Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

New Mac mini

W

wolfpackfan

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 10, 2007
1,549
16
Cary, NC
Well I just purchased my second Mac mini. Got the base model. This mini is replacing my old 2007 mini which really has worked great until about a month ago when I started getting kernel panics. I tried everything I could to keep the old mini working, even installing Lion from scratch twice and even went back and reinstalled Snow Leopard. It looks to me that the problem is memory related. I even took the mini apart and reseated the memory cards. I thought about just buying some new memory but decided no, I'd just go ahead and buy a new mini because I know ML won't run on my old mini. I was a little disappointed that my old mini only lasted five years, but then I guess that is pretty good as far as computers go. I went with the base system figuring that I can add on more memory if need be, but so far my performance is great, much better of course than my old mini. Now I'm just looking forward to ML being released. I wonder how many people even know about the mini. It really is a great way to get into the Mac family of computers. Every time I hear a friend talk about buying a new computer I recommend the mini. They always think that Mac's are so expensive and when I tell them they can get a Mac for $599 they are amazed. Anyway, just thought I'd share my satisfaction with my new mini.

Oh one final thing, I purchased my mini at Best Buy and the price was $30 cheaper than at the Apple Store. Just something to keep in mind.
 
I'm going to buy a Mini as soon as they are refreshed with Ivy bridge, hopefully this summer. Thanks for the heads up on BB.
 
I like BB better than the apple store because you can also get BB rewards and depending on your credit card, money back there too. I think Discover is (or was) 5% back at BB. Amazon is also good, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones and don't need to pay tax.

And something that may or may not happen again, but it's worth keeping an eye out for, are open box minis at BB when they run special coupons on open box PCs (and macs).

Last time they did it, during the fall, it was $150 off on open box macs. I'm not sure it was supposed to apply to minis, but the salespeople at BB aren't always on the ball and they applied it for most people.

I got the base model for around $375 + tax on a recently released, like new mini. People give me weird looks when I say I got my mac because it was cheap -- I think most just assume they cost a fortune.
 
namelessme said:
I like BB better than the apple store because you can also get BB rewards and depending on your credit card, money back there too. I think Discover is (or was) 5% back at BB. Amazon is also good, if you happen to be one of the lucky ones and don't need to pay tax.

And something that may or may not happen again, but it's worth keeping an eye out for, are open box minis at BB when they run special coupons on open box PCs (and macs).

Last time they did it, during the fall, it was $150 off on open box macs. I'm not sure it was supposed to apply to minis, but the salespeople at BB aren't always on the ball and they applied it for most people.

I got the base model for around $375 + tax on a recently released, like new mini. People give me weird looks when I say I got my mac because it was cheap -- I think most just assume they cost a fortune.
Click to expand...

that is a good price, I bet it was returned because the buyer had only 2gb ram inside of it. He/she got a boatload of beachballs. You just needed to buy a pair of 4gb sticks for 40 bucks and had a good mini. 415 and some tax maybe 450 total is a good deal. Apple could sell tons of 2011 mac minis with 8gb ram as stock for 450.
 
It is baffling why the base mini only has 2GB. With Ram so cheap, it makes no sense. Unless Apple thinks people will by Ram from them, increasing profit further. But in reality, I'd expect whatever profit they made off of ram sales was off-set by returned machines.

For myself, I made due with 2GB for several months. I primarily used Win 7, and it worked okay-ish. Slow sometimes, but not insanely terrible unless using virtual software. I ended up getting the 8GB 1600Mhz Ram for $27 or so (after discounts).

I expect the new models will have at least 4GB. Ideally, it should be 8GB, but guess we'll find out. And yeah, if Apple lowered it's price a little, say down to $450-$499, they'd sell a ton. But I don't think it'd be in Apple's best interest to actually sell so many minis. They make their money from laptops and imacs. Much more profit for them in selling an $1800 imac vs $450-$500 (or even $600) mini.
 
I've had Macs for some years now but only recently started getting excited about getting a Mini - they really are amazing little machines. Really wanting (but I suppose not literally needing) to buy one right now and wondering...

1. Is a refreshed Mac Mini lineup really going to happen this summer?
2. If it does, will it be significantly superior to the current one?
 
Scrumper said:
1. Is a refreshed Mac Mini lineup really going to happen this summer?
Click to expand...
Probably, but we can only guess. Maybe August/September or sometime like that. Would be a while after the MBP gets updated.
Scrumper said:
2. If it does, will it be significantly superior to the current one?
Click to expand...
Again we can only guess, but it does depend on what features you are after. What would you use the Mini for?
 
Fair points, mdgm and thanks for the reply.

To be honest, the features I am after are pretty much what the current Mini already has: HDMI out, FW800 (my white Macbook still has FW400), Thunderbolt (although I have yet to see anything on the market in my price range to use with this) and its basic neat and compact size. So I think I'm talking myself into just getting one now...after all, you can wait forever to get the latest. :)
 
If the Mac mini does get a refresh this year, which I think it will, I'd expect it to be a minor Ivy Bridge bump, coincided with the shift to Mountain Lion, and for it to be Mountain Lion only (i.e. not downgradable to Lion). So, pencil it in for the August / September timeframe.
 
I couldn't wait. I wanted to go for my 1st Mac, so bought the low end version. I didn't want to spend a lot since I didn't know how I would like it. (BTW....it is greatness). It did end up costing me a little more as 2GB of ram didn't cut it, so put another $40 in and got 8GB. And might have to drop some more money for an SSD as the 5400 rpm hd just isn't cutting it.

The mini mid 2011 might be close to end of life, but with tech I find myself always waiting. Ex. I don't need that tablet now, the 2 core are out in 3mos. # mos later.......I don't need that 2 core the 4 core is out in 3 mos. FYI... referring to android as the tab makers tend to push out updated hardware often.

Why did I change to Mac.....2 reasons:

1) Window 8 public beta - Great tablet OS. Might be the best tablet OS I have ever seen. Problem is....it is a tablet OS and does not work well on a desktop or laptop in my opinion.

2) Google - Yep google. I will probably be switching from all my Android products at some point to Apple. Don't get me wrong I like them better then the alternative (insert hate posts now), but the data they are collecting and the privacy policy is too much for me to take.

Sorry for the long post, and look forward to many days with my new Mac Mini.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back