Is this a good deal for a mac mini?

[guyht]

I have been offered the following by a company who specialises in using Mac Minis as hosted servers.

Mac Mini 2007, Intel Core Duo, 1.83Ghz, 2GB ram, 500GB (upgraded) HDD.

They are offering me the above for £200 ($320).

Is this a good/fair price? And how reliable is a 3 year old mac mini? What are the potential issues I am likely to have?

Thanks

G

 

[sportster]

http://www.mac2sell.net/ shows the value to be about $230.

I've found this page to be pretty close on when I buy and sell on craigslist or ebay. But, then again it's only worth what you want to pay for it.

 

[guyht]

Hmm, the uk version of the sites lists the value at £190. Maybe mac minis are worth more in the UK?

 

[WildGuess]

Big Bucks

My iBook G4 = $140. I'll take it.

 

[chrismacguy]

Hmm, the uk version of the sites lists the value at £190. Maybe mac minis are worth more in the UK?

They are, because the purchase price is a lot higher than across the pond.

 

[RedTomato]

Looking at completed sales on ebay.co.uk for mac minis, it's a very good price. You're getting a load of RAM and a bigger HD - a C2D 1.83 would go for about £300 on the E with these specs.

I'm always happy to use anything above a Core 2 Solo - these are to be avoided (the first generation of Intel macs).

 

[wordoflife]

I'm always happy to use anything above a Core 2 Solo - these are to be avoided (the first generation of Intel macs).

I'm happy to use anything above a Core 2 Solo and Intel graphics.

Btw, the first generation of Macs had a Core Solo (not Core 2 Solo) ... right?

 

[Agurri]

Well, the first Intel mac mini was both. You could get the low-end Core Solo or the higher end Core Duo.

 

[MacHamster68]

a 1.83core duo in working condition for £200 ...even if it would come without OS and without ram or harddrive get as many as you can get , even the 1.66 go for for over £250 on ebay the 1.83 usually £300 + and the 1.83 core 2 duo even closer to £400 (buy it now prices)

my mini G4 1.42 i sold about in november on ebay got bids ovr £220 ,ok upgraded to 1 Gb and prestine condition like new in undamaged original box with all documentation including the stickers

 

[RedTomato]

Btw, the first generation of Macs had a Core Solo (not Core 2 Solo) ... right?

Uhh yes. Whoops. Wiki tells me there was indeed a Core 2 Solo, so I didn't just dream it. Apparently only used in ultra low power stuff, like netbooks.

Either way, if it's Intel and has the word 'Solo' in it, don't buy it

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Uhh yes. Whoops. Wiki tells me there was indeed a Core 2 Solo, so I didn't just dream it. Apparently only used in ultra low power stuff, like netbooks.

Either way, if it's Intel and has the word 'Solo' in it, don't buy it

Or buy it and upgrade it to a 'Merom' Core 2 Duo. The Core Solo mini has a socketed (Socket 479) processor and is fully compatible with the first generation of socketed Core 2 Duo chips. You could throw a 2.33 GHz 64-bit Core 2 Duo T7600 in there.

 

[RedTomato]

Or buy it and upgrade it to a 'Merom' Core 2 Duo. The Core Solo mini has a socketed (Socket 479) processor and is fully compatible with the first generation of socketed Core 2 Duo chips. You could throw a 2.33 GHz 64-bit Core 2 Duo T7600 in there.

At £180 UK price for a T7600, that's a pretty expensive upgrade compared to the value of the system. US prices show it about $260.