Mac Mini vs. iMac

[williamsboard]

Has anyone had good experience Running Pro tools on Mac Mini w Core 2 Duo processor?

I've purchased an 003 rack, and my Dell 700m laptop (1.8 GHz Centrino, 512 ram) is overwhelmed. I'd like switch to Mac, specifically, a Mac Mini, however my friend who works at the Apple Store tells me the Mac Minis, despite specs, just do not work well and hang up, freeze, etc. He doesn't recommend them for audio applications.

I already have a fine monitor, so don't really want to spend the extra for a iMac.

While I dont' want to spend moolah to be on the cutting edge, I'd like to be able to run a few RTAS virtual instruments and have Protools run smoothly and problem free in general. Would the base model Mac Mini bumped up with 2 gb ram (and external firewire audio drive, of course) be sufficient? I already have a DVD burner to hook up externally, so am thinking to purchase the base model that only had dvd reader, which has 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

How much real world benefit / performance am i sacrificing by passing on the iMac (or even macbook/macbook pro, for that matter?)

Apple is rather tricky in how they force you to buy a monitor each time you upgrade your computer unless you go to the extreme low (mac mini) or high (mac pro) end of the line.

Thanks for any advice as I dip my feet in the Mac waters for the first time!

[Slim Shady]

Plenty of people use Mac Minis with PTLE, they work great. Just fill it up with RAM and get a compatible firewire hard drive and you should be good to go.

[audiobob]

I've had great success with a 1.66 Core Duo so a Core 2 Duo should be fine. I was having issues with USB on the original MBox but now with an MBox 2 Pro and firewire the mini hums along. And yes, max the ram.

[Big Daddy Koop]

I'm using the new Macbook and it works great! I think its around the same specs as the mini's.

Mine has 1GB ram, Intel core 2 duo 2.16, and I'm using a Western Digital 320GB firewire external drive. I'm using this with a new MBOx 2 Pro Factory, PT 7.3.1 and an Edirol PCR 800 Midi controller...no problems thus far (except that I'm new to PT and don't know how to do much yet!)

Good luck...feel free to Email me if you have any install questions as I just went through the process on the new Mac's and did a good deal of reading in these forums for troubleshooting....It took a couple days for me to get everything perfect, but well worth it and these forums were the best place for troubleshooting!