What to buy: Mini, PowerMac or iMac?

davebarnesdavebarnes
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Last September, we bought a PowerBook for travel so we could keep in touch with our clients.

Soon after, we decided to make the switch from Windows 2000 to Mac OS X.



So, my partner started to use the PowerBook for everyday use.

Her configuration is: 12-inch PB (with 768MB, standard 60GB 4200 rpm disk, DVD-ROM/CD-RW, WiFi, Bluetooth) plus Logitech keyboard/mouse and Apple 23-inch Cinema Display (aluminum) and LaCie FW400 160 GB external disk.

Well, the PB is proving to be too slow and it crashes too often (at once per day).

We use this Mac (for business) to build websites and run: Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Entourage, Word (and infrequently Excel, and PowerPoint).

We use this Mac (for personal use) to have fun and run: iTunes and Photoshop (manipulate RAW images from Canon EOS 300D).



We have decided to upgrade to a new machine and have 3 choices:

Mac Mini

PowerMac

iMac



Mac Mini

1.42 GHz G4

ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB

Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)

1 GB RAM

60 GB 7200 rpm Toshiba disk (replaces existing drive)

FW 400 + USB 2

BT + WiFI

Total cost = $1050



PowerMac

Dual 2.0 GHz G5

ATI Radeon 9600 with 128MB

16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

2 GB RAM

160 GB 7200 rpm SATA drive

FW 800 + FW 400 + USB 2

BT + WiFi

Total Cost = $2420



iMac

2.0 GHz G5

ATI Radeon 9600 with 128MB

8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

2 GB RAM

250 GB 7200 rpm SATA drive

FW 400 + USB 2

BT + WiFi

20-inch LCD monitor (and we move the existing 20-inch ACD to another PC)

Total Cost = $2090



Question:

1. What would you buy and why?



thanks,

dave

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    ibook911ibook911 Posts: 607member
    Do not consider the Mac Mini, if the Powerbook is slow to you. The Mac Mini only has 32MB of VRAM and doesn't support core-image. The Mac Mini would be a step backwards IMHO.



    Sounds likes this machine is used for graphic professional use, so the PowerMac may be your best bet, the iMac would hold-up as well. If the $400 difference to the Powermac does not bother you, you might as well help future-proof yourself with a dual-processor machine. However, if you'd like to have the spare display and save $400, the iMac will work nicely for you.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    tacojohntacojohn Posts: 980member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Dave Barnes



    Well, the PB is proving to be too slow and it crashes too often (at once per day).





    Crashing that often is not normal. I haven't had my mac's crash more than 5 times in 4 years.



    I do heavy design/video work on all of them.



    Something's wrong with either the install of the OS or the powerbook.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Right - what do you mean by crash?



    With the apps you mentioned, time is money. I would go for the PowerMac.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    resres Posts: 711member
    The mini will not be any faster then your powerbook. If you can afford, it I would go with the powermac, but I'd suggest configuring it like this:



    PowerMac

    Dual 2.0 GHz G5

    ATI Radeon 9650 with 256MB

    16x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

    1 GB RAM

    250 GB 7200 rpm SATA drive

    FW 800 + FW 400 + USB 2

    BT + WiFi

    Total Cost = $2,323.00



    I think upgrading the hd for $75 and the Video card for $50 is a good idea. Buying memory from Apple is usually a wast of money, but the $100 upgrade to go from two 256MB modules to to 512MB modules is worth it. You could then get another 2 sticks of 512MB DDR PC3200 from www.crucial.com for $110.00.





    BTW: what part of your software is crashing? If the OS is crashing that frequently it is time to reformat your disk and reinstall everything from scratch. I get uptime's of months on my Macs, OS X should not be crashing anywhere near once a day.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    icfireballicfireball Posts: 2,594member
    For any computer I buy, I try to buy one that will stay current the longest. The PowerMac will do that for you, and I would recomend you getting that.
  • Reply 6 of 7
    telekontelekon Posts: 54member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Dave Barnes

    We use this Mac (for business) to build websites and run: Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Entourage, Word (and infrequently Excel, and PowerPoint).

    We use this Mac (for personal use) to have fun and run: iTunes and Photoshop (manipulate RAW images from Canon EOS 300D).





    Excluding Photoshop and OSX, your other apps, as far as I'm aware, aren't MP capable, so the iMac is more than enough for these tasks.

    If you use Photoshop for large files (30MB+) or major 2D image compositing, I'd definately go for the PowerMac.



    Whatever you decide to buy, enjoy!
  • Reply 7 of 7
    beigeuserbeigeuser Posts: 371member
    Regarding your slow and crash-prone powerbook:



    Have you changed your CPU settings to fastest? I'm not sure about your model of powerbook but my friends 15" can change the CPU speed from auto to fast. It's in the system preferences under the energy settings.



    Also, you need to increase RAM if you plan to continue working with RAW images.



    Regarding crashes, follow the standard maintenance procedures like repair permissions, run hardware test, update all software to newest versions etc. If that doesn't work, reinstall. Your computer shouldn't crash so frequently.
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