Beginner Best option Windows xover to Mac Mini?

russellsnr

russellsnr

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Russell
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Hi, I have now a Windows 11 64bit, 16GB ram, RTX 2060 GPU and have used Windows for more years than I can remember but now need to go smaller and the Mac Mini from what I have read and searched about seem to fit in with what I need however I have never even seen a Mac in the flesh so to speak.
I need the Mac to be as near equivalent to the specs of the Windows machine I am discarding, needs to be able to run On1 photo Raw 2023 and any new versions that may come out over the next couple years or so and of course other software DXO pure raw, Qimage ultimate, connect to and be able to calibrate a BENQ monitor with palette master software. Wacom Intuos Pro Tablet
Understand need external storage but not that much only amateur use so looking at 1 TB.
Anyone use with On1 software would be helpful.
Many Thanks,
Russ.
 
As someone who regularly uses Linux, Mac and Windows, I suggest you look carefully at the Apple offering in action, before committing yourself. The differences between OS-X and Windows are often subtle but can trip the naive.

You might want to look at the Beelink range of mini PCs, which are physically much smaller than the Mac Mini but can meet the requirements you've outlined, while letting you remain in your current comfort zone: https://www.bee-link.com/

My wife actually uses a Beelink mini running Windows 11, alongside a Mac Mini, which is running the latest version of OS-X. She tells me that, despite having used Macs for more than twenty years, she now prefers the Beelink.
 
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AndrewFlannigan said:
As someone who regularly uses Linux, Mac and Windows, I suggest you look carefully at the Apple offering in action, before committing yourself. The differences between OS-X and Windows are often subtle but can trip the naive.

You might want to look at the Beelink range of mini PCs, which are physically much smaller than the Mac Mini but can meet the requirements you've outlined, while letting you remain in your current comfort zone: https://www.bee-link.com/

My wife actually uses a Beelink mini running Windows 11, alongside a Mac Mini, which is running the latest version of OS-X. She tells me that, despite having used Macs for more than twenty years, she now prefers the Beelink.
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Thankyou, will have a look. Russ.
 
As someone one who currently uses only Mac stuff, if size is your main criterion I agree with @AndrewFlannigan and would look at smaller Windows alternatives.
 
sphexx said:
As someone one who currently uses only Mac stuff, if size is your main criterion I agree with @AndrewFlannigan and would look at smaller Windows alternatives.
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Hi, after a quick look through there offerings they do look very good for systems i9 16/32GB Ram and price, just going to look for reviews on these as never heard about them before. Thankyou, Russ.
 
Do you need a decent graphics card? Some small form machines do offer mobile RTX 2060s or similar although they're not cheap, I've not used the software you've listed so I don't know how much they benefit from a powerful GPU.

Lenovo and Dell both sell 'Tiny' PCs which companies are often selling off cheap at three to four years old, there was a deal recently for a Dell Tiny with a hex-core 9th gen Intel processor, 16GB ram and 512GB storage for under £200. The ram and storage are socketed so you can easily upgrade if you want so that might allow you to try out a small form factor Windows PC without spending too much.

The main caveat for me with this approach is these small machines are noisy under load and there's no space to fit better cooling systems, I have a Lenovo Tiny I use as a little server but under load it's loud and it's quite an irritating noise. It's fine as it's mostly idling but I wouldn't want to use a system like this under load most of the time and I'm toying with building another system I can fit a quiet cooler to.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
The main caveat for me with this approach is these small machines are noisy under load ...
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The Beelink my wife uses is silent in operation.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
The Beelink my wife uses is silent in operation.
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I'm sure it is but I doubt she's using a high performance processor under heavy load which is what the OP has described their use is going to be, my Tiny is silent when it's idling as well but not under heavy load - it's no fault of the hardware, there simply is not space for adequate cooling. A quick look on the Beelink forums quickly found people complaining about fan noise on their higher performance Mini PCs.

For general use I think the machines can be a good choice but I'd be more cautious using them for heavier workloads if they're going to be nearby
 
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Also have a look at the Intel NUC's which like the other mini PC's can be configured to suit your requirements and in my experience are pretty quiet.
 
JohnMcL7 said:
I'm sure it is but I doubt she's using a high performance processor under heavy load which is what the OP has described their use is going to be
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You may be correct or you may not. My experience suggests you are not.
 
Thankyou for all the information, I honestly did not even no such small computers where available, have been trying to watch videos on YouTube but all these people seem to be only interested how games can be played. Will have to take more time to find one that will run On1 photo raw as it is quite a resource grabbing software especially on graphics side.
 
russellsnr said:
Thankyou for all the information, I honestly did not even no such small computers where available, have been trying to watch videos on YouTube but all these people seem to be only interested how games can be played. Will have to take more time to find one that will run On1 photo raw as it is quite a resource grabbing software especially on graphics side.
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Even as a gamer I find it a bit irritating that games benchmarks seem to be a singular focus especially when I don't really think these small machines are suited to the role. If you check task manager while doing something intensive in ON1 you should be able to quickly identify if it's using the CPU or GPU for the process by the percentage levels.
 
