Looking to buy the wife a computer...

[Bam]

So my wife really wants her own computer because she says i hog my laptop constantly and snap at her if she wants to use it when I'm on it....pffft, whatever.

 

But yeah, I'm going to get her one for her bday. Looking to spend around $500 or so, and the Mac Mini really caught my eye. I've found them for as low as $455....these things are tiny.

 

Here are the specs...

 

1.25GHz 40GB HD Combo Drive

256MB DDR333 SDRAM

ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory

DVI or VGA video output

Built-in 56k Internal Modem

Mac OS X v10.3 Panther

 

--$455

 

OR for another $120 I could get this...

 

1.42GHz 80GB HD Combo Drive

512MB DDR333 SDRAM

ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory

DVI or VGA video output

Built-in AirPort Extreme & Bluetooth

Mac OS X v10.4. Tiger

 

Now honestly, what's the big differences between these two?

 

Lastly, I love my Dell laptop and even though it cost near 2grand, the thought came across my head to get her one.

 

What about a Dell Inspirion 1200?

 

Specs are...

 

Intel® Celeron® M Processor 350 (1.30 GHz/1MB Cache/400MHz FSB)

Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

256MB Shared, 1 DIMM

30GB4 Ultra ATA Hard Drive

24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive

8-Cell NiMH Primary Battery (43WHr) OR upgrade to 8-Cell LION Primary Battery (65WHr) for $100 - Difference here?

 

That dell laptop is $499.

 

All in the same ballpark, only thing nice about the laptop that I just realized is that I won't have to buy a monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc.

 

All she really does is surf the web/homework online, use Word, and print pictures/makes photo albums. Oh and she likes SIMS, the game.

 

Now I have an external HD to store crap on so not really worried about that, she just needs a basic computer to do her thing.

 

What do you guys think?

 

Thanks

Matt

[Nitrousbird]

Get the Dell. But honestly, I'd suggest anything over a Mac.

[tandm]

If your wife does nothing but what you mentioned above, then the Mac mini will be perfect for her. I've switched 6 or so people now and most of them just want to do the simple day to day tasks as mentioned above. Macs in general are perfect for thses situations. They're a great secure, solid platform that will run without hassle for years.

 

As for the two models you mentioned above, I'de splurge a little and get the more expensive one. You get a bit more for your money and the 512 MB of ram will help with Tiger. Plus, it has Airport built in. You can't go wrong.

 

Have you checked out the cheapest iMac G5 at all? It's $1300, but it's a nice package.

[Bam]

What's Tiger and Airport?

 

No haven't priced anything else out, just kind of glanced around last nite. I really don't want to spend much more than $500ish, but we'll see. What does the 512mb of ram do for me over the 256?

 

Thanks

[excell]

What's Tiger and Airport?

 

No haven't priced anything else out, just kind of glanced around last nite. I really don't want to spend much more than $500ish, but we'll see. What does the 512mb of ram do for me over the 256?

 

Thanks

 

Those are the faggy names that Apple gives it's shit products to sound trendy.

 

Do your wife a favor and avoid MAC's. Dell's are quality machines and all I will ever purchase for me or any of my clients.

[fush]

I use my mac mini for all my daily tasks ( surfing, email, chat, pictures, etc. ) and the only reason I keep my pc around is for playing cs. Tiger is the new version of OS X. My mini started it with 256MB and it was definatly not enough (before or after the upgrade to Tiger) so I upgraded to 1GB. I would definatly recommend getting the ram upgrade up front as installing it was a pain. The airport card is a built in wireless card.

 

As for the nay sayers you can talk crap about the Mac all you want but I would take it over my windows box any day of the week. Its small, quiet, and it just works.

[Lustalbert]

Ram makes the computer go :woowoo:

[tandm]

Those are the faggy names that Apple gives it's shit products to sound trendy.

 

Do your wife a favor and avoid MAC's. Dell's are quality machines and all I will ever purchase for me or any of my clients.

 

 

Dells are great if you love malware and all the other fun stuff associated with Windows PCs:thumbup:

 

Seriously Chris, she just wants to do simple tasks and needs the thing to work without any user intervention. Not everyone has a Systems Admin on call 24/7. Plus, the mini will come with iLife 05'. She'll love iPhoto.

[excell]

Dells are great if you love malware and all the other fun stuff associated with Windows PCs:thumbup:

 

 

Building malware for Mac's is getting more popular. They are not harder to take advantage of, they were always just a smaller target. The difference is when the shit hits the fan PC people are already a lot more prepared.

 

I agree with you guys, Mac's make great toasters. They are an appliance, like small kitchen equipment. Just don't intened on actually using them for anything useful.

[tandm]

Building malware for Mac's is getting more popular. They are not harder to take advantage of, they were always just a smaller target. The difference is when the shit hits the fan PC people are already a lot more prepared.

 

I know they're not totally immune, but Apple is constantly updating their OSs with security patches. There has never been a single program that made it's way onto my machines without my authorization. Once the shit does hit the fan, then I will concede that you were right all along.

[excell]

There has never been a single program that made it's way onto my machines without my authorization.

