(vanity) FR Mac users: Which Mac do you recommend based on these specs?

5/26/08 | marty_f

[martin_fierro]

OK you FR MacHeads.  

Having had good experiences with a used eMac, I'm considering replacing my 5 year-old main desktop PC with a Mac.

Cost is a factor, so I’m trying to decide between a maxxed-out Mac Mini (can use my existing LCD screen, mouse and keyboard) or an iMac (longer useful life)

Here are the PC desktop's specs.

 

	CURRENTLY HAVE	MAC EQUVALENT OR BETTER?
CPU	AMD Athlon 2600+, 2.13 GHz	?
RAM	1 GB DDR266 SDRAM 184-pin DIMMs	?
HDD	120GB ATA/133	?
VIDEO	ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 PRO 64 MB DDR AGP with TV display	?
OS	XP Home Edition	OS X 10.5

Here’s what I use this desktop for:

• ·          Family digital video editing/burning onto DVD
• ·          Watching/capturing cable TV video in a window ß must-have feature
• ·          Light graphics
• ·          Some Office stuff (would probably use OpenOffice instead of shelling out $$$ for MS Office for Mac) 
• ·          Freeping via FireFox, natch

Based on the above needs, which Mac configuration would you recommend?

[Swordmaker]

Freeper requests advice on buying a Mac... PING!

Mac Advice Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[stravinskyrules]

I just bought a refurbished MacBook Pro....I almost had to sell my wife to do it but found some extra cash.

[stravinskyrules]

I would absolutely shell out the extra bread for a 24” screen iMac over the 20”..the screen is no less than stunning.

[MediaMole]

El Gato seems to be the best choice for Mac TV cards.

Under any circumstances, get a capture card that supports HDTV.

To Martin_fierro’s question, I would really recommend an iMac rather than a Mini as an only computer. The iMac’s memory can be easily upgraded by anyone with some aptitude. A Mini needs the putty knife treatment for any upgrade.

The iMac also includes a desktop hard drive, which is larger and faster — something that really helps with video capture.

If you go with the Mini, you will have to get an external drive for storage, a memory upgrade and either buy the $799 version or get an external DVD burner.

One other thought. Buy a Macbook and use your current keyboard and mouse for desktop use. The midrange Macbook is only $100 more than an iMac and it gives you the convienience of a notebook.

[Amadeo]

Go with the iMac.

I agree with Stravinskyrules. Get the 24 in. screen. I have had a 20 in. for years and last December bought a 24 in. and gave the 20 in. to my daughter to replace her old iMac CRT. Then I got another 24 in. which I’ve hooked up to a 20 in. display. The extra real estate is worth it. If you can afford it max out on the RAM too.

[newheart]

"I recently needed to replace my old PC. It sort of quit working, at least for ME, when my wife took it with her when she moved out. "

Not to make light of your marital distress, but it serves her right. I went through it 3 years ago. I got the Macs and she got the PC. I'm still using the old Macs (even though I have bought a new iMac) while she has had nothing but trouble with the PC.

All in all, of course I'd rather have marital bliss. But short of that, give me a Mac.

[ReignOfError]

I think for your uses, I’d probably go with the iMac. It has a faster processor, which will help with video rendering for DVDs, and it can take up to 4GB of RAM (2 is standard), where the Mini maxes out at 2.

If you decide to run Windows in Parallels or VMWare Fusion, you’re going to want all the RAM you can throw at it.

The iMac allows you to keep your existing LCD display as a second monitor — and if you’ve never played around with two monitors, I recommend it. You can keep the main monitor as 100% work space, and use the second for stuff like palettes, updating news headlines, and e-mail and IM. I used to keep the weather radar widget up when there were storms coming.

I had a two-monitor setup for many years, and three for a while. It’s the one thing I miss with my Mini.

[SunkenCiv]

...and this may be of interest...

[Tribune7]

Buy a Macbook and use your current keyboard and mouse for desktop use.

And even your monitor. If it's VGA you'll have to get an adapter.

[cowboyway]

+

[antiRepublicrat]

The big drawback to the Mac mini is that it uses a 5200 rpm laptop hard drive, and it doesn’t have Firewire 800 so you can’t just get an external drive to make up for that (Firewire 400 max). It’s basically a laptop without a screen, keyboard and track pad.

