Which would be faster... Old Imac vs Mac Mini

Maybe a stupid question but there you go , if so I apologise in advance .
Which would be faster my aging iMac Intel Core Duo 2.16, or one of the new bread of Mac Minis .. primarily for photoshop and lightroom. Im trying to weigh up replacing the hard rive on the old imac see how long it lasts or just biting the bullet and buying a mac mini ... I don't like the new glossy screen imacs as I would in mainly b&w images and way to reflective
many thanks simon

SOme comparison charts to be found here http://www.marketingtactics.com/Speedmark/
My guess would be that the new Mini is faster than the old iMac.
Stefan

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Can I use imac 2007 which have dead hard drive as a Mac mini display

Can I use imac 2007 which have dead hard drive as a Mac mini display

If just the hard drive is defective you could mke a bootable USB thumb drive or bootable Firewire HD. Not sure of the connecting cables for the monitor functions. This could provide the functions though.
http://www.screenrecycler.com/ScreenRecycler.html

I've a ten year-old iMac, with Mac OS X version 10.5.8

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the iTunes 10.6.3 was installed a few days ago by the same tech person selling me the computer about two years ago, when the OS was reinstalled including iTunes. I've not been able to make iTunes work since the computer was returned.
The tech person is busy and will get back to me eventually, so I'm trying to see if I can do anything by myself. This shouldn't of happened, though everyone makes mistakes; is what I'm guessing?

Music Production | iMac or Mac Mini, help me make a decision

I've been playing the piano competitively for 12 years, producing classical and electronic music with Cubase SX on PC for 5 years.
Just to put you in proportion, the following specs were enough until recently - my productions became better and more complicated.
Additional 40% performance would completely satisfy my needs, no way I'll need more.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a387/GbeTech/Compspecs2.gif
I also have a pair of monitors, a LCD screen and a sound card (Juli@: http://www.esi-audio.com/products/julia/) that I would like to use.
- The monitors are obligatory to use.
- The sound card is obligatory _unless there is an option for a sound card with identical or better performance than the Juli@_.
Question: Is it possible to buy a sound card with similar or better performance than the Juli@ with either iMac or Mac Mini?
I can't afford a Mac Pro, as my budget is 2400$ max.
I'm trying to decide between an iMac, or a MacMini;
iMac
20"
2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
320GB HD 7200RPM
Wireless Mouse and Keyboard
1349$
MacMini
2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
320GB hard drive
1049$
iMac
Advantages
• A little better performance than the Mac Mini, but as both have better performance than my sufficient and current PC, I'm OK with either.
• More flexible about upgrading, changing hardware etc...
Disadvantages
• More expensive than the Mini, because the computer is actually a screen, which I don't need
MacMini
Advantages
• Possible to use my LCD screen
• Very cheap
Disadvantages
• Not really possible to upgrade anything significant.
*- Can I install my sound card into the iMac or the Mini?*
*- Is it possible to buy a sound card with the same or better performance than the Juli@?*
I prefer installing my card rather than buying a new one.
Can you help me decide?
Message was edited by: GbeTech

