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My first mac....Mac Mini

The mini is quite a powerful little desktop and should hold you well
for several years.

I agree that you should max out the RAM if possible, but you'll be O.K.
with the stock 512 for starters.
A better monitor would be nice,
but at least you'll get rolling running Mac OSX Tiger and that alone will greatly
improve your overall experience.
 
ok I did the math.... if i up the my mini to 1gigRAM, it will be $739. If i up the emac to just 512ram it will be $794, but I'll get a better video card which means i can do the ripple effect.

something tells me the mini with 1gigRAM would be the better deal here.

and wouldn't I have to order it offline since its not a default build or could i have them up it in the store as i bought it?
 
drumpat01 said:
ok I did the math.... if i up the my mini to 1gigRAM, it will be $739. If i up the emac to just 512ram it will be $794, but I'll get a better video card which means i can do the ripple effect.

something tells me the mini with 1gigRAM would be the better deal here.
Click to expand...

I'd vote for the mini as well, but my main reason for posting is to agree with your signature. Why is Batman considered a "superhero"? He's just a rich guy who buys/invents gadgets, and works out a lot. Does that make Richard Branson a superhero?

Superman wins hands down.
 
I have one of the original 1.42GHz/80GB minis, and upgraded the memory myself to 512MB. While it did initially seem much slower than my AMD machine, I soon realized that it was still quite useable and most of this was perception. Windows opens a new application window immediately, but it is unuseable until the application gets loaded anyway; Mac seems slower because it doesn't show the window until the app is open and ready to go. The overall response time from starting an app until it is loaded and ready is at least as fast on my mini as it was on my AMD box. I don't use Garageband, so I can't offer anything on that front.

As the above poster mentioned, it is the absolute (well, almost) SILENCE that is still so appealing about this computer, even after several months, as well as the fact that "things just work". My Windows computers always sounded like jet engines. I can't begin to tell you what a diference SILENCE makes! It's eerie, it really is. And I love it!
 
i never said i would just do it for that man, get a grip. and its not $700 more it would be like $70 more, but it would only be 512RAM. and if you had read my last post, i said i thought the mini was still the better deal. so calm your self.
 
You will be paying a HUGE markup for Apple RAM if you order your mini preconfigured with 1 GB of RAM.

I would buy the mini stock with 512 and live with it for a while until you can purchase a 1 GB stick 3rd party, then install it yourself.

You're better off getting the loaded SuperDrive model for $699 and worrying about the RAM later.
 
I have an internal 16X dvd dual layer dvd burner i will be turning into an external burner so thats why im not getting the high end machine. but ya, i think i will just wait for on the ram and see how much i need it, if at all.
 
One thing I'm not totally certain about is IF you can run the iLife
iDVD app without and internal SuperDrive.

I would make sure to ask the sales rep about that issue.

You may be fine as long as your external is recognised in the system profiler,
but I just don't know.
 
My 2 cents for a new mini buyer is to double the std 256mb RAM at the time of purchase; it doesnt add that much to the cost. I have had no slowness problems, my mini zips right along w/ no problems at all.

As for a CRT, why not check out your neighborhood used PC & repair outlet... the one near me had these giant used 20" Nokia monitors for $75... with everyone going flat screen (at some expense) there are a lot of huge cheap used CRTs out there.



tom
 
Somewhere Tom said:
My 2 cents for a new mini buyer is to double the std 256mb RAM at the time of purchase; it doesnt add that much to the cost. I have had no slowness problems, my mini zips right along w/ no problems at all.
Click to expand...
Mac minis come with 512 MB RAM standard now, which should be enough for most casual use. My recommendation would be to buy the mini with 512 MB, then upgrade using third-party RAM to 1 GB (and resell the 512 MB stick here to recoup some of the costs.)
 
I recently sold my 20" rev b imac and used the proceeds to purchase a base model mini and upped the ram to 1gb. I use it with a 20" ACD and am very happy with the change. The ripple effect on the imac was cool but not worth the constant fan noise the imac produced. The mini on the other hand is very quiet, in fact it is probably the quietest computer that I have ever used. The speed difference, IMHO is minimal. I use my machine primarily for web use and watching dvds and with 1gb ram, the mini runs tiger fine. I also have a 120gb 7200 external firewire hdd that is bootable so that also helps with the speed. If you want additional info on the mini, check out 123macmini.com.
 
Well thank you everyone for your advice on this subject. I've decided that I should just buy the middle model stock and see how it fits me. I can always make changes later by either adding an external drive of some kind or adding more RAM. Thanks guys.
 
Have you thought about the new 12" iBook? It is about as powerful as the mini, you can connect it to your CRT at home, and the GPU will do the "ripple" effect... At 949$ it's not that much more expensive plus you have a very nice laptop for mobile computing.
 
the future said:
Have you thought about the new 12" iBook? It is about as powerful as the mini, you can connect it to your CRT at home, and the GPU will do the "ripple" effect... At 949$ it's not that much more expensive plus you have a very nice laptop for mobile computing.
Click to expand...
I thought about the iBook too, and they are cool, but you are limited (I believe) to the stock 1024x768 resolution, even if you connect to an external monitor that can do more. Just a thought.
 
My girldriend just made the switch yesterday. She got a 1.25Ghz mini, and it has been great so far. I checked, and it has a 4200 RPM hard drive, but this doesn't seem to hold it back too much. Actually, it looks like a pretty good hard drive, as it has an 8MB cache, as opposed to the standard 2MB.

But anyway, neither of us have found it lacking. It runs Tiger MUCH better than my iBook G4 800 runs Panther, etc. Basically, I see no reason why anyone but extreme power users wouldn't be happy with a mini.
 
I follow Shai-Nadir. I sold my iMac G5 20'' 1.8 Ghz (Rev. A) because the noise of the fans (even after 3 times into repairs) drove me insane. You sit with your nosetip into the fan, and just having 3 programs open it resulted in that freaking fan starting revving up. I HATE fan-noise!

I switched to a Mac Mini with a 20'' ACD. I am waiting for the next rev. of Powerbooks (not necessarily Freescale or the elusive G5).

All my machines (see below) are DEAD silent. I mean DEAD SILENT.

I have yet to experience that the fans are revving up any more than I can tolerate. And I am picky. I hate fan-noise. So if you are as eager as me to get into a quiet user environment go for the Mac Mini or iBook. You will not be sorry.

You will most likely not need the 1 GB RAM that some seem to advice. I have as many figured out that for normal everyday use 512 MB is more than enough.

And did I say that I hate fan-noise and that my machines are DEAD SILENT....
 
You didn't say what you're using it for. The Mac mini is totally fine for email, web surfing, music playing and encoding, writing, etc.

It is not fine for stuff like making music or editing videos, without serious upgrades to RAM and external firewire HDs.
 
Lacero said:
You didn't say what you're using it for. The Mac mini is totally fine for email, web surfing, music playing and encoding, writing, etc.

It is not fine for stuff like making music or editing videos, without serious upgrades to RAM and external firewire HDs.
Click to expand...
The little bit of video editing that I have done on the mini w/512MB RAM has been a dream, especially compared to my AMD 2500+ and Windows 2000. The mini with iMove runs circles around anything even a high-end PC can handle from what I have seen. I'm sure a G5 would be better, but for the price the mini is great.
 
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