In a small PC form factor you really can't beat the Mac Mini with M1 or M2 chip. It will easily run any of the apps you need for photography, although I would recommend upgrading the RAM to at least 16Gb. You will have to do this when you purchase it as it is not upgradable.

I was a windows user from Windows 3.0 through to Vista before I jumped ship and moved to Mac. It is a bit of a learning curve but it really didn't take me long to adjust and I've not found anything I can do in a PC that I can't on the Mac.

One thing to be aware of though is that QImage Ultimate does not work on a Mac. It's windows only. You will need Qimage One which is a cut down version of ultimate but handles all the printing side of things very well. eg. you can not edit images in QImage One.
More info on QImage one here
www.binartem.com

Qimage One - Binartem

What is Qimage One? Qimage One is an easy-to-use, cross-platform photo printing application. Qimage One was designed with ONE thing in mind: produce the best quality prints with the least amount of work. Qimage One has a straightforward approach to helping you produce great prints from
www.binartem.com www.binartem.com
 
ecoleman said:
In a small PC form factor you really can't beat the Mac Mini with M1 or M2 chip. It will easily run any of the apps you need for photography, although I would recommend upgrading the RAM to at least 16Gb. You will have to do this when you purchase it as it is not upgradable.

I was a windows user from Windows 3.0 through to Vista before I jumped ship and moved to Mac. It is a bit of a learning curve but it really didn't take me long to adjust and I've not found anything I can do in a PC that I can't on the Mac.

One thing to be aware of though is that QImage Ultimate does not work on a Mac. It's windows only. You will need Qimage One which is a cut down version of ultimate but handles all the printing side of things very well. eg. you can not edit images in QImage One.
More info on QImage one here
www.binartem.com

Qimage One - Binartem

What is Qimage One? Qimage One is an easy-to-use, cross-platform photo printing application. Qimage One was designed with ONE thing in mind: produce the best quality prints with the least amount of work. Qimage One has a straightforward approach to helping you produce great prints from
www.binartem.com www.binartem.com
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Thankyou for that info I only use Qimage to print now and again, I should get off my backside can probably learn how to print just as well in On1 photo Raw :whistle:
 
As a long term mac user I recently swapped from a 2013 , 27 inch I.mac to a Mac mini and monitor , took advise from a few people and in the end went for a M1 mini with 512gb SSD . Added a 27 inch dell monitor , been using it for a few weeks now and initial thoughts are WOW .. it’s fast a couple of hundred RAW files uploaded to LR in under 30 seconds , it also gives me access to the latest software updates so everything else is speeded up … I already had topaz DN and sharpen which had slowed to the point of taking literally minutes to work . Both are now virtually instant in use a few seconds at most it’s breathed new life into my PP ..
one word of caution though I was told correctly that there is virtually no difference between the M1 and M2 chip models .. but hopefully in a few weeks the new M3 chip models will appear might be worth waiting for ?
The Mac minis are totally silent in use and heatless take up very little deskspace ..
these are just my own views but worth checking out before diving in to a purchase
 
the black fox said:
As a long term mac user I recently swapped from a 2013 , 27 inch I.mac to a Mac mini and monitor , took advise from a few people and in the end went for a M1 mini with 512gb SSD . Added a 27 inch dell monitor , been using it for a few weeks now and initial thoughts are WOW .. it’s fast a couple of hundred RAW files uploaded to LR in under 30 seconds , it also gives me access to the latest software updates so everything else is speeded up … I already had topaz DN and sharpen which had slowed to the point of taking literally minutes to work . Both are now virtually instant in use a few seconds at most it’s breathed new life into my PP ..
one word of caution though I was told correctly that there is virtually no difference between the M1 and M2 chip models .. but hopefully in a few weeks the new M3 chip models will appear might be worth waiting for ?
The Mac minis are totally silent in use and heatless take up very little deskspace ..
these are just my own views but worth checking out before diving in to a purchase
Click to expand...
PM'd you. Thanks.
 
I have both, i use my Mac Mini M1 purely for photo editing and my Windows machines for gaming, never had any issues
 
@russellsnr
do you never pop along to the Metro Centre or Newcastle ???? they both have Apple Stores so you can have a browse around and a play with a Mac mini.
I found the staff to be very helpful and they will answer all your questions for you.

FWIW I have been a Mac user for years and have never had a problem with my kit and believe me I have had some Apple Macs over the years.
 
Nikon f1.8 said:
@russellsnr
do you never pop along to the Metro Centre or Newcastle ???? they both have Apple Stores so you can have a browse around and a play with a Mac mini.
I found the staff to be very helpful and they will answer all your questions for you.

FWIW I have been a Mac user for years and have never had a problem with my kit and believe me I have had some Apple Macs over the years.
Click to expand...
Hi, on my list to do when I get back home in a week or so, actually visited the centre last month and never gave it a thought. Thanks, Russ.
 
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