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geoffreak

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
2,193
2
Apparently I'm not the only person who is going to be using this putty knife for this purpose:
20090730-x6rf8n97t1nk9xn5ky9j7iens4.png


And yes, I am buying one of the two in stock :p
 

rgarjr

macrumors 604
Apr 2, 2009
6,820
1,050
Southern California
Haha, that's so cool how amazon but those 3 items as frequent bought together. I bought my putty knife at home depot and i just can't wait to do the surgery on the mini.
 

steve knight

macrumors 68030
Jan 28, 2009
2,735
7,180
that's silly. sharpen the putty knife so you can get it in easier. otherwise it will chew the plastic up a bit.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Is it a bit of a struggle to get the knife in between the metal the cover? If so, I would need to take out my dremel and sand the tip of it a bit.

No don't. Home Depot or Lowes sells putty knives thin enough. I bought two in the end. One was clearly too thick. I went back and found a thinner one. In the end it worked perfectly. 250 GB 7200 RPM drive + 4GB ram. Smokin'!
 

steve knight

macrumors 68030
Jan 28, 2009
2,735
7,180
Is it a bit of a struggle to get the knife in between the metal the cover? If so, I would need to take out my dremel and sand the tip of it a bit.

it's a Little tight but putting an edge on it helped quite a bit. a file works fine too it only takes a minute.
 

geoffreak

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
2,193
2
Having a flexible putty knife will ensure that the putty knife is thin enough.

As long as it is flat and won't crush under the pressure needed to open a Mac Mini, any tool will work to open it. On my last Mini, I actually used a pocket knife. It wasn't easy, mind you.
 

steve knight

macrumors 68030
Jan 28, 2009
2,735
7,180
Having a flexible putty knife will ensure that the putty knife is thin enough.

As long as it is flat and won't crush under the pressure needed to open a Mac Mini, any tool will work to open it. On my last Mini, I actually used a pocket knife. It wasn't easy, mind you.
yes it will work but it will ding up the case. sharpen it and it is more like using foreplay over rape.
 

G42X500macguy

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2008
19
0
Another option

I've had great luck with a Fender Medium 346 pick.

There's also the option of the Hello Kitty picks, too!:p
 

rkdiddy

macrumors 65816
Mar 19, 2008
1,183
65
OC Baby!
Haha - that is too funny.

I just picked up a putty knife from Lowes. After watching the YouTube video, I had an idea of the flexibility I needed so I went in person to check the thicknesses and flexibility.

Cheers.
 

spacepower7

macrumors 68000
May 6, 2004
1,509
1
Putty Knife

I actually bought a putty knife that looks the exact same for $3 at a paint store 1 block from my local Apple Store. Apple recommends that you buy their $30 putty knife, but if not, they give you the specs for one to buy in the Mac mini tech manual. And you are supposed to sandpaper file one side of it. Sand Paper $1
 

Krafty

macrumors 601
Dec 31, 2007
4,439
308
La La Land
My dad had one thankfully, but the bottom of my mini is kinda scraped. Oh well, definitely worth the 4GB RAM + 320 HD.
 

designgeek

macrumors 65816
Jan 30, 2009
1,064
1
"Town"
I find it's hilarious how they're bundling this. If only Apple would take the hint. Anyway I'm about to embark on a journey such as this one, nervously I might add.
 

geoffreak

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
2,193
2
I'll just add to this thread saying I got that putty knife and upgraded my Mini's HDD last night. I can actually do more than one thing at a time now!:D
 

Shawn F.

macrumors newbie
Jul 3, 2009
27
0
North Carolina
People that buy the Apple tool just don't know or realize they can buy a cheap $4 putty knife. :p Geoffreak, what did you upgrade your HDD to and where did you get it? Even though I am on a Mac Mini with the small 1.42 GHz I plan to buy the 2GHz one soon and would like to up grade to 4GB of memory and update the HDD to something a little more and quicker if possible.
 

geoffreak

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
2,193
2
I got a new 500GB WD Scorpio Blue for my MBP and placed the old 320GB WD Scorpio Black that was in my MBP in my Mini. Both drives came from NewEgg.

The Mac Mini's stock HDD is horribly slow. I had the slowest of them all, the 160GB. The 320GB will be faster, but you might as well stick in a good aftermarket drive.

You really don't need 4GB RAM in a Mac Mini. 2GB is more than sufficient for most all tasks.
 

ag55

macrumors regular
Jun 14, 2009
225
0
I got a new 500GB WD Scorpio Blue for my MBP and placed the old 320GB WD Scorpio Black that was in my MBP in my Mini. Both drives came from NewEgg.

The Mac Mini's stock HDD is horribly slow. I had the slowest of them all, the 160GB. The 320GB will be faster, but you might as well stick in a good aftermarket drive.

You really don't need 4GB RAM in a Mac Mini. 2GB is more than sufficient for most all tasks.

Nice, im going to be adding 4gb ram and a 30gb ssd to the mini when it arrives - super nervous but the owc videos seem reassuring.
 

geoffreak

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
2,193
2
Nice, im going to be adding 4gb ram and a 30gb ssd to the mini when it arrives - super nervous but the owc videos seem reassuring.

I used the OWC video when I upgraded. As long as you have the right tools, only the original prying is difficult.
I think an SSD is overkill for a Mac Mini though...
 

brentsg

macrumors 68040
Oct 15, 2008
3,578
936
that's silly. sharpen the putty knife so you can get it in easier. otherwise it will chew the plastic up a bit.

I sanded an old credit card down to have a sharp edge. Then I could easily slide the putty knife in beside it without needing to sharpen it.

Then I did the rinse/repeat on the other side. I just felt better about sticking sharp plastic in there than sharp metal. :)
 
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