Mac Mini for professional illustration - sensible choice?

Question

I need to upgrade my 1.25 GHz powerbook as it is becoming too slow for carrying out my digital illustration work.
I'm considering the new 2.0 Ghz Intel Mac Mini + 23" Cinema Display for the following reasons:
1. The Mac Pro is just too expensive once you factor in a monitor, and is way too powerful for using Illustrator and a tiny bit of Photoshop.
2. The new 24" Imac would be perfect but the two that I've tried I had to send back as they both had a left side of the screen significantly brighter than the other, rendering them useless for illustration work. The Apple Store told me they were supposed to be like this - their display model had exactly same problem so I'm inclined to believe him.
So the only option I'm left with is the Mac Mini. Will this be powerful enough to run Illustrator and Photoshop CS3, and perhaps Itunes also? I'm hoping to run a web browser, email etc. separately from my old G4 Powermac.
Will it be a significant improvement in performance over my 1.25 Ghz Powerbook (1GB Ram - only one working memory slot so no room for additional memory)?
Any advice much appreciated - Many thanks!

Answer 1

Last question first:
Will it be a significant improvement in performance over my 1.25 Ghz Powerbook (1GB Ram - only one working memory slot so no room for additional memory)?
Yes. Bearing in mind that the mini is roughly on a par with the G5 DP systems which outperformed the G4 powermacs of similar specification to your PB by a significant margin, the mini could hardly fail to give you a significant boost in performance, and particularly if you were to toss in a couple of 1Gb RAM modules instead of the two 512Mb sticks supplied by default.
However, there is one caveat, and that is that to really benefit from the improved performance capabilities of the system, it would be essential to run Intel-native software, not versions of applications written for the PPC processor you have in the PB. That is clearly not an issue in terms of any of the software Apple supply with the mini, but you need to check that any other software you want to install is also Intel native, because if it is not, it'll run under Rosetta which will slow the mini down significantly - so much that you would not notice much real difference between it and the PB.
So the only option I'm left with is the Mac Mini. Will this be powerful enough to run Illustrator and Photoshop CS3, and perhaps Itunes also? I'm hoping to run a web browser, email etc. separately from my old G4 Powermac.
The mini certainly has the power to run this kind of software - plenty of it.
There are some broad thoughts however: Firstly that as powerful as the mini is, it is not really designed for this sort of use (meaning professional level work) and it lacks a few things professionals often need, such as expandability, choice of video cards, ability to drive multiple displays at high resolutions etc. If those options are not important to you, then the diminutive size and the 'sealed' nature of the system should not put you off, because as much as the mini has limitations (relatively slow hard drive for example), they are broadly the same as those that applied to your powerbook, which has not hindered you in your work.
If I were in your situation I'd probably look at a 20" iMac as a preferred option, with an additional LCD display and mini-DVI adapter for greater flexibility when working, faster hard drive, better graphics and somewhat better all-round performance. Admittedly there are reports of graduated brightness on these systems, though I would refute any claim by an Apple store staffer that this was 'normal' or to be expected, because clearly it should not be. One might suppose the comment resulted from the desire to sell product and the fact the display model exhibited the same characteristic, but with a decent external digital panel set as the primary workspace, that would overcome the problem even if you were to experience it. It might be that you could source an external display from Dell or similar manufacturer at sufficiently lower cost than the 23" Apple display that it would make a base iMac with external LCD little more expensive.
Personally, that's the option I would go for if funds permit, simply because it helps to maximise options and future-proof your investment a little better than a mini. On the other hand if you have a need to keep the expenditure down, the mini is an excellent system of great potential as long as its hardware doesn't restrict your options.