Bites from the Apple: Either/Or

Before we get to this week’s breathless rumors about the next iPhone (yes, there have been online sightings via T-Mobile in Austria, a report from Australia that the current 16 GB model is end-of-life, and reports that AT&T is running out of stock), I thought I’d share a bit of a conversation I had with a friend of mine. As I’m involved in writing and research a lot of different technology (and especially Apple-related gear), I get a lot of questions from friends and family about both buying advice and and tech support, and a friend of mine who is looking to replace his iBook G4 was wondering which direction to go for a family-oriented desktop–Mac mini or 20-inch iMac. Here’s how I broke it down for him:

Mac mini: The appeal of this machine is its size and price–at $600 for the entry-level machine you’re getting a decently powerful processor and much better graphics than previous incarnations. But the gist of the minimalist Mac mini is that you’re going to have to add a few things (monitor, keyboard/mouse) if you don’t have them lying around already. Since the latest Mac mini still doesn’t have an HDMI output, you’ll need to be mindful that any monitor you add includes a DVI connection (and one with HDCP copy protection, so that you can enjoy worry-free viewing of iTunes content). Since my friend wasn’t looking for a large screen size, I suggested this 22-inch Dell monitor.

Additionally, since the entry-level Mac mini only comes with 120 GB of hard drive space and 1 GB of RAM, I recommended an external hard drive (1 TB models are super cheap these days) for both backup and media storage as well as upgrade RAM to 4 GB (one of the least expensive ways to ensure you get optimal computing performance, especially with a processor that’s a bit on the slow side). The hard drive addition is easy-peasy, but you’ll need a putty knife, an adventurous spirit, and some helpful guidance. With both the Mac mini and the iMac, I recommended adding an AppleCare protection plan that extends warranty coverage from 1 year to 3 years. So the price (before any taxes are applied) breaks down thusly (all prices noted before any taxes are assessed):

$600 for Mac mini + $200 for monitor + $40 for keyboard/mouse combo + $120 for hard drive + $110 for RAM upgrade + $2.50 for putty knife + $150 for Mac mini AppleCare = $1,222.50

iMac: Now, prying open a Mac mini case with a putty knife isn’t everyone’s idea of fun, and gathering all my recommended equipment might seem like a scavenger hunt. That’s where the all-in-one iMac comes in. Due to price, space and usage consideration, my friend was interested in the 20-inch iMac, and it’s a pretty good choice for a family computer with a faster processor (2.66 GHz) that won’t feel too slow a couple years down the line and more hard drive storage (320 GB) and RAM (2 GB) right out of the box. Knowing my friend’s current usage (music/photo management, elementary-level learning games, web browsing), I decided not to push him to upgrade the RAM immediately. But when he does want a boost (with an 8 GB maximum capacity–double that of the Mac mini), it’s far easier to do the upgrade. And while the hard drive is larger, I still recommended getting an external hard drive as media files will keep getting bigger and bigger and it’s important to back things up. So, here’s the tally with the iMac:

$1200 for iMac + $120 for hard drive + $150 for iMac AppleCare = $1,470

For $250, you’ll get a stronger computer right out of the box with a lot less hassle. However, you’ll definitely save some money going with the Mac mini (and be able to shave even more off the cost if you already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse that you like), and it allows for upgrading your peripherals now and in the years to come (say, when larger HD monitors come further down in price). Ultimately, it comes down to a trade-off between convenience and customization and how comfortable you are in either of those camps.

Alright, let’s get onto news of Apple-y goodness from the week that was…

• In regards to iPhone rumor-mongering, John Gruber at Daring Fireball offers the most complete and cogent rundown of the iPhone hardware that’s likely to be coming out sometime this summer (and announced on June 8 at WWDC). The most intriguing bit of his rundown is the boost in CPU speed (as well as RAM) and how it will make the iPhone feel like a major leap forward.
• An AT&T honcho confirms that the company would consider lowering the price of data plans for the iPhone and other smartphones in its stable by as much $10 a month… as long as there was a ceiling on the amount of data used over 3G connectivity.
• Apple stock analyst Gene Munster has another against-the-grain speculation this week (last week, he took the announcement of Phil Schiller as WWDC keynote speaker to mean that there would be no iPhone announcment) claiming that there will be no Apple iTablet until 2010. Munster believes the device will be priced between $500 and $700 and possibly be subsidized by a cellular carrier. Ars Technica notes that the big hurdle for the iTablet will be blending the OS and the UI of Mac OS X and iPhone OS. But we could perhaps see something earlier as Electronista reports that contract manufacturer Wintek will be providing 10-inch touchscreens to Apple sometime in the second half of 2009.
• Seth Weintraub at Computerworld wonders whether Apple is going to get back into the digital camera game, with Apple rumored to be purchasing both 3- and 5-megapixel sensors for upcoming products. Yes, I wrote “get back into” as Apple indeed once offered a digital camera called the QuickTake with a whopping 640 x 480 VGA resolution back in 1994 (which I totally forgot about).
• Book Talk: My the latest edition of my pal/colleague Jeff Carlson’s iMovie 09 and iDVD for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide should be shipping sometime next week. Because he’s added so many pages covering the new features of iMovie ‘09 (I’ve gotten a sneak peek and it’s been helpful with my recent initial forays into the software), he and his publisher are offering the iDVD portion of the book as a free download. Another of my favorite authors, Joe Kissell, has updated two of his Take Control ebook titles that are great for folks just learning about the Mac OS X environment as well as provide good reminders for more advanced users. Troubleshooting Your Mac will help you diagnose and fix problems that crop up while Maintaining Your Mac provides daily/weekly/yearly prescriptions to help you avoid trouble (and if you’re housebound on a rainy Memorial Day weekend, it might be a good time to start on the yearly tasks like cleaning the dust from your keyboard, changing passwords, and removing unneeded files).
• Speaking of books, looks like Apple has another snafu on its hands with the rejection of the Eucalyptus e-book reader (which provides free books from the archives of Project Gutenberg). Seems that while the app doesn’t come with any offending material, you could potentially download the potentially offending Kama Sutra. Oh my. Of course, you could download the same title using other iPhone apps, including Amazon’s Kindle app and Stanza. For more on this, see Technologizer, Cult of Mac
• And speaking about the Kindle for iPhone app, it’s been updated with the ability to choose different background and text colors as well as the ability to read in landscape mode (via IntoMobile).
• Much has been made about Boxee and how delicious it is to hack an Apple TV with it in order to gain access to streaming video from a variety of sources (including Netflix), but Joel Johnson at Boing Boing Gadgets has a contrary opinion largely based on the slow processor speed of the Apple TV.
• And finally… if you’ve bought a lot of MacBooks (and I mean a lot) and you’re wondering what to do with the boxes, Gizmodo offers an idea: create a dresser out of ‘em:

  

–Agen G.N. Schmitz