buying a mac mini

ok my ibook just dumped on me. so i figured i need a new mac. with my budget being low i decided on getting a mini. being kinda new to mac (my ibook being the only one i've owned but it owns pc in my book), i'm not sure whether to buy one of the new intel machines or a used g4. i now the benchmark claims. but one i like to game some. and i've never really like integrated graphix and shared memory. oh how i wish i could get a powermac. sorry just had to throw that in there. so looking for a little insight and advice on my upcoming purchase(being like possibly monday).

well thank you all for your time and any help on this.
have a nice day

sorry ment to subscribe to this post

meant to subscribe to this post didn't know how to other than post a reply

An Intel will last you very long. It's the time to buy them, G4s are two chip generations back, so you'll have to replace it eventually. I really suggest the G4.

Oh, and see the top right of you opening post, there's a button that say "Thread Tools". Click it and you can subscribe to any thread.

Welcome to the Forums!! The mac mini is a great little computer with great speed thanks to the intel chips... Unfortunatly apple was unabe to shove a real graphics card in.

You will be very pleased with the Mini. I have test driven them at the local Apple store and am consistently AMAZED at how fast they are. As for the lack of a dedicated graphics card, you shouldn't worry unless you are planning to do heavy duty gaming on it... and a Mini is not a good platform for this anyway. Go ahead - you will love the Mini!

thank you guys for your input on this taking all advice in to consideration. and so far it looks like every one is saying go duo.i wish leopard was already available so i would have to pay for the upgrade in a couple months. but oh well the price i guess i'll have to pay

This past monday I just purchased my first Mac (I have been working with PC's since the late 80's) which is a 1.83Ghz mini with 1GB RAM and 80GB HDD. I LOVE IT! I was thinking of buying used but I decided the Mac is going all Intel so it makes sense to just go that route.

I can't speak to gaming on it though because I do all my gaming on Xbox 360 now. That is one thing I will always defend that Microsoft has done right!!!

haven't tried the 360 but never did like xbox just personal pref i guess. but i will probably be getting a refurb 1.66ghz. mainly cause i plan on getting a power mac in the fall.

I doubt you'll be able to do much 3d gaming on your Mini. My Mini chokes on anything that says 3d (like fps games... Halo, UT2004, etc.). However, it does make a great machine for everything else. Whatever you do, get at least 1GB of RAM. I only got 512MB and kick myself every day for it. Oh well, tax return time is soon, and a trip to the Apple store for an upgrade will be coming with it!