Eenie, Mini, iMac, Pro?

[GlenMac]

I am pondering my first Mac purchase and am wondering which platform to go with: Mini, iMac or Pro. The main project I am going to tackle is converting a bunch of analog, 8mm video tapes to digital and burning them onto DVD's. It looks like I'd need a video capture device and iMovie, but which machine would be best? Will the Mini be able to handle this, or must I have an iMac (or a Pro)?

I'd appreciate any help or advice.

Glen

 

[pigoo3]

I am pondering my first Mac purchase and am wondering which platform to go with: Mini, iMac or Pro.

Part of the decision is how big is your budget?

A Mac-Mini starts at $599, and a Mac Pro starts at $2499.

- Nick

 

[GlenMac]

Money is secondary to performance. I want a machine that will do the job, period. If the Mini isn't up the task, then it's out. If I NEED a Mac Pro, so be it. On the other hand, I don't want to waste money by overbuying.

To use a car analogy, if I need a 4WD vehicle that is big enough to hold my stuff and will get me where I want to go, and both a Subaru and a Lexus fit the bill, I'll go with the Subie.

 

[thomas998]

Considering your buying this to convert 8mm to dvd's you don't need a lot of power. Basically you will be editing standard video. If you were doing HD stuff then you would need some serious power or be watching thing crawl by, but with SD video you could use either one.

I would start by deciding what capture device you were going to use and then make sure your computer your looking at has the right specs for that capture hardware. I can't give you any input on that end as I have never had to down load older SD video onto a mac... Now if your 8mm happens to have a firewire its possible it can still be hooked up to a mac without any special hardware. I do have an older JVC miniDV camcorder that plugs into my mac through a firewire with no need for additional hardware... but if you don't have a device with a firewire you will need to get some special equipment.

 

[pigoo3]

Money is secondary to performance. I want a machine that will do the job, period. If the Mini isn't up the task, then it's out. If I NEED a Mac Pro, so be it. On the other hand, I don't want to waste money by overbuying.

To use a car analogy, if I need a 4WD vehicle that is big enough to hold my stuff and will get me where I want to go, and both a Subaru and a Lexus fit the bill, I'll go with the Subie.

Both a Mac-Mini & a Mac Pro will get the job done...but the Mac Pro will more than likely do it faster. Therefore some folks consider the difference between $599 & $2499 to be a BIG deal.

Also...not sure the car analogy between a Subaru & a Lexus is fair. When it comes to the differences between a Mac-Mini and a Mac Pro...there's a MUCH bigger difference than a Subaru compared to a Lexus. A possibly better analogy would be a 4x4 Subaru compared to a Hummer...and I mean a military Hummer!!!

Good luck with your decision,

- Nick

p.s. BTW...a MUCH MUCH less expensive solution for converting video tapes to DVD could be finding an old "AV" Powermac. I purchased a Powermac 8600 (with the Audio/Video capabilities) for $20 bucks a couple weeks ago. This "AV" model has video/audio RCA jacks built-in. It may not be the fastest computer...but it would get the job done for $20 bucks!

 

[GlenMac]

Thanks for all your great input.

No firewire on camcorder, just RCA and S-video. I've actually done some research into video capture hardware, and the one that stands out is the Elgato Video Capture Device. It has RCA inputs, and outputs to USB.

So, a 27" iMac w/i7 chip would be overkill?

 

[pigoo3]

So, a 27" iMac w/i7 chip would be overkill?

Maybe...but an i7 27" iMac is a very good value for what you get (you could even go with the entry level 27" iMac for $1699)...and it would be a GREAT computer for other computing tasks.

- Nick

 

[the8thark]

The original poster did not say if they own a screen or not. If not, then it has to be added into the cost of the Mini and Mac Pro.
And I agree with the above. If your budget will allow, the i7 imac is a very good buy.

 

[GlenMac]

I do not have a monitor/screen, so that is an extra cost, for sure.

Is the i7 chip of any value for everyday computing, such as e-mail, web browsing, word processing? And don't you have to have software that will actually use all four cores?