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Its official - I used a Mac mini!

D

dotdotdot

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jan 23, 2005
2,391
44
For the first time I am truly excited about a computer.

Let me begin by saying I have never purchased an apple product other than the iPod and some other iPod stuff (dock, etc.) a while back - 3G iPod (yes, rather new but whatever). I live right near an Apple store so I have used a lot of their computers - I have used iPhoto, GarageBand, Safari - but I have never owned one and I really want to. I'm 13, so all money decisions are made by my parents (mom doesnt know computers so its all up to my dad.) My dad has not experienced the effect from using an apple and thus thinks its a waste of money. But when he sees what I saw tonight, he will change.

This is the first time I went to the Apple store since the Mac mini was released on the 22nd. I've passed by the store, which is how I knew that it used to be connected to a 30" Cinema Display and iPod photo (I think I posted that here. Well, they changed it). I walked in and saw a pretty big cardboard picture of the Mac mini by the enterance. There was a LINE to use the 3 mac minis set up. I waited online to use them but quickly got off of it (it was an hour before closing and people were leaving) I checked out the other Apple products as I normally do, and asked questions and impressed the people that worked there because I knew more than them. I used a Dual 2.5 GHz PowerMac with 512 RAM and it was very fast - hooked up to powerful speakers and a 30" display, I decided to try the new GarageBand - much better than the last version IMO. Within minutes I had a pretty good song made... well, actually, it sucked, but whatever. Finally - a Mac mini was free. HOLY CRAP its SMALL! It was so small compared to the 20" screen it was hooked into. But MAN was it powerful and quiet. First thing to do, check its stats: Well, it was a BTO model - it had everything except for a full gig of ram - the super drive, everything. (It was the $599 model which would be like 1000 bucks to buy) Opened up Safari - very quick, and really impressive video effects. I exited it and it swooped down to the Dock. Let the tests begin.

I opened up iPhoto and iTunes at the same time (A bit dissapointed that there was no speakers attatched and the internal sound had been turned off by default - they didnt want any computers with sound except for the ones with the amazing Altec-Lansing speakers (Its a mall outlet of the Apple store). iPhoto was as fast as ever - FASTER than the Dual 2.5 GHz PM!!!! Then I opened up some more programs - Word, Pages, Keynote, Photoshop, GarageBand, iDVD and iChat. Computer slowed down, but was still quick and responsive. I used iTunes even though no sound was playing, was toying with iPhoto and broadcasting on iChat using the iSight camera at the same time and it didnt crash and was very nice. Impressive.

I am so excited that the Mac mini is AMAZING. I can't wait to buy one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Funny to hear about it. I am using a dual G5 and I can pretend I'm using a mini. Hide my tower, and just imagine a little metal box next to my keyboard. :)
 
nospleen said:
Errrrh, it was faster than the dual 2.5 when using iphoto?! Sure. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It was - I asked the people at the store about it and they said because all the PMs there on display are all like central networks for all the files (like servers) and whenever computers want the files they connect to that computer... but it was faster!
 
dotdotdot said:
It was - I asked the people at the store about it and they said because all the PMs there on display are all like central networks for all the files (like servers) and whenever computers want the files they connect to that computer... but it was faster!
Click to expand...

don't 2.5 PMs fuction in negative time? I mean, you click iphoto to open and you realize it magically opened 5 seconds ago.

follow the white rabbit​
 
snkTab said:
don't 2.5 PMs fuction in negative time? I mean, you click iphoto to open and you realize it magically opened 5 seconds ago.

follow the white rabbit​
Click to expand...
Not exactly.

More like 2 seconds. But I wont buy one until they release a dual 3 Ghz. I NEED a full 5 seconds!! :rolleyes:
 
aww, c'mon guys, he's just excited about possibly getting a new Mac, one he can afford. :p
 
What he ment to say was his iphoto at home with a zillion photo's opened slower then iphoto at the store that most likely had a few photo's. MacMini is cool make no mistake. Still waiting for mine though the keyboard and mouse have showed up allready. Macs are made nicer with a higher attention to detail then any PC i have ever seen.
 
what happened to g4's suck and i'd never buy one ever again dont hurt me?

i'd like to know what you will use more your alienware gameing pc or your new mac mini :cool:
 
Hector said:
what happened to g4's suck and i'd never buy one ever again dont hurt me?

i'd like to know what you will use more your alienware gameing pc or your new mac mini :cool:
Click to expand...
Even when comparing my old Quicksilver1.4 to my new Alienware you can see tighter tolerances ,etc and Hector i had a change of heart of what i really need. Face it to have the top power stuff you pay a hefty price to have a few more frames, a better resolution and a few more effects. I figure my Alienware has about $1500 of performance that i dont really need except when playing those titles. Plus the real value in Mac is the OS and those new ilife apps. Ill keep my LCD NEC1760NX bright and fast. So this gives me a chance to update my wife's OS on the quicksilver, gives me panther was on windblows & 10.2.8,a new machine,lower power cost 1/3 or less then this monster, plus allowed me to get my woman a new stove(flattop) and perhaps a refrigerator also. Macmini was perfect timing for me. sorry for the tale. Macmini has saved me a bundle of money. :D G4 is no speed king but a G4 can do almost anything you could want except the very newest titles as Doom3.
 
http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/mac/d3/

Operating System: Mac OS X 10.3.6 or later
CPU Processor: PowerPC G4/G5 or later
CPU Speed: 1.5GHz or faster
Memory: 384 MB or higher
Hard Disk Space: 2.2GB free disk space
Video Card (ATI): Radeon 8500 or better
Video Card (NVidia): GeForce FX 5200 or better
Video Memory (VRam): 64 MB or higher
Media Required: DVD Drive


me thinks you can play doom 3 maybe even on a 1.42GHz mac mini :p
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
I had a change of heart of what i really need. (...) G4 is no speed king but a G4 can do almost anything you could want except the very newest titles as Doom3.
Click to expand...

