Chance to get a cheap(?) Mac Mini

[PatPending89]

I've always wanted to get some form of Mac just to 'have a go', but never seriously looked into buying new due to the price.

By chance I've came across what looks like to be a bargain, my friend is selling his old Mac Mini; specs G4 1.25 Ghz, DVD rom CD rw, 80Gb HD, 256Mb ram, OS X Tiger, with the apple keyboard and mouse for £100.

Is this a good deal? I've already got a monitor and speakers I can plug it into so thats no problem.
I think I'l be upgrading the ram to 1Gb, is it worth swapping the hard drive for a faster 5400rpm one, or getting an extrnal?


Thanks in advance

 

[G5power]

That will not be a fast system as that is the lowest end of the G4 mini's.

The maximum RAM is 1GB and you will really want to upgrade to avoid a slow experience.

As far as the hard drive I would recommend an external firewire. If you get an enclosure and find a good special on a 500GB drive you would be really set.

 

[Hawkeye411]

That sounds like a great deal to me.

Cheers.

 

[techound1]

That's £100 well spent. As long as you realize that things are a few iterations older than current, it will be a cracking intro to Macs. Enjoy it!

 

[PatPending89]

Been looking at RAM stuff all day, found plenty of online guides including some video ones, just need to get myself a putty knife
Will definitely put in 1Gb as it really is cheap, as for the hard drive I'll probably leave it for the moment, might play around with it at a later date.

The owner opted out for the AirPort Extreme/Bluetooth card when they bought it originally, I've heard of Apple selling an upgrade kit, and wondered if this was it, if so should that just go straight into the empty slot?

As long as you realize that things are a few iterations older than current

Does that just mean are a few differences between Tiger and the current Leopard?

 

[iceblade]

Been looking at RAM stuff all day, found plenty of online guides including some video ones, just need to get myself a putty knife
Will definitely put in 1Gb as it really is cheap, as for the hard drive I'll probably leave it for the moment, might play around with it at a later date.

The owner opted out for the AirPort Extreme/Bluetooth card when they bought it originally, I've heard of Apple selling an upgrade kit, and wondered if this was it, if so should that just go straight into the empty slot?



Does that just mean are a few differences between Tiger and the current Leopard?

By a few interations older then current, the writer is referencing the fact that it is Tiger instead of Leopard, and the fact that it is a power PC processor instead of Intel. There is no problem with it being a power PC processor, it just isn't the newest of the new, top of the line thing. It doesn't have multiple cores, and you can't put windows on it, but it will probably be capable enough, especially if you have the expertise to drop a 1 gig module of RAM in. It sounds like a pretty good price as an introduction to the world of Macintosh. If you enjoy it, you could always purchase a newer one later, right?

 

[soLoredd]

I just bought one of eBay for $325 with the same specs to use as an iTunes server (plus, I've always wanted a mini!). If you want to use it for email, internet, music, movies, it is fine. I would keep it with Tiger and not go to Leopard just due to resources but other than that it is a fantastic machine for being 3 years old.