LOVE my '09 Mini - 30" (2560x1600) & 19" (1280x1024) screens

[Oi-Oi-Oi]

So I am a first time Mac user. Made the 'switch' last Friday. Got Mini with 4 Gig RAM and 2.26 CPU. Still waiting on my SSD (Vertex 128).

I chose the Mini because it's a small step into the Mac world but also because it can make full use of my 30" Samsung display at 2560 x 1200 (mini display port to dual-DVI).

I am impressed that such a physically small machine can drive such high res display and still perform so well.

So I had my old spare 19" Samsung display kicking around and thought that it'd be a laugh to hook that up to the spare mini-DVI port since the mini-DVI to DVI adaptor came with the Mini and see how it performs.

Well I hooked it up and it's working no fuss. See picture.

I really am impressed with the Mini. I know it's not the fastest, I know I can load up a Windows flavour on it and the dual display will probably work too but really, the fact that so far everything has just worked and performs well is really sweet.

The Mini is resting on top of my old PC on he left hand side of pic. The PC is not turned on. Both displays are connected to the Mini.

So guys, I know Apple ain't perfect and I am certainly not trying to imply that with this post. Just an 'outsiders' pleasant experience. I am still trying to figure out if it's possible to have random wallpaper synchronised on both displays

 

[reebzor]

The PC is not turned on.

keep it that way

welcome to the club

 

[Oi-Oi-Oi]

That's a great quote reebzor

Thanks mate!

 

[Jackintosh]

So I am a first time Mac user. Made the 'switch' last Friday. Got Mini with 4 Gig RAM and 2.26 CPU. Still waiting on my SSD (Vertex 128).

I chose the Mini because it's a small step into the Mac world but also because it can make full use of my 30" Samsung display at 2560 x 1200 (mini display port to dual-DVI).

I am impressed that such a physically small machine can drive such high res display and still perform so well.

So I had my old spare 19" Samsung display kicking around and thought that it'd be a laugh to hook that up to the spare mini-DVI port since the mini-DVI to DVI adaptor came with the Mini and see how it performs.

Well I hooked it up and it's working no fuss. See picture.

I really am impressed with the Mini. I know it's not the fastest, I know I can load up a Windows flavour on it and the dual display will probably work too but really, the fact that so far everything has just worked and performs well is really sweet.

The Mini is resting on top of my old PC on he left hand side of pic. The PC is not turned on. Both displays are connected to the Mini.

So guys, I know Apple ain't perfect and I am certainly not trying to imply that with this post. Just an 'outsiders' pleasant experience. I am still trying to figure out if it's possible to have random wallpaper synchronised on both displays

Congratulations in coming over from the "dark side" in joining the Mac world. I'd only take issue a bit with your description of the Mini as a small step into the Mac world. The Mini is a full function Mac desktop with all the functions and features of the more expensive mainline Apple product, the iMac, but without the display. What the iMac can do, the Mini can do. The Mini has also become pretty sophisiticated (and expensive). So for many here who don't need a monitor permanently affixed to their processor, the Mini is quite the big step and commitment into the Mac universe.

 

[SteveMobs]

Isn't the mini on the right hand side?

 

[Oi-Oi-Oi]

Jackintosh, let me clarify, small step meaning cheapest option.
Here in Aus the cheapest Mac you can get is the base Mini (AUD$1,049 1Gig RAM, 2.0 CPU). Since I got the 4 Gig RAM and 2.26 CPU I paid AUD$1,420 or so. Still cheaper than the base MacBook (White plastic) at AUD$1,649. So in monetary terms it's the smallest step into the Mac world.

SteveMobs, you are right. It's on the right side I was looking at the Time Capsule that I bought as well

Anyways guys. It's all good. Relax

 

[Jackintosh]

Jackintosh, let me clarify, small step meaning cheapest option.
Here in Aus the cheapest Mac you can get is the base Mini (AUD$1,049 1Gig RAM, 2.0 CPU). Since I got the 4 Gig RAM and 2.26 CPU I paid AUD$1,420 or so. Still cheaper than the base MacBook (White plastic) at AUD$1,649. So in monetary terms it's the smallest step into the Mac world.

SteveMobs, you are right. It's on the right side I was looking at the Time Capsule that I bought as well

Anyways guys. It's all good. Relax

Oi, from that sense yes you're right - not the huge commitment financially, but still get quite a Mac for the price.

 

[powerbook911]

Yeah, you got an amazing computer there. Isn't it amazing so much power comes from a little box? It really is fantastic.

