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Mac mini


theheff

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My mac book is now full, and the battery is shot so I can only use it off the mains so I need a new one.

 

I've got my iPad so a laptop isn't really necessary anymore so I was thinking about a Mac mini to connect to my tv.

 

My question is will this then work the same way a desktop would work, as in being able to plug my iPhone into it, use iTunes, do everything my laptop did basically apart from be portable? Which is covered by my iPad.

 

Or should I boycot apple completely and go for windows 8 laptop and phone, or a galaxy s3? For no other reason than I am incredibly bored with the lack of noticable changes to the iPhone in the last 4 years of ownership. The laptop has been faultless though until now. And I the iPad will stay either way as its immense.

 

 

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Yeah it will. Like you are thinking now, I recently abandoned my laptop for an iPad and a desktop, albeit an iMac rather than a Mac Mini. Never looked back.

 

It's a proper "PC" in that you have full connectivity, though they don't ship with a monitor or keyboard as standard, so add those into your budget as needed. It's worth checking the tech spec on the mac store if you have any exotic peripherals, just to make sure they will connect. You can see a picture of the back and details here:

 

http://www.apple.com/uk/mac-mini/specs.html

 

Pretty standard really, all the usual, usb, ethernet, hdmi, plus some more stuff like firewire, thunderbolt and a memory card slot (I use this loads on my imac for pulling photos off my camera) in built wifi etc etc.

 

Things to keep an eye out for are that it has an integrated graphics card (as opposed to dedicated) but this shouldn't make much difference unless you are into graphically intense applications or proper gaming. Also the new fusion drive looks interesting with it's hybrid ssd/hdd (sorry if I've gone mega geek on you) it's basically faster than a regular hard drive, but I'd think the standard model will be quite nippy anyway.

 

Have a look at this for a relatively impartial review, it's not from total mac fanatics, so it should pick out any stuff that you might need to know:

 

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/desktops/379153/apple-mac-mini-2012

 

I know a couple of people with the previous version of the mac mini so feel free to PM or post here any questions and I'll get back to you.

 

I can't sign off without giving you a small nudge toward the new iMac, I love my 2011 model and the new one is even better with it's reduced glare screen (the only thing I would criticise on mine). Macs can be a pain to upgrade (except RAM which is easy), so make sure you get the spec you want before you click buy. I had to pay some dude £70 to install my new SSD, which I could've done myself on an easier to modify PC.

 

Good luck with the decisions.

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