Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

rollershapple · May 9, 2007, 10:26 AM

Ok, so im in a pickle. One of my friends Is going to sell me an iMac G4 1.25GHz, 100Gb Hard Drive, 1GB Ram, 20" Display, and superdrive, for $600.

So my question is...Im going to be using this with Logic Express, Reason, Adobe Creative Suite 1 ect. Should I buy the iMac G4 or should I get a stock Mac Mini, with 512MB Ram, 1.66GHz core duo, 60GB hard drive, no display, and a combo drive. I know this is probably an obvious answer but I need to know which is going to be alright with the applications I need to run.

Help is MUCH appreciated.

mduell · May 9, 2007, 12:07 PM

Neither is terribly appetizing, but I'd go with the iMac.

The Mac mini with 512MB RAM running apps through Rosetta would be a swapfest.

rollershapple · May 9, 2007, 12:15 PM

Hmm, well im definitly leaning towards the iMac.

ibook_steve · May 9, 2007, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Neither is terribly appetizing, but I'd go with the iMac.

The Mac mini with 512MB RAM running apps through Rosetta would be a swapfest.

I am surprised you'd recommend this. Definitely the mini, but get more memory and possibly a bigger hard drive. Get them cheaper after market (i.e. not from Apple) and install them yourself. The PPC train has left the station. It's time to go Intel. Unless, of course, you have no display of your own already.

Steve

mduell · May 9, 2007, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by ibook_steve

I am surprised you'd recommend this. Definitely the mini, but get more memory and possibly a bigger hard drive. Get them cheaper after market (i.e. not from Apple) and install them yourself. The PPC train has left the station. It's time to go Intel. Unless, of course, you have no display of your own already.

Yea, a refurb Intel iMac would be great, but they're not $600. I assume since he's choosing between two $600 systems, he doesn't have another $200 to blow on upgrades or a better system to start with.

rollershapple · May 9, 2007, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Yea, a refurb Intel iMac would be great, but they're not $600. I assume since he's choosing between two $600 systems, he doesn't have another $200 to blow on upgrades or a better system to start with.

Exactly. I have $600 to work with, and thats a stretch. I dont despertly want a mac mini. I think id rather go with the imac. It'll have 2gb ram, 100gb hardrive i think 7200. a superdrive, 20" display and amazong design. I say long live ppc anyway. Besides if I need to upgrade i can get a mini for christmas with more ram.

imitchellg5 · May 17, 2007, 09:41 PM

Get the iMac. It's a powerful machine, and if nothing else, you'll have a rare (the 20" G4s are fairly hard to find) and classy iMac. I wouldn't recommend the mini for Reason. Reason struggles on the MacBooks that I've used it on.

Veltliner · May 18, 2007, 03:02 AM

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

Get the iMac. It's a powerful machine, and if nothing else, you'll have a rare (the 20" G4s are fairly hard to find) and classy iMac. I wouldn't recommend the mini for Reason. Reason struggles on the MacBooks that I've used it on.

Has the mini still this integrated video chipset?

How would it handle the creative suite?

analogika · May 18, 2007, 05:21 AM

If you're going to be using it primarily for audio, know that the Mac mini will squarely knock the iMac out of the studio - provided you give it 2GB of RAM (there is no discussion here - just figure the added cash in right off the bat) and all your audio apps are Intel-native (they won't run otherwise).

The 20" iMac G4 is a dream and definitely one of the loveliest computers ever created, but for pure audio stuff, the Core Duo has it beat, easily.

mduell · May 18, 2007, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by Veltliner

Has the mini still this integrated video chipset?

How would it handle the creative suite?

Yes.

Quite well (for an $800 system). The biggest bottleneck is the small/slow hard drive, so you'd want an external Firewire drive for scratch.

Veltliner · May 18, 2007, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by analogika

If you're going to be using it primarily for audio, know that the Mac mini will squarely knock the iMac out of the studio - provided you give it 2GB of RAM.

Why would the mini be better for audio? I guess I haven't looked at it in a long while. Has it become so much better?

Edit: ah, you are talking about a relatively old iMac g4!

ApeInTheShell · May 27, 2007, 04:33 PM

here is an article at low end mac reviewing the intel mac mini. It should be useful
The Intel Mac mini Value Equation

blackslayer · May 29, 2007, 01:51 PM

Hmm if i were you, and i am just using adobe Cs and not Cs3. i will get the G4 but i doubt it has any warrenty left.