GbeTech,
I think it will come down to which machine you think you will enjoy using. You won't be able to use your Julia Sound Card in either machine.
I had a Core Duo 1.6Ghz Mac Mini with 2MB of Ram. I used both Logic 8 and Garageband on the Mac Mini with a Motu 896 and an external Firewire Drive using the ports on the Mac Screen. I never had any latency issues or crashes and recording was fine.
I play classical guitar and accordingly I need a system which is whisper quiet - the Mini was great in that regard.
I then switched to a 3.06Ghz iMac with 4MB of Ram. The iMac only has one FW 800 port and I was worried about daisychaining the Motu through the external Drive.
As it happened I've had no problems whatsoever using the iMac with the Motu and the External Drive. The iMac is as quiet as the Mac Mini - so for me I got a faster computer with no downside.
Having said that the old Mac Mini was quite adequate for my needs. My recordings are very simple - usually one stereo track and one mono audio track for each recording pass - if I multitrack (rarely now) multiply that by 3 plus a few synth/piano/bass tracks and I'm done. After mixing in Logic bounce as a Sound Designer file and then master using Peak 5. Quick simple process that produces fantastic results given recordings are made at home.
I use the above process for recording classical guitar. One thing though - do be careful in the type of External Drive you use - I had one that would click as it was being written to and my mircophone would pick up the clicks !! Changed to a quieter external drive and all is good.
If i'm messing around on an electric guitar - I use Garageband and plug the electric guitar straight into the back of the iMac using a cheap $2 1/4 to 1/8 jack - get a clean strong guitar signal which is then tweaked in Garageband.
I notice that you play classical piano - how you record may have a bearing on what machine you buy. If you simply use a midi keyboard then most probably either machine would be fine. However if you are using multiple mics around an acoustic piano you might want to look at Motu and the other interfaces out there, which in turn could influence your decision.
Hope the above helps.
Kind Reagrds

Orange Livebox & iMac 24" & Mac mini network, slow transfer using appletalk

Hi everone
I have my 2 computers (imac 24" C2Duo and Mac mini) connecting wirelessly to my Orange Livebox wireless router to access the internet.
I want though to set up an local network to access filesharing over both of the computers. I found a tutorial and managed to turn on Appletalk and filesharing in system prefs.
The problem is that when i transfer files it takes ages to copy them over, i have full signal on both computers, and they connect really fast to the internet.
I used to have it set up on another wireless router (netgear) and it was much faster than that,
Has anyone got a similar problem? or possible solution?
many thanks in advance!

looking through i was wondering if i bought a new aiport express base station and connected it to the livebox would it be better?
the mac mini is core duo so doesn't support n speed but my imac would would they both work? any advice would be appreciated!

I am trying to play my digital music off a hard drive onto my home stereo. I would like to know if the mac mini can just hook to my processor and play music through the processor(preamp) on my home stereo speakers?

I currently have a nice home stereo component system. I also have a 500 GB external hard drive loaded with music. I am looking for a way to play the music off this Hard Drive onto my home stereo system. I currently have a WD home entertainment box that I can play movies that I download off the Internet on my TV, of course piped through my home stereo for the sound. I would like to know if the mac-mini could be used in this form also. Just have the HD hooked to it, the TV would become my monitor and the mac mini would play the music ... RANDOMLY ... with the use of iTunes. This of course would be hooked up to the home system with an hdmi cable and the HD hooked up through a USB connection.
Just would like to know if this could work?

Yes. Is the short answer.
You can directly connect the speaker out port of the Mac mini to an input on the AV Receiver which then feeds your speakers. This would be an audio only solution. If you use a TOS-Link connection this will be a pure digital connection ensuring the best quality (important for audiophiles).
You can if you wish connect the video from the Mac mini to the AV Receiver, and if you have a Mac mini with HDMI or a Mini Displayport you can run the audio and video via a single cable. (Older models would use two cables, the aforementioned TOS-Link pus a DVI to HDMI cable.)
If you do connect the video output from the Mac to the AV Receiver you can then display this on your TV, and have as one possibility iTunes displayed with perhaps one of the iTunes visualisers playing along with the music. Another possibility would be to use FrontRow on the Mac.
A different approach would be to have the Mac mini stream over a network to a device e.g. the Sonos Zoneplayer which is then connected to the AV Receiver. An AirPort Express is also able to do this.

Choosing iMAC over Mac Mini.....

Why would people choose iMAC over Mac mini? And why not? How much is the iMAC better than the Mac mini?
Looking for answers ASAP. thank you.

