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Mac Mini Released
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topofthawoz said:
GB needs 384MB RAM. 512MB should be sufficient for most instruments. iMovie is fairly picking about video file types. You can try a program such as MPEG streamclip to convert mpeg4 to another codec such as DV or photojpeg. I have high hopes for QT7 though; it'll be a fully compliant MPEG4 architecture, so the possibility of being able to edit MPEG GOP streams is high.
Well I've sold 3 mac mini's, and an ipod shuffle so far, where's my commision Apple? I let my brother watch the keynote where they introduce the mac mini, It blew him away! He pulls out an Iomega zip drive from his junk and says, "holy **** the whole computer is no bigger than this". Trust me to convert him is not an easy task, he's a hardcore build it yourself pc guy. his only concern was the 256 ram, which we know can be upgraded. he plans to keep it right on his desk to run along with his pc. My second sale would be to my other brother who's been dying to get a mac but could not afford one(just finished upgrading his pc). I did the same thing, let him watch the intro of the mac mini, turned around and saw a big grin on his face. paused quicktime, and asked him how much would you pay for this, he said 1500, then I said good you can buy 3, his jaw dropped. I would have sold another but my youngest brother who is currently unemployed said he would buy it if he had the money. Well the third sale went to me 
I've been looking to upgrade my exising 700mhz fp imac, and this is perfect. I don't really need the power and the size of a powermac, and i'm also tired of investing in a new screen everytime I buy an Imac(my second). For those compairing mac mini to an imac what you forget to realize is that after you paying for a mouse, keyboard, and lcd the price might be close to an imac, but after you initial investment how much is it going to cost to upgrade 2 or 3 years down the line, iMac 1200-1800 vs. mac mini 499. To me it's a no brainer I'd rather make the investment in a beautiful screen, keyboard, and mouse I can keep, and just upgrade every 2-3 years with a mini.
I've been looking to upgrade my exising 700mhz fp imac, and this is perfect. I don't really need the power and the size of a powermac, and i'm also tired of investing in a new screen everytime I buy an Imac(my second). For those compairing mac mini to an imac what you forget to realize is that after you paying for a mouse, keyboard, and lcd the price might be close to an imac, but after you initial investment how much is it going to cost to upgrade 2 or 3 years down the line, iMac 1200-1800 vs. mac mini 499. To me it's a no brainer I'd rather make the investment in a beautiful screen, keyboard, and mouse I can keep, and just upgrade every 2-3 years with a mini.dan-o-mac said:
We need more people like you. I am planning of showing the Mac mini to my sis and brother-in-law so they can pick one up so they can edit their vacation photos. I showed it to my dad also, and he wants to get one. Now he just has to learn to use a computer.
topofthawoz said:
From Apple's iMovie 05 page ...
Supports More Formats
In addition to HDV, iMovie HD supports the new flash media video cameras. Small in stature and lean in price, these video cameras capture MPEG-4 video, which provides high quality while requiring less storage capacity. iMovie HD lets you import and edit the MPEG-4 video. It also can import live video from your iSight video camera without the need for transcoding. And iMovie HD also supports the widescreen, 16:9 aspect ratio of standard digital video (SD DV), offering you lots of new options.
So it looks like the new iMovie will support MPEG 4 video import and editing.
In answer to your GarageBand question - I have 768MB RAM on both my 1.33 Powerbook (about same speed/bus speed as Mac Mini) and 768MB RAM on my 800 G4 iMac - GarageBand works much much better on the Powerbook (and falls over a lot on the iMac), so I think it will run reasonably well on the Mac mini with 512MB RAM (I was actually surprised how well GarageBand worked on the PB with just 256MB RAM). However, it's worth considering that some of the instruments and loops in some of the JamPacks are really quite complex so you may find some hiccups when combining several of these at the same time - that's been my experience with JamPack2: Remix Tools.
What I don't know though is how Garageband 2.0 compares with 1.0 - maybe the performance is better?
Platform said:So for normal users that don't do really heavy PS and HD video editing (wich i bet that you would not use a Mac mini for anyway) then it has not such a big deal or
Heavy PS use is very subjective. I do a good amount of PS work on a 1ghz PB with 1.2gb RAM. Having some Core Image filters would speed things up from what I hear. Also with iPhoto adding more editing capabilities, one would hope that there would be a iPhoto update once Tiger gets released.
But in the end if Apple never did Core Images, I might not miss the advantage it is supposed to give. So many other users will probably never miss it.
Well that requires the person be on a wireless network and that they buy an additional airport express. Not only that, but airport express will only styream their itunes wirelesly. It's not going to do them a smidge of good if they're watching a movie on the mac mini and want 5.1 digital audio.jiggie2g said:
BillHarrison said:
I strongly agree. At home, I'm running OS X 10.3.7 on a 333Mhz G3 iMac with 192 MB of RAM. (Really!)
Obviously it's not the speediest machine going, but it's perfectly usable and reliable. The kids don't know it's not the fastest hardware, and they're happy with it. It does what we need it to do: Bookkeeping, web surfing, e-mail, iPhoto, Office and Photoshop. The Mac Mini will do all those things and more, and do them faster!
I know many Windows users who constantly complain about the trouble they have keeping their systems working or how they've backed out of system updates because their dial-up broken or a myriad of other problems. They used to laugh when I told them to get a Mac. Suddenly on Tuesday they stopped laughing. The price and features are right to make them seriously take another look.
