Buying a used mac mini...

[toewsdiddy]

So i'm a pc user, have been wanting to switch to mac, however have only been able to own the Iphone.

I am considering purchasing a used Mac mini g4 1.25 ghz 512/40 gb.

I'm aware this is outdated and the memory is really small ( planning on storing a lot externally).

What are your opinions on this? Any experiences with used macs either? Not using it for anything too series, mostly photoshop/garageband/browsing.

Good idea?

 

[flopticalcube]

I would avoid G4 minis. Even a Core Solo Intel mini is far faster and more upgradable.

 

[philipma1957]

I would say you are wasting money.



http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Mac-Mini-...le_Desktops&hash=item2a101799b8#ht_894wt_1141

this for under 250☝


http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-Mac-mini-...le_Desktops&hash=item1e6329c7bd#ht_500wt_1156


this for low 300☝


http://cgi.ebay.com/TWEEKED-OUT-2-0...e_Desktops&hash=item3f097df6d6#ht_1077wt_1141


this for 400 and change☝

 

[jdreier]

Definitely get a intel mac mini. The g4 mini's are too outdated nowadays.

I have a 2006 era mac mini that still runs simple day to day computing tasks perfectly (ie web surfing, email, itunes music and video playback)

Hope that helps

 

[cocacolakid]

Another vote to get an Intel based mini. If money is tight but you're patient you can find a Core Duo 1.66 or 1.83, just before the upgraded to the Core 2 Duo, in the $250-275 range.

Everymac is a good resource that lists the specs of every Mac made, along with dates released and much more info so you can compare the different mini's.

The Intel mini's are obviously faster than the PPC ones, they do video and flash better, and are compatible with far more apps than the PPC mini's.

Not that the PPC mini's are junk, but if you're patient you won't spend a ton more on an Intel mini that is a far better machine.

 

[lvlarkkoenen]

/gets on the Intel bandwagon

The most important reason being that I own a PPC myself and find it's becoming too outdated, even if processing power doesn't mean alot to you. FireFox 4 doesn't run on it, most games don't run on it (despite the processor not having enough power anyway I still find this an indication), and even OSX 10.6 doesn't run on it. 10.5 does and still gets updated by Apple, but I doubt that will continue for long after OSX 10.7 is released 'somewhere this summer'.

And while I acknowledge that state-of-the-art performance isn't important to everyone, I imagine that you'll have to be careful running youtube vids. Even at 320p, if there's some aggressive animated advertisement somewhere (perhaps in a pop-under so you don't really realise it's there), it hiccups.

In short, performance-wise this machine is probably a bit too outdated to go and buy it now, and architecture-wise (PowerPC) I'd say it's worse.