What is included with the Mac Mini?

[Gary King]

When you purchase a Mac Mini, what is inside the box? I'm not talking about any of the hardware like wires, etc., but I am talking about which CDs, manuals, etc.

Thanks!

[Gordy]

Hi

I dont have a mini but with my powerbook I got the power adapter and cables, osx cd's with a tiger update cd,an Iwork trial cd , a small manual giving some features of tiger and the powerbook and some warantee booklets. I also got some dvi and vga cables but thats powerbook specific

I''d imagine you will get something similiar :)

[Applespider]

Since from your sig (and other posts), you seem to have one, how about you look in the box and tell us? ;)

Or do you think you're missing something you should have had?

[jsw]

Aside from the install disks, the hardware, and a few pieces of paper, not much. The "manual" is, as mentioned above, more like a very brief pamphlet. Did you buy yours second-hand?

[Gary King]

I bought mine from a store, but it didn't come with Tiger (not that I expected it too.)

I guess I was just looking for things that I expected it to have. Not sure what, though :p

There also really isn't any manual or anything to get started with the Mini. It's expected that you just learn as you go, eh? :D

[iGary]

Did you get the packet of instant "Steve Jobs Kool-Aid™?"

That comes with every Mac®.

[mrzeve]

Uhm, from what I remember, it comes with the DVI connecter, the brick power adapter, and uhhh iLife 05 and the osx discs. I remember some type of manuals tho..

[Applespider]

There's a very good 'manual' on Apple's site called Mac 101 (http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/) which takes you through the basic differences between Macs and windows, all the built-in applications, what all the system prefs do etc.

When I bought my first Mac ('92), the first thing you saw when you started up was a tutorial that walked you through various things. I guess it disappeared when they figured out that most people knew how to use a mouse and that no-one ever supposedly reads manuals. And with most people being 'online', it makes more sense to have up-to-date documents on the web rather than wasting money on printed pages.

I still think that a little more info wouldn't go amiss though. At the moment, I think many new Mac users don't get the most out of their machines unless they stumble across information or have an experienced Mac user sit down next to them. It's the little touches like easy to use accents or ™s, screen selection tools that many people just don't know exist.

[yellow]

THe manuals that come with Macs are usually pretty sparce. Some real basic user info on setting it up and real basic info on using OS X. That's about it.

[Gary King]

Am I supposed to have CDs with the Mini, as well? I don't have an iLife, Quicken, or Nanosaur CD, for instance.

[mkrishnan]

Am I supposed to have CDs with the Mini, as well? I don't have an iLife, Quicken, or Nanosaur CD, for instance.

You should have 1-2 DVDs that install OS X (not a retail Tiger disc, but "system restore" discs). Those should also include the games and other applications, and can be used to re-install these other items.

EDIT: In the past, iLife has come on a single separate DVD (at least for iLife 05...), but it may have migrated its way onto the system discs with Tiger, as it was in previous revisions....

[iGary]

Am I supposed to have CDs with the Mini, as well? I don't have an iLife, Quicken, or Nanosaur CD, for instance.

You should have two CD's - everything is on those two.

[Gary King]

You should have two CD's - everything is on those two.

Thanks. Also, I have Panther, not Tiger. Should it still be only those 2 CDs?

Thanks again!

[solvs]

You should have 2 (or 3) DVDs, Panther or Tiger. If you bought it after Tiger's release date was announced, there is an up-to-date program. Call Apple if you qualify (it's on their website too). If you think you're missing something, call them and then can help you, especially if you have AppleCare. You may just need to install them from the disks.

[tsk]

Am I supposed to have CDs with the Mini, as well? I don't have an iLife, Quicken, or Nanosaur CD, for instance.

My Mini had an iLife drop in CD as well as 2 OS CD's from what I recall. I assume Nanosaur is on the OS CD's. But ILife was a separate CD.