New respect for an old product

[Lil Chillbil]

My friend Erwin recently asked me to install tiger on his 2005 mac mini. I have always not liked the mac mini concept. "a desktop computer made out of laptop parts" and I was skeptical if I would enjoy my time with it. But after I have played around with it I have gained a large respect for this mac and the mini series is becoming my favorite apple series of computers. Is or was anybody else skeptical of the mac mini series ?

 

[Oderus]

Thats because PPC macs all used the same parts. The Intel macs are different, the Minis use much weaker versions that consume less power.

 

[DrakkenWar]

A semi-recent mini switcher!

I was in the same boat last year. I had a pair of really nice G5's that did everything I needed and then some. But having a pair of massive wind tunnels under my desk started to get old. So, that started my search for a new home mac. Being I have this G4 PB 1.5, I wasn't looking to add another one to the mix.
The cheapest option (for my student budget) was logically a mini. I made the jump in July to an i7 and I could not be happier with my purchase. I love that mini. It's one of the best computers I have ever owned. Not to mention the first new mac I have every owned. After having it now for almost a year I have started to look for some older minis to add to my collection. A 2009, and a 2005.
So yeah, was skeptical, but for finical reasons it became my option that worked out perfectly.

 

[Litany]

I bought a 2005 1.5ghz Mini a few days after they were released, but I upgraded to a Quad G5 a few months after because it was too slow even for web browsing. Halo was barely playable at 1024x768, Fable and KOTOR were't playable at all. But my G5 plays all three at 1920x1200 max-specs without any frame drops.

 

[Starfighter]

I bought a 2005 1.5ghz Mini a few days after they were released, but I upgraded to a Quad G5 a few months after because it was too slow even for web browsing. Halo was barely playable at 1024x768, Fable and KOTOR were't playable at all. But my G5 plays all three at 1920x1200 max-specs without any frame drops.

I didn't think you bought Mac Mini's for gaming, they seem more like media center-friendly machines... The part about too slow to browse the web kind of puts me off though, I was thinking of getting a Mac Mini someday, but if they're too weak for even light surfing then I don't need one.

 

[Litany]

The PPC models were, the intel models are different. More powerful CPUs but garbage GPUs until the top range 2011 model.