I remember in January 2005 when Steve unveiled the Mac Mini I was *amazed* and that was a slow G4. Now they are amazing, solid, quick machines, but just as small.

Mine is arriving today, for my television!

 

[OneMike]

mini looks so small next to that 30 inch lol. welcome

 

[saxman1969]

Thanks for posting the pics! I'm looking to get a mini with a dual monitor setup--probably wait 'till August or September though. I hope Apple gives us more display options by then. Two 20" monitors would be sweet.

 

[bchreng]

So I am a first time Mac user. Made the 'switch' last Friday. Got Mini with 4 Gig RAM and 2.26 CPU. Still waiting on my SSD (Vertex 128).

I chose the Mini because it's a small step into the Mac world but also because it can make full use of my 30" Samsung display at 2560 x 1200 (mini display port to dual-DVI).

I am impressed that such a physically small machine can drive such high res display and still perform so well.

So I had my old spare 19" Samsung display kicking around and thought that it'd be a laugh to hook that up to the spare mini-DVI port since the mini-DVI to DVI adaptor came with the Mini and see how it performs.

Well I hooked it up and it's working no fuss. See picture.

I really am impressed with the Mini. I know it's not the fastest, I know I can load up a Windows flavour on it and the dual display will probably work too but really, the fact that so far everything has just worked and performs well is really sweet.

The Mini is resting on top of my old PC on he left hand side of pic. The PC is not turned on. Both displays are connected to the Mini.

So guys, I know Apple ain't perfect and I am certainly not trying to imply that with this post. Just an 'outsiders' pleasant experience. I am still trying to figure out if it's possible to have random wallpaper synchronised on both displays

I'm a fellow PC user who also just bought a Mac Mini. There were a couple issues I noticed performance wise that I wanted to ask you about. Flash movie playback (gametrailers HD, youtube HD) and PDF performance are pretty horrible. Internet speeds (downloads, page loading, etc) also seem a lot slower compared to my PC as well. Are you experiencing similar issues with your mini?

 

[mastershakess]

I'm a fellow PC user who also just bought a Mac Mini. There were a couple issues I noticed performance wise that I wanted to ask you about. Flash movie playback (gametrailers HD, youtube HD) and PDF performance are pretty horrible. Internet speeds (downloads, page loading, etc) also seem a lot slower compared to my PC as well. Are you experiencing similar issues with your mini?

What kinda PC are you comparing it to?

 

[bchreng]

What kinda PC are you comparing it to?

To be fair, I'll compare it to my notebook. It has a C2D 2.2GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM and integrated ATI graphics.

 

[Roofy.]

I'm a fellow PC user who also just bought a Mac Mini. There were a couple issues I noticed performance wise that I wanted to ask you about. Flash movie playback (gametrailers HD, youtube HD) and PDF performance are pretty horrible. Internet speeds (downloads, page loading, etc) also seem a lot slower compared to my PC as well. Are you experiencing similar issues with your mini?

PDF performance horrible?

All you have to do is get to a pdf file and press space bar and it pops out in an instant.

 

[Maven1975]

So I am a first time Mac user. Made the 'switch' last Friday. Got Mini with 4 Gig RAM and 2.26 CPU. Still waiting on my SSD (Vertex 128).

I chose the Mini because it's a small step into the Mac world but also because it can make full use of my 30" Samsung display at 2560 x 1200 (mini display port to dual-DVI).

I am impressed that such a physically small machine can drive such high res display and still perform so well.

So I had my old spare 19" Samsung display kicking around and thought that it'd be a laugh to hook that up to the spare mini-DVI port since the mini-DVI to DVI adaptor came with the Mini and see how it performs.

Well I hooked it up and it's working no fuss. See picture.

I really am impressed with the Mini. I know it's not the fastest, I know I can load up a Windows flavour on it and the dual display will probably work too but really, the fact that so far everything has just worked and performs well is really sweet.

The Mini is resting on top of my old PC on he left hand side of pic. The PC is not turned on. Both displays are connected to the Mini.

So guys, I know Apple ain't perfect and I am certainly not trying to imply that with this post. Just an 'outsiders' pleasant experience. I am still trying to figure out if it's possible to have random wallpaper synchronised on both displays

I have the same setup. Your gonna love the OCZ Vertex!

 

[bchreng]

PDF performance horrible?

All you have to do is get to a pdf file and press space bar and it pops out in an instant.

