How does Mac Mini compare to iMac?

My iMac needs to be replaced. Do users like the Mac mini as well as other Mac computers? Is it as troublefree? Easy to use?

I don't have an iMac, so take everything I say with a gain of salt...
However, I do have a mac mini. Obviously, the iMac will be faster, have a nice LCD, whereas the mac mini is going to be slower because it uses an out of date G4 CPU. Also, the hard drive is (I believe) slower, and it's a lot harder from what i've heard to upgrade ram. that's not to say it can't be done, I've voided my mac mini's warranty 2 times now, the first time upgrading the ram, the 2nd time in a daunting hard drive upgrade.
If you don't plan on upgrading the computer anytime soon though, there's nothing wrong with it. I use mine for some video editing and photoshopping, but mostly it's just left on 24/7 as a file server and every now and then used for AIM and word.
When you get it, and take it out of the box, you need to plug in a power cable, mouse, keyboard, (probably buy a USB hub) speakers if you have any, and a monitor.
All in all, it's a full working macintosh computer, minus some nice extras (such as more than 2 USB ports), but it works just like any othe mac, uses finder like the iMac, and quite honestly, if you have a spare LCD, I think it's a better buy if you are only going to be doing word processing/email on it.
Once you start upgrading the DVD/CD+RW to a dvdrw, and boosting the ram to get most speed and such, I would forget about getting it though, since it's innatley slower than the iMac (but CPU, GPU, RAM, and HDD wise), and you'd be better off spending the money on the iMac.
In short, if you only use your mac for email and office documents, it's the best bang for your buck ever. If you need your mac for other stuff (such as video editing) you might be better off going with an iMac. There is, however, nothing wrong with the mini at all that stops it from being a fully functional mac.
P.S. I'd wait until after the next macworld expo thing in january to buy, as they are rumored to be releasing new products, which would drop the prices of the current lineup.

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