Cheap iMacs for 2005?

Post by **S8 Booster** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 1:46 pm

Possibly it is fine for film rental over the net which is or will be available very soon. Especially when the "monitor" is a big size HDTV

Do not need a desktop or even a book for that.

Unlike PCs the MACs rarely need a upgrade and as far as I see never for the same reasons that PCs does. (parts never seem to play optimally together). MAC RAM & HDs are the name of the game for extra performance and it is cheap these days.

R

Post by **Cine_Monkey** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:01 pm

S8 Booster wrote:Possibly it is fine for film rental over the net which is or will be available very soon. Especially when the "monitor" is a big size HDTV
R

Just what i was thinking!
Im considering getting the mini just to hook up to my TV so I can email and browse the web without having to go to the desk. Also good to watch dvd's and play my music though my hi fi, so if we look at it as an entertainment hub for the living room, its a pretty good deal eh?

Post by **jean** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 5:38 pm

But it is NOT upgradable. :evil:

This is one of the important characteristics of macs. To oversimplify - a mac is used like a phone, tv, car. Ever desired to "upgrade" one of these devices? It is meant to be a simple device, both hardware and os.

The PC and windows world has a completely different approach, crawling under the table pulling plugs and cables and have the box open constantly to plug/check/try hardware is cosidered a big part of the fun. And a chaotic os is accepted - the folks love becoming experts in hardware and os specific stuff.

Once I fell for that upgrade myth, but soon found out that it just isn't worth it. Buy it, use it as long as it does the job - and then shell out some 399 and get the next one. And since i do serious work with it, I lost very soon the joy of constantly fumbling and experimenting with hardware, and switched to using notebooks.

Memory upgrade, that will be a very useful thing for all computers. Fill it to the max, then close the box and never again lose a second of your time with screwdrivers. The mini has 1GB max, that should be fine.

Post by **astro_tiki** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 1:08 am

Got my mini today -- it's so small and cute looking! Loading up FCP right now. I'll let everyone know how it works.

-Ned

Post by **paulcotto** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 12:58 am

I got mine this week. It's got a plethora of software on it for free. It includes an entire office type suite with spread sheet, word processor, database, power point like presentation and structured drawing program. I downloaded the GIMP as well as Blender 3D for free. I also installed a gig of PC3200. Opening the case was a challenge but not too hard really. I also attached a 250 gig USB 2.0 external drive for my video files. I cant say enough good things about it, If you want a cheap PC that does creative things this is it. If you by a Windows box you still need to lay down another $800 ~ $1000 to buy comparable software that comes free on the Mini. As soon as I can afford it I am buying FCP which is the real reason I bought it. Hooked it all together with my PC through my LAN hub and share the Mac drive out so I can get at the files on it. I switch between it and my windows box with a 2 port KVM switch.

1 Happy Mac owner,
Paul Cotto

Post by **reflex** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 5:02 am

paulcotto wrote:I got mine this week. As soon as I can afford it I am buying FCP which is the real reason I bought it.

Spending $999 on software to run on a $499 computer is a hard thing for me to feel comfortable about. I'd love to hear your thoughts when you get it running.

I currently have Adobe Premiere on Windows -- I'd love a Mac, but I suspect that FC Express is all I could afford. Is the express version extremely limited?

Post by **Joe Gioielli** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 5:35 am

No, Final Cut Express just doesn't have the professional features that a studio would need more than an indie. For a full list of differences go to "dvinfo net" and check out "NLE on the Mac"

Now that Moviemaker is a non destructive NLE, you could just use that for awhile. FCE/P is much better, but Moviemaker will get the job done.

Good luck
Joe

Post by **paulcotto** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 6:33 am

Look at the "Academic" versions on eBay. Its the same exact version as full retail at half the price.

Paul Cotto

reflex wrote:
paulcotto wrote:I got mine this week. As soon as I can afford it I am buying FCP which is the real reason I bought it.
Spending $999 on software to run on a $499 computer is a hard thing for me to feel comfortable about. I'd love to hear your thoughts when you get it running.

I currently have Adobe Premiere on Windows -- I'd love a Mac, but I suspect that FC Express is all I could afford. Is the express version extremely limited?

Post by **paulcotto** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 7:01 am

Here is a reveiw of the Mac Mini and FCP-HD

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.p ... adid=39979

Regards,
Paul Cotto

Post by **mattias** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 12:23 pm

Joe Gioielli wrote:No, Final Cut Express just doesn't have the professional features that a studio would need more than an indie.

a studio? you have a funny way of looking at everybody who's not an amateur. :-) it's an ok tool, but since it doesn't have professional color correction tools *and* can't output edl's for online elesewhere, you can easily find yourself in trouble when you're ready to master. for example. there are several workflow problems built in, not just the missing features themselves.

/matt

Post by **mattias** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 12:26 pm

paulcotto wrote:I also attached a 250 gig USB 2.0 external drive for my video files.

i suggest you get a fw drive instead if you want to edit off of it. usb2 doesn't guarantee a sustained read/write throughput, which can cause dropouts, plus it puts load on your processor which will lower the realtime effects performance.

/matt

Post by **paulcotto** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 6:27 pm

Thanks for the heads up. I have it in a 5.25" enclosure now and I was thinking of getting a 3.5" FireWire for it and put a dvd burner in the 5.25" since I did not get the superdrive. I buy my enclosures at

http://monoprice.com

since the have the best prices I have found, fast cheap shipping and accept PayPal.

Regards,
Paul Cotto

mattias wrote:
paulcotto wrote:I also attached a 250 gig USB 2.0 external drive for my video files.
i suggest you get a fw drive instead if you want to edit off of it. usb2 doesn't guarantee a sustained read/write throughput, which can cause dropouts, plus it puts load on your processor which will lower the realtime effects performance.

/matt

Post by **astro_tiki** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 2:37 am

Hooked up the mini at home this weekend. Below are some pictures to give folks an idea of the small size. Just ordered a KVM switch and a gig of RAM. Hey Paul, I might be asking for tips on opening the case : )

My two cats are very interested in the new mini. They were never interested in my Dell...

-Ned

Post by **reflex** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 5:50 pm

Nice setup, Ned.

Question for you: There have been comments on Mac forums recently that the Mac Mini has problems with some CRT displays. Since my setup is similar to yours (Dell 19" monitor and a Dell PC), I'm interested to know whether you've experienced and video strangeness (picture too dark, etc.)

reflex

Post by **astro_tiki** » Mon Mar 07, 2005 6:28 pm

There have been comments on Mac forums recently that the Mac Mini has problems with some CRT displays.

It's a little dark on my monitor at home. I just adjusted the brightness a bit to get a decent setting. I have a 19" Viewsonic P95f+ at work and that looks a lot better than my Dell. After seeing how cheap CRT monitors are these days, I'm thinking about replacing the little Dell with something bigger.

How do you guys feel about LCDs? The ones I've looked at seem kind of flat color wise and not very bright...maybe it's because I've only been looking at cheap ones. Don't want to open a whole nother can of worms...

-Ned