Mac Mini or Mac Book

aFlabbyPanda

I'm selling my Dell and going to get another mac. I had one last year but due to terrible support service from the local apple center I returned it. But to be honest it was perfect for what I was doing (photo and video editing. I had a G5 20" iMac).

I have a budget of about 1000 plus VAT to spend and I'm torn between a mac mini (1.8) or a mac book (2.0). If I can find the cash it would be either a 20" imac or a mac book. but I like the idea of being able to work away sitting on the sofa with the family.

I assume I can put an external monitor (either vga or dvi)on the mac book without any problems? Also what size drive (inches) are fitted to the mac books and can I change it with my own sourced HDD and reload the OS without impacting the warranty on the rest of the the machine.

thoughts anyone?

deevey

Go For the macbook ... !!!

You can source new HDD and Ram externally - have a 100 gig drive in mine.

I dont believe it will impact the warrenty, apple arent to sticky on changing parts in (even old) apples unless you make a dogs dinner of it which is impossible with the macbook anyhow and details how to change the hdd are on the apple support site.

3 screws and you are in.. its a slot out - same section as the ram.

Its a standard 2.5 inch SATA drive .. the drive speed seems to make little or no difference according to guys who tried 7200rpm drives. so your safe with 5400 now cost me about 100 euro from komplett - lot cheaper than from apple.

An extra gig of ram was 98 euro from www.memoryc.com.

Oh and VGA or TV is no probs .. you will need the 19 euro DVI - VGA adaptor from the apple site though ( i smashed my screen on my baby so am forced to use this at the mo.. whaaaa!)

Fantastic machine and yep couch webbing is better

Oriel

You do realise the Macbook screen is only 13"?
That'd be a tad small for photo work I think.

deevey

theres always the Zoom button ..

Urban Weigl

What about the 17" iMac? It's in your budget, give or take a few. I'd get it instead of the MacBook, unless mobility is important to you of course.

Also I recommend ordering online direct from Apple:
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/irl/

Edit: Get the higher-end 17" iMac. For not much more, you get twice the RAM, a really good graphics card, SuperDrive and other improvements. It's well worth it, and the total should still be around your budget. All prices include free delivery. Also if you order a printer with it, you get a €90 rebate, so for example the HP printer for €89.99 is free!

Sad Professor

I agree with the above. If you can save a bit more and get an imac you should. Also the current macbook might get too hot to use on your lap while sitting on the sofa. I have an ibook G4 which is much cooler and I still can't use it on my lap for very long.

aFlabbyPanda

thanks guys,

@sinecurea, hence why I was asking about hooking it up to a monitor depending on what I'm working on.

@Urban Weigl, I'd rather go portable + and 19" monitor then get a 17" imac to be honest.

@Sad Professor, I'd thought they fixed the heat issue? It was something I was worried about alright.

Urban Weigl

I know a lot of people who own MacBook's, and none have reported any heat related issues. The only reports about heat I've read were repeated on the Internet, so who knows how true they are.

Sad Professor

Recent firmware updates have lessened the problem I believe. But they still get a lot hotter than the old ibooks did, enough to make using them on your lap difficult for any extended period. But if you're are planning to use it mostly on a desk or other surface it should be fine. There is a reason they call them notebooks and not "laptops" anymore I guess.

440Hz

Portable is what a photographer needs tbh Brian... So I would go for the macbook or perhaps a refurbbed powerbook within your budget, bigger screen etc. unless you particularly want a core duo that is. My mate just bought a mac-mini, they are grand, nice and handy and do the job but not exactly portable when you gotta think about monitors

ps: the heat issue is *supposed* to be recitified now in the new model. I wouldnt worry too much about that.

deevey

1. I never have had a heat issue with the macbook on my lap ...

2. get a "neocase" for protection and shieding from the heat if you think its still too hot ...

3. I'll probably never father children :P - see point 1.

aFlabbyPanda

well I've managed to get the extra cash together for the 20" imac so its even worse now.