Don’t get one unless you’re willing to take that speed hit as opposed to what you’d get in a regular desktop model.

[Paridel]

It depends on how much you are willing to spend.

If you like doing a lot of TV capturing and encoding, I would recommend a refurbished mac pro. One of the 2.66GHz ones can be had for $1999. With quad xeon processors you can compress video really fast. Plus, it has four bays for hard drives and you can upgrade the ram to 32GB.

As far as tv capture is concerned... maybe one of the Elgato devices (like the EyeTV 250 Plus?). I have a little usb HDTV capture stick. It works great, unfortunately mine is windows only. I dual boot my mac pro and so only capture (for now) on the windows side. I'm planning on buying a mac one soon.

The one warning I would have is that for 1080p playback you will probably need at least a 2.2 or 2.4GHz core 2 duo. Some of the less speedy mac minis won't cut it. I'm not sure if you are anticipating handling videos of that resolution, but I notice that you tend to keep computers for a while so it might be a good idea to future proof.

Actually, the used route might not be too bad. I've seen used mac pro 3.0GHz advertised locally for ~$1600 with lots of ram. You could probably get one from Fall 2006 that still has a good bit of time left on applecare pretty cheap. Thanks,

I have one of the original Mac Pros and love it. The mini is quite nice as well, just not nearly as fast. paridel

[lesser_satan]

[Question_Assumptions]

The Elgato EyeTV Hybrid has been working pretty well for me, though it puts a lot of the encoding burden on the machine's CPU (that means it would probably work better with an iMac than a Mini). The only big downside it that it captures in a format that you need to convert out of to play it on anything.

[DesScorp]

Can you get by with a built-in Intel graphics chip? Is being limited to 2 gigs of ram ok? Then get a Mini. If not, get an iMac.

[martin_fierro]

ALL -- Thanks for the feedback! Some excellent suggestions here. Keep 'em comin'!

• ccmay/Mr Jeeves/cowboyway: Thanks for the heads-up on NeoOffice. Hadn't heard of it before. Given what I'll probably be spending for this rig, every little bit in $oftware $avings helps. But I'd try out iWork for the 30 days.
• hal9000/yossarian/mediamole/paridel/questionassumptions: Excellent tip re: elGato TV product. That's another one that I was unaware of. I'll also wait until after Jobs' 6/9 keynote speech to see what new offerings there are.
• amadeo/ccmay/reignoferror: I'm starting to lean toward the iMac with maxxed-out RAM.
• reignoferror : Outstanding idea re: using my existing 20" Viewsonic lcd screen in tandem with the iMac. Will the iMac accept either digital or VGA monitor cords to plug into the Viewsonic? The VMWare Fusion idea is also very good -- that way I don't have to turn my back entirely on Windows apps (just use them when absolutely necessary)
• Swordmaker: Thanks for the ping!

[Golden Eagle]

ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 PRO 64 MB DDR AGP with TV display

Can an iMac or Mac Mini either support cable TV in? There may also be issues with external displays, especially with the iMac. Maybe that's something you don't really need, but most everything I do at home is TV/video related, and why I mostly use PC's. I think Apple now includes the Apple TV application with Leopard, but most of the content has to come from the network.

[Golden Eagle]

According to this on Apple’s site, you have to remove the panel off the bottom of the display to plug in the VGA cable. This will only display what is on the iMac screen, “extending” the desktop isn’t available.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58467

[HAL9000]

Two other recommendations -

Get Apple's new Time Capsule device for automatic backups in conjunction with Leopard's Time Machine software. It also serves as a network gateway and an 802.11b/g/n wireless access point.

The AppleCare 3-year extended warranty is also recommended.

[HAL9000]

I think Apple now includes the Apple TV application with Leopard, but most of the content has to come from the network.

Apple TV is a separate system from Macs, although they share a lot of technology. One key advantage of Apple TV is the ability to download and watch 720p-encoded HDTV movies from iTunes. Windows PCs and Macs are restricted to SD content from iTunes.

On Macs, an application called Front Row provides some similar functionality to Apple TV.