I am a developer and work on a variety of platforms from Java to Flex to PHP/HTML/CSS to Photoshop for work, for fun and as a hobby to try things out (soon planning to discover Android and iOS platforms as well).
I am planning to buy a computer which runs Mac OS X - primarily because I want to build cross platform applications and running OS X on a VM isn't as efficient and is time consuming - with all the fixes and patches that I have to do when an update comes along. Can't use XCode at all times as things break with every update apple sends across
Now my budget is tight - If I can get a mac mini - a new 22" monitor, RAM upgraded to 8Gb, wired keyboard and mouse for about $200 more. So the Mac Mini setup would costs me about $800 inclusive of everything.
iMac on the other hand costs $1200 with wireless keyboard and mouse. I am not too keen about Apple display either (somehow don't like Gloss on monitors).
What I am really confused about is the processing power and if the Mac Mini will be able to handle multiple memory and process intensive applications that I plan to run in parallel. iMac comes with Quad core i5 whereas Mini comes with Dual core i5. I don't even know the processor marketing names to check their CPU benchmark to have an idea.
Really need some help with this. I can't risk spending $800 on something which won't be able to run my applications in parallel at all times.
Alternatively, I can buy an Intel i5 quad core 3570K, a gigabyte motherboard, 16Gb of Memory, 500Gb HDD, a monitor and dual boot Windows and OS X ( native - hackintosh ) for $750. Not sure if there will be a hit in the performance and if I will continue to face problems and spend time fixing them with every OS update.
Thanks for reading through my question.
I am planning to buy a computer which runs Mac OS X - primarily because I want to build cross platform applications and running OS X on a VM isn't as efficient and is time consuming - with all the fixes and patches that I have to do when an update comes along. Can't use XCode at all times as things break with every update apple sends across
Now my budget is tight - If I can get a mac mini - a new 22" monitor, RAM upgraded to 8Gb, wired keyboard and mouse for about $200 more. So the Mac Mini setup would costs me about $800 inclusive of everything.
iMac on the other hand costs $1200 with wireless keyboard and mouse. I am not too keen about Apple display either (somehow don't like Gloss on monitors).
What I am really confused about is the processing power and if the Mac Mini will be able to handle multiple memory and process intensive applications that I plan to run in parallel. iMac comes with Quad core i5 whereas Mini comes with Dual core i5. I don't even know the processor marketing names to check their CPU benchmark to have an idea.
Really need some help with this. I can't risk spending $800 on something which won't be able to run my applications in parallel at all times.
Alternatively, I can buy an Intel i5 quad core 3570K, a gigabyte motherboard, 16Gb of Memory, 500Gb HDD, a monitor and dual boot Windows and OS X ( native - hackintosh ) for $750. Not sure if there will be a hit in the performance and if I will continue to face problems and spend time fixing them with every OS update.
Thanks for reading through my question.