Buying new Macs. Now I know my geekiness is shining through again, but the truth is that few other phrases can fill me with such excitement. Sometimes, the mere anticipation of getting a new Mac is almost more exciting than actually buying one.
Almost.
It’s like this: because my husband and I are such firm believers in equality, we always buy two of the same thing. The same mobile phones, the same widescreen monitors, and- several years ago- the same iMac G5s. The problem is that this pair of iMacs has decided to finally give up on us. At the same time.
We can replace their logic boards, but for $1k to replace both, we’ve decided to just pack them away for now and get new ones instead.
The question now is: with what?
Two entry-level Mac Minis will set us back just $1198. Two entry-level iMacs will cost us $2398, but 21.5-inch screens are too small for the work we do, so we’d have to go with the lower-end 27-inch models, which will cost us $3398. Then again, we already have two gorgeous 24-inch Samsung monitors, so the Mac Minis might be a better choice for us.
I’ve heard so many negative things about Mac Minis- how they’re only good as “second Macs” or as media centers for fancy living rooms. How good are they as workstations? Will they run Photoshop well? The occasional Final Cut Express project? I’d love to hear from other Mac Mini owners.
2 thoughts on “Help Me Buy 2 New Macs”
I love my Mac Mini…and it’s an old core duo and it’s my desktop and it’s amazing especially with Snow Leopard installed…and it does a lot of stuff that my old iMac G4 couldn’t…
the base Mac Mini has the same insides as the base model Macbook Pro without the iSight camera
so if you really need the iSight camera then maybe the iMac is what you need…but I think the Mini is plenty powerful enough to do what you want to do…
it’s a difficult decision because I am the Apple Expert at my Best Buy and there is no doubt that the iMacs are beautiful machines and are constantly the talk of the customers…but no one can deny the amazing abilities of the Mini…good luck on your decision and I hope you guys get exactly what you want…besides you an always connect the Samsung monitors to the iMacs and have dual screens
or get a second screen for each Mac Mini since it has dual screen capabilities built in…that I don’t have with the Mini I have…again good luck
I have to agree with Alexis about the wonder of the Mini. I too have one, although I do use it as a media center, I also upgraded the ram and hard drive. I think if you want to use it often as a workstation though along with photoshop and my final cut express you are going to want to upgrade them as well, which is going to cost some money for two machines.
I would rather go with two iMacs, dual monitor both of them, so you have not only the screen real estate you are looking for but you have the power already built into the iMacs with a faster processor, twice the ram, triple the hard drive, and of course the LED screen. I think you’ll be more happy with iMacs.
PS I too am an Apple Expert at my Best Buy.