Is it a good idea to buy a Mac Mini?

i have one!! i love it!!!
i would rather have a macbook though.. because i’d be able to take it places.
but whatever works! if you’re looking to have a mac and save money.. well worth it :D

What are you planning on using it for? That really is the underlining question for choosing a comp.

As the owner of both a Mini and a MacBook I’d have to say you are asking the wrong question. Your real question should be should I buy a desktop or a notebook? I use my MacBook far more than my Mini because I travel a lot. When I’m not traveling the MacBook gathers dust because the Mini has a larger display attached to it and has a full sized keyboard. The MacBook is an excellent computer and if I had to choose between the two and money was not a critical factor I’d go with the MacBook, an external keyboard and mouse with an LCD display. That’s the best of both worlds but about 50% more expensive.

As others have said it just depends on what you need it for. If you want the cheapest Mac possible, then yes. But if you just want a good desktop Mac and don’t already have a monitor and keyboard/mouse the iMac may be a better deal. I’ll be purchasing a Mini shortly just to act as a media center hooked up to my TV.

I would recommend a Macbook, mac mini would be great if you want to connect it to a large screen, otherwise, I have always found it obsolete.

More info would be needed though to answer your question. For email and web, mac mini, for that plus media macbook, for a good all round solid computer, iMac, a reliable workstation would be the macbook pro. Mac Pro…lets say thats reserved for other reasons.