Mac Mini..PC for Mac??

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Level 1

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Mac Mini..PC for Mac??

Hello all,
I've had my iMac for about 3 years now, and have been considering updating. I will never get rid of this machine as it is my digital media center, but have been considering buying a new Mac mini 1.5 GHz Intel Core Solo. The idea of this is to phase out my Sony Vio laptop. I work at an architecture firm and run CAD based programs such as, Achitectural Desktop and Auto Cad. If I get the Mac mini and load PC for Mac, will it run my CAD software smoothly? Also is PC for Mac the best software to buy for running Windows on a Mac? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

17" flat panel iMac, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Apr 7, 2006 7:25 PM

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Answer 1

Seedling

Level 2

150 points

Apr 7, 2006 8:20 PM in response to hark50

Get parallels if you're gonna run a VM of Microsoft or look at the tutorial for bootcamp

http://www.parallels.com/

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

I recommend bootcamp especially for CAD as CAD is pretty process intensive. I would actually consider the Duo as well for your setup....maybe even consider the iMac as it has better graphics.

-Seed

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Answer 2

Apr 7, 2006 9:45 PM in response to hark50

The Mini's base configuration has insufficient RAM for moderate multitasking, much less CAD. By the time you max out the Mini with 2GB RAM, and a roomier hard disk, and the Core Duo (which i'd reccomend over the Solo in your case), you're approaching the price of the base line iMac 17". You may want to consider the iMac instead. Better CPU, better GPU w/ more memory, bigger/faster hard disk, and a Superdrive.

I bought my Core Solo as a "test platform" for dual booting Windows and testing the Intel Mac waters. My only complaint so far is the woefully inadequate RAM config on the base Mini models.

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