I ask this question because by early 2009 mini is nearing it's 4th year and it is running as smooth as ever. It pretty much does everything I need and I honestly see it being my main Mac for anther couple of years. 6 years of use as my primary Mac would make it a great value.
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How long do you plan on keeping your mini?
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I've just bought a new mini to replace my iMac which I've had for 4.5 years and I'm hoping to keep the mini for just as long. 
Not a bad run of far
. I upped the RAM to the max (4) when I first purchased it and I'm thinking about an SSD down the road to see if it gives it a bit of a boost.my first mac was the first aluminium macbook (late 2008), which has the same specifications as your early 2009 mini (assuming you have the 2.0 ghz C2D model).
it is still running fine and it's still in perfect condition (well... the battery died). my father uses it. i upgraded the memory to 4 gb and installed a better HDD before i gave it to him. for basic stuffs it's still a very good machine.
if your "veteran" mini is enough for you, just keep it. no need to spend money without proper reason. imho.
2009 mini
My dad has the 2009 mini 2.0ghz cpu and 3gb ram and SL. We upgraded him to a small SSD over the holidays and it works great - pushed off a full machine upgrade a couple of years.
My dad has the 2009 mini 2.0ghz cpu and 3gb ram and SL. We upgraded him to a small SSD over the holidays and it works great - pushed off a full machine upgrade a couple of years.
Used Powerbook 1.67 GHz 15" - 2 years
New Macbook 2.26 GHz 13.3" - 1.5 years
Refurb Mac Mini 2.4 GHz - Current, had about one year
I'm looking into upgrading the Mini to a 2011 i5 as we speak.
I personally feel like Apple products have pretty decent resale value, which makes it easier on the pocketbook to upgrade. It cost me $200 out of pocket to go to a Macbook from the Powerbook and it was pretty much an even trade when I got the Mini in place of the Macbook.
Right now, I should be able to get at least $400 conservatively for my Mini and the new one will be $549 refurbished. I know it's not for everyone but I generally like having newer products and I'd rather dish it out in smaller amounts at a time.
New Macbook 2.26 GHz 13.3" - 1.5 years
Refurb Mac Mini 2.4 GHz - Current, had about one year
I'm looking into upgrading the Mini to a 2011 i5 as we speak.
I personally feel like Apple products have pretty decent resale value, which makes it easier on the pocketbook to upgrade. It cost me $200 out of pocket to go to a Macbook from the Powerbook and it was pretty much an even trade when I got the Mini in place of the Macbook.
Right now, I should be able to get at least $400 conservatively for my Mini and the new one will be $549 refurbished. I know it's not for everyone but I generally like having newer products and I'd rather dish it out in smaller amounts at a time.
I still have my mid-2007 mini. It's got 3GB memory (unofficially supported) and a 60GB SSD, my wife uses it in her office. It's running great and the SSD gave it a nice injection of new life.
When the Haswell models come out I'll replace my 2011 server, my wife will get my hand-me-down again and I'll probably give my 2007 to my dad to tinker with.
When the Haswell models come out I'll replace my 2011 server, my wife will get my hand-me-down again
and I'll probably give my 2007 to my dad to tinker with.My MIni is early 2009 (March), BTO - 2.26GZ, 4GB, 120GB, running 10.6.8. Still runs like new, and I shall keep it until it dies. Have no interest in newer OSs.
Mine came with Leopard and I upgraded to SL. I have skipped Lion and Mountain lion. SL seems to be rock solid.
my upgrade path...
1996 - 2007: 7600 & 8600
2007 - 2013: macbook C2D
2013 - ?: i7 quad 2.6ghz mini
as long as she keeps chugging, i don't buy another machine until i know i'm going to have a huge performance boost
1996 - 2007: 7600 & 8600
2007 - 2013: macbook C2D
2013 - ?: i7 quad 2.6ghz mini
as long as she keeps chugging, i don't buy another machine until i know i'm going to have a huge performance boost
As did mine, and It took some time for me to upgrade because Leopard was fine. However, as you say, SL is solid.
Slighthly off-topic... generally I have tried to keep all of my computers at least 5 years. I recall an old iMac that I had that only saw service for around 2 years, because its memory was way too small (it was many years ago -- I am a Mac owner from the old-school ).
And therein lies the rub, I am usually forced to upgrade equipment before it wears out due to the need of more RAM that the older hardware doesn't support.
).And therein lies the rub, I am usually forced to upgrade equipment before it wears out due to the need of more RAM that the older hardware doesn't support.
My last iMacs i sold after 2.5/3 years and got half my money back, but now that i've moved to Minis i may actually sell on every year. They're much cheaper anyway and the base model would only depreciate about £100ish (thats a brand new Mac Mini every year and total cost of ownership over 3 years is £300)
My last iMacs i sold after 2.5/3 years and got half my money back, but now that i've moved to Minis i may actually sell on every year. They're much cheaper anyway and the base model would only depreciate about £100ish (thats a brand new Mac Mini every year and total cost of ownership over 3 years is £300)
Yeah, it will cost me less than $100US for a little over a year of service from my current Mini. Hard to beat in the PC world.
My 2007 Mini just died. It was approximately 6 years old when the motherboard failed. Looking back at other people's experiences, that model's logic board was prone to such failures.
But 5-6 years is really all you can reasonably expect from the bargain model mac.
But 5-6 years is really all you can reasonably expect from the bargain model mac.
My 2011 mini will be nearing its second year in October which isn't that long. I will get a Haswell mini depending on what Apple releases. If they do not release a machine worthy enough of an upgrade I will keep what I have unless my current machine dies. I did not get Applecare and upgraded the SSD myself so I am out of luck.
I have a 2011 base mini, and will be very tempted to upgrade to a Haswell-based version (HD4600 should be good) and use 256GB SSD in place of the boot drive. That should make for quite the noticeable speed improvement.
I've been tempted to upgrade my current stock drive to a 256GB SSD, and just move that over to a Haswell mini.... someone can talk me in or out of this strategy!
I've been tempted to upgrade my current stock drive to a 256GB SSD, and just move that over to a Haswell mini.... someone can talk me in or out of this strategy!
My new 2012 Mini is replacing a 2006 iMac. I've got a 2009 MacBook (with an SSD replacement) that still works well.
Before that, I had a 2003 iBook, which I kept for 4-5 years.
I've had several "beige" Macs before that which I've kept for years.
My Dad still uses old G4 Macs that are at least ten years old.
Before that, I had a 2003 iBook, which I kept for 4-5 years.
I've had several "beige" Macs before that which I've kept for years.
My Dad still uses old G4 Macs that are at least ten years old.
Not a bad run of far
I had a similar plan for my 2010 MBP, but frankly, I'm getting tired of looking at the screen. I find that I'm using my iPad for almost everything except long-form writing.
Regardless. The Mac mini is a spirited machine and should serve you well for as long as your needs are similar to what they are now.
I don't mind the screen res of my wife's 11' Air. Obviously the new retina MBPs are tempting but expensive.
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Got a new mini when the new ones came out recently and since my early 09 mini still works pretty well I took it to my office and connected a KVM switch so that I can share the monitor, keyboard and mouse with my pc. I use it for some of my writing and home email, but also for constructing Keynote presentations and media editing. It's no spring chicken but it still works for me.