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Overall Mac Mini experiences?

Westside guy

Westside guy

macrumors 604
Original poster
Oct 15, 2003
6,532
4,644
The soggy side of the Pacific NW
Hey all,

I am trying to get a feel for the overall satisfaction level of the folks who've bought the Mac Mini. My primary concern is reliability, what with it being a Rev. A product and all. Are there any widespread issues people are aware of, such as I experienced first-hand with the Rev. A 15" Al Powerbook and it's dreaded white spots?

The reason I'm asking is this: My sis is about to buy a new computer and is leaning towards the Mini, which would be her first Mac. I realize nothing is guaranteed in this life, but if there are significant known issues I might see if I can convince her to hold off a few months. Basically I don't want a switcher's first experience with Mac hardware to be a bad one, if I can help it. :D

Thanks!
 
Overall I think it's one of the "safest" Apple products right now... after all, you have to remember that this hardware has been used for a long time, in similar setups and older machines... so yeah, it is Rev. A, but the technology is like Rev. K. ;)

Just be careful with heat, like don't stack 3 Minis on top of each other.
 
Oh my god!

I mean... OH MY GOD! When I opened that box (which was OH MY GOD as well - the niftiness level of the thing was OH MY GOD!) and lifted up the layers of OH MY GOD syrofoam... I came upon the Mac mini, my preciousss! And I picked it up. This thing ain't plastic, no sir! It's heavy, cold, solid metal hunk of OH MY GODness! I even had to go to the bathroom for a little "private time" after beholding it!

And I booted it up.

My preciousss...
 
Raven VII said:
I even had to go to the bathroom for a little "private time" after beholding it!

And I booted it up.

My preciousss...
Click to expand...
I hope it didn't go into the bathroom with you. :rolleyes:
 
i haven't heard any problems from the few people i know that have gotten em

they seem to be rather stable, unlike the problems with the iMac G5 and the original 15' powerbooks

the hardware isnt new, just the design layout, and it seems to be simple enough that there are no large issues at this time, of course apple care is always a good idea if you want to be cautious
 
Make sure to buy the 512 ram upgrade or get a gig stick somewhere (newegg) and pop it in there. I heard one guy complaining that it was a slow machine and then he put in 512MB of ram and said it was zippy.
 
It works absolutely fine for me.
I will be upgrading to 1 gig in the near future i think, i sometimes get a beachball when safari, mail, ical, adium, photoshop, illustrator and imageready are open (simultaniously :rolleyes: ).
I also do feel the slower HD (i got the 80 Gb @ 4200 rpm) is holding back the mini sometimes.
No *real* problems.

I'm very happy with this computer, not in a way that i need some 'private time' after or while using it ;), but i like it.
 
Mini seems very reliable,no problems. Imac is the problem maker for Apple these days. If i was to do it again i would wait for Apple to get off their arses and spend the $5 more for the Fx5200,and Tiger then buy it. Now that would make a very Solid machine. the 9200 is crippling it in my view, Nanosuar looks bad on the weak graphics compared to my 4y/o 64mb Geforce3 using about the same G4. Mini is very sweet dont get me wrong it just needs a modern GPU and 9200 is like 2mx performance maybe. Its the achilles heal of the machine.
 
mini

I had a mini until this friday. It's great for what it is...but you are getting what you paid for.

The graphics card was so underpowered, and it make simple expose actions jagged and weak. Forget gaming...trust me.

The hard drives are too slow as well.

With this powermac i have now instead...I notice a HUGE difference.
 
Got mine In January. Ram is a bit limiting, but other than that, I have seen no issues. ONLY real issue I have heard of in web surfing has been Weak Analog VGA output, causing dim screens on some Analog monitors. I personally use the analog out with an older LCD that does not have DVI, and its fine.

Performance wise, is very acceptable. I have the 1.25ghz model, and processor speed has not held me back yet. Ram has however, so I highly recommend atleast 512mb.

As others have stated, this is basically a repackaging of older tried and true technology, so there really have been few Rev A issues. I would not hesitate to jump on one.