As with any computer, you've got to look at what you want it to do, and choose the machine that's right for your needs. The Mac Mini won't suit everyone, but it certainly is plenty of computer for alot of people.
jmurray said:
My keyboard doesn't have USB-ports. The whole point of Mini was that user can use his existing displays, mouse and keyboard. Well, if the user doesn't have a keyboard or display with USB-ports, he's basically stuck. Of course he could buy a new keyboard/display or get an USB-hub, but that's extra hassle and extra waste of money. And that wouldn't happen if the Mini had one extra USB-port.
Lack of third USB-port DOES cause extra hassle. Apple skimped few cents on the manufacturing-costs, and they assume that the user fixes their design-flaw at their own expense/effort.
dan-o-mac said:Well I've sold 3 mac mini's, and an ipod shuffle so far, where's my commision Apple? I let my brother watch the keynote where they introduce the mac mini, It blew him away! He pulls out an Iomega zip drive from his junk and says, "holy **** the whole computer is no bigger than this". Trust me to convert him is not an easy task, he's a hardcore build it yourself pc guy. his only concern was the 256 ram, which we know can be upgraded. he plans to keep it right on his desk to run along with his pc. My second sale would be to my other brother who's been dying to get a mac but could not afford one(just finished upgrading his pc). I did the same thing, let him watch the intro of the mac mini, turned around and saw a big grin on his face. paused quicktime, and asked him how much would you pay for this, he said 1500, then I said good you can buy 3, his jaw dropped. I would have sold another but my youngest brother who is currently unemployed said he would buy it if he had the money. Well the third sale went to me
Way to go dude
I ran through the checkout process and maxed out the config for a grand total of $1300 without a monitor. Not too shabby for a "desktop" computer the size of a hard back book! I'm very impressed!
dan-o-mac said:
For the price of an iMac you could get by with a decent set-up and then next time, for the same price of an iMac you could upgrade to a dual G6 powermac. Ahhh.
joshuawaire said:
With or without USB-ports on the keyboard?
you don't get my point. This is something that Apple could have handled quite easily. But they didn't. Instead, the user has to figure out ways how to get extra USB-ports on the Mini. People are suggesting USB-hubs, keyboards with USB-ports etc. etc. But all that means that the user must spend money and effort to fix this issue, whereas Apple could have fixed it with minimium effort so that it wouldn't be an issue at all!
Apparently, the Mini should have "everything I need". Well, it doesn't. And no, I don't think I'm asking for too much. Surely someone at the design-team thought that "Hey guys.... This thing only has two USB-ports. When the user plugs in their mouse and keyboard, there wont be any ports left!". Instead of fixing that issue (which is not expensive or difficult), they just assumed that the user will fix it for them, by using USB-hubs and the like.
Note, this issue is fixable for me: I have USB-ports on my TFT. But many do not. I think this is a bad design-decision on Apples part. And they could have fixed it quite easily.
Evangelion said:
This isn't a new issue, I have the same problem with my G5 using a PC keyboard and mouse (logitech gear, far better and cheape than what apple provides in my opinion). They provide a giant of a case, yet, it only comes with two usb ports on the back, and one on the front. Smaller PCs come with 8+ ports, plus PS/2 ports and internal expansion. I have to have a hub for it to if I want to use any more than keyboard/mouse/portable hard drive, or I spend all my time switching. Plus I'm forced to use my front ports for something, resulting in ugly cables hanging around the front.
Apple's design when it comes to external ports tends to contradict their own ideas.
Isn't it irrelevant whether the mini will work fine with Tiger? At this price point, the machine is disposable. Your mini is too slow, throw it out and buy the new model.
Also, people who buy the low-end computer aren't interested in updating their OS every time a new OS is introduced. My mother has never updated her Windows OS, and wouldn't know how to do it if she wanted to. To her, the OS is whatever came with the computer. She runs Windows 98, and it is slow, slow, slow.
With a Mac, it is only necessary to update the OS if you buy new software that requires it. Not interested in the newest software? Then why would you ever need to update.
For most low-end PC users, all the iLife software will be an eye-opener. Up until now they haven't had access to video and music creation -- because they don't buy boxed software. (If you buy out-of-the-box software, you generally are not a low-end user.)
Also, people who buy the low-end computer aren't interested in updating their OS every time a new OS is introduced. My mother has never updated her Windows OS, and wouldn't know how to do it if she wanted to. To her, the OS is whatever came with the computer. She runs Windows 98, and it is slow, slow, slow.
With a Mac, it is only necessary to update the OS if you buy new software that requires it. Not interested in the newest software? Then why would you ever need to update.
For most low-end PC users, all the iLife software will be an eye-opener. Up until now they haven't had access to video and music creation -- because they don't buy boxed software. (If you buy out-of-the-box software, you generally are not a low-end user.)
I just thought of a great use for the Mac Mini. Ok, so most of the time we think of putting the computer to the side of, or beneath our monitors. Well for once, we can now take a monitor like this:
And put the Mac Mini ONTOP of the display! I see a nice little pocket there right ontop of its "foot" where a mini would fit nicely.
And put the Mac Mini ONTOP of the display! I see a nice little pocket there right ontop of its "foot" where a mini would fit nicely.