New Mac Mini - please talk me into/out of buying one

eoren1

So I'm currently running LR3 and PS CS5 on a 2007 Macbook connected to a NEC Multisync 20" IPS display. My wife and I fight over use of the laptop.

The plan was to buy an iMac when the photo funds were built up (I've sold about $800 YTD). My hesitation with the current 27" iMac is the lack of Thunderbolt peripherals and no adaptors (USB3) in sight. I had decided therefore to keep working with my current system until it died or the next iMac with Ivy Bridge (and USB3) were released early next year.

Then Apple decides to drop the mini :huh
Core i5 2.5 GHz
4 gig RAM (user upgradeable)
500 gig HD (and I think room for putting in another or SSD)
AMD Radion 6630M discrete video card
$799

So now I'm ready to jump in the car, buy the mini and plow through photo apps. I can't imaging it won't run circles around my current setup. Then, if/when my HTPC downstairs goes, I could move the mini there and buy an iMac.

Thoughts?

pmaxwell

just don't overlook the server version with its dual 500gb drives, i7, and the server software so it can easily be set up as a data server for the laptop too.

eoren1

Thanks. I'm actually looking at adding SSD as aftermarket option

pmaxwell

a SSD is a wonderful thing. I put one in my MBP. It is rather speedy.

Fast boots
Fast shutdown
CS5 opens large files quickly.

You will love it. Is there room for one in the standard mini? the server version (i have the previous version) is full and to get the second drive you give up the disk drive.

Obviously I'm not the guy to talk you out of the mini, enjoy it and let me know what you think of Lion.

eoren1

With the removal of the superdrive, there is room now in the base versions. Just waiting for the first tear down to confirm.

eoren1

Just got my 2011 Mini 2.5 i5 and decided to run some real world comparisons with the machine it is replacing - 2007 Macbook 3,1 (2.2 GHz Core 2 duo). Both have 4 gigs RAM.

Startup to login - even at 44 sec
Login til all icons loaded - mini 4 sec; mb 45 sec
Open Lightroom - mini 13 sec, mb 45 sec
Import 38 RAW photos:
- copy: mini 1:05; mb 1:46
- render previews: mini :37, mb :55
Zoom to 100%: mini 3.4sec; mb 6.5 sec

Looks like a good decision for me. Now planning to move up to 8 gigs RAM and a 120 gig SSD to really get this thing moving!

eoren1

Forgot to mention, the ifixit teardown confirms replacing the HDD is very easy. Also possible to fit two HDDs in my mini - just need the correct cable

As for Lion, I really like it. No hiccups though I am doing a fresh install of apps and only moving over data. LR moved over very easily by just copying its directory and opening up the catalog file.

pmaxwell

I was just logging on to let you know about the ifixit teardown.

Congrats!

eoren1

This little machine is AWESOME! Just posted my PS speed tests in the thread above.

Superdaddy73

I just lost my mini to a lightning strike. will have to wait a few month to replace it

cibby

eoren1 wrote: »

This little machine is AWESOME! Just posted my PS speed tests in the thread above.

Have you decided how you're going to upgrade to the SSD? Are you waiting for someone like OWC to put up a kit for the 2nd drive bay?

eoren1

Decided not to...at least for now:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=202408

eoren1

Well...looks like I talked myself out of the Mini and into an iMac (arrives tomorrow). Here's my thinking behind the decision fwiw (posted this originally on the macrumors forum where I was struggling with the mini vs iMac decision):

My setup was a 2007 Macbook as the main computer that my wife and I shared. I used it for processing photos using Lightroom/Photoshop. It was becoming painfully slow and a new computer was in order.

I initially wanted to get the 27" iMac but was concerned about:
Inability to upgrade to an SSD on my own
Lack of USB3 (and concern about price for TB peripherals vs USB3 equivalent)
That both of the above would be fixed in the 2012 Ivy Bridge model
Glossy screen

So I decided to get the 2011 Mac Mini (799 version) and use my current 20" IPS monitor that had served me well. Bought it the day it was available in stores for $950 (including trackpad and tax). Hooked it up and was immediately thrilled with the purchase. Lightroom was at least 2-3 times faster (see numbers in the post above) and I could power through 500 photos of my kids in no time. Lion worked well and I really had no complaints.

I started to wonder about the utility of an SSD and found a great article showing it was not helpful with Lightroom. Also ran some HDD benchmarks and realized the baseline 5400rpm drive was a bit slower than the 2TB external hooked up via FW800. Bought RAM to upgrade and then started seeing threads about prices on Amazon, etc being $80 less than what I paid giving me a bit of buyer's remorse.

Had two issues yesterday that started the ball rolling toward reconsidering my purchase. Was working on a 4 image panorama and found that Photoshop took a fair amount of time to render it even with 8 gigs RAM. Then worked on that image with filters and later in Lightroom and saw some of the same 'Loading' messages pop up repeatedly as I used the graduated filter tools (this had been the final straw with the Macbook). I also had two episodes of screen flickering (only fixed with restart) that made me wonder if my 5 year old monitor might be failing. [Turns out others had the same issues and I started to worry about HDMI out but this likely will end up being fixed with a software update.]

I then took a step back and reassessed what it was about the iMac that bothered me:
-no longer felt the need to upgrade to an SSD for my needs
-Transferring images from my CF card maxes out at the cards' 45MB/sec which is well below FW800 speeds.
-External via FW800 was faster than the HDD on the mini so saw less reason to pursue a USB3 option until I had external SSDs to use that higher throughput
-Realized I could adjust lighting in my office to essentially remove all reflections from the glossy screen

So now I had removed the obstacles that had kept me from buying the iMac and was finding some limitations with the Mini. I also realized that I would likely still want to buy the 2012 version of the iMac and then would have ended up spending more over two years to get both than if I waited to purchase a lower powered mini or other HTPC replacement when my current computer pulling those duties died.

Just purchased the 1699 27" iMac from BHphoto with AppleCare and Trackpad for $1782 shipped. Cost ended up only $70 more than the refurb option as no tax charged. After looking at my situation and the specs, the $725 difference between the mac mini and iMac didn't seem to be an obstacle anymore.

This is very, very long winded and may not be helpful to anyone in the end but, if you've made it this far, I appreciate your time.
E

cmason

FWIW, I went thru this exact same exercise 3 yrs ago...taking home a 24' iMac. Its 2.18 GHz Core 2 Duo w 3G RAM (Max), but it still goes like a champ and I have no issues.

Lion, on the other hand...not so much. May have to reload my backup and stay on SL a while longer.

eoren1

The mini came with Lion and I actually really like it. I'm going to have to put the iMac on it as I have already moved my calendar, etc up to there and don't want to risk major issues with moving folders back down to prior versions and lose data by doing so.
Only issue for me is that 2011 iMac's apparently are freezing with video playback on Lion.
You would think someone on Apple's campus would have noticed this before releasing it out to the real world...

eoren1

Okay, the 27" iMac is a wonderful beast of a machine. Lion is working great as a fresh install.
Will do more benchmarks later, but these speak for themselves:

Downloaded 8 gig CF card (rated at 45MB/s) via FW800 reader - approx 400 photos - into Lightroom 3. Here are times for the copy/import phase and the rendering part (standard previews - though iMac's were set at larger size)

Mini - copy/import (11min); render (16.5min) - total 28 minutes
iMac - copy/import (7.5min); render (6min) - total 13.5 minutes