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I agree the iMac is a good buy if it's your only computer. A mini is a great backup if you've got a monitor, KB, and mouse to share.

...but remember Macworld is next week. Don't buy yet.

You buy the mini when you have the monitor and can't afford the imac.

EDIT: like me.

Last edited by Metacell (2007-01-06 1:49 am)

I got my daughter (14-yr old, similar to your sister in age) an iMac a few years ago and she loves it. All her friends are jealous. Visually and functionally it's a beautiful computer (I am sometimes surprised at how important the esthetics are to her). She does all the same stuff you said yours would use the computer for, plus she spends a lot of time doing artistic and graphics manipulations, such as scanning in things and using Photoshop to change them, working a lot on photos, etc. The iMac actually is a more powerful computer (cpu speed, disk space, disk speed, memory) and she needs the cpu capability, she runs many programs in parallel plus itunes and iphoto and sometimes games (like Sims 2), all at once, that stress the system. For some reason she likes to have 3 browsers running at once. I think the mini might be underpowered for what she does (or at least the way she does it).

One suggestion -- for the iMac, I suggest buying Applecare. We have not needed to make use of ours yet after owning the iMac for nearly two years, but because the iMac design requires tightly packing all the components into the LCD screen itself, the iMacs are sensitive to thermal management and require a series of fans to be automatically activated at various times to keep the components cool. I think this makes the iMac, like laptops and perhaps even the mini, a bit more prone to various repairs that stem from thermal issues.

Also, we keep computers running in our house for years. I have Mac's that are healthy and running that I acquired in 1993, 2001, 2003 and 2005. Since we tend to keep them a long time, saving $100 or $200 on the original purchase isn't as important to me as is getting the right capabilities and a computer that the users will be happy with for a long time.

Last edited by steve626 (2007-01-06 12:11 pm)

DukeofNuke wrote:

iMac.
She's gonna love the built in camera.

::dvpierce stifles a pedophile joke and prevents himself from posting a video of a webcam girl getting walked in on by her mom::

Mini.

Unless you have a decent screen, which by the sounds of it you don't, get the iMac.

I have a mini because it fitted my needs the best at the time (*grumble* damn Intel transition *grumble*). If all you have is a kb and mouse, then the mini isn't great value; the iMac is a much better machine.

But yeah, wait until after MWSF. Also, if price is important, be sure to check the refurb section.

tF

Not here

Former Windork wrote:

So aside from the issues of larger hard drives, just on a speed basis, which would be the faster machine:  an iMac with a Core 2 Duo and 7200 rpm hard drive with only 512MB of memory or the Mini with a Core Duo and 5400 rpm drive but 1 GB of memory?  The iMac is the low end one with integrated graphics.

Depends what you're doing. If you're just using Safari and Mail, then the iMac, by a large margin. More than that, you'll hit a memory limitation, and the mini might - almost - catch up.

When you do have to page to disk, the iMac will be a lot faster at it, though, because of the faster HD.

Well, my brother was the one buying the new Mac (his first) and he went for the iMac.  The faster processor and larger/faster hard drive were key as well as the fact that he could easily add more memory compared to the Mini.  Plus his existing keyboard was of the PS/2 variety so he'd have had to buy that anyway.  Thanks for the help.

He looked at the Mini, but there weren't any refurbs with the specs he wanted yesterday.  He wanted at least 1 GB of RAM and an 80 gig HD.  So the new Mini with those specs would have been $724 plus the cost of a new keyboard.  He paid $849 for the refurb iMac with a keyboard and the faster/bigger/better stuff mentioned.