It's time for me to get a new computer since I've gotten a little tired of my PowerBook and want a desktop with a little more power instead. I'm having trouble deciding between a Mac Mini and an iMac. The mini would be cheaper, but the display and the extra power of the iMac might be worth paying more in the long run.

So really I want to know if anyone has any experience with either and would recommend one model over the other.

9/6/2005 10:15:25 PM

my only problem w/ the iMac is the limited mobility of the display...the mini is also a lot cheaper when you can get a perfectly good CRT from state surplus for $20

9/6/2005 10:16:36 PM

Yeah, I know the mini would end up being cheaper, especially since I already have a bunch of monitors at home (though they're not as pretty as those 20" LCDs ). I've heard that they run slow, though, and the max processor speed now is 1.42 GHz vs 2GHz in the iMac.

9/6/2005 10:25:45 PM

iMac, especialy if you want power.

9/6/2005 10:35:58 PM

So I guess my second question is whether I should just buck up and get the 2GHz instead of the 1.8.

I'll probably talk myself into that.

9/6/2005 11:11:33 PM

The mini's kind of slow, but if you aren't doing any gaming it should be okay.

And if you're worried about power, get a tower.

OH SHIT THAT RHYMES.

9/6/2005 11:18:27 PM

i can't run a ton of programs efficiently all at the same time on my mini, but i bought the 1.42 ghz w/ 80 gig harddrive, bluetooth, airport, 512 ram, and i've been pretty happy with it so far

-ZiP!-

9/6/2005 11:22:30 PM

I got a 2 GHz iMac a few weeks ago and I'm really happy with it.

9/6/2005 11:28:04 PM

im debating getting a mac mini...

is there any reason to have a PC and a mac?

9/6/2005 11:41:43 PM

Not really.

I do, but there's no good reason for it.

9/6/2005 11:45:44 PM

I thought about going back to PC because there are certain programs that I miss (trillian ) but I'm too attached to OSX now. Pretty much anything you need from a PC you can get from a Mac so it's not really necessary to have both unless you do a lot of gaming.

9/6/2005 11:49:34 PM

run osx on a pc that will own the shit out of a similarly priced apple?

9/7/2005 12:02:12 AM

how do i do that?

9/7/2005 12:04:09 AM

Magic.

9/7/2005 12:04:51 AM

where did you come from

9/7/2005 12:05:21 AM

Or should I say MACgic? OMG LOL I'M GOING TO FORWARD THAT TO MY MUG LISTSERV!

9/7/2005 12:11:45 AM

LOLZ

I LIVE IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE OSX IS ON NON MAC HARDWARE

9/7/2005 12:19:45 AM

Mac Minis or the entire Mac OS for that matter

are/is a piece of slimy shit.

9/7/2005 12:27:20 AM

Funny, I think the same thing about Windows/Dell.

9/7/2005 2:44:02 AM

^I think you meant

Quote :

"Mac Minis or the entire Mac OS for that matter are/is a piece of slimy shit."

Quote :

"Funny, I think the same thing about Windows/Dell esgargs."

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 2:56 AM. Reason : sdf]

9/7/2005 2:56:23 AM

why not run OSx86 on a real computer?

9/7/2005 4:46:35 AM

Don't get sassy, you.

9/7/2005 12:42:38 PM

Hey let's pay $500 for a stupid 10 year old config Mac Mini

9/7/2005 12:48:06 PM

Hey, let's gay up a thread with Apple bashing.

9/7/2005 1:23:59 PM

I am bashing the retards who'd pay $500+ for that extinct piece of shit.

9/7/2005 1:24:33 PM

^ Just cork your fucking curry-hole.

9/7/2005 1:56:49 PM

I'd rather choke on curry than pay $500 for 10 year old hardware

9/7/2005 2:40:38 PM

high five to gargs

9/7/2005 2:42:11 PM

I don't see where you get "10 year old hardware" from considering that back in '95 there weren't any computers running the specs that a Mini is.

However, I have to agree that I find the Minis to be a little overpriced for the power that you get, especially considering that a similarly configured eMac will have a faster RPM on the harddrive and include a screen for roughly the same price.

9/7/2005 2:44:55 PM

Ever heard Bush say

Fool me, you can't fool me again?