Sad Professor

Unless you really need the portability (and I don't mean just around the house, on the sofa, in bed, etc) then you should go for the imac IMO.

K.O.Kiki

iMac & wireless keyboard/mouse FTW!

tywy

if you are worried about putting your macbook on your lap, I found this deadly thing lying around the house, it's a tray with like a bean bag attatched to the bottom of it so you can put the macbook on the tray thingy the tray onto your lap and then the beans mold to your knees so it's nice and comfy and keeps the heat of your knees think you can get them in Roches

condra

macbook pro would be fab but i know theyre expensive.

the small screen on the macbook isnt bad when you get used to it.

macbooks are ultra portable and good value.

aFlabbyPanda

I've been reading mixed reviews about the macbooks glossy screens. Anyone got any first hand experience? There are also a few Macbook Pro's on the apple site (refurbs) that might be within reach for an extra 100 or so.

I'm going to head in to the o2 store tomorrow to check em out in person.

440Hz

womoma wrote:

macbooks are ultra portable and good value.

Advice with regard to your photography Brian. I rec. AVOIDING the macbook due to its glossy screen. When I was buying I really didnt wanna splash out on the MBP, I wanted to save the money for lenses :P but was concerned about not having a matte screen option with the macbook. I thought I would have to see the two in action. So I brought some of my photos into the apple store with me and viewed them on an MBP and macbook side by side. INSTANTLY shot down the idea of ever owning a glossy screen and ordered my matte screen MBP on the spot.

Great for entertainment, movies, games etc... for serious photography Id say no. IMO

colm_c

Isn't the macbook limited to whatever resolution is on the 13" screen? I.e if you plug in an external monitor you won't get any increase in resolution.

The glossy screen is a bit of a pain - I went with the 15" MBP for just that reason, and the bigger screen is better too.

As for heat, i found a nice little app called smcFanControl - http://81.169.182.62/~eidac/software/page5/page5.html which allows you to turn up the fan speed, which dramatically reduces the heat from my MBP - I think it works with macbooks too.

pa

colm_c wrote:

Isn't the macbook limited to whatever resolution is on the 13" screen? I.e if you plug in an external monitor you won't get any increase in resolution.

No, the Macbook can drive an external monitor at 1920x1200. From http://www.apple.com/macbook/specs.html:

"Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 1920 by 1200 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors"

aFlabbyPanda

440Hz wrote:

Advice with regard to your photography Brian. I rec. AVOIDING the macbook due to its glossy screen. When I was buying I really didnt wanna splash out on the MBP, I wanted to save the money for lenses :P but was concerned about not having a matte screen option with the macbook. I thought I would have to see the two in action. So I brought some of my photos into the apple store with me and viewed them on an MBP and macbook side by side. INSTANTLY shot down the idea of ever owning a glossy screen and ordered my matte screen MBP on the spot.

Great for entertainment, movies, games etc... for serious photography Id say no. IMO

I took a look at both and the extra size of the MBP put me off. its now between a 20" imac and a 13" (middle model) macbook.

how do you find photo editing on the MBP or do you have an external monitor for that?

condra

unless u need portability go with the imac.

desktop computers are far more comortable to use in my opinion.

Sad Professor

womoma wrote:

desktop computers are far more comortable to use in my opinion.

Agreed. I used an ibook as my main machine for over 2 years and am very happy to have a desktop again.

aFlabbyPanda

in the end I went with the 20" iMac. we are redoing the house at the moment, building a kids play room and once its finished I'll put that in there and buy a macbook for myself.

440Hz

Yeah sounds like a good choice.

My kerry home is a bit like that... the 'office' room has a 20" G5, but myself and Dad can be found with MBPs attached at all times... There are even a few random Power PCs somewhere that still work as well as some iBooks :P

Mac-obsessed household - no wonder I never owned a PC

Dr_Teeth

I wouldn't go with a Mac Mini right now, it's the only machine in Apple's range that doesn't feature the new Core 2 Duo CPU. Hopefully it will be due an update in the new year.