Better MAC's

[Grommit]

Hi

Which are the better Mac's (same spec of course)

IMAC or the MAC Mini ?

[danIT]

IMAC is my prefrence, mini mac is great but nothing to rave about, but obviously you save on space but you have to purchase a screen aswel?

[kingswood]

iMac. I have an iMac G5 2GHz and it still screams using pro applications, dreamweaver, office- even world of warcraft. With the new Intel Macs you are getting a hell of a lot more than that! I also have a MacBook Pro running at 2.16GHz- and as a comparison- it boots much faster than the iMac G5 and just about beats it at everything...except noisy fans. The G5 has a nice air circulation system that could be used in any decent server room. Buy one now :-)

In my opinion the Mac Mini fits a niche market, where those switching want to try out a Mac; there are Mac hobbyists and supporters who use the Mini for other things (we want a new Intel one to replace our G4 so that we can use it attached to our TV), but in the main moving to an iMac from a Mini would be like...well...different...better really. Much better.

:-)

[Grommit]

I was told that an IMAC is the all in one mac as the PC is behind the screen and that the IMAC is cheaper than the MAC Mini

[kingswood]

I was told that an IMAC is the all in one mac as the PC is behind the screen and that the IMAC is cheaper than the MAC Mini

That's right in so far as the iMac has the screen (and a very good one too) built into the same enclosure as the components. But every Mac is complete in the sense that they come with the OS and applications you would need to get you more than started. The Mac Mini requires that you have your own keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Hence it is cheaper.

[Ric_]

If you want to hook it up to a KVM or some strange sized monitor then obviously a Mini is a better choice because you aren'y left with the screen. However, if you happen to want a 17" widescreen (which I don't personally like too much - doesn't seem tall enough IMHO) then you also get the added bonus of the inbuilt iSight camera and less wires There is obviously a price difference though.

[john]

Mac Mini's make better boxes to put under the short legs of the table (sorry couldn't resist, its the only place I would have a Mac as I don't really like them)

[Roberto]

Hi

Which are the better Mac's (same spec of course)

IMAC or the MAC Mini ?

Better for what purpose? We use both. I consider the iMac better for classroom use, and the Mac Mini better for sitting in the corner quietly doing a job and for providing a display for large screens.

And - I don't know if you intended this as a hypothetical discussion, but I don't think you can get an iMac and a Mac Mini that are the same base spec. The iMac is built on a different, faster, processor, and as tight as space is inside one, is far more expandable than a Mini.

[richard]

I have one of the early mac minis at home and find great for surfing the net and general day to day bits and pieces. I am looking at replacing it it with one of the new intel based mac mini's in the next few months and when that happens I'm going to convert the old one into a media centre.

[Grommit]

Hi

Which are the better Mac's (same spec of course)

IMAC or the MAC Mini ?

Better for what purpose? We use both. I consider the iMac better for classroom use, and the Mac Mini better for sitting in the corner quietly doing a job and for providing a display for large screens.

And - I don't know if you intended this as a hypothetical discussion, but I don't think you can get an iMac and a Mac Mini that are the same base spec. The iMac is built on a different, faster, processor, and as tight as space is inside one, is far more expandable than a Mini.

Sorry I should have given more information...

It is for students in the Music Department to run Logic on... so they have to have a screen and keyboard

[Roberto]

To run Logic? Well I'd go for an iMac. I don't know that I'd be confident that the Mini has the overhead / expandability to take Logic to the next level, whereas the iMac does.

Also, whether we're talking Windows machines or Mac machines, I really like that iMac style 'all in one' form factor in and of itself for a music classroom as it gives students more room on the desk to lay out the other equipment they might be using, they can shove the computer keyboard under the screen for a bit of extra room and still use it, etc.

It might cost a bit more than a Mini + screen (though not by much if you pick the educational iMac), but it strikes me that you'll be looking for a decent TFT to go with the computer no matter what and this way its all integrated. Money well spent imho.

[HodgeHi]

I use an Intel Mac mini and can say the best thing about it is its size when you couple this with say a 42" HDTV then thats where it gets good.

Its all about size. And theres the power side of it which is well fast considering the size.

Oh has anyone seen the iTV that is rumoured to be coming out?

I do like to iMacs as well and if space is limited then you can also vesa mount the screen with the available adaptor leaving the desk even tidier.

[LeoMJ]

It has to be the iMac in an audio environment. 3.5" SATA with a faster spindle speed and greater capacity, if not network delivered it means the bulk of the audio streams will be close to the spindle and give a far greater performance.
The second big reason is cost of ownership. An iMac uses full sized standard parts, whereas a Mac Mini is down to 2.5" drive, GMA graphics etc, and therefore is a more costly machine to keep running.

The NIC in an iMac also supports bigger MTU, allowing for a much lower latency across the network (if your switches can cope). This means you can very successfully run a full directory environment and keep the music staff happy at the same time!

[AshF]

We have a mixture of iMac G5's and Intel iMacs running Logic Pro in our music dept. and both do so admirably, although admittedly not up to the standard of the pair of quad G5's in the two studios. One word of warning is that Logic does not like being used on networked users. We had a ton of problems with this and Apple basically turned around to us and said 'Well, it wasn't *DESIGNED* for that...' Students now work on 1-2GB USB2 memory sticks on a fixed local logon, and have a protected network folder to use for backing up files to which is on a RAID-5 Array.