PC programmer needs your help!

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Hello everyone!
I am new here and would like some advice on buying my first Mac. I am going to need to remain in the PC world partially, but I will not be putting Windows or Linux on this computer.
Heres what I am looking for: Something to learn Objective C on to write IOS apps, and something to do some photo and some light video editing on. I love taking pictures, especially of women. Also, I would prefer a portable solution, but am also open to a Imac or a Mac mini. Not breaking the bank would also be great!
I am looking at the Macbook Air. I was playing with one at Futureshop and I love how light it is. My only concern, is that if you want more then 128 GB of storage space, be prepaired to start selling limbs, children, relatives, etc. How much space do most people need on a Mac? Does any one lug around an external hard drive with them. I also have access to the net almost everywheres I go, the clowest connection I have is 7Mbps, but usually its either 30 or 50 (Fiber Optics are awesome!) so what about cloud based applications? how does everyone feel about them?
Mac mini seems like a better option, but its not portable. I would easily be able to use it with my current workstation setup using a KVM. It's not portable though, however I can live without it.
Macbook Pro seems more like it would fit the bill, however it is pricier. The new ones with Retina display, forget it. However, having more storage and a bigger form factor seems more interesting. I am not sure if I want to pay for it though.
I do have enough money in my student line of credit to buy any Mac I want and still have enough room to live, but again, I would prefer not to spend a huge amount of money of this.
Another question, any one have experieance buying referbed Mac products from Apple? I have also noticed there seems to be some 3rd party resellers of refurbed Macs. Are these guys good or not so good.
I finally have one question about the Operating System. I find a lot of people think when buying a computer for their grandmother, its ok to get them an old obsolete computer, and the computer enthuiast can have the shiny new one. I don't believe this. Give grammy a new computer, or atleast one with a current OS on it, and the enthuiast can use the older one. Might as well get grammy on a current setup. That being said, I noticed the min requirements for OS 10.8 is 2GB of RAM. Is this enough for what I want to do, or should I think more in the neighbourhood of 4GB? 8GB, forget it. too much $$$ unless its a model I can easily upgrade.
Thank you all very much for reading and replying!

Steve
 
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Your Mac's Specs
Mac Mini Core i7 2012 | White 2009 MacBook 2 Ghz | 733 Mhz G4 Quicksilver
You are a student so you will qualify for student discount from Apple

The Apple refurbs are great and you still get the full warranty

If you can go for a non retina MacBook Pro or the mac mini they have user upgradable RAM, but dont up the RAM from Apple, source the RAM upgrade yourself, I would consider 4 gig a minimum
 
C

chas_m

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The refurbs are generally cheaper than new + student discount (which is only $100 generally) so I'd go with the refurbs.

Since storage space is obviously going to be an issue what with the photography, I'd recommend a MacBook Pro 13" over an Air. With the MBP you can always replace the HD with an SDD if you wish, but you have options. The MacBook Air is an awesome machine but not in the options department.
 
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Thanks for your input guys. I did decide to pick up a MacBook Pro. I love it! It didn't take long to notice now inferior Windows is!
 

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