Should You Buy a New Mac Mini, iMac or Mac Pro?

[Guest]

It is a pro system and as such no mainstream graphics card should do the bussiness.
For 2d graphics a 7300 is no worse than a 8800, and for 3d a 8800 is no better than a quadro FX.
I see your point but try thinking like a pro when you review such a system.
Of course that doesn't change your "over-priced" conclusion.

 

[miniboss]

What really kills me is that when you look at any of these "Mac comparisons" then there is a gigantic hole in the lineup because Apple doesn't make a basic tower system. Some people don't need a $3000 quad core system and don't want an integrated monitor glued on an un-upgradeable system.

I've been in the market for a $1000 "Mac Desktop" for several months but in the end just gave up and reluctantly got a nice cheap Dell. I would have definitely preferred a Mac but if they refuse to make an "ordinary" product for us "ordinary" people then I'll throw my money elsewhere.

BTW, for less than $600 this is what I got from Dell C2D/2GB/250GB/DVDRW/x1300/22"LCD = $600. What's odd is that Apple would easily charge $1100 for these specs so people should really quit making fun of PC's because if Apple ruled the world then we'd all be broke.

 

[Guest]

I agree with mini-boss totally.I can either build or buy a Dell Desktop for half the price of any Mac that has the same specs.I recently built a PC for under $500 that can play any game out there on the highest settings. I am looking for performance not some externally pretty machine.

 

[brian_stone]

miniboss-

While I totally understand your shopping method, I think its important to realize there is more to the computing experience than cheap hardware. I'd gladly pay 1200 for an iMac (2x what your dell costs) just so that I could have the iLife software and OS X. The iLife software is the best software for ordinary folks I've ever seen. Nothing touches it on any platform, including OS X. As for the OS, I guess basic file management can be had on any system, but I love the fact that I don't have to deal with virus/spyware/zombieware on my Mac. That last point alone is worth paying a measly $600. So, maybe Apple does not have the widest selection of hardware at the cheapest prices, but the actual experience of using it is worth far more than the cash you saved.

In my daily work, I use 5 machines, 2 are Macs. My home computer is a Mac.

 

[brian_stone]

miniboss-

While I totally understand your shopping method, I think its important to realize there is more to the computing experience than cheap hardware. I'd gladly pay 1200 for an iMac (2x what your dell costs) just so that I could have the iLife software and OS X. The iLife software is the best software for ordinary folks I've ever seen. Nothing touches it on any platform, including OS X. As for the OS, I guess basic file management can be had on any system, but I love the fact that I don't have to deal with virus/spyware/zombieware on my Mac. That last point alone is worth paying a measly $600. So, maybe Apple does not have the widest selection of hardware at the cheapest prices, but the actual experience of using it is worth far more than the cash you saved.

In my daily work, I use 5 machines, 2 are Macs. My home computer is a Mac.

 

[brian_stone]

I know.. I accidentally posted twice. shame the system won't allow me to erase the phantom post.

 

[Guest]

I was investigating the Mac Pro recently but couldn't bring myself to part with $2500. Instead I spent $1100 and built the following:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor(2.40GHz, 4x2MB, 1066MHz FSB)
ABIT IP35-E Motherboard (P35 Express, 8GB DDR2, 1333MHz FSB)
G.Skill 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMM Dual Channel Memory
ASUS GeForce 8500GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Seagate Barracuda 320GB Hard Drive(Serial ATA-300, 7,200 RPM, 16MB)
Lite-On Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer (8x DVD±R DL)
Antec SOLO Silver/Black Mini Tower (ATX, 8 Bays)
Antec EarthWatts EA-430 430W Power Supply
Acer Black 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor (19", 1440x900, 5ms)
Microsoft Business Keyboard / Mouse Combo
Windows XP Professional x64

And for an extra $200 I am considering another 4Gb of RAM and a second hard disk. All this for less than half the price of the comparable Mac Pro model. My GPU is not spectacular but I'm not a gamer and it is easily upgraded. My next endeavor is to run Leopard on one of this systems' drive partitions. I'm not too crazy about Apple's hardware either. But Tiger running on my 21" iMac G5 2.1Ghz machine has been next to flawless.

 

[Guest]

I agree with minibus. I just built a system based on the Athlon 6400+ for under $800 (core system). And as far as spending an additional $600-$1,000 for OS X, hey if you have money to burn and love OS X so much, be my guest.

 

[Guest]

On the matter of the Mac Mini: Not only it uses Intel integrated graphics, it uses *last-generation* Intel integrated graphics! In fact probably the only thing in the current Mac Mini that was changed from the first Intel Mac Mini is the processor!
On the matter of the Mac Pro: Yep, another Mac model that was not updated in any way other the processor for about 15-18 months! Only in Jan 2008 has there been a real update to the Mac Pro.
However, keep in mind that the fact that Apple owns the OS allows Apple to make special releases of Mac OS X for new Macs, and though that it is a good thing Macs don't need separate driver CDs for Mac OS X, it also may mean lag time while Apple write the drivers for the new hardware.