 

Same for my Windows machines.

 

Windows is constantly releasing security patches too - that's the nature of the beast. But it always makes me laugh when Mac people pull the "OMG WINDOWZ GETZ MORE SPYW@REZ LOLZORS!" argument. Of course it does, it exists in 90% of the marketplace.

[tandm]

Same for my Windows machines.

 

Windows is constantly releasing security patches too - that's the nature of the beast. But it always makes me laugh when Mac people pull the "OMG WINDOWZ GETZ MORE SPYW@REZ LOLZORS!" argument. Of course it does, it exists in 90% of the marketplace.

 

As for you never having any problems, you're in a very small percentile.

 

That's why I usually suggest Macs, for people that aren't like you.

[Bam]

Wow....

 

Alright, well I'll see if she would like a desktop or laptop better. I have a dell laptop and I do everything but play games on it and its never given me shit. The only thing that worries me if I go with the Mini is that I'll have to spend another $300 or so to get a flatscreen monitor, mouse and keyboard. Hmmm....i'll let you guys know soon.

 

Oh yeah, and what about the ghz speed? My laptop is like 3.2ghz, which sounds really fast, but all three of these machines only have like 1.3ghz or so, will I be able to tell that its that much slower or does the ram affect processing speed?

 

Thanks

Matt

[fush]

The mini running at 1.4ghz vs a 3.2ghz pentium is definatly a difference, but for what you describe you're not going to notice a big difference. I notice apps take a couple of seconds to pop open, but like I said I use it for my day to day machine, and it does everything.

 

As for the windows vs os x argument I could care less. I'm a UNIX admin by trade and OS X makes me feel at home since I use a Sun box for my desktop at work. I'm all about using the right tool for the job and for day to day usage the mac gets the job done. Myself I would probabally opt for the laptop in your case since they both are going to do the same thing and the laptop will have a lower total cost since its all contained. You can use any usb keyboard/mouse combo and any monitor on the mini btw so if you already have stuff no need to upgrade.

[Bam]

Hmm, yeah I only have my laptop so we don't have anything that would work. Maybe I'll get the laptop and have the ram upgraded, someone said 1gb, would that be a good upgrade from 256 and would I notice it with what she wants to do?

 

Matt

[ohio_wookie]

The mini running at 1.4ghz vs a 3.2ghz pentium is definatly a difference

 

do you even know the difference between ppc and x86 architectures, stfu until you know what the fuck it is you are saying.

 

and as far as all you people who dont like apple, is there a single one of you that has used a post os9 machine for more than a couple of hours?

[ohio_wookie]

oh yeah, whichever one of those you chose is up to you, but either way you will not lose

[ohio_wookie]

anyway matt, the macs use the ppc architecture which handles information different than intel and amds x86 arch. when in fact a 1.4ghz ppc processor is still about as fast, if not a little faster than a 3.2ghz x86. the best way to look at it is the classic laundry scenario. say each processor will do your laundry for you (in the perfect world ), the x86 processor uses small baskets to do your laundry but it will get more loads done. while the ppc uses really big baskets and takes more time for each load. while they are working at different speeds they are still getting the same amount done. i hope that helps. currently i have a g4 laptop that has a 1.5ghz processor and 1gig of ram, and it will do photoshop, and program compiling a hell of a lot faster than my 3ghz pentium with 2gigs of ram.

[fush]

do you even know the difference between ppc and x86 architectures, stfu until you know what the fuck it is you are saying.

 

and as far as all you people who dont like apple, is there a single one of you that has used a post os9 machine for more than a couple of hours?

 

How about you shut the fuck up until you can comment respectfully. This post is about what computer to buy not about how much you know or think you know about computer architecture.

 

I've had my schooling and I understand the concept of pipelining. I wasn't making the argument that on the fact of sheer clock speed the p4 is quicker. You have to take more into consideration than sheer clock speed obviously and the fact remains a user on a mac mini g4@1.4ghz vs a user on a 3.2ghz p4 system, the p4 system is going to be the "quicker" of the two.

[Bam]

Wowzers! lol. Thanks for the explanation on laundry loads, I think I understand it now, but damn guys :chill:

 

I'm going to do some reading on the two and we'll see what's up.

 

thanks again

[GRN96WS6]

If you want the Mac or Dell check with kids in school that you know because they can get a discount. I get one at gateway and apple which is nice when you want that $270 iPod nano for $230.

 

 

I think I will get a mac mini in a few months as I want to learn a little bit of everything pc wise.

 

I'd avoid the celeron processor at all costs I hate them personally.

[Bam]

Wait, we're both in school and I know nothing about these discounts. How do I get them or find more info out about them?

[GRN96WS6]

Well for apple you can go to their website and itll give you the price with the discount if you school is listed. If it is go to easton with school ID and they will discount it. For Dell or Gateway it depends on if your school has a discount with them, which schools do you two attend?

 

Here is the apple discount page so you can check to see if your school is in there.

[ohio_wookie]

if you go to easton, the apple store there will give you a discount with a valid student id, its not a huge discount, but it will take care of tax.