mac mini vs. mac book air

elicoelico
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hi All,



I am new to this forum, hoping it is the right place to ask my question.



I am debating on buying a new apple computer and I am thinking on one of the following:



1. the new mac book air - 13 inch 256GB SSD drive, 1.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 4GB memory, Intel HD Graphics 3000



2. the new mac book mini - 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 500GB, AMD Radeon HD 6630M.



My usage is mostly:



1. software development - JEE (running IDE, application server)



2. some multimedia - connect it to the television to watch online content



3. web surfing.



I can tell that the mac mini specifications are better, but on the other hand, the MBA is a light portable computer (can I connect it to the television). Do you think that MBA will be good enough for my needs?



Also, I know that the MBA has SSD storage which should be much faster, but, is this storage is reliable long term?



Thanks in advance for you help.



Elico.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    the new mac book mini



    Uh, there's? no such thing. Your specs suggest the Mac Mini, though.



    Quote:

    (can I connect it to the television)



    Of course.



    Quote:

    Do you think that MBA will be good enough for my needs?



    Possibly. The Mac Mini would be better if you already have an external display, keyboard, and mouse/trackpad.



    They're completely different categories of device and in relatively different price tiers. If you need a laptop, you can't get the Mac Mini. If you don't necessarily need one, go ahead and get the Mac Mini.



    Quote:

    ?is this storage is reliable long term?



    Quite so.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    elicoelico Posts: 4member
    Hi,



    Thank you for the reply, I definitely meant the mac mini



    I was thinking to connect the mac mini to the television (LCD screen, 47 inch with HDMI) and use it for software development when needed, but my concern is whether it will display well on such a large screen, and no, I don't have any other screen - can I use any screen or only Apple's screen?

    About keyboard\\mouse - this is not a problem, I have a wireless set for that.



    Thanks again
  • Reply 3 of 13
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    can I use any screen or only Apple's screen?



    Anything for which an adapter exists. And an adapter exists for everything, so have at it.
  • Reply 4 of 13
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    Hi,



    Thank you for the reply, I definitely meant the mac mini



    I was thinking to connect the mac mini to the television (LCD screen, 47 inch with HDMI) and use it for software development when needed, but my concern is whether it will display well on such a large screen, and no, I don't have any other screen - can I use any screen or only Apple's screen?

    About keyboard\\mouse - this is not a problem, I have a wireless set for that.



    Thanks again



    I use mine with a 37" HDTV. Using HDTVs as monitors is hit and miss. Mine is a LG that was rated highly by some folks in the AVSForum for this purpose (1:1 pixel match, low latency, IPS panel).



    It will work, just how well it'll work is the question (eyestrain, readability, etc). On my HDTV it's very nice. 1920x1080 is a tad small (compared to my setup at work) but there's plenty of space for the IDE and other stuff.



    For multimedia the HDTV will be more than fine with either.



    Either would be fine for J2EE development with either Eclipse or IntelliJ or whatever. The biggest downside to the 13" air is the GPU.



    Personally for $200 more I'd get the 2.5Ghz Mac Mini for $799 and the 11" MBA for $999 over the $1,599 13" MBA with 256GB SDD.



    Or I'd get the Mac mini for $799 and then an iPad 2 for $499 and save $300.



    My Recommendation:



    Get the mac mini. See if it works with your TV for readability. If so, great. If not, you have lots of money left for a really decent monitor. If you got the MBA you'd start feeling a little constrained with 1440x900 anyway if you had to do a lot of development.



    If you learn you have to go on travel for weeks and the loaner laptop is a clunky machine you'll hate, take the almost $900 you saved and buy the current generation 11" MBA. 1366x768 is a little tight for development but the 11" is REALLY small and that's really nice when traveling.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    Hi,



    Thank you for the reply, I definitely meant the mac mini



    I was thinking to connect the mac mini to the television (LCD screen, 47 inch with HDMI) and use it for software development when needed, but my concern is whether it will display well on such a large screen, and no, I don't have any other screen - can I use any screen or only Apple's screen?