Dont Hurt Me, is that really you posting?

I have the sneaking suspicion, some "Mac-zealot" sneaked into his house and knocked him unconcious with a frying pan... ;)

vSpacken
 
The Macmini will convert many,resistance is futile. I know and tried very hard. Held out for about a week or so.............it was tough but feel better now. Will feel better if they ever ship it. eta is 2/22 but we all know how those new products allways trickle out from Apple.. Im happy about the new iapps and panther to tell you the truth. New iphoto rules.
 
dotdotdot said:
For the first time I am truly excited about a computer.

Let me begin by saying I have never purchased an apple product other than the iPod and some other iPod stuff (dock, etc.) a while back - 3G iPod (yes, rather new but whatever). I live right near an Apple store so I have used a lot of their computers - I have used iPhoto, GarageBand, Safari - but I have never owned one and I really want to. I'm 13, so all money decisions are made by my parents (mom doesnt know computers so its all up to my dad.) My dad has not experienced the effect from using an apple and thus thinks its a waste of money. But when he sees what I saw tonight, he will change.

This is the first time I went to the Apple store since the Mac mini was released on the 22nd. I've passed by the store, which is how I knew that it used to be connected to a 30" Cinema Display and iPod photo (I think I posted that here. Well, they changed it). I walked in and saw a pretty big cardboard picture of the Mac mini by the enterance. There was a LINE to use the 3 mac minis set up. I waited online to use them but quickly got off of it (it was an hour before closing and people were leaving) I checked out the other Apple products as I normally do, and asked questions and impressed the people that worked there because I knew more than them. I used a Dual 2.5 GHz PowerMac with 512 RAM and it was very fast - hooked up to powerful speakers and a 30" display, I decided to try the new GarageBand - much better than the last version IMO. Within minutes I had a pretty good song made... well, actually, it sucked, but whatever. Finally - a Mac mini was free. HOLY CRAP its SMALL! It was so small compared to the 20" screen it was hooked into. But MAN was it powerful and quiet. First thing to do, check its stats: Well, it was a BTO model - it had everything except for a full gig of ram - the super drive, everything. (It was the $599 model which would be like 1000 bucks to buy) Opened up Safari - very quick, and really impressive video effects. I exited it and it swooped down to the Dock. Let the tests begin.

I opened up iPhoto and iTunes at the same time (A bit dissapointed that there was no speakers attatched and the internal sound had been turned off by default - they didnt want any computers with sound except for the ones with the amazing Altec-Lansing speakers (Its a mall outlet of the Apple store). iPhoto was as fast as ever - FASTER than the Dual 2.5 GHz PM!!!! Then I opened up some more programs - Word, Pages, Keynote, Photoshop, GarageBand, iDVD and iChat. Computer slowed down, but was still quick and responsive. I used iTunes even though no sound was playing, was toying with iPhoto and broadcasting on iChat using the iSight camera at the same time and it didnt crash and was very nice. Impressive.

I am so excited that the Mac mini is AMAZING. I can't wait to buy one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Very Well spoken and informed for 13 . I hope you get your mac
 
Dont Hurt Me said:
The Macmini will convert many,resistance is futile. I know and tried very hard. Held out for about a week or so.............it was tough but feel better now. Will feel better if they ever ship it. eta is 2/22 but we all know how those new products allways trickle out from Apple.. Im happy about the new iapps and panther to tell you the truth. New iphoto rules.
Click to expand...
Mine is makin its long trek from china
 
Mine is backordered right now, but I played with one at the Knox Street Apple store in Dallas. It was a 1.42 GHz model with 512 MB of RAM.

The only test I could think to throw at it was the iTunes FPS test.


I scored a max of 45, and dropped to a low of 25 when using the visualizer in "large" setting. Most of the time it hovered around 35 FPS. Using another mini with the same specs gave the same results.


Just a FYI in case anyone wants a comparison.
 
7on said:
The Powermacs could have iPhoto04 while the minis had iPhoto 05.
Click to expand...

Even though that could explain it, the apple stores update all their computers at once, if there is a new product, they are kinda required to have it up and running. (ilife 05 I mean)
 
Peyote said:
The only test I could think to throw at it was the iTunes FPS test.

I scored a max of 45, and dropped to a low of 25 when using the visualizer in "large" setting. Most of the time it hovered around 35 FPS. Using another mini with the same specs gave the same results.

Just a FYI in case anyone wants a comparison.
Click to expand...

I'm getting a steady 63 fps on my iTunes FPS test in full screen. The video card is a lowly GEForce 5200 Ultra. When I get my X800, I'll report the video rate.
 
you know, it's weird. The computers at the apple store have their clockspeeds at automatic. Which isn't as fast as highest. I ran xbench on automatic setting, and then on highest setting... and there was a difference. Maybe the macmini wasn't on automatic?
 
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