iMac or Mac mini?

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Hi!

I use a Mac mini at work and I just love it. I'm thinking of getting one for my home and I wanted to know which one would be best, iMac or Mac mini. I know that they both don't come with an internal modem. Do I have to buy one? What about RAM? I want space for lots of photos, movies, and some games for my daughter.

thanks
 
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iMac 20" C2D 2.4 ghz 2gb iMac 20" C2D 2GB 256MB Graphics Macbook C2D 2GB Powermac G4 Dual 450
it really depends whether or not you have a nice spare display keyboard and mouse or not. if u dont, the price of a mac mini + display kb and mouse wud be almost the price of the small imac....
whichever one you choose, you can choose from 512mb, 1gb or 2gb of ram....if you have the cash, the more ram the better; though for your needs, you probably wont need more than 1gb.
 
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iMac 5.1 | iMac 7.1 | iMac 12.1 | iMac 19.1 | iPhone 11 Pro | Watch s5
Get the iMac. It's got a real hard drive, not a laptop (slow) drive. Plus a beautiful keyboard, mouse, and display.
 
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iMac if that is in your price range. just the dedicated graphics are worth the upgrade!
 
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That's basically the same question I had when purchasing my mac. I chose the iMac because of the reasons stated above (didn't have a spare display.) I was looking at the $599 mini and got the $999 iMac and have been very happy with it so far. IMO just the display was worth the extra cash.
 
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I would say go with the iMac. I own one and love it to death. It comes with a much larger hard drive which I assume is a hard drive found in normal desktop computers compared to a laptop hard drive (found in the mac mini) which is smaller in capacity, more expensive to upgrade and slower. The same RAM is used in both computers. I would say go with the iMac because the nvidia or ATI graphics cards are FAR superior to the integrated graphics card that comes with the mac minis. I have never liked a computer that had an intel integrated graphics card. To me, it's like not having a graphics card at all.
Peace,
Bryan

Plus, you get the iMac and you don't have purchase anything else. It's all in the box!!
 
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Depends what you want to do with it, I just sold my 20" Imac as my wife bought me a Mac Mini for xmas. The iMac was being neglected! I have banged in 2gb of memory in the Mini working with the 1.83 core duo processor! I have two 250 gb external hardrives attached and its so small and works a treat for what i need it for! I have a windows PC too as I need it for my work - having the two machines on the same screen saves me so much space! Plus Front Row is just awesome!!
 
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I was wondereing about the iMac but would omly be able to stretch to a 17" screen and the resolution of 1440 x 900 isn't really as good as the 1280 x 1024 my spare monitor will do.

Anyone with a 17" Imac care to comment on that please? It would be very helpful.
 
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Black MacBook 2GB, Mac Pro 2.66Ghz 3GB X1900.
The iMacs have a mini DVI output which will connect to an existing monitor. Dual screen fun :)
 
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I was wondereing about the iMac but would omly be able to stretch to a 17" screen and the resolution of 1440 x 900 isn't really as good as the 1280 x 1024 my spare monitor will do.

Anyone with a 17" Imac care to comment on that please? It would be very helpful.

Are you saying the 17" iMac will only support 1440x900? Your standalone monitor may work up to any size resolution but what you should be worried what resolution th Mac Mini supports up to. Doing some research, it seems the the Mac Mini supports beyond 1440x900. What size monitor you working with?
Peace,
Bryan
 
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I think the iMac would suit your needs best, and for a lot of reasons.

With the new intel core duo iMacs, not only are they faster, but cheaper.
The iMac has by far one of the best displays in the market for computers. You will be amazed at the sheer quality of your photos and games on it.
Also with the advent of the intel chip, you can run bootcamp on the iMac and play other PC-related computer games.
Also the iMac is a space-saver, as the computer is behind the screen.

You can get the 17" with a 2gHz intel core chip and parellel 512mb DDR2 Ram slots with it. It's also a very cheap upgrade for two parellel 1gb DDR2 ram, making for 2gb of ram. All that for under 1400 dollars without tax.
 
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Thanks, Trademark, I think what is you say is quite right. I have thought quite hard about it and the reasons you giove are what I came up with. I added a faster hard drive as I gather the iMac has standrad drives not notebook ones.

My concern is the screen resolution, though, and this is the built in screen. I am used to 1280 x 1024 so it is significantly reducved height of screen. If the cash ran to the 20" or 24" that would be fine, but I am a little cocnerned here. I think I had bertter get off to a quiet dealership and have a good play with the 17" and see the screen for real.

Thanks for the help though/.
 
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I'm with the crowd on this one, even being a Mini owner. The Mini is designed as a low price point machine that makes it easy for people to switch over to a Mac. I bought mine specifically for that reason, and I just plugged it into my Dell Keyboard, Display, and mouse. I figured i'd try it out and see what I thought. I'm sold. Little by little now, i've been replacing my hardware with Apple products. Keyboard...mouse...(but i'll wind up with a Macbook before a new display).

If you want to ease your feet into the Mac world without spending a lot of money, and you have a decent display handy, the mini may be a good choice if you have an external hard drive handy as well. But If you want lots of hard drive space and will rely solely on your computer, the Mini isn't the best machine for it. Mine has an 80GB drive, which would be a feat to fill up with images. But video can fill up a small drive like that quickly, especially full length movies. I get around this with a large external drive.

The iMacs are nicer machines in general. The 1.83GHz mini can come close in performance to the lower end iMacs, but for another $100 you step into the iMac line with TWICE the hard drive space and some other pros. You CAN load up a 1.83GHz Mini to match the 17" iMac specs, but you're at the same price without a display, keyboard or mouse. The iMac comes with all that.

For a nice machine, if you have the money...the 17" 2.0GHz iMac is the best bang for your buck, IMO. But it's twice as much as a 1.66GHz mini, so think about what you need and how long you want to keep the computer around until it's time to upgrade.

Hope that helps.

-Nick
 
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The 17 inch has the same integrated graphics as the Mac Mini.

The 20 inch has a proper graphics chip.

I bought a reconditioned 24-inch and it came with the top spec, so I would certainly give that a go if you are on a budget.
 
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Thanks soooooo much!

You are all awesome!

It looks like the majority says I should get an iMac. The mini is more in my price range, but I don't have a decent monitor. So, I guess I'll be saving up for a 17" or 20" iMac.

One more question, should I wait till Leopard comes out before buying?


Thanks ;D
 
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Hello, the apple website has a certified reconditioned section that has used iMacs a little cheaper that still have a good apple warranty on them. I believe they give them a good checking over before they sell them. There is also www.macofalltrades.com, a used mac dealer, the warranty isn't as good but they are quite a bit cheaper. Third, you can find some decent computers on Ebay. Its pretty much buyer beware but there's deals to be had I bought my 20" G5 iMac for $720. The Mini's sometimes go cheap. There is also a buy sell trade sub-forum on this very site. The folks here seem like decent people, I think they even have a rating system for sellers and buyers. As far as Leopard goes, If you are going to buy brand spanking new I would wait until the WWDC which is coming the first week or two of June. If there any surprises coming with regards to Leopard they will likely be revealed then.
 

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