    About keyboard\\mouse - this is not a problem, I have a wireless set for that.



    Thanks again



    Hi there, just briefly...



    I wouldn't use such a huge HDTV to do any sort of software development.



    You should simply connect your MacBook Air to a 20" to 27" monitor. Any good quality brand, but the monitor should support MiniDisplayPort for best performance. If you do find a monitor you really like in the 20"-24" range which only has DVI then you can use a MiniDisplayPort to DVI (NOT VGA) adaptor.



    To use the HDTV, you would then use a MiniDisplayPort to HDMI converter to connect to your HDTV for watching videos, or stream it through an AppleTV without having to connect any cables.



    I would get the MacBook Air for portability. You can always hook it up to do work, then carry it around for when you are on the go. The GPU is not powerful but as long as you're not playing games or rendering heavily the CPU and especially SSD generally makes up for things overall.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    elicoelico Posts: 4member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Anything for which an adapter exists. And an adapter exists for everything, so have at it.



    I know an adapter exists but will it display in high quality? I know that it has HDMI but I am afraid that lack of computer screen will be a problem working with that computer.



    Do you think connecting it with HDMI to 47inch television, will be good solution for working with this computer?



    Thanks again
  • Reply 7 of 13
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    I know an adapter exists but will it display in high quality? I know that it has HDMI but I am afraid that lack of computer screen will be a problem working with that computer.



    Do you think connecting it with HDMI to 47inch television, will be good solution for working with this computer?



    Thanks again



    Hi, may I suggest, I don't think so. Usually 47" HDTV is for viewing videos or playing games. Regular computer use is not practical, I think. A 20" to 30" *computer monitor* not HDTV is best.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    I know an adapter exists but will it display in high quality?



    It will display in the maximum resolution of the screen. Whehter that's "high quality" depends on how far back you're sitting from it.



    Quote:

    Do you think connecting it with HDMI to 47inch television, will be good solution for working with this computer?



    Not in the slightest, personally.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    backeyjakicbackeyjakic Posts: 1member
    Hey guyz i have a macbook air with intell core i7, and i dont know how to play mta.

    I guess i need to instal gta for mac but i dont know if mta will work. any ideas?
  • Reply 10 of 13
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by backeyjakic View Post


    Hey guyz i have a macbook air with intell core i7, and i dont know how to play mta.

    I guess i need to instal gta for mac but i dont know if mta will work. any ideas?



    You'll, uh? want to expound on those acronyms. And write with proper spelling and punctuation.
  • Reply 11 of 13
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    I know an adapter exists but will it display in high quality? I know that it has HDMI but I am afraid that lack of computer screen will be a problem working with that computer.



    Do you think connecting it with HDMI to 47inch television, will be good solution for working with this computer?



    Thanks again



    Like I said, it's high quality text on some, perhaps many HDTVs.



    Mini + HDTV is a common pairing although many use it for just watching media.



    Given you don't even bother to state WHICH HDTV you have or HOW you have it mounted makes it impossible to even make a guess. 47" is big though, so at a guess you'll suffer from poor ergonomics regardless of how crystal clear the text will be.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    elicoelico Posts: 4member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nht View Post


    Like I said, it's high quality text on some, perhaps many HDTVs.



    Mini + HDTV is a common pairing although many use it for just watching media.



    Given you don't even bother to state WHICH HDTV you have or HOW you have it mounted makes it impossible to even make a guess. 47" is big though, so at a guess you'll suffer from poor ergonomics regardless of how crystal clear the text will be.



    Hi,



    You are right about that, I didn't mention which HDTV I have.



    I have philips 8404.



    Thanks
  • Reply 13 of 13
    nhtnht Posts: 4,522member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by elico View Post


    Hi,



    You are right about that, I didn't mention which HDTV I have.



    I have philips 8404.



    Thanks



    Has a PC mode that disables most video processing in the TV. PC screen shot looks reasonable.



    http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-l...s-details.html



    As long as you can sit and look at the TV comfortably without the text being too small it should be okay.
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