New Crisis! Torn!

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caveatipss

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lol ok so it's not quite that dramatic. I found a way to finance a Mac. I can get a maxed-out Mini, or a nice iMac, but to get the iMac would put me under some financial stress. Should I go for it? Here is what I do:

1. Heavy word processing and screenplay program
2. Some gaming, not concerned about the finest graphics
3. Some image manipulation
4. Website designing
5. Multiple windows open at once
6. Some internet broadcasting

Could a Mini with the highest specs handle that? Thanks.
 

dtravis7


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The Core Duo Mini should handle all of that fine except for Gaming.
 
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I wouldn't even want to do light gaming on a mini other than that it would work fine. I think the iMac is a better overall deal though. If you already have a somewhat decent system, I wouldn't finance a new one.
 
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caveatipss

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My current PC is fried lol. So, you don't think I could play WoW on the Mini, even with a dual core processor and 2 GB of RAM??
 

dtravis7


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There are members here on Mac Forums that have talked about playing WOW on an iBook with 1Ghz CPU and it was playable. So it might play fine on the top Mini. I never tried WOW on my G4 mini.
 
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I don't have a new mini or iMac, but I can offer some advice. If buying a computer will put you under financial duress, perhaps you should focus on other monetary issues, or save up the money for a while and then buy the mac.

Maybe you mean something different of your financial situation than I interpreted, but coming from some significant debt, I know how bad it is owing money and having to worry about it all of the time..I still owe money (credit cards, auto loan, etc) but I now have the money to cover them for 5 months (in a savings account) without a job, if need be, and it is so much better. Stress of any type isn't good, and if you can keep it to a minimum, so be it, don't bring on more than you have to.
 
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I approve of what claudius753 says.

But apart from that, you might want the screen space, and the iMac just makes a better workstation with less of a cable mess around. You'll savour it when really working.

But you shouldn't play around with finances when going for such a big investment. Save up for it and be comfortable.
 
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caveatipss said:
My current PC is fried lol. So, you don't think I could play WoW on the Mini, even with a dual core processor and 2 GB of RAM??


Fried how so? PC parts are cheap. Unless like 5 things in it just happened to break at the same time, you could get it fixed rather cheap.

WoW will probably run on it, but you'll probably have to turn all the setting down and play at 800x600 just to get decent frame rates. I played WoW a bit on my G4 mini w/ 1GB ram and I play it sometimes on my iBook, it is ok for doing some things for short periods of time. If my iBook was the only thing I had to play WoW on, I wouldn't play.
 
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mynameis said:
Fried how so? PC parts are cheap. Unless like 5 things in it just happened to break at the same time, you could get it fixed rather cheap.

Fried as in, the harddrive makes horrible noises and the PC can't find the OS, but even when connecting another harddrive to the board, or try to boot from a CD, the best you get out of it is a BSOD with a cryptic message, you need a working computer NOW and incidentally, you've been considering a Mac mini for months and there's a great deal on refurbed ones at the Apple Store...well, that's how it was for me anyway.
 
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financial stress of any sort is NOT a place you ever want to be in. it doesnt matter how young or old you are if you cant afford something and dont have the means to really pay it off comfortably then do not buy it yet. you will know what i mean someday.
 
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Dude, if you're in financial debt, pay it off first, then consider the computer. I don't care whether you go Windows or Mac, GET YOURSELF OUT OF DEBT!!! NOW!!! It's not a good feeling, so get that first. Man, get your priorities in order.

Anyway, on the mac: I LOVE my iMac, and I wouldn't have it any other way (except maybe the MacBook Pro). But if you can afford the Mini WITHOUT GETTING YOURSELF IN DEBT, go for it. I still say you hang back and wait until you can afford it comfortably though.
 
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Left Face Down

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I'm going to have to agree with the majority of people in this thread. If your computer is completelly gone, as in you fried something that would require you buy a new computer instead of just fix that old one. Go with the Mini, a refurbished would be best.


Financial stress sucks... save your money for food man. You can live with out games, yes I am a gamer, believe me. It sucks, but atleast in my case it doesn't really matter. You can't have everthing, so get what you N-E-E-D.
 
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caveatipss

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claudius753 said:
I don't have a new mini or iMac, but I can offer some advice. If buying a computer will put you under financial duress, perhaps you should focus on other monetary issues, or save up the money for a while and then buy the mac.

Maybe you mean something different of your financial situation than I interpreted, but coming from some significant debt, I know how bad it is owing money and having to worry about it all of the time..I still owe money (credit cards, auto loan, etc) but I now have the money to cover them for 5 months (in a savings account) without a job, if need be, and it is so much better. Stress of any type isn't good, and if you can keep it to a minimum, so be it, don't bring on more than you have to.

What I meant was, I can do the Mini just fine. I could do the iMac with some burden.
 
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caveatipss

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mynameis said:
Fried how so? PC parts are cheap. Unless like 5 things in it just happened to break at the same time, you could get it fixed rather cheap.

WoW will probably run on it, but you'll probably have to turn all the setting down and play at 800x600 just to get decent frame rates. I played WoW a bit on my G4 mini w/ 1GB ram and I play it sometimes on my iBook, it is ok for doing some things for short periods of time. If my iBook was the only thing I had to play WoW on, I wouldn't play.


Well, I am a modder/overclocker, and I got a bit too...er...aggressive with my PC lol.
 

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