Well as of this writing the low end MM is $600.00 and the low end iMac is $1200.00 so we will use these as a base line, at a $600.00 difference!
The iMac you get a 3GHZ processor, the mini 2.26GHZ.
The iMac you get built in Speakers/microphone/camera/SD slot, the mini A built in speaker.
The iMac you can max memory to 16GB, the mini max memory 4GB.
The iMac comes will 500GB of HDD space, the mini 320GB.
Now the most impressive...
The display:
The iMac comes with a beautiful 21.5" LED IPS display, the mini none!
To purchase a comparable display alone will cost you at least $600.00, and it will not look as good as the iMac display.
Add the display and all the other features that the iMac has over the mini and you just get more bang for you buck with the iMac.
Now does that mean that it is a better deal?
Well not if you iMacs display goes out, with a mini you just get another one.
The great thing about the iMac is if you're new to Mac then you're definitely going to get the full Apple/Mac experience, unless of coarse you get one of these messed up iMacs they have been shipping lately.

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Thanks

Here's Apple's documentation on how to set up your Mac mini so your iMac can share the mini's modem internet connection.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.4/en/mh336.html
Hope that does it.
K.M.
PowerBook G4 (15 FW800); 17 iMac G5; Mac mini 1.42 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

How old is my Mac mini

How old is my Mac mini?
Here is the info from the 'about this mac' button:
Model Name:          Mac mini
Model Identifier:          Macmini2,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          1.83 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          2 MB
Memory:          1 GB
Bus Speed:          667 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          MM21.009A.B00
SMC Version (system):          1.19f2
Serial Number (system):          YM8414TLYL1
Hardware UUID:          00000000-0000-1000-8000-001FF345C86D

OVERVIEW
Introduced     August 2007
Discontinued     March 2009
Model Identifier     Macmini2,1
Model Number     A1176

Using iMac and Mac Mini together to share screen and data

I may buy a Mac Mini in addition to my iMac 27" (Mid 2011), mostly so that I can use it for slide show presentations via a digital projector. But I don't have a separate monitor (or suitable TV), so I wouldn't be able to use the Mac Mini other than with a projector. Not a good idea. So I backed away a bit.
TDM Mode
Then I found that I could use an iMac screen as a monitor if I connect the two via a Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable in Target Display Mode, TDM (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924). A short cable costs $35.
Then I thought about those times when Photoshop is tying up my computer for hours while I batch process heaps of images (you can't use Photoshop while it is batch processing), and I wondered: why not jump across to the Mac Mini during those times?
I store all my data on external firewire drives. Nothing on the OSX drives. This leads me to a few questions. Assume I have the Mac Mini connected to my iMac in TDM via a Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable.
Ques 1
What is the best way of being able to access my data files (on external firewire drives connected to the iMac) via the Mac Mini? A scenario might be:
I've started a batch process on the iMac which ties up Photoshop and much ties up;
I switch the screen to display the Mac Mini;
I want to access my data on the firewire drives, drives that the iMac is already accessing.
Ques 2
Can I use the thunderbolt connection to not only transfer screen data, but ordinary data?
Ques 3
Or should I run an ethernet cable between the two and set up a network?

One question, how does this affect syncing to iTunes? Will it recognise the iPhoto drive on both computers (depending which one has the drive at that time) if I sync photo albums to my iPhone and iPad?
iTunes will always sync with the last iPhoto library that has been used on the computer. If you make sure, that the drive has been connected, before you launch iTunes, it will work, like Old Toad said.
Also, if I do it this way doesn't it become vulnerable due to not being connected at all times to time machine?
if you use the drive with the library the mainly on your iMac, you could exclude it from the TimeMachine backup of your Laptop. Keep it connected to the iMac, when you are not using it on the LapTop.
What would be the process if I only wanted to do this periodically and wanted to keep the main library on the iMac. Could I work on the drive on the macair and then save it back to the iMac? How do I do that without duplicating the files? If I just select copy and paste, will it only overwrite the changed files?
You would have to copy the entire library back and forth again and again, or use iPhoto Library Manager, to merge the changes into the library on the iMac. It would not be an easy workflow.

