Mac mini or iMac

paulm2930

paulm2930

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paul
Edit My Images
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Looking to get a Mac soon for general home use and to edit raw images. I have been doing some research as to which might be the most cost efficient
And as future proof as possible. I should state that I will have to buy used so I would like advice regarding which would give best results for upgrades in the future. I've looked at the 2012 Mac mini which from what I've seen is able to have the RAM upgraded as there is access to it and is not soldered in like the new versions. I would like to hear from others that have bought used and their experiences. Also how important is the latest retina screen? Would I miss not having a retina screen if I went down the mini route and different brand screen?
Paul
 
Mac, future proof? not likely.

Actually, you are thinking long the right lines in that the 2012 i7 quad core mac mini is upgradable and very handy from a CPU point of view but they are now quite rare and expensive considering their other limitations.

That leaves you with the iMac which is not future proof in any way, which is why I've just shelled out nearly £2k on a new iMac when all I really wanted to do was upgrade the graphics card. More fool me? yes, but you pays your money...

The retina screen is lovely, very lovely but if you don't have it you won't miss it.

If all you want to do is edit raws then a second hand 27" iMac from anywhere this side of 2011 will suit perfectly fine. If you can find one for sale that is, there's a reason they don't come up for sale that often and that is unless you play games an iMac will last ages for normal usage.
 
•

iMac for sure.
I have one in the studio but in my PP room
nothing will dislodge the MacPro… yet.

If money is an issue, Ned is giving you some
good tips!
 
I bought a refurbished Mac mini 2012 model last October and really pleased with it (fusion drive, i7 quad core, 16Gb ram). Paired it with a Dell 2515h and its superb. The iMacs glossy display wouldn't work in the location as there are reflections from Windows- the dells Matt display is much better.
 
If funds are unlimited then buy the best spec'd iMac with a matt screen you can, and replace it when it stops being adequate. Otherwise I'd recommend a mini and a good non-apple monitor.

*Personally* the only reason I can see for having an iMac over separate base & screen is aesthetics. There are better screens available, and the requirement that the entire system must be ditched when it is no longer viable (and it isn't owner-upgradable) is a very poor and unethical design choice.
 
ancient_mariner said:
If funds are unlimited then buy the best spec'd iMac with a matt screen you can, and replace it when it stops being adequate. Otherwise I'd recommend a mini and a good non-apple monitor.

*Personally* the only reason I can see for having an iMac over separate base & screen is aesthetics. There are better screens available, and the requirement that the entire system must be ditched when it is no longer viable (and it isn't owner-upgradable) is a very poor and unethical design choice.
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I think I have decided on a Mac mini, it's now narrowing down which will be best bang for buck. It's got to be an 2012 model for the obvious RAM and hdd/ssd upgrade. But I'm confused on processors. Will a dual core i5 2.3-2.5/2.7 ghz be enough with previously mentioned upgrades for what I want or will that soon be tedious speed wise? Would simple home use and amateur raw editing in small batches require a better cpu?
 
I've got a 2010 dual core i5 and if I was getting another I'd go for the i7
 
An i5 dual core will be tolerable now, but the shelf life will be short (i.e. until you upgrade software to something more demanding or buy a camera with a higher MPx sensor). I have a 2GHz core 2 duo Macbook that could barely cope with files from a Sony a58 2 years ago, and I'm not even going to try with output from the D610 that works a quad-core i7 moderately hard.

The thing that kills apple hardware for me is that the minis and macbooks which could be upgraded are 4 years old already and effectively obsolete now - why would you want to buy an brand new obsolete computer at full price? Sure they'll still be OK for a couple of years, but is that acceptable?
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
I've got a 2010 dual core i5 and if I was getting another I'd go for the i7
Click to expand...
What software do you run and how does it cope?, I'm holding out for a quad core but interested on speed of dual core if a cheap one comes up.
 
Craig1912 said:
I bought a refurbished Mac mini 2012 model last October and really pleased with it (fusion drive, i7 quad core, 16Gb ram). Paired it with a Dell 2515h and its superb. The iMacs glossy display wouldn't work in the location as there are reflections from Windows- the dells Matt display is much better.
Click to expand...
This is the spec I'm hoping for actually. Would you mind telling me what you paid for all that please?
 
paulm2930 said:
What software do you run and how does it cope?, I'm holding out for a quad core but interested on speed of dual core if a cheap one comes up.
Click to expand...
Lightroom 4 and Photoshop.
I'm just getting into editing etc, so not the best person the ask about speed etc, as I don't know what to expect.
It's not too slow, but I think the i7 would be better.
 
FWIW I was using LR5, which I believe is much more demanding than LR4: when I started learning it had recently been released, and there were a number of comments about how it was much slower than 4 and needed a lot more processing power. Trying to do brushwork, after a couple of strokes it was a case of moving the mouse and then waiting for the brush to move half a second or more later, even with 8GB RAM.
 
I've seen a 2011 quad core 2.0ghz server Mac mini, anyone know if this would be a better buy than a dual core 2012 i5 2.5ghz. 2011 has usb 2.0 whereas 2012 has usb 3.0?
 
paulm2930 said:
No worries, I just got a 2.3ghz quad core 2012 model for a good price.
Click to expand...

Where did you pick one up from? Ever since they stopped showing up on the Apple refurb store they have been very difficult to obtain without an inflated price.
 
I was lucky with an ebay ad. It was up at 500 but I asked if they'd do a deal and got it for 450.
 
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