Possible to get Mini with 1.42Ghz and 40Gb HD?

jessearl · Apr 9, 2005

I'm helping my parents purchase their first Mac computers. They'd like something fast enough to play games with, so I'm getting them an iMac G5 1.8, 20" screen, etc. This is so my little brother will be happy with it.

And they'd also like something smaller that my Mom could use for e-mail and paying bills and such. They currently have a Dell with a CRT, so I told them they could just get a Mac Mini and plug it in and be done, but my Dad doesn't like the big screen and would rather have a LCD.

So, I'm thinking maybe a Mac Mini with a 1.42Ghz processor, but they really don't need a 80gig harddrive with that. Is it possible to order it with a 40gig hard drive? And either they can use their CRT for a while and see how they like it and get an LCD later if they really want it.

Or, maybe an iMac G4 1.25Ghz Processor, 17" screen, etc. That would probably be around the same price as a Mini if they bought an LCD as well, right?

I realize that this is a bunch of information, must of it not related to the thread title. Sorry about that. Just wanted to give the background info as well.

macbaseball · Apr 9, 2005

For the 40 gb hard drive, it's going to be a lot harder than it would seem. A local dealer might do it for you, but by the time your done you might as well keep the 80 gb.

If your going to buy a 17 inch LCD, you might as well get a G5 iMac.

The Mac mini is going to cost $599, plus $149 for Apple care, $100 for 512 RAM, and $200 (More likely closer to $300) for an LCD. By the time you buy all that you might as well purchase a much better machine, the low end iMac which you can get for $1,099.00 refurbished, or 1,299.00 new.

If you were going to keep the CRT it would be logical to buy the Mini, but if your just going to get rid of it, it doesn't seem logical to pay the same amount for a G4 processor.

Sun Baked · Apr 9, 2005

jessearl said:
So, I'm thinking maybe a Mac Mini with a 1.42Ghz processor, but they really don't need a 80gig harddrive with that. Is it possible to order it with a 40gig hard drive? And either they can use their CRT for a while and see how they like it and get an LCD later if they really want it.

No, it's going to start at $599 -- period.

You can try selling parts on e-Bay, but you probably won't get enough to make it worthwhile.

If you want a $499 machine, buy the 1.25GHz -- in reality the performace of the two won't be much different. More RAM is the key under Mac OS X.

JeDiBoYTJ · Apr 9, 2005

if your mom is just going to be doing typical house work on it (email, bills, news, etc) then just get the base 1.25ghz model. just up the RAM to 512 and be done with it.

macbaseball · Apr 9, 2005

Sorry didn't read the post closely enough. I would recommend buying a G4 800 MHz for about $600 on eBay. Then just add third party RAM, and it will be plenty fast enough. My Mom has my old one and loves it.

Le Big Mac · Apr 9, 2005

macbaseball said:
For the 40 gb hard drive, it's going to be a lot harder than it would seem. A local dealer might do it for you, but by the time your done you might as well keep the 80 gb.

Seems to me one can never overestimate the amount of disk space one will need. Today 40gb may seem like enough, but that will fill up pretty fast if they ever get into any digital media. And who knows what tomorrow brings? I'd just stay with 80 and be glad you won't have to get an external that much sooner.

26139 · Apr 9, 2005

....

Le Big Mac said:
Seems to me one can never overestimate the amount of disk space one will need. Today 40gb may seem like enough, but that will fill up pretty fast if they ever get into any digital media. And who knows what tomorrow brings? I'd just stay with 80 and be glad you won't have to get an external that much sooner.

No offense here...but do your parents even OWN a digital camcorder? I consider my parents fairly computer savvy, but never will the be filming hours worth of footage that would warrant an 80 gig drive. My dad currently has a 17" G4 iMac with an 80 gig drive that has 50 gigs free (he runs a home business from it, along with hundreds of digital still photos for his customers, family, etc.).
For simple household tasks, a 40 is more than enough. Save yourself the hassle and just get the 1.25ghz model.

ravenvii · Apr 9, 2005

My mom uses a iMac G4 800 MHz. It only has 256 MB of RAM, but it works great for her. I might up the RAM to 512 MB with a additional 256 MB stick in the future, but for now it's perfectly fine. The 1.25 GHz Mac mini with 512 MB will be fine for your needs.

risc · Apr 9, 2005

jessearl said:
I'm helping my parents purchase their first Mac computers. They'd like something fast enough to play games with, so I'm getting them an iMac G5 1.8, 20" screen, etc. This is so my little brother will be happy with it.

I hope they don't want to play any real games, my GF has the iMac G5 here and the onboard video isn't even fast enough to play the games that come with it at the native monitor resolution. It's a great computer but it really is shocking for games.

MacAztec · Apr 9, 2005

Here is what you should get. My parents were in the same situation, and I talked them into this:

Mac Mini 1.42GHz, AE/BT Combo, 80GB HD, 512MB RAM

Dell 2005FPW (About $500 shipped if you find a deal)

homerjward · Apr 9, 2005

http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/macmini/
the only way to get a 1.42ghz mini with a 40gb drive

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Possible to get Mini with 1.42Ghz and 40Gb HD?

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