IMac vs Mac Mini

I am looking to buy a new desk top, mainly to edit videos. Anyway, which of the two (iMac 17-in/Mini-1.66) would be better for editing? It would be a non-issue if they had the same clock speed/graphics card/etc... but they don't. I am leaning towards the Mini. Budget and space are an issue, which is why I'm not going with the PowerMac.
Thanks in advance, LVC
iMac G3 Mac OS X (10.4.6) iBook G3

I spend a few days in Vegas… I experienced a lot of hospitality … ;-)
I lay my chips on the MacMini, for a simple reason:
the IntelMacs allow natively monitor spanning, meaning, you're able to connect TWO screens… which expands your desktop dramatically!
my scenario:
editing a movie (in iM), but need to "adjust" many stills, so Photoshop is running too… on screen II; simply drag'n drop/swap stills from one screen to another… same with a 3D app, I use for creating... ehm, 3D-things...
aside videowork: I' doing sometimes translations (into German, don't get afraid) - screen I: english, screen II: german…
as I like to say:
If you use the metaphor of a "desktop", it shouldn't have the size of a coffeetable!!
... and I can not afford a 30"......, poor me....
MacMini! if you need later a bigger, wider or more screens - go with that...

Connecting iMac to mac mini

recently purchased a Mac mini since the hard drive on my intel iMac was about to fail. Almost all of my files where saved on firewiredrives but there are a few things to still be transfered from the old computer. I was able to set them up to see each other via bluetooth, but is it possible to transfer data via the ethernet ports?

Hey Drack1cba,
Thanks for the question. There are a few options for accomplishing this goal, some of which are outlined in the following article.
OS X Mavericks: Transfer files between two Mac computers
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14409
Thanks,
Matt M.

Compare iMac to Mac Mini

I've been wondering about buying the Mac Mini but would like to know how it compares to the iMac. Would I be happy with it's performance? Can it do all the things the iMac does? Also, the new Mini's use usb 3 and all my equipment uses usb2.

Your best bet is to become familiar with the three main MINI models (each with upgrade configuration
order specs) and the five main iMAC models, most with specs that do not equal the other group. Look
into each of these two main sections for each group, and after you select any one -as if to buy- a list
of additional items or custom specification upgrades may be chosen, at additional cost. That is where
you can see if any one from the MINI group and after the same process, in the iMac group may meet
with your needs. The need based on two years after you buy, since you cannot upgrade RAM in MINI
and other aspects are not user-accessible. And the AppleCare optional extended plan is recommended.
See all models here:
http://www.apple.com/mac/
Compare:
http://www.apple.com/mac/compare/
http://www.apple.com/mac/compare/desktops.html
The Mini may use a variety of displays, including several digital televisions; and some great ones.
Including the 27-inch Thunderbolt display, from Apple. You can have more than two displays with
the Mini depending on the kind & type, and the graphic processor. Adapters to use displays are
available, as the different technology types use specific kinds of adapters... these are optional.
See them in Store page, and note the upgrade options, after clicking on the one(s) for detail:
•Mac MINI:
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/mac-mini
•iMac:
http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/imac
•official Apple refurbished + clearance store pages:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac
{If you choose one of the refurbished/clearance items, there are no configuration options in their
specific area. Accessories not included or offered there should be sought out in the main Store
page online, or considered later from an authorize reseller or an Apple Store.}
There is no direct comparisons between the two main groups. Each has a low-end model, and if you
are looking ahead, I would not consider those. There is one exceptionally higher grade iMac 5K and
it too has a configuration-to-order option sheet in the online store.
The USB3 is faster by a wide margin than USB2.0, the older is slower yet is supported at its native
original speed in the newer USB3. External hard drives of a USB3.0 spec can be helpful if they are
of 7200-RPM spin rate; they may be used via the faster TB data cable via adapter, as available.
Other than the ability to configure your order page (see store, click in item you are thinking about,
then look at the list of options and accessories, processor &/or graphic upgrade, RAM upgrade, etc
these are not upgradable after they ship. - The 27-inch iMac may still offer RAM access; check spec.
An official Apple retail Store, the store online and the main Store number should be able to help
you with specific questions once you are more aware of the options. Those are avenues to ask
and look at products directly. It does help to know the options in the online Store, as they may
not be available in the local Apple retail store or at the authorized independent reseller locations...
You can also look into the specifications at Everymac.com including model histories of most Mac;
and also get & use the MacTracker.ca download specification database to also compare specs.
Hopefully once you detail your expectation of what you hope to do, a year or two after purchase,
that may be helpful in choosing one of these completely different model series configurations.
Good luck & happy computing!

