What would you do with a 1.5Ghz mini?

[benlee]

I think I'm going to be making a trade for a 1.5 Ghz mini with 1GB of Ram.
I'm going to load Leopard onto it but I don't know what to do with it. I have an LCD monitor that I never use but it is on my desk where my MBP is so I don't think the computer would get any use in that sense.
I also have an apple TV so a media center use would almost be useless.
I do have a 42 inch LCD TV that has a VGA input that i could hook the mini up to and then buy a wireless keyboard in mouse for 'from the couch computing'. However, I'm not sure how much I would use it considering my MBP is 3 feet away. The mini only has an 80GB hard drive so using it as a media server would be difficult unless I bought an external. However if I did that I'm almost better off selling the mini and buying a new one when they come out.

What would you do in my situation?

[CWallace]

Sell it to this guy - http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=469694

[TheScavenger]

What about using it as a media center in your car?

[MacHappytjg]

Originally Posted by CWallace

Sell it to this guy - http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=469694

MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[rolex54]

hook it up to your TV
use it as a media center
thats what i am about to do

[zap2]

Media Center would be my first idea, but the AppleTV is much better then FrontRow now, and since you have a TV, why both?


I'd set it up as a "public" computer, when friends and family come over,they wouldn't need to touch my personal computer

[flyinmac]

Originally Posted by benlee

I think I'm going to be making a trade for a 1.5 Ghz mini with 1GB of Ram.
I'm going to load Leopard onto it but I don't know what to do with it. I have an LCD monitor that I never use but it is on my desk where my MBP is so I don't think the computer would get any use in that sense.
I also have an apple TV so a media center use would almost be useless.
I do have a 42 inch LCD TV that has a VGA input that i could hook the mini up to and then buy a wireless keyboard in mouse for 'from the couch computing'. However, I'm not sure how much I would use it considering my MBP is 3 feet away. The mini only has an 80GB hard drive so using it as a media server would be difficult unless I bought an external. However if I did that I'm almost better off selling the mini and buying a new one when they come out.

What would you do in my situation?

I'd give it to my child. That's what I'm doing with my mini. It's going to a 4 year old who has outgrown her iMac G3. It will be her new educational program station. Her G3 is currently set up with a kiosk type interface that allows her to easily select which educational program she wishes to use, and then shut it down when done.

But, now it's getting a bit slow for her newer titles. So, it will be replaced with a Mac Mini G4 1.25 GHz that I have with 1 GB of RAM and a LCD screen with a piece of custom cut glass to protect the LCD screen.

Edit: I forgot to mention that she's been using a computer since she could kind of sit up. Let her start with simple things like programs that threw stuff on the screen as soon as she hit the keys. And, she then moved up to more advanced programs from there. She's had her own dedicated computer since about birth.

She's quite advanced for her age now. Just about too smart ;-) Can't slip much past her.

[asme]

I would load it with Tiger and use it ask a desktop.

Then, I would revel in the fact that I have the world's best desktop running the world's best operating system.

The 1.5ghz mini: Low power consumption, low heat output, extremely low noise, just enough horsepower to get the job done in Tiger, a rock-solid, stable, gimmick-free OS.

I've had my 1.5ghz, 512mb RAM, 60GB hard drive Mac Mini for two years as it's traveled over 10,000 miles with me. I wonder why I bought AppleCare. Compared to my POS MacBook, it has never had an issue. Ever.

[robanga]

Whenever i have to ask myself questions like this, I always end up think and asking myself why?, why do I feel the need to horde gadgets?

I then fight a little internal battle between the common sense responsible self and the materialistic idiot side of me.

The latter one usually wins

[bplein]

I took my Mini (1.83 Core Duo) and dropped in a 2.33 Core Duo. While a good Core 2 Duo would have been better, the price was right on the CPU I bought.

While the 1.83 was good enough to play DVDs and MP4s (this is a Home Theater rig), the 2.33 is a little extra overhead and allows me to rip my DVDs I buy to disk a lot quicker.

[flyinmac]

Originally Posted by bplein

I took my Mini (1.83 Core Duo) and dropped in a 2.33 Core Duo. While a good Core 2 Duo would have been better, the price was right on the CPU I bought.

While the 1.83 was good enough to play DVDs and MP4s (this is a Home Theater rig), the 2.33 is a little extra overhead and allows me to rip my DVDs I buy to disk a lot quicker.

That's a pretty good move. The only question I have there, is whether the Core2Duo might have been cooler running and perhaps a better option for the long term.

But, if the system is pretty close in temps to it's original configuration, then I'm sure it will be fine.

Of course, who knows how much cooler the Core2Duo really is than the comparable speed CoreDuo.

[Lord Zedd]

Originally Posted by benlee

What would you do in my situation?

That depends. If it is a 1.5GHz G4, sell it and buy something newer. If it is a 1.5GHz Core Solo, upgrade the CPU to a Core 2 Duo.

[CanadaRAM]

Even if it's a G4 - hook up a large Firewire hard drve and voila - an HFS+ native fileserver - no faffing about with SMB and limits on filenames and sizes.

[bplein]

Originally Posted by flyinmac

That's a pretty good move. The only question I have there, is whether the Core2Duo might have been cooler running and perhaps a better option for the long term.

But, if the system is pretty close in temps to it's original configuration, then I'm sure it will be fine.

Of course, who knows how much cooler the Core2Duo really is than the comparable speed CoreDuo.

The way I looked at it was that a Core Duo 2.33 is about the same speed across the board as a Core 2 Duo 2.0 or 2.16. But at just over $100, it was a lot cheaper than any Core 2 chip. This is for my Home Theatre rig, so I had no desire to load it up with over 2GB of RAM.

The thermal specs are about the same for the Core Duo 2.33 and the Core 2 Duo line, and my system is running very cool for most workloads, except for using Handbrake. That will get the system cooking at about 83deg C.

[asme]

Originally Posted by CanadaRAM

Even if it's a G4 - hook up a large Firewire hard drve and voila - an HFS+ native fileserver - no faffing about with SMB and limits on filenames and sizes.

That's what mine's doing right now, running OSX Server, acting as a tunneled torrent server for my brother in college. Using its internal 60, 2 250's and 2 160's in multiple levels of software RAID to whirr about in my room.

It's a nice sound to fall asleep to, although admittedly I myself don't use it for much.

[DoFoT9]

Originally Posted by asme

That's what mine's doing right now, running OSX Server, acting as a tunneled torrent server for my brother in college. Using its internal 60, 2 250's and 2 160's in multiple levels of software RAID to whirr about in my room.

It's a nice sound to fall asleep to, although admittedly I myself don't use it for much.

exactly what id use it for... basically a fileserver. id put server on it and learn how to use it better (doing IT at uni).

it is a nice noise isnt it... very soothing. sounds like the beach

now just to bribe dad into buying one!