It's the same with Apple

They fooled all you fanboys with the PoS ipods...now they are doing with Mac Minis

9/7/2005 2:46:45 PM

Gargs, have you ever considered that your personal opinion isn't the best opinion in the world and that personal preferences differ dramatically amongst populations?

I mean I personally love my iPod and don't understand why you consider them to be subpar. Insisting that they are pieces of shit without any reason other than your personal preference isn't a particularly convincing argument.

9/7/2005 2:49:34 PM

I am speaking from a technical point of view.

From a marketing point of view, definitely apple won.

9/7/2005 2:51:55 PM

I like my apple products. I haven't ever had a problem with them that wasn't fixed by apple immediately. Which is a considerable step up from my previous windows computer.

9/7/2005 3:06:27 PM

For the sake of argument in regards to the running speed of the Mini, I still use an iMac with an 800 MHz G4 that runs plenty fast.

BTW, I've had three Macs in a row for going on 10+ years and I've had ONE problem. My dad has had three Windows computers (Micron/Dell/Dell) in that period and he's had dozens of problems.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 3:08 PM. Reason : s]

9/7/2005 3:07:44 PM

I still use a Pentium II 300 Mhz with 128 MB RAM that run Windows XP pretty fast

point?

9/7/2005 3:08:31 PM

Point being that the Mini isn't slow.

9/7/2005 3:09:02 PM

Quote :

"esgargs: I still use a Pentium II 300 Mhz with 128 MB RAM that run Windows XP pretty fast"

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 3:35 PM. Reason : [bullshit]]

9/7/2005 3:35:35 PM

^^^There is no way that anything with 128 MB RAM runs XP fast. Youre full of crap.

9/7/2005 3:38:50 PM

Dude

See it for yourself

Up until early this year, I was running Windows XP Professional with SP2 on it and NTFS

I even had a TV tuner card, and it couldn't record TV programs, but it recorded radio.

9/7/2005 3:42:13 PM

You are such a damn liar.

XP is PAINFULLY slow with even 256 MB RAM (with internal video @ ~32MB) on a Pentium 4 doing anything more than editing a Word document. Even with a clean install and some of the services turned off it lives in the page file until you give it at least 384MB.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 3:49 PM. Reason : ]

9/7/2005 3:47:14 PM

TechWars!

9/7/2005 3:51:04 PM

How do I convince you that I ran Windows XP Professional on a PII 300Mhz with 128 MB RAM from March 2002 to January 2005?

I even had a TV Tuner card.

9/7/2005 3:51:50 PM

tartsquid...i would definitely go for an iMac....i think Minis are cute, and portable....but they lack raw power.....specially the small one, smaller HDD,etc....

however i bought last month a powermac though

R.

9/7/2005 5:15:12 PM

I think I've definitely decided on an iMac. If I had more money and needed the power I'd get a PowerMac. Today I'm gonna go check out some of the iMacs to decide if I want a 17 or 20 inch screen.

I just wish they were still designed like the G4 iMacs. Those were awesome.

9/7/2005 5:42:49 PM

Quote :

"I thought about going back to PC because there are certain programs that I miss (trillian ) but I'm too attached to OSX now. Pretty much anything you need from a PC you can get from a Mac so it's not really necessary to have both unless you do a lot of gaming."

So were you using a mainframe that took up a whole room before? Last I checked, Macs were still personal computers...

9/7/2005 5:44:29 PM

Commonly it's referred to as the Mac vs PC debate, though I totally see your point there.

9/7/2005 6:03:21 PM

Generally "PC" refers to any standardized IBM/Compatible computer.

Whereas "Mac" refers to whatever proprietary, nonstandard, and overpriced hardware is gracing apples current line of computers.


Well atleast up until recently.

9/7/2005 6:08:41 PM

(why not)

Quote :

"run osx on a pc that will own the shit out of a similarly priced apple?"

OS is all user preference, but apple hardware is indeed trash especially when compared to pcs, flop count vs flop count

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 6:28 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 6:28 PM. Reason : ,]

9/7/2005 6:27:08 PM

but a PC is a PC is a PC...whether it be Mac, Windows, Linux, desktop, or laptop...as long as it is a Personal Computer, it is a PC...

9/7/2005 6:35:53 PM

<-- iMac with 20" display. Still can't get over it. It's really nice.

9/7/2005 11:49:33 PM