MacMini for me?..Your thoughts?

Hey guys. Long time PC user here. Currently I have a tower in my bedroom..see sig..While this setup is great, my life has changed and I almost never game on it or do Photoshop or other intensive related programs on it.
I would like to ditch this setup and get a top of the line Mini. I already have a 30 inch ACD so the Imac is out. I basically need to do Final Draft, browse, itunes, Amazon on demand ect. Very very light gaming if any.
One question. Will the Mac have any problem pulling images/videos from networked drives that I have? and what about documents/word/open office that were created on a pc?..problems with that?
Will I be happy with the Mini? Your thoughts?
thanks.

You can always run Office 2010 in something like Vmware fusion or parrallels. Also there is Office for Mac (though it is different than using the PC variants).

Should be fine for your other stuff. They still pack an i5.

Personally I'd consider a new or refurb 13" MBP instead. It'll cost a bit more, but you get a portable machine too!

450 said:

Personally I'd consider a new or refurb 13" MBP instead. It'll cost a bit more, but you get a portable machine too!

Click to expand...

It costs a lot more, like double.

The answer is, probably. You'll want the mid-range model if you plan on doing ANY gaming. I have the lowend model on my desk at work, and it was a mistake not going with the mid-range just for the video card. Since I run dual-monitors, the intel adapter is....flakey....... when switching displays (I switch between my second monitor and a projector) and it takes a while to come out of sleep while the intel graphics card decides what to do(Like 20 seconds to come out of sleep thanks to the display switching that goes on). I will be replacing the Mini-DP to HDMI adapter with a Mini-DP to DP cable. Since my monitor supports DP, hopefully that will help alleviate some issues with display detection.

As for speed, the 5400RPM HDD is garbage. Then again, I came from the highest end 2011 MBP with a SATA3 SSD to this, so I hate waiting more than a few milliseconds for things to happen.

It really depends on what games you are going to play...if you are playing anything remotely...post-2006, you aren't going to get great framerates at 2560x1600. It's a crazy resolution to push, let alone with lower end mobile components. Even for "very, very light gaming", it's not enough.

For your work though, of course, it is more than enough, it's not a slow machine by any means. Finally, compatibility, that won't be a problem, Office 2010 or OpenOffice will do everything you need them to do.

Considered selling the ACD and going for an iMac? Do you really need 2560x1600 for your work? You can sell it for around $850 on the 'Bay and get an iMac 27 if you really wanted, let alone anything else below it, and you'd be spending $800 overall, which is bang on top-end Mac mini money for a far faster system.

To be honest, the Mac mini is a terrible buy for most people; if you are willing to put a bit more time in selling stuff, most will find that an iMac is far more economical.

I to am looking at the Mini for the small form factor that I now really need for my desk but I have a Dell 3007 HD (30 inch LCD) monitor with one DVI port only. If I am correct, the HDMI slot on the Mini can handle a HDMI to DVI adapter cable, and my question would be if anyone has used this large monitor with the Mini using only web browsing, word type programs only, absolutely no gaming nor CAD/Photoshop programs with no issues to speak of ???

Sell the 30" ACD and buy a 27" iMac. Better display. Get a refurb for even less as current gen refurbs are now available. I just bought a current gen iMac to replace my 2.8GHz i7...I had planned to sell the old one but now I'm thinking of keeping it as a second display/second system. Sitting in front of both of them right now...nice.

Hi. Well I have a gaming rig from Maingear hooked to our plasma so gaming is covered as far as the living room is concerned. I would rather not sell my 30 inch screen. The Imac, 27 inch with only a minor re-config is going to be over 2000 dollars. Even if I up the ram and added an SSD to the mini, I would come in WAY under the Imac price. Hmmm.

But what would you need to add to the iMac? It is already a far faster machine than the Mac mini is.

Overall, if you're willing to sell the display, the iMac 27 is a great option. A fast all-in-one machine with a truly fantastic display. As I said in my last post, you could sell the display for $850, -$50 fees, making that $800, and I think the iMac is $1699? I'm not in the US, so I don't really know.

But of course, if you don't want to go through that trouble, the Mac mini is really your only choice, and to be honest, not at all a bad one at that. Just remember to factor in the price of an adaptor for your 30 incher.

Remember that the Mac mini is basically the lower-mid range apple desktop...but at the same time its still not a bad purchase

SR45 said:

I to am looking at the Mini for the small form factor that I now really need for my desk but I have a Dell 3007 HD (30 inch LCD) monitor with one DVI port only. If I am correct, the HDMI slot on the Mini can handle a HDMI to DVI adapter cable, and my question would be if anyone has used this large monitor with the Mini using only web browsing, word type programs only, absolutely no gaming nor CAD/Photoshop programs with no issues to speak of ???

Click to expand...

I don't think HDMI to DVI would be a good idea. 1920x1200 might be the max out of the HDMI connection.

However, I'm quite sure this would work: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-DisplayPort-Dual-Link-Adapter-MB571Z/dp/B001IF252C

NetJunkie said:

Sell the 30" ACD and buy a 27" iMac. Better display. Get a refurb for even less as current gen refurbs are now available. I just bought a current gen iMac to replace my 2.8GHz i7...I had planned to sell the old one but now I'm thinking of keeping it as a second display/second system. Sitting in front of both of them right now...nice.

Click to expand...

Would you be willing to take a quick pic?

450 said:

I don't think HDMI to DVI would be a good idea. 1920x1200 might be the max out of the HDMI connection.

However, I'm quite sure this would work: http://www.amazon.com/Apple-DisplayPort-Dual-Link-Adapter-MB571Z/dp/B001IF252C



Would you be willing to take a quick pic?

Click to expand...

Might sell the 30 incher and get out the old Dell 24 inch thats in the closet that will work with the resolution if need be, and the link is also helpful. Thanks
The users of this cable were having many issues but one found that the current version of firmware worked. Now how does one tell which firmware is on the cable that I buy ? ("Only the 1/03 works reliably with the non-Apple branded 2560 x 1600 monitors." as one reviewer mentioned)