Actually, I did

:p

Bill
 
got my mini a few weeks ago, and i love it so far. it was my first mac, and now i've got an ipod shuffle :) . i do need to upgrade the ram on the mini, but other than the ram, no problems at all.
 
May be moving in to a different place in a few months, and the Mac mini seems to fit the smaller space that will result. Glad to hear of the positives on the Mac mini so far.
 
Westside guy said:
My sis is about to buy a new computer and is leaning towards the Mini, which would be her first Mac. I realize nothing is guaranteed in this life, but if there are significant known issues I might see if I can convince her to hold off a few months. Basically I don't want a switcher's first experience with Mac hardware to be a bad one, if I can help it. :D

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I've had my Mac mini for one week and it's amazing. Gaming aside, this little box can kick any PC. Why? The PC doesn't have OS X and iLife.

The only thing I've heard about the Mac mini is about some people having static noise from their audio-out connector. But mine's free from such defect.

The only things I don't like about the Mac mini are:
1. weak GPU, low VRAM (but then again, the computer didn't cost that much)
2. not enough USB ports (a regular PC switcher will need at least 3, maybe 4 ports: keyboard, mouse, printer, other such as scanner or webcam, etc).
3. only one memory slot (which makes upgrading a hassle - I wish Apple would solder 256MB or 512MB on-board and keep the single memory slot open for upgrading).

The USB ports problem can easily be solved by a USB hub if needed.

In my opinion, tell her to get the 1.42GHz/80GB model, it's worth the price if only for the extra 40GB of HD space. Or at least upgrade the 1.25GHz to 80GB (but at that price, you're really close to getting the 1.42GHz).
 
The processor upgrade feel from my 450mHz G4 tower is felt, but the slower disk speed hurts with all the graphics apps I keep open.

I had my first kernal panic in years with this machine waking up from sleep.

Disk drive is loud as hell. (actually optical! ) :D

I miss the audio in.

I still like the machine. - j
 
For clarification, the "disk drive is loud as hell" comment is almost certainly referring to the optical drive, not the hard drive. The hard drive is almost silent, but the optical is extremely loud. I don't have to use it much though, and besides, it's a slot loader so I can forgive it because of its coolness ;).

No kernel panics or reliability issues with mine, even after installing some generic RAM from NewEgg (1 GB Geil PC3200). The only problem at all is that the DVI-VGA adapter has one screw that won't turn. I don't need it, though, because I have a DVI flat panel.
 
Winstonp said:
I had a mini until this friday. It's great for what it is...but you are getting what you paid for.

The graphics card was so underpowered, and it make simple expose actions jagged and weak. Forget gaming...trust me.

The hard drives are too slow as well.

With this powermac i have now instead...I notice a HUGE difference.
Click to expand...

I guess it also depends on your settings. I'm using my Mac mini on a 15" CRT @ 1024x768, and Exposé just couldn't be smoother (and my first complain is always choppy/low FPS problems).

As for gaming, I guess old games such as Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 should be able to run fine in 800x600 or 1024x768 with moderate settings. In fact, I've been playing WoW on my Mac mini for a week! Sure, I play in 800x600, all settings "off" or "lowest", there's no terrain shading (looks awful) and I'm getting 1 FPS in IronForge at peak times with dozens of people on the screen. But most of the time, when in the open with few monsters, I'm getting from 15 to 30 FPS (average 20-22).

As far as the hard drives being too slow, I don't know what to say, feels fast enough for me.

And comparing the Mac mini to the PowerMac, well, I call unfair comparison. :D

Edit: I have no problems with the analog VGA output and my 15" CRT, also tried it with my brother's CRT, no problems there either. And the TV output is fine too (bought the optional adapter).
 
My brother's had his Mini since january; it hasn't crashed yet, and nothing has broken...

He spends most of his time playing Warcraft 3, watching DVDs, recording his guitar into Garageband or chatting/surfing. For these things the Mini is a champ, and except for the optical drive the machine is silent.
 
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