What to Buy: Mac Mini or an iMac?

Posted By: Katie

I get this question a lot: I need a basic Mac, email, word processing, web surfing, a little graphics, manage my photos and create the occasional movie and DVD. What Mac should I buy? My answer is always the same, it depends. You'll have to forgive me because for the past three years when I was in law school the answer to any question ever asked was always, it depends. So as you can Imagine I'm a little predisposed to throw out this answer whenever I'm asked a tough question. But in this case, it really does depends. The reality is, for the average person either the Mac Mini or the iMac will probably be more than enough power to accomplish these basic tasks. There's no question that either of these machines will hands down run faster, smoother, give you less problems and last a whole lot longer than any run of the mill PC you buy.

Yes, yes I know...Macs cost more than PCs. Well, it's true that at the time of purchase Macs are typically more expensive than the average PC. However, if you look at the over all cost of ownership, most of the time the Mac will end up being a better buy in the long run. Here are just a few reasons why: 1) It comes with everything you need. You can make movies, manage your photos, surf the net, check your email, manage your calendar and all that right out of the box. Granted, the one thing the mac doesn't have pre-installed is a good word processor, but you can buy Office, save some money and buy Pages, or go the free route and use an open source program like Open Office. Besides, most PCs don't come pre-installed with Office either. 2) It just works. No spyware, no viruses. So not only does this mean that you save countless hours of time and frustration by not having to deal with these problems (how much is your time worth?), but you also don't have to buy expensive anti-virus and anti-spyware software and subscriptions. Finally, 3) For the average user it's not uncommon for a Mac to continue to have a useful life after 4-5 years and sometimes even longer. Plus, when you are ready to upgrade, your Mac has retained more value and therefore you can actually do something with it like sell it to recoup some of the cost of a new machine, or donate it to a friend, family member or charity who can also have some valuable use out of it. When was the last time you used a 5 year old PC for something other than a door stop?

So now that we know you're going to buy a Mac, which one should you buy? Well the first decision you'll have to make is desktop or portable. Obviously with a portable machine you'll have more options if you use your machine on the go. Though just because of the nature of being a computer that's on the go and tends to get regular bumps and bruises along the way they tend not to last quite as long as desktop machines. They also tend to be more expensive. I've been using a portable as my only Mac for about 5 years now and I personally can't see a time when my primary machine will ever be a desktop. But to each their own and I know for a vast majority of people who don't live and breathe by their computer and typically only use their computer sitting at their desk at home, then there's no question a desktop is the way to go.

Once you decide portable or desktop, you then have to decide which model. Again, focusing on the average consumer, the choice is usually going to be between a Mac Mini or an iMac. And now, we've (finally!) gotten to the point of my writing this entire blog entry. My dad, who is finally switching back to the Mac after a 10 year hiatus over to "the dark side" is struggling with this very decision. As the resident Mac Guru in our family, I'm the one who he has turned to to make this decision. (Literally three phone calls and a text message in the last four hours folks!) With Apple's most recent upgrades to the iMac and Mac Mini, it's a great time to buy that Mac you've been thinking about for so long. To help my dad with this decision, and to stop the phone calls and messages every hour, I put together a little comparison chart with the help of Apple's latest edition to iWork '08, Numbers. Now this comparison chart may or may not be helpful to everyone who is looking to buy a Mac, but I think my dad is a fairly good representation of the "Typical Mac User" (hope you don't mind me borrowing that Victor!) He does fairly basic things with his computer, email, word processing, and the internet. He does a bit with digital photos, occasionally editing graphics, putting together promotional flyers for work, maybe finally creating a basic website and at some point get into basic videos. He's also in his mid-50s and his vision isn't what it use to be, so a big clear flat screen is an absolute must.

Taking all this information into account, I've pretty much narrowed him down to two possibilities. A Mac Mini with a 23" cinema display or a 24" iMac. If it were me, I'd go with the low-end 24" iMac as the best value for the money. My dad has concerns about an "all in one" computer because he's worried that when he has to replace the computer, he'll also have to replace the screen. (Remember, he's coming from the PC world where your computer starts to suck about 6 months after you buy it.) So to help him with this decision, I came up with a chart that compares his options. As you know, I'm a deal shopper so not only did I break down the specs and prices of each machine, but I also broke down where to buy it from and the promotions and special deals that are available from each. My mom works for a university so if she buys the machine for him, she's eligible for the education discounts that Apple offers so I threw those in as well.

I hope you find this useful. As always, I appreciate your comments. Feel free to email me at: themaccore@gmail.com

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