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new to iphone want to try a mac

PDACPA

PDACPA

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 16, 2008
154
7
Florida
New to the iphone and I love it and wanted to try out a Mac without spending a fortune until I have used it a while.

Work requires a PC and at home PC's are what we have and the family uses.

The Mac's primary purpose would be for me (specifically using it to link with the iphone (maybe through Mobile Me) with iCal #1 priority and my contacts). I would try out the iLife programs (mainly the photo and movie), but gaming would not be used and nor would I load it up with tons of files (ie do not need alot of hard drive space). Would also like it to have OS X.

I have multiple monitors and USB devices so a Mac Mini seemed like a good option and there are a few on Ebay in the $200+ range.

Can any of you Mac users chime in and let me know if the Mac Mini will work for what I am trying to do? There seems to be different HD and processor speeds changing the price so my number might be different based on the actual item.

Thanks.
 
Everymac.com has info on all the Mac Minis that were made. Note their price estimate is way out of date though.

G4 Mac Mini are old and cheap, no longer under warranty.

intel Mini are much faster. I would get one of these that are under warranty.

Note due to efficiency of OSX and no need to install anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc, a Mac maintains its speed for many times longer than windows.
 
A Mac Mini would be fine for you, preferably an Intel seeing as they are loads faster than a PPC Mini. You might want to buy an Apple keyboard for it so you can adapt to the slightly different layout of modifier keys and such... the basic stuff is still the same, but the keys will be mapped to their respective location regardless of keyboard model... so a Dell, per se, will act like an Apple keyboard except some keys won't describe what they actually do.
 
Get a 1.83 core 2 duo Mini, used for about $400. 1.83 chip, 1 gb ram, 80 gb hdd, combo drive (no dvd burner). You can get this as a refurb for $500 (they are on the apple site sometimes, about once a week but they go fast).
 
you could tinker around with the mac mini, an older version is better, since you mentioned the 200+ price range. The Mac Mini line will either die out, or new models will come around september or so. your choice, but the mini is a great machine, good luck!
 
Thanks for the replies. I noticed that the non-intel vs intel Mac Mini prices were different (non-intel going in the 200-300 range and the intel going in the 400 + range).

I want to stick with the mini for now, but will up the budget to get an intel. I noticed too that some come with Tiger and not Leopard (some have Leopard, but only give you the Tiger disk in the event of crash). Is this because they downloaded it?
 
Found a few deals on Intel Mac Mini's but it seems they all come with 10.4 Tiger. Can that be upgraded to Leopard?

(there are a few that say they have the Tiger disk, but the system has Leopard pre-installed).
 
Welcome PDACPA

the install disks are the ones shipped with the mini. as this was PRE leopard they have bought a retail copy of leopard to upgrade their system with

this itself has a retail value so I presume they will either keep/sell it on

I think you have a few options - the first buying a newer version of the mini that comes with leopard pre-installed. This has the added security that as you are new to macs (and I am by no means assuming you have low skill) and something does go wrong you can do a full system restore. I personally have never done one but plenty of people here have!

The second is to realise that you are running a risk and merely get the cheapest you can and now that if something goes wrong you will have pay for a copy of leopard to restore

Lastly, and this is what I did when I upgraded my ibook (older model of the macbook and ppc therefore tiger and not leopard) was to wait until a cheap version came on ebay bought it and when I was able to upgrade sell it on actually for a profit!

The reason I say the last option is because plenty of people come on these forums to buy a mini and 3 months later buy a mac pro/imac etc so you might be selling on your previous equipment

As you can see from my sig I am a portable guy but the mac mini is a great computer, I am thinking about getting one to run as a server for me at home

d:apple::apple::cool:
 
PDACPA said:
Found a few deals on Intel Mac Mini's but it seems they all come with 10.4 Tiger. Can that be upgraded to Leopard?

(there are a few that say they have the Tiger disk, but the system has Leopard pre-installed).
Click to expand...

For sure can be upgraded to Leopard but that may be another reason to get a refurb for $499.
 
Thanks for the informative advice!

I looked for some refurbs on Apple's site, but only found 1. Still looking, but focused on the intel mini's.
 
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