Imac vs mac mini signal strength

I have an intel 20 imac side by side with a mac mini and an airport extreme maybe 20 feet away (with some concrete walls in between. The reception on the macmini is always almost double with respect to the imac (in average 50% vs 28% signal with 8% noise on both). All other parameters are the same (including op sys and the upgrades and updates).
How is this possible? Could it be that the card on the imac has problems (faulty contacts, corrupt firmware)? Or is the mac mini better performing because it has a better card?

I'd imagine the i7 Would be a dream. But If I were to spend that much, then I would much rather get a Mac Pro which will last me longer than any iMac. Plus I would be able to upgrade the GPU & Hard Drives if I wish without Voiding the warrenty.
I loved my iMac when I bought it in Late 2006. The cleanliness, uncluttered, and small size of it. But I hated the fact that I couldn't do anything to fix it when something went wrong
1st. Logic Board Failure
2nd. Optical Drive Noise ( I would've changed this myself if it were on a Mac Pro or PC )
3rd. LCD Failure ( You can plug an external monitor but the then the whole iMac concept is ruined)
4th. Hard Drive ( Replaced myself fine but voids my iMac for any AppleCare Service.
5th. No Serial # ( Apple Tech never properly burned in a # when they replaced the board, Now I can't launch CS3 if I update to 10.6.3. I'm stuck in 10.6.2 for now)
I'd rather get a Used Mac Pro Xeon 2.66Ghz Quad / 4GB Ram / Super Drive on ebay which theres tons of them for around $1099. I'll put in a bigger HD, AP + BT, put in a good GPU and that system will have me set for many years. Little can go wrong aside for a Power Supply Going Bust and you hardly every here about the Logic Board going on these.
Message was edited by: Christian Rosario

Which Version of XP on a New Mac Mini

I'm finally dumping my old, slow PC for a new 2.0Ghz Mac Mini w/2GB ram! It's primary use will be to run QuickBooks & all the other dedicated PC software I must still use... and to slowly and without her realizing it, convert my stubborn PC user, accountant Mother over to a Mac. hehe
This computer will be a part of a small, home/small business, 4 computer network, plus a few laptops from time-to-time - Mac & PC.
1st, which version of XP; Home or Pro?
2nd, Is there a particular version of either of these that I need to purchase? 32 bit - 64 bit??? In my google search for the best price on an OEM copy, I found a store that said their copy "will not work on Mac".

Michael Szromba wrote:
Yeah; http://www.cdsfu.com/index.php?categoryID=87
Hi Michael,
three things about this offer are, at least to me, very suspicious:
"Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition With SP2, Full Version on CDR"
Microsoft never has used CD-R disc (CD-Recordable) for Windows
"software that does NOT include any COA label or a sticker from the manufacturer"
There always has to be a sticker, that one puts on the computer on which the Windows license is installed and a COA label as well.
"VOLUME LICENSE INCLUDED"
A volume license, from my understanding, was only sold to companys, who install Windows on a larger scale (hundreds of computers) and for that purpose are give only one license-key for all installations.
Usually this is known as a'corporate license'.
All in all, I would personally stay away from this offer. It simply doesn't sound legal to me.
Stefan

Which would be faster... Old Imac vs Mac Mini

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