Trying to decide whether to get Mom a Mini or an iMac

[47of74]

I'm going to be buying another Mac here in the coming days - it's going to be a combination birthday/Christmas present from the three of us for Mom. I'm trying to decide whether or not to get her a Mini and getting a monitor/keyboard/etc along with it, or just getting a iMac instead.

I like what I see with the new iMac - especially the SD slot in the side. That would make getting pictures off her camera nice and easy and maybe encourage her to copy her photos over more often. The only thing there is the price, but I think a new iMac with the current specs would be enough to last a very long time with her. Then again, a Mini - even though I would have to buy a monitor and keyboard - would work out to be several hundred dollars less than an iMac. For what she does with a computer a Mini would probably be good enough for her.

Hence the internal debate. What do you all think? Mini or iMac?

[struggle4progress]

1. What will she do with the machine? And how important is aesthetics?

I can't tell you about the imac, but I can make some remarks on the mini

The current mac mini (2.26ghz, min 2mb RAM, max 4gb RAM) is much cheaper (even without correcting for inflation) and better than the first computer I bought. If she's mostly word-processing, there's no reason to shell out for a high end machine, and I'd expect the graphics and internet capabilities are entirely adequate for nonprofessional use

Some caveats on peripherals. The mini has 802.11n Wi-Fi and gigabit ethernet but if your mother uses dial-up, I suppose you'll need a usb modem; apple has apparently stopped selling those. Apple overcharges for their monitors; you can get a somewhat bigger than 20" LCD monitor for less than $150, which is much less than apple charges for its monitors, but then you'll probably need to buy a $20 adaptor from apple. The apple mighty mouse was a piece of junk: both of the ones I bought promptly had intermittent problems with the scroll nub -- and so I'd be leery of the magic mouse. It can be a nuisance to get some non-apple keyboards to reproduce apple functionality; the apple aluminum keyboard, however, is almost impossible to clean if junk gets dropped or spilled on it -- so a keyboard protector might be a really good idea if you go that route; I personally will investigate other keyboard options if I ever need to replace my aluminum keyboard

[alfredo]

2. Get the iMac and buy a two button mouse just in case she doesn't like the

new Mac mouse. If she has arthritis, get the Kensington (two button) trackball mouse.

http://us.kensington.com/html/4771.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. If your mother is like mine, a Mini should be

more than sufficient.

I'm considering doing the same, but I will have to use the Mac store in Mexico...

I am not carrying it down south.

[Stinky The Clown]

4. You're going to get conflicting opinions. I would opt for the iMac just because it is all in one.

Turn it on and use it. Nothing is easier than that.

Of course, that has to be balanced against cost.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. even family who hate technology love the iMac.

I happen to be in luv with macbookpro. Despite its weight (I really am considering AirMac) it is a key part of me liff. life. whatever.

[onehandle]

6. Agreed. nt

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. Best Buy and Apple's Web site have black friday deals

I'd go with the lowest grade iMac, although the mini is a great little machine.

The 21 inch will do just fine plus you don't need to buy a monitor, keyboard or mouse. Any monitor you get needs to be at least a 20" to allow larger fonts for reading. My eyesight is not what it use to be and would love to have the new 27 but my 20 iMac does great for now.