Which Mac Option should i go with

Ok, so i selling my PC and moving back to macs, i had a 2011 Macbook pro (loved it) but i started playing games again so i went back to a PC. My main use if daily use, school work and editing videos from my gopro 3 black. I am wondering what i should look at getting for video editing as i know if it can edit video i will be ok for my other purposes.

My budget is going to be no more than $1000 and yes i know this is small but i think it can be done.

I am realistically looking at an upgraded mac mini, or a used imac. I do not want a laptop as they are something i don't prefer to use. I have a nice Monitor so that isn't an issue if i went the mac mini route.

My question is what should i look for and what is going to be able to handle gopro videos the best. I dont need something that is crazy powerful but i do need something that will get the job done. I plan on using final cut or just imovie as i wont be making in theater quality movies.

Any suggestions or advice would be great.

Welcome to Mac-forums..

With that budget and your need for a desktop as opposed to a laptop, the latest Mac Mini is a perfect fit for you. I would recommend the $799 i7 model and you can upgrade it to the 2.6 Ghz for $100. So at $899 you have a nice machine for your needs. I wouldn't upgrade the memory through Apple, but would recommend that you purchase it through Crucial or OWC and do the install (very easy) yourself..

Another upgrade option down the line is to upgrade the HDD to a SSD by yourself, but again that can wait, it doesn't have to happen immediately..

I would not necessarily go for an iMac because at the $1000 limit, you're looking at the 21.5" version and a few years older meaning likely an i5 processor. You get MUCH more bang for your buck with the newest Mac Mini with all the upgrades it brings along..

Thank you for your response!!!! This is the exact route that i was looking i kind of wanted to confirm it. It is my understanding that you can upgrade the ram yourself, to 16GB. I also figured that i could get some form of external raid to store my footage on and use the built in HD for the personal use stuff. It seems to me that this is the best option since i can upgrade along the way. Any suggestions for the ram upgrade. I believe that it is laptop style memory but i haven't got that far yet.

Yup, the Mac Mini's RAM can be easily upgraded by you to the maximum 16GB. OWC sells it and the 16GB kit will run you just under $200..

It's a smart idea to start thinking about storing the video footage outside the Mac Mini on a RAID'ed system to get you the backup security.

Thanks for the suggestion for the ram... does anyone know any affordable external raid setups. As i said it doesn't have to be pro quality but good for a intermediate user.

Well, i found a killer deal on a mid 2011 IMAC so i bought that, it is the 2.5Ghz i5 quad-core 4GB ram, 500GB hd. I just got done installing windows 7 through bootcamp for some school programs that require windows.

Since i went a different direction i plan on buying 16GB more of ram x2 8GB allowing me to have 20GB. I also plan on getting an external raid setup as well.

One question that i have is there anything else i should look into upgrading, i didnt do much research on imacs vs the minis and it seems to be confusing considering there are so many different models. I would like to max out this to the best of my ability for video editing. As i stated before it will be GoPro hero 3 Black footage, i will use imovie and final cut.

Any advice would be awesome!

Well, i found a killer deal on a mid 2011 IMAC so i bought that, it is the 2.5Ghz i5 quad-core 4GB ram, 500GB hd. I just got done installing windows 7 through bootcamp for some school programs that require windows.

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It's a good machine. I owned the exact same one before I gave it to one of my grand-daughters for school work. I replaced it with a 27" late 2013 model.

The only thing I would caution you about it, is to keep your eye on the hard drive and make backups. The weakest part of that machine is the Seagate 500 GB hard drives that Apple installed in them from the factory. And by the way, the drive is proprietary with a special heat sensor cable.

My hard drive failed after 2.5 years of use but since the machine had Apple care coverage, Apple replaced the drive for free. They replaced it with a newer Western Digital drive with same the proprietary heat sensor and cable.