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Buying refurb'd 2010 Mac Mini 2.66GHz C2D - good idea?

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ToTo Man

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2008
145
1
I'm currently using my Mac Pro as my Home Entertainment centre connected to my TV and HiFi to listen to music (redbook 16/44 and high rez 24/96), watched ripped DVDs, and watch HD video content from YouTube via Safari, HD movies from Netflix etc. But it's simply too big and noisy for my fairly small HT room so I want to replace it with a Mac Mini, which I'm hoping will be as near to silent as possible.

I'd buy a new Mini but the lack of an optical drive is a major drawback (I must be one of the few people who still uses CDs and DVDs in 2012... who'd have thought??!!!). I know you can get an external SuperDrive but that kind of defeats the sleek design of the Mini so I think I'd rather opt for an older model with the built-in optical drive.

My question is will a 2010 2.66GHz Mac Mini be powerful enough to fulfil my above requirements? I appreciate that the 2GB RAM and 320GB 5400rpm HDD are probably the two most limiting factors, but I plan to upgrade to 8GB RAM and all of my media content will be stored on a 1TB USB 2.0 HDD.

I'll still be keeping my Mac Pro, just moving it to another room, as it's a real beast for video editing etc!.....
 
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I

iCole

macrumors regular
Jun 10, 2010
190
21
Why don't you opt for an apple TV for movie watching and use an iPad for surfing? I tried to do Internet on my tv but I didn't find it to be a good experience :)
 
T

ToTo Man

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2008
145
1
iCole said:
Why don't you opt for an apple TV for movie watching and use an iPad for surfing? I tried to do Internet on my tv but I didn't find it to be a good experience :)
Click to expand...

The Apple TV would be great if it could handle both 16/44 and 96/24 audio natively, but unfortunately it doesn't (it resamples everything to 16/48!).
 
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DavoteK

macrumors 6502
Jan 5, 2012
305
50
Personally, I think your requirements are more than covered with a Mini'10. Been looking myself, but in the UK, the Mini'10 is coming in more expensive than the Mini'11 from places like eBay.

No refurbs on the Apple Store here. Out of interest, how much and where?
 
T

ToTo Man

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2008
145
1
DavoteK said:
Personally, I think your requirements are more than covered with a Mini'10. Been looking myself, but in the UK, the Mini'10 is coming in more expensive than the Mini'11 from places like eBay.

No refurbs on the Apple Store here. Out of interest, how much and where?
Click to expand...

I'm in the UK too.

I've just gone ahead and ordered it from the refurb store in case they disappear again (http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_mini). Price is £479.00.

EDIT - It's no longer showing on the refurb store since I've ordered it. Looks as if I may have got the last one, sorry. That's assuming my order went through ok and they weren't already sold out. Guess I won't know for sure until I get my dispatch email...
 
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philipma1957

philipma1957

macrumors 603
Apr 13, 2010
6,367
251
Howell, New Jersey
the c2d refurbished minis sell out fast. If you could have purchased a 2.4 vs the 2.66 you would be better off. The speed of the 2.66 is not much better then the 2.4. The problem is they sell off so fast that grabbing one quickly is better then having no mini at all.

I would have waited for a 2.4 if I were you but the wait in the U.K. could be very long for a 2010 2.4 Here in the states once every 15 days if you are lucky to get it. The 2.4 is 469 usd the 2.66 is 519 usd.
 
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DavoteK

macrumors 6502
Jan 5, 2012
305
50
ToTo Man said:
I'm in the UK too.

I've just gone ahead and ordered it from the refurb store in case they disappear again (http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_mini). Price is £479.00.

EDIT - It's no longer showing on the refurb store since I've ordered it. Looks as if I may have got the last one, sorry. That's assuming my order went through ok and they weren't already sold out. Guess I won't know for sure until I get my dispatch email...
Click to expand...
Haha, no need to apologise man, not in the market at the moment, these things take a while to put past the wife, lots of convincing. Seems to be working, iPad, iMac and a Macbook Pro haha.

Let us know how you find it if you ordered in time. Just don't rub it in too much :D
 
T

ToTo Man

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2008
145
1
DavoteK said:
Haha, no need to apologise man, not in the market at the moment, these things take a while to put past the wife, lots of convincing. Seems to be working, iPad, iMac and a Macbook Pro haha.

Let us know how you find it if you ordered in time. Just don't rub it in too much :D
Click to expand...

Well it looks like my order was processed ok as it's just been delivered to my door. Looks like I'll have a busy evening ahead of me! :D .....
 
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GlynJones

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2005
346
20
ToTo Man said:
EDIT - It's no longer showing on the refurb store since I've ordered it. Looks as if I may have got the last one, sorry. That's assuming my order went through ok and they weren't already sold out. Guess I won't know for sure until I get my dispatch email...
Click to expand...

So it was you that snagged it? It was in my basket and when I hit place order it had gone. It was at this time as well ggggggrrrrrrrrr :(
 
T

ToTo Man

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2008
145
1
Dhelsdon said:
Which one did you end up getting?
Click to expand...

This one: http://store.apple.com/uk/product/G0H50B/A

And it seems I got an unexpected bonus.... just checked System Profiler and it appears I have 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD instead of the advertised 2GB RAM and 320GB HDD :). Wish I'd have waited until it arrived before ordering the 8GB RAM upgrade from Crucial, but I suppose 8GB will still be a worthwhile upgrade from 4GB.

Now I need to decide whether to upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion or just wait until Mountain Lion is released??

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GlynJones said:
So it was you that snagged it? It was in my basket and when I hit place order it had gone. It was at this time as well ggggggrrrrrrrrr :(
Click to expand...

Apologies :eek:. I was going to pull the trigger in the morning but managed to resist until then, but I couldn't restrain myself any longer. Hope another one comes along for you soon.....
 
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DavoteK

macrumors 6502
Jan 5, 2012
305
50
ToTo Man said:
Now I need to decide whether to upgrade from Snow Leopard to Lion or just wait until Mountain Lion is released??
Click to expand...

I'd hang fire if its purely a media setup you're using it for, if purchasing it at all. XBMC or Plex will work on Snow Leopard (I think) so thats all you'd need.

Nice on the extra spec and yes, defo stick it up to 8GB.
 
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GlynJones

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2005
346
20
ToTo Man said:
Apologies :eek:. I was going to pull the trigger in the morning but managed to resist until then, but I couldn't restrain myself any longer. Hope another one comes along for you soon.....
Click to expand...

Yippee another one appeared this morning. Just snaffood it :)
 
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GlynJones

macrumors 6502
Jun 15, 2005
346
20
ToTo Man said:
And it seems I got an unexpected bonus.... just checked System Profiler and it appears I have 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD instead of the advertised 2GB RAM and 320GB HDD :).
Click to expand...

Same here. Was going to swap the drive out and put in more memory but no need to now. Happy days :)

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GlynJones said:
Same here. Was going to swap the drive out and put in more memory but no need to now. Happy days :)
Click to expand...

And it's a 7200rpm drive as well. All my birthdays at once :)
 
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