[window24me]

Does anyone have at least an opinion on the following?

Have a PowerBook 12" 1Ghz and love it, but it heats up and struggles a little doing large Photoshop and Illustrator files. I don't want to get rid of it, so I am considering a second MAC. Because this is a second machine... budget is an issue.

I am looking at a MDD Dual 867 (used) versus a new MAC Mini 1.25 or 1.42 (single obviously). Same price range for the used and the new.

I know Photoshop etc can take advantage of a dual processor set-up, but, would the technical features of the newer board and chip make the single Mini a better buy than the older model dual?

I don't know enough about the technical side of MACs to know this stuff. Hope someone can help me make up my mind.

[window24me]

Surely someone out there has an opinion on this subject. I have read lots of other comparisons, but nothing regarding older DP versus newer singles. Please, can someone help me out here? My local MAC dealer just keeps trying to sell me a DP G5... which I already told them was $1500 more than I had right now.

[PrOeliuM]

I'd say go for the Dualie. It is older, but some people use the rule of thumb that a dualie's performance is one and a half times the proc speed (as opposed to a theortetical two times the speed, due to overhead) so 867 * 1.5 = 1.3 GHz which would be a bit more than a base mini and would generally outperform it in doing multimedia editing. If the mini was a g5, then I'd probably recommend the mini, but otherwise I think the used dualie would be the best for your needs.

Due to the fact that the mini also uses a slower hd and the same family of proc, I don't think its performance would upstage your current PB's performance anyways.

[window24me]

Thanks, I was wondering about the math on the dualie thing. I'm an old PC'er, and new to the idea of DP. Dualies are rare in the every day world of PC. Heck, even my single 1Ghz PowerBook out performs my AMD PC!

[SSharon]

before someone here goes nuts say Mac instead of MAC since they don't mean the same thing.

another thing to consider is that the dual g4 is much more expandable and capable of holding much more ram. I hear that you can buy a dual 1.8 upgrade but its a bit pricey. Also, the dual 867 has slower ram and a slower bus than the dual 1 and dual 1.25 (pc2100 vs pc2700 and 133mhz vs. 166mhz), it also has an inferior graphic card. If you can find one I would get one of the faster models. Note the dual 1.42 is from the next revision of the MDD and has firewire 800.

[d.fine]

I'd take the Dualie, jus for the sake up ugradeability. The Mini is how you get it, while the DP machine can be upgraded in the future to last you longer.

Also, I'm very impressed with the performance of DP machines, so I would never recommend against it, so I'd say get it!! Or one or two models later if you have the chance for the reasons stated by the previous poster.

[G5power]

I would vote for the dual 867. Not that I run any heavy applications, but I am happy with the performance of my 867.

Most of the reviews and comments on the mini refer to the bottleneck of the slow hard drive. With the MDD G4 you will have room to install 4 fast hard drives. I picked up a 7200 RPM Seagate for only a few dollars after rebate and it was an easy install.

Additionally as someone else mentioned the memory upgrade path on the MDD is better. You have 4 memory slots that allow up to 2GB of memory, while the mini is restricted to one slot and 1GB.

Another factor is that the MDD will allow you to easily add a SuperDrive for example the Pioneer DVR-109 DL 16x. Those can be found from companies like Newegg for reasonable amounts.

[Al G]

MDDs are very noisy machines. If you're used to a Powerbook I don't think you will be very pleased with a Wind Tunnel machine.

The other bad news is either a DP 867 or a mini will be faster than your Powerbook but the difference won't be that dramatic. If possible, I suggest you try out a potential new machine with your software to see if it's worth the money.

[Lateralus]

Not all MDDs are loud. The two I owned were nearly silent, a Dual 867 Rev 1 and a Dual 1.25 Rev 2. It's luck of the draw on the Rev 1s and the Rev 2s seem to be fine as I think they were outfitted with quiter fans.

[Eriamjh]

My vote is for the Dual 867. More RAM, upgradeable video, multiple HDs, two optical bays, PCI slots, and an upgradeable processor to boot. Do you really need anything better?