Opinion needed. Mac mini to iMac i5.

I need a little advice here. I have a 3 month old Mac mini, 2.53, 4gb ram, 500gb 7200rpm HDD, wireless keyboard, magic mouse, a 30in Apple cinema display with the dual link DVI adapter.

I have an offer for everything for $1600 cash. I'm looking at getting an i5 or i7 iMac. I love the 30in display and I'm sure with the 27" LCD iMac display I'll love it even more.

I guess my question is will the iMac i5 be worth it for the speed and such? I run lightroom, Win 7 on Parallels a lot, and some light video editing.

I can certainly understand if you're having trouble deciding to do or not do this deal. That 30" display is pretty darn awesome...but the resolution of that 27" iMac display is pretty awesome as well...and almost the same resolution as the 30" display.

If you have a $1600 offer for your 3 month-old Mac-Mini & 30" display...and you're looking to get a 27" iMac i5...then it would seem that this will be a relatively painless transaction financially...since $1600 will almost completely pay for the 27" iMac!

The 27" iMac is a terrific value. The CPU will be faster than the Mac-Mini, and the 27" iMac will have MUCH better video hardware. Plus the display technology in the 27" iMac is MUCH more modern. The 30" cinema display has a HORRIBLY outdated response time of 16 milliseconds...which is absolutely not the best for video use or gaming.

Since financially this is a terrific deal...I say go for it!

By the way...instead of paying the full $1999 price for a new 27" iMac i5...get this refurbished one for $1699:

Refurbished iMac 27-inch 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 - Apple Store (U.S.)

Hope this helps,

- Nick

Nick, thanks. I am looking at the refurbs, seem like a better deal nad I have heard great things about them. The Mini was my first Mac and I fell in love, now I have a MBP.

Gottria said:

Nick, thanks. I am looking at the refurbs, seem like a better deal nad I have heard great things about them. The Mini was my first Mac and I fell in love, now I have a MBP.

Click to expand...

The Mac-Mini's are kind of "cute"...and are nice as a second desktop computer for an area with limited space.

If you could afford it...I would say keep the Mini & just sell the 30" display. But if you really don't need a 2nd desktop, and could use the extra bucks from the sale of the Mini to purchase the 27" iMac...then of course go for it.

Since you have a MacBook Pro (and just for completeness of the conversation)...do you really need the 27" iMac?

Your MacBook Pro is most likely better than the Mac-Mini...but not as good (processing power & graphics) of the 27" iMac. So do you definitely need the extra power of the 27" iMac over your MacBook Pro?

I know working from a desktop computer can sometimes be more comfortable than a laptop...and you may prefer the size of the 27" display vs. the MacBook Pro display for your project work.

On the other hand (if you don't really need the extra power of the 27" iMac)...and if you sometimes prefer working on a desktop setup. Why not just plug that 30" display into your MacBook Pro...and use an external keyboard?

Just asking in case we may be able to save you some money.

- Nick

I thought about running may MBP to the 30" and just selling the Mini. But the Mini is faster than the MBP, I have the 13" with the 2.26ghz processor not a higher end 15" or 17" with the dedicated video card. I gonna sell the my setup and pickup a 27" i5 system and go from there.

Gottria said:

I thought about running may MBP to the 30" and just selling the Mini. But the Mini is faster than the MBP, I have the 13" with the 2.26ghz processor not a higher end 15" or 17" with the dedicated video card. I gonna sell the my setup and pickup a 27" i5 system and go from there.

Click to expand...

I see! Since your MacBook Pro specs were not listed...I was imagining that your MacBook Pro was at least a 15" display, with a faster CPU than the mini, and a dedicated graphics card.

Getting the 27" iMac sounds like a good plan...the only other plan I could think of is:

- sell the Mac-mini
- sell the 13" MacBook Pro
- sell the 30" display

Take all of that money...and purchase a really nice 15" or 17" i5 or i7 MacBook Pro! Then you pretty much have everything in one nice portable package!

Of course if you still prefer the 27" screen...then get the iMac.

Good luck,

- Nick

I think I'll keep my 13in MBP, it's a perfect size for what I need it for. Besides I think the 15" MBP is still not as fast as the i5 27" correct?

I got the mini and display sold, guy is coming by tonight to pick them up.

Gottria said:

I think I'll keep my 13in MBP, it's a perfect size for what I need it for. Besides I think the 15" MBP is still not as fast as the i5 27" correct?

I got the mini and display sold, guy is coming by tonight to pick them up.

Click to expand...

I was just throwing a few ideas your way...just in case. Congrats on selling the Mini & 30" display! Hopefully the buyer shows up tonight with the cash! You never know sometimes with buyers on Craig's List!

As far as the 15" MBP i5 vs. the 27" iMac i5 performance...check this article out. It shows the 27" iMac i5 much faster (2.4ghz MBP, vs. 2.66ghz 27" iMac):

http://www.macworld.com/article/147273/2010/04/benchmarks_corei5mbp_15in240ghz.html

...check out the chart at the bottom.

Also, the 27" iMac i5 does support more ram than the i5 15" MBP (16 gig vs. 8 gig).

- Nick

Not sure how to read the benchmarks other than comparing the numbers, but it seems the MBP is keeping up with the i5 iMac.

Well the next question is, looking at the Apple referb site is the 27" 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac is $250 cheaper.

pigoo3 said:

I was just throwing a few ideas your way...just in case. Congrats on selling the Mini & 30" display! Hopefully the buyer shows up tonight with the cash! You never know sometimes with buyers on Craig's List!

As far as the 15" MBP i5 vs. the 27" iMac i5 performance...check this article out. It shows the 27" iMac i5 much faster (2.4ghz MBP, vs. 2.66ghz 27" iMac):

Benchmarks: 15-inch 2.4GHz Core i5 MacBook Pro | Laptops | From the Lab | Macworld

...check out the chart at the bottom.

Also, the 27" iMac i5 does support more ram than the i5 15" MBP (16 gig vs. 8 gig).

- Nick

Click to expand...

Gottria said:

Not sure how to read the benchmarks other than comparing the numbers, but it seems the MBP is keeping up with the i5 iMac.

Well the next question is, looking at the Apple referb site is the 27" 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac is $250 cheaper.

Click to expand...

The benchmarks in that chart clearly show that the 27" iMac i5 is clearly faster in some important benchmarks. The 27" iMac i5 is about 33% faster in the Speedmark test...and almost 2x faster in the Cinebench test.

Regarding the 3.06ghz Core 2 Duo 27" iMac being $250 cheaper. Now you're just complicating things! Your thread title said Mac-Mini to iMac i5. Now we could be talking a whole different "bag of beans" with the core 2 duo model!!!

- Nick

Opinion needed. Mac mini to iMac 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

pigoo3 said:

The benchmarks in that chart clearly show that the 27" iMac i5 is clearly faster in some important benchmarks. The 27" iMac i5 is about 33% faster in the Speedmark test...and almost 2x faster in the Cinebench test.

Regarding the 3.06ghz Core 2 Duo 27" iMac being $250 cheaper. Now you're just complicating things! Your thread title said Mac-Mini to iMac i5. Now we could be talking a whole different "bag of beans" with the core 2 duo model!!!

- Nick

Click to expand...

Do I see a new thread starting??? Just noticed the price difference between the two.

Well I got the green light from boss to order us a new iMac. Going with an i7 refurbish. Was going with the i5 and adding another 4gb of ram but for $150 more I'll get the faster system and upgrade the ram next month.