I need to replace my late 2009 27 inch i7 iMac and need advise. I am thinking of getting a 3.0GHz i7 mac mini along with a Dell 34 inch 21:9 monitor vs a 27 inch 5K Retina iMac. I use it mainly for internet and email, with the occasional need for Final Cut Pro and iMovie video editing. The 2 choices are similar in price, but I am leaning more towards the mac mini option for future upgrade options. Appreciate any advise.
The Mini will be OK especially if you max out the memory (not userer upgradable, it is solder in place) and get an PCle SSD
If you want future upgradeability get a late 2012 Mini.
I am not so much concerned with future upgradability. I am just thinking that to replace my iMac I lose everything, monitor and CPU. If I got a really large awesome monitor and the Mac Mini, then in the future I can upgrade the CPU but keep the monitor. I could do a future Mac Mini or a MacBook of some sort and use with the monitor. May main worry now is buying the 2014 top Mac Mini with a Fusion drive and then in 1-3 months a new Mac Mini comes out. I don't think the expense of the SSD drive option for the Mini is worth the expense.
srubin59 wrote:
...a 27 inch 5K Retina iMac. .
The iMac wins hands down if it is truly an option.
-iMac 3.3GHz quad core vs. 3.0 GHz dual core
-Display, obvious choice s iMac
-2 GB discrete graphics card vs.an integrated graphics processor
Memory is user upgradable on 5k, so pick up 16 or 32 GB from OWC or Crucial
to add on right off (cheaper than from Apple).
The choice of internal drive is up to you. You can always upgrade to an external
SSD with the Thunderbolt 2 port or even RAID 0 enclosures for super fast performance.
BTW, you ould even boot your late 2009 iMac into target display mode as a second monitor.
I need to replace my late 2009 27 inch i7 iMac and need advise.
