charge). I'd shift over to Mac full time if there was a decent BlitzMax IDE (like BLIde). |
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| Did you get it yet? |
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| Yeah, it arrived on the Wednesday, exactly as they predicted. I've been really busy with work, and I needed to build a desk to put it on, so I didn't managed to get it all done until this afternoon. Just about to set the iPad charging, get the iMac plugged in and spend a few hours figuring out how it all works, getting it on the wireless router etc. It's a bit sad, but I'm kinda itching to get Unity installed and get one of the current projects running on the iPad. |
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| How do you guys find the iMac's glossy screen? I was toying with getting one (as I suddenly find myself with £2k burning a hole in my pocket) but, when I popped into my local Apple store, I could see my own reflection more than I could see the actual display. It was terrible. I basically want a kick-ass Mac (but not the Pro), but I can't believe Apple don't offer a matte option on the iMac. |
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| I hate screens without an anti-glare coating. |
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| Can't stand the glossy screens either... And unfortunately it's next to impossible to find a non-glossy laptop anymore these days. |
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| My iMac screen is fine. I've never had any problems seeing the display, and I can only see my own reflection when it's switched off. The backlight is super bright though, I never have it on the highest brightness setting it would hurt my eyes. |
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| In my computer room, I have a window right behind me. It's not a problem with the matte screen I have now, but I can just see the iMac's screen being unworkable. I've started looking at a matte MacBook Pro now instead, even through I don't really need a portable machine (my wife already has an iPad). Apple have really messed up by not offering a matte screen on the iMac range. From googling, it looks like I'm far from being alone in my view. |
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| The iMac screen is easily the best looking screen I've ever seen. Granted, it looks spectacularly reflective when it's switched off. I could shave in it, very easily. But when it's switched on, I don't see anything reflected, and it's an exceptional quality image. Like Oddball says, the backlight is very bright, so perhaps that's why it doesn't reflect. The window in my room is north-facing though, so it's not as though the screen gets direct sunlight, but it is pointing directly at the window. |
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