Mac mini and 27" apple cinema display? Any advice much appreciated please

ashleey

I have a dec 2009 mac mini with nvidia g force 9400m graphics. I would like, for my birthday to get a bigger display and clear up my desk clutter.

Would my mini struggle with the 27" display? Should I spend the extra 600 euro and get an iMac?

I'm loathe to change from the mini which works well for my uses apart from being slow when working with movie clips, and would require me to buy a new copy of windows for bootcamp if I change too.

Sad Professor

I have mid-2009 MacBook Pro, with similar specs to your Mini, hooked up to a 24-inch ACD without any issues.

ashleey

That's great. Thanks for that. As I'm not a graphic designer the mac mini is still perfect for my uses and the display is expensive but cheaper than a 27" iMac and takes away the external speakers and web cam/mic. Does the mini dvi port on the mini carry the audio too or do you need another cable? In any case I wouldn't buy anything for a few weeks in case the products change with the upgrade to lion. Thanks again

uncle_sam_ie

The Apple display will work fine, but they're way over priced. You can get a better non Apple monitor for a lot less. If it just has to be Apple, then I'd sell the mini and get an 27 iMac.

Xithus

I'd agree with Uncle Sam, go for an alternative brand of monitor or pay the bit extra and get the iMac. Have a look on adverts, with the recent refresh I saw a few 27" iMac's on there. Try get one with time left on the Apple Care.

uncle_sam_ie

Mini port is all you need for connecting.

Sad Professor

The iMac is probably better value, but LED backlit displays aren't cheap. When I got my 24-inch ACD, Dell were selling the exact same panel in a big chunky box for not much less (it obviously had far superior connectivity though). The last roughly equivalent 27-inch display I saw on the Dell site cost €800 and it wasn't LED.

ashleey

I agree it's way expensive but I couldn't find an alternative led with speakers, webcam and mic built in. Amazon is about 200 euro cheaper than apple too. I presume that's because a refresh is coming? That's also about 500 euro cheaper than the base 27" iMac. Is that a false economy?

Willbbz

I wouldn't expect a new iMac soon. Did they not release the 2011 iMac with Thunderbolt port in March?

Sad Professor

Yeah, the iMac was only updated 2 months ago. And Apple don't update their standalone displays very often. The cheap iMac you saw on Amazon is probably last gen.

ashleey

It was the display I was referring to but I won't buy a last year's model from amazon. Thanks for all help lads

Sad Professor

The display on Amazon should be the current one. There was no previous gen 27-inch ACD.

ashleey

Again, good info.

The temptation to succumb to 'upgraditis' is ever present though. A 27" imac would tick all the boxes even at the base spec and taking advantage of the education discount and then the kids can get the mac mini and I can bin their old windows vista machine.

So its a straight choice: 1000 euro for a display and worry that your machine is too slow or 1500 euro for a new machine but not the highest spec available?

uncle_sam_ie

Don't shy away from a Refurbished 27 iMac from the Apple store. This would be a great deal. http://store.apple.com/ie/product/FC511B/A?mco=MTkwMzU2MjI and if you sold your Mini ( and that's not hard to do) you would come out spending a lot less and have a much better computer.

ashleey

uncle_sam_ie wrote: »

Don't shy away from a Refurbished 27 iMac from the Apple store. This would be a great deal. http://store.apple.com/ie/product/FC511B/A?mco=MTkwMzU2MjI and if you sold your Mini ( and that's not hard to do) you would come out spending a lot less and have a much better computer.

It's a silly question, but where would be the best place to sell a mini?

uncle_sam_ie

I've sold all my Mac's here. Advertise.ie. You should get a least 500 euro for it.

ashleey

Appreciate the help, and that refurb looks good too. Thanks very much.

ashleey

Went for the Apple Cinema Display as I won't need to involve myself in migrating to a new computer, no new copy of windows needed to run on bootcamp (I had an OEM copy) and its 500 euro odd less initial spend. Then around Christmas when OSX Lion is out and a new Mac Mini is released (maybe) I can upgrade the computing hardware. Now I can do away with the webcam and external speakers and dvi adaptor at the back of the mini. All explained to the wife as a solution for eye strain due to my poor existing LG display.

Thanks for all the excellent advice.

ashleey

Got the display. It's excellent. On setting up I unstacked my mac mini and iomega minimax drive. The iomega was beginning to bubble due to heat. Even though the site says they are stackable. Dont