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New Intel Mac mini

matticus008 said:
No, it's not. The old and new Mac mini uses full-size DIMMs.
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Are you sure about this? I don't think there's any sure way to know yet.

Also to others, I'm pretty sure the GMA 950 doesn't use the CPU for any of its work, its still a seperate chip just not with its own memory. In fact, it would be interesting to see the memory speeds of the Radeon 9200 and the bandwidth of the memory chip. I wonder how it compares to the use of the DDR2 system memory of the Core machines.
 
BRLawyer said:
Sorry, do you have evidence that this new IIG is much worse than a damn old Radeon 9200? If not, be quiet, please...besides, what you wanted for an HD? A 300Gb Raptor monster?
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a) It uses up to 80MB of your system memory.
b) It uses up main memory bandwidth.

Not a very good start.

Edit - correction: It uses at least 80MB of system memory
 
whooleytoo said:
a) It uses up to 80MB of your system memory.
b) It uses up main memory bandwidth.

Not a very good start.

Edit - correction: It uses at least 80MB of system memory
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Radeon 9200 can't do HD content. The Mac Mini IIG can.
 
Wow. The Intel Mac Mini. Looks promising imo. You guys shouldn't nag too much about the Intel Integrated graphics. I mean, what did you expect?!? This is a budget computer. The components are just right for the price.

Well, looks like the over-hyped Mac Mini "media center" went kapoot. hehehehe. I never expected Apple to release one anyway. I speculated, but didn't anticipate.
 
Distinctability

My problem with the Mac Mini is that it no longer has a set identity. People are saying you have a great system now that can go in your HT, but others are like it's a great entry-level desktop. Now let's look at these points...

Great Entry-Level Desktop
I disagree now since it's no longer $499. Yes it comes with a brand new chip, but if someone is looking for an entry-level computer will they care for two digital in/out ports? They might not even use all 4 USB ports, nor bluetooth. Possibly not even care about Front Row, streaming content, and a remote control. To me a core solo and even just a 1gb max would have been great and kept the price at $499 or even maybe $450.

Add-on to HT system
Now for those who are buying this for a media content distributer then let's look at what's offered. Would you pay $599 or $799 for a machine that will just be used to stream music and HD trailers? I would think many are looking at storing tons of DVD rips from their collection, however the HDD space is small so you have to add an external HDD. Now why not have H.264 content in this system and save space, but wait the integrated graphics chip hampers that idea. Also, eating up more memory then it has to for a dedicated mutimedia system. Let's also remember that there is no PVR software for this system right now or any movie dist. store available either.

So what is this product aimed for? Consumers that love the small look and have money to just spend on a music streaming machine for their HT system?

IMHO, I agree with those that say the mini is not a gaming machine, but what is it then? Too overpriced for the entry-level and underperformer on the HT side. At the moment you also have to deal with Rosetta as well. I think the higher end mini should've had a dedicated GPU. It's always been an Apple standard in all their systems. For design purposes and anyone putting together a computer mostly always buy a dedicated GPU. They even used it as a promotional attack against low budget PC's with the G4 mini's, but of course they used to kill Intell as well and now they are here.
 
You know what would be fun?

A $100 leather carrying pouch for the Intel Mac Mini's remote control.

DAMN YOU STEVE JOBS -- I WILL BUY YOUR $100 LEATHER iPOD POUCH, BUT YOU CAN'T MAKE ME LIKE IT!
 
The processors in these Mac Minis are so much faster than what they replaced. I think that alone makes it an ok system, plus bluetooth and airport standard. I think its a fine system.

Just add memory yourself and don't start to do "upgrades. If you upgrade much, you're at imac price.
 
well, its nice that apple introduced a new mac mini, but i sure wish it didn't have to cost more 🙁 I'd rather not have front row if the imac was $70 cheaper...

oh and the video card is 64mb intel integrated with DVI out.
 
nataku said:
Wow. The Intel Mac Mini. Looks promising imo. You guys shouldn't nag too much about the Intel Integrated graphics. I mean, what did you expect?!? This is a budget computer. The components are just right for the price.

Well, looks like the over-hyped Mac Mini "media center" went kapoot. hehehehe. I never expected Apple to release one anyway. I speculated, but didn't anticipate.
Click to expand...
How can this be a budget computer now? My friend at work was waiting to buy the $499 Mac mini and now it no longer exists! He's a on an extremely limited budget and was almost there. He's pissed that they upped the price and I don't blame him one bit!

So much for having that "sub-$500" Mac... BIG mistake Apple...Big.
 
Hrm... YACOIG

Yet Another Comment On Integrated Graphics...

Sorry, I didn't have access to the forums earlier, or I would have read all the posts.

Some points about the integrated graphics:

  1. Yes, any memory it uses is subtracted from main system memory. That means it is more important than on any other Mac to have as much memory as possible.
  2. On the bright side, it does have two memory sockets, so you should be able to enable dual-channel memory by adding a second matched module.
  3. Apple made a very big deal out of the fact that the mini DIDN'T have integrated graphics when it came out. Odd that they'd go to it now.
  4. Apple used the same integrated graphics (Intel GMA 950) on the developer transition kit.
  5. The GMA 950 does, at least, support Core Image, so it is more capable than the Radeon 9200 in the G4 mini. Although for games, it might be slower. Only benchmarks will tell. (i.e. the processor-sucking video chip means that with a "4-5x faster" Core Duo, it might very well be faster at games than the G4/9200 combo.)
  6. There is no item 6.

edit: According to Anandtech, the GMA 950 is about equal, to a little worse, than the Radeon Xpress 200, which is ATI's integrated-chipset version of the 9200. That means that with the move to a "4-5x faster" processor, it should be about equal at worst, to a little better than the G4/9200 mini.
 
macgeek2005 said:
Does anyone know the video card in the new mini? It doesn't say what it is anywhere!!!
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Kinda funny that you have to dig around to find any info on it on Apple.com now....
 
another thing on price, going from £339 when they first launched and now to £499 is a bit of a cheek. Ok it might of only been a 1.25 G4 with 256mb but things should be getting cheeper, it seems that Apple give more, take away something, and charge more.
 
asencif said:
My problem with the Mac Mini is that it no longer has a set identity. People are saying you have a great system now that can go in your HT, but others are like it's a great entry-level desktop. Now let's look at these points...
Click to expand...

I haven't seen the keynote, but by the notes; it sounds like Apple are positioning this Mini as a second Mac. Your primary Mac hosts your music & videos, and streams it to the Mini as a set-top box. If so, it's not much more than an expensive "video Airport Express".

It's ok as an entry-level PC, but a lot depends on how its performance pans out in real-world tests.
 
ddrueckhammer said:
I'm guessing that you compressed the movies that you ripped? What size is your hard drive? What machine are you using Powermac?
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Oh yea, compressed, but still DVD quality. I've got 4 320GB WDs, 1 80GB Hitachi, and one other 250GB WD. All on a normal Athlon 64/1GB/7800GT PC. Plenty of room to spare 😀
 
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