Here's an example of what I'm referring to. It's a PDF of a fry's ad from my local paper. The computer lags like crazy when attempting to scroll through it in Preview. After opening it, I tried pressing the spacebar like you mentioned, but it just jumped to the bottom of the page. That's good and all, but I prefer to scroll through the document as I'm looking through it.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Here's an example of what I'm referring to. It's a PDF of a fry's ad from my local paper. The computer lags like crazy when attempting to scroll through it in Preview. After opening it, I tried pressing the spacebar like you mentioned, but it just jumped to the bottom of the page. That's good and all, but I prefer to scroll through the document as I'm looking through it.

I'm guessing he meant pressing the spacebar to invoke QuickLook.

 

[Oi-Oi-Oi]

bchreng

the HD playback and other flash stuff works just fine. How much RAM did you say you have? I watch HD movie trailers quite regularily and haven't had a problem since.

The lag in your PDF or other large files is your standard Apple hdd. You'll see a lot of people on this forums upgrading their to 7200 RPM disks or even SSD drives, like myself.

So once you got a faster drive in your Mini it'll flog along. Opening large files will be very quick and virtually no lag.

In the PC world I always used 10,000RPM raptors. HDD are probably one of the largest bottlenecks in a computer.

In regards to the downloads, again I have no problems. My ADSL modem (Cisco 877) sync's at 19.8 Mbps down. It's nice and fast.

MAYBE your HDD is faulty? MAYBE?

 

[bchreng]

bchreng

the HD playback and other flash stuff works just fine. How much RAM did you say you have? I watch HD movie trailers quite regularily and haven't had a problem since.

The lag in your PDF or other large files is your standard Apple hdd. You'll see a lot of people on this forums upgrading their to 7200 RPM disks or even SSD drives, like myself.

So once you got a faster drive in your Mini it'll flog along. Opening large files will be very quick and virtually no lag.

In the PC world I always used 10,000RPM raptors. HDD are probably one of the largest bottlenecks in a computer.

In regards to the downloads, again I have no problems. My ADSL modem (Cisco 877) sync's at 19.8 Mbps down. It's nice and fast.

MAYBE your HDD is faulty? MAYBE?

I have 4GB of RAM in my Mini. I thought that most if not all files that I open are loaded into the system RAM and run from there? My notebook, which runs off a 5400RPM drive handles those PDFs with no problem.

This is an example of one of the movies (HD) that lag on my system. There's tearing here and there along with dropped frames.

 

[DoFoT9]

welcome OI-OI-OI!!!!

us aussies are starting to get bigger and louder eheh

lovely setup! i am wanting a new Mini as a Media server (connected directly into the TV). saving up atm.

catchya round mate

 

[Oi-Oi-Oi]

bchreng, I'll try that link this arvo when I am back home. I'll also try that PDF you linked to earlier.

DoFoT9, G'Day from WA It'll be a nice set up the TV thingy. I just love that so much good stuff ships with a Mac. I know Win Vist Ultimate has similar things, but at the risk of starting a flame war on here, I'll just say that the Mac way appears to be a better implementation

 

[DoFoT9]

bchreng, I'll try that link this arvo when I am back home. I'll also try that PDF you linked to earlier.

DoFoT9, G'Day from WA It'll be a nice set up the TV thingy. I just love that so much good stuff ships with a Mac. I know Win Vist Ultimate has similar things, but at the risk of starting a flame war on here, I'll just say that the Mac way appears to be a better implementation

haha well said!! if the apple computers still had the free included remote's you would be talking them up even more hahahahahah! any questions just ask

 

[davemulheran]

For any of the guys on here that have an SSD in their mini...... how easy was it to install? was is as straight forward as changing to a normal HDD?

has anyone got any pictures?

also who is the cheapest at the moment and would it be best to put a 120GB one in there?

will the speed really be noticeable?

thks

Dave

 

[Oi-Oi-Oi]

bchreng,
so I watched the YouTube link. Safari was sitting at 40% CPU with video playing. You know I have one large and one small screen, so I moved the window around from screen to screen and resized. Not a smidge over 42% CPU cycles. So no dramas here.

I downloaded the PDF. Opened in about 2 seconds by double-clicking on it. As soon as I scrolled up and down (as in quite often, repeatedly up and down) the CPU "maxed" out at 99%. So I am very sure it's the integrated graphics card struggling to 'render' the image as it scrolss up and down.

HOWEVER, once I have my SSD, I will see if there is an improved in load times and scrolling. Should have it all in place next week ...

Interesting side-note, even in 'preview' ie space bar the pdf file, it loads a lot quicker but zooming in and then scrolling up and down used as many CPU cycles as before.

 

[Oi-Oi-Oi]

davemulheran, there are heaps of articles on ifixt as well as walkthroughs on youtube.

Do it ....