- Joined
- Jun 16, 2009
- Messages
- 2
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 1
Hi everyone. I'm looking at buying my first Mac. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to get an iMac, but still tossing around the idea of a mini. Anyway, I'm trying to decide which to get. Since it is my first Mac I'll be learning as I go. My main use for the machine will be typical home/office stuff, picture editing with Photoshop Elements, and video editing with iMovie or something similar, and running a virtual machine or 2. I also wanted to keep the price somewhat reasonable. So my choices are...
I'm leaning towards previous generation iMac because it seems to be a great value. But it's not using the newer video card, and the RAM expansion is limited to 4GB. I don't know if that will really be an issue since this will be my first Mac. It's also not OpenCL compatible, but again I'm not sure if that will be much of an issue.
As for the mini, I've heard that the performance of the new mini is pretty impressive. My co-worker bought one and plays WOW on it and he's impressed by it. Does anyone know how it compares with the previous generation iMac? I'd still need to buy a keyboard, mouse and monitor, or a KVM switch. This combo would still come in cheaper than the previous generation iMac, but not by too much. Not sure if the amount I'd save is equal in performance.
The only reason I'm, considering the current version of iMac is because it's using the newer technology. For the most part it is out of my price range. But, I could make it work if I need to. Just have to give up Starbucks for a few months... But I've also started tossing around the the idea of the entry level 24" iMac, but that is down on the list.
So any advice that people can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone.
- Last year 24" iMac. Club Mac has it for $1199 ($1099/AR). I'll upgrade to 4GB of RAM afterwords.
- Current generation refrub 24" iMac with the GT120 video card for $1549.
- Or entry level current generation mini for $599 and upgrade to 4GB RAM after I get it.
I'm leaning towards previous generation iMac because it seems to be a great value. But it's not using the newer video card, and the RAM expansion is limited to 4GB. I don't know if that will really be an issue since this will be my first Mac. It's also not OpenCL compatible, but again I'm not sure if that will be much of an issue.
As for the mini, I've heard that the performance of the new mini is pretty impressive. My co-worker bought one and plays WOW on it and he's impressed by it. Does anyone know how it compares with the previous generation iMac? I'd still need to buy a keyboard, mouse and monitor, or a KVM switch. This combo would still come in cheaper than the previous generation iMac, but not by too much. Not sure if the amount I'd save is equal in performance.
The only reason I'm, considering the current version of iMac is because it's using the newer technology. For the most part it is out of my price range. But, I could make it work if I need to. Just have to give up Starbucks for a few months... But I've also started tossing around the the idea of the entry level 24" iMac, but that is down on the list.
So any advice that people can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to everyone.