Re: Mac mini or iMac?

In article
<replytogroup-B2C33F.12023727112007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
The New Guy <replytogroup@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

It is very difficult to do internal upgrades on a Mini. The iMac can
easily have its memory upgraded. This might mean you need to consider
buying more memory up front for the Mini so you never need to upgrade
it.

Any idiot can upgrade the Mini's memory. Just because Apple made it a
hassle should dissuade the upgrading of something so vital as ram.

Having seen some instructions on how to do memory and hard drive
installations in a Mini, I'd hardly call it an "any idiot" job.

I would and would encourage any non-lobotomized PATIENT Mac
user to go for it. Calm patience is the key.

I did upgrade the memory of this iMac from its original 256 by adding a
512. Fiddly getting the baseplate off but a bit of a no-brainer if you
aren't mechanically disinclined. Thing that bugged me was the 256 card
was behind a plastic screen so it was <impossible?> to remove that and
insert another 512. The absence of extra slots means discarding the
cards (unless you accept rock-bottom prices from a store)

<Snipped>


Fair enough. So the OP can make that decision. Still I'd say the
percentage of Photoshop users that use multi monitors is probably less
than 10%. What do you say, OP?

While the iMac does have a socket for a 2nd monitor, I've never used
one. The present 15inch screen is a bit small and Photoshop does run
slowly - painfully slow if I open more than a couple of photos (which is
why I'm looking for an upgrade) I'm assuming a 2nd display would place
an extra strain on the resources(?) I'm also assuming the new iMac
retains this function, but does the Mac Mini have the possibility of
adding a second monitor?

Coming from an iMac G4 they didn't have that option before, and a single
large screen on a Mini (or even the internal screen on a 20" iMac) would
be a step up.

Absolutely.

I find a dual monitor setup handy from time to time with various
applications on my MacBook Pro, using my Dell 24" monitor.

Sure. But most people don't. And it doesn't sound like the OP is
exactly a hardware nut.

Right you are. I've never <fiddled> around with computers and would be
leery about trying to build one.

And have more than 60gb of music stored on my 250gb external HDD, so
internal storage is not an issue.

You will still get better overall performance on an iMac due its
physically larger and faster hard drive, e.g. being able to boot and
launch applications faster, virtual memory will perform better, caches,
etc.

Yes, the internal 60gb HDD filled very quickly prompting the 250gb
external drive and even shifting most stuff to the external, free space
on the internal is still under 10gb meaning I have to be careful when
placing AVI movies on the desktop to watch.



Has anyone encountered problems using a non-Mac display or keyboard
with
the Mac mini?

I'd be less keen on a non-Mac keyboard, as you have to adapt to the
Command and Option keys being back to front, and the lack of an Eject
key.

Right. I guess the $49 keyboard is money well spent. The USB port is
really useful. Might go with two button wheel mouse though - hate the
wheel-less Mac mouse.

In OS X's System Preferences, Keyboard and Mouse, Keyboard, Modifier
Keys, there are provisions for controlling 4 keys incluing Caps Lock,
Control, Option and Command.

Ah, I'd forgotten about those. That helps.

Am I allowed another question?

The F keys don't seem to do much. Can I assign Windows-type commands to
a Mac keyboard? (F2 for editing Excel cells for instance?)
.