Powerful enough for email and web surfing? A $200 netbook is powerful enough for that lol
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is the mac mini still worth buying ?
- Thread starter macchiato2009
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Powerful enough for email and web surfing? A $200 netbook is powerful enough for that lol
this is odd
this weekend i tried the mac mini
i ran some 1080p BR-rip videos
thanks to quicktime and VLC
it wasn't really smooth
today i borrowed the mini from my neighbor
and played the same videos with plex and boxee, it was simply perfect
are VLC and quicktime crappy at decoding videos ?????
this weekend i tried the mac mini
i ran some 1080p BR-rip videos
thanks to quicktime and VLC
it wasn't really smooth
today i borrowed the mini from my neighbor
and played the same videos with plex and boxee, it was simply perfect
are VLC and quicktime crappy at decoding videos ?????
i know when i try to wireless stream a movie to my ps3 it stuters and such but if i hook it up with a wired connection that same video is smooth as silk
That's what I did. But I use it for my full blown desktop now. It's 100% usable on a 1080P LCD TV.
I got one earlier in the year for HTPC and liked it so well I got another one for desktop use and am selling my Mac Pro. Up until the '09 models, I didn't think minis were really quite enough to do everything I want to do, but no problem now.
i'm surprised that both VLC and QT are having such crappy results...
Plex is much better at handling 1080p content which makes sense if you think about it as it's designed specifically as a media center app.
i agree that it would make a perfect media center
but using it as a "regular" computer
i am a bit frustrated that i'll have to use a media center app to play videos just because regular players are not able to do their job correctly...
FWIW, I have a first-gen Intel mini - Core Duo, only 1.66 GHz.
It's still going strong, now performing as my office server (after two years of being my primary machine), running 24/7 quite happily. Compared to my early 08 iMac 24", it's a tower of reliability. It never gets hot, it rarely crashes, it just does what it should.
I'm actually thinking of going back to a mini next May after my iMac comes of corporate lease. I've had the usual iMac issues of overheating, screen persistence problems and a (less typical) total logic board failure.
Given the power of the current Minis is good enough for anything short of HD video encoding (not that they won't do that, just that it will take quite a few hours), I think you'd be on a winner.
Also, you can get a high-grade Dell screen and save yourself significant $$$ over an Apple display.
It's still going strong, now performing as my office server (after two years of being my primary machine), running 24/7 quite happily. Compared to my early 08 iMac 24", it's a tower of reliability. It never gets hot, it rarely crashes, it just does what it should.
I'm actually thinking of going back to a mini next May after my iMac comes of corporate lease. I've had the usual iMac issues of overheating, screen persistence problems and a (less typical) total logic board failure.
Given the power of the current Minis is good enough for anything short of HD video encoding (not that they won't do that, just that it will take quite a few hours), I think you'd be on a winner.
Also, you can get a high-grade Dell screen and save yourself significant $$$ over an Apple display.
I got a Mac Mini recently because it's the cheapest way to get back into the Mac world. It's fast, and I love it. Runs circles around my old 800Mhz G4 iMac, and that cost 3-4 times as much!
I hope Apple keeps making them, because they're a great, easy introduction to Macs for switchers.
I hope Apple keeps making them, because they're a great, easy introduction to Macs for switchers.
4 GB of ram??? What better tiny-sized computer specs do you want??
It seems like apple is starting to make the mini a more powerful machine to appeal to a wider audience. Still wish they could make an extremely fast energy efficient dual-core or an energy efficient quad.
I love my Mini, using a last gen 2ghz (9400m) with 4gb, I may update the HDD to a 7200rpm model though. Other than that it's perfect.
I recently dipped my toe into the waters of an iMac, but returned due to issues with it (21.5 base model). Despite the Mini having less processing power I've not really noticed too much difference.
Glad Apple didn't kill off the mini, and with 2 updates in a year I get the feeling they like it.
I recently dipped my toe into the waters of an iMac, but returned due to issues with it (21.5 base model). Despite the Mini having less processing power I've not really noticed too much difference.
Glad Apple didn't kill off the mini, and with 2 updates in a year I get the feeling they like it.
I love the mini. I dig the concept, its functionality, its sleekness/ergonomics.
Really, it's a great little thing. I may consider buying one next year. Right now I have the MBP that my school gave me, and i bought a laptop stand to turn it into a home system.
The mini does look appealing as a "home base" for me. I will probably end up just using my MBP though. I need it for Photoshop and stuff. I'll be throwing more ram into it shortly, need the performance boost and larger scratch disk for design. I wish I could afford a Mac Pro though. Maybe I will save for one.
I do like the mini though! Great little media server too! Got a networkable blu-ray player 2 days ago, the mini would work nice.
Really, it's a great little thing. I may consider buying one next year. Right now I have the MBP that my school gave me, and i bought a laptop stand to turn it into a home system.
The mini does look appealing as a "home base" for me. I will probably end up just using my MBP though. I need it for Photoshop and stuff. I'll be throwing more ram into it shortly, need the performance boost and larger scratch disk for design. I wish I could afford a Mac Pro though. Maybe I will save for one.
I do like the mini though! Great little media server too! Got a networkable blu-ray player 2 days ago, the mini would work nice.
The Mac mini is an amazing machine. If you have a monitor and that already i would get it. It has a great spec.
If you are buying it along with a monitor and all of the other stuff individually then get the iMac
If you are buying it along with a monitor and all of the other stuff individually then get the iMac
It's okay for very minimal users who only care about stuff like looking at pictures, email, watching some videos, and basic stuff like that.
That's what it was always meant for in the first place.
So, it's not really outdated, it just got a refresh.
Oh and also some people tend to just get it to use it with their TVs to watch movies they have on their HDD, stream Hulu, YouTube, etc.
So yeah, it really depends on what you're planning on doing on it
That's what it was always meant for in the first place.
So, it's not really outdated, it just got a refresh.
Oh and also some people tend to just get it to use it with their TVs to watch movies they have on their HDD, stream Hulu, YouTube, etc.
So yeah, it really depends on what you're planning on doing on it
Just ordered a refurb mini $429 (previous gen) + free printer = good enough for normal use, decent price.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB463LL/A?mco=MTEyMDAwNDg
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB463LL/A?mco=MTEyMDAwNDg
This is my problem, I was thinking of getting the base 21.5 imac but I keep hearing problems of imac's and the issues with All-in-one's in general.
Now I am leaning towards buying a mini (with 4g and a monitor during Black Friday) and I have keyboard and mouse. On the side I am thinking of getting a decent netbook which I can use to video chat with my family who are overseas.