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Portability of the current gen Mac Mini?

R

rekhyt

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 20, 2008
1,127
78
Part of the old MR guard.
Hello,
I was wondering how portable the current gen Mac Mini is. Is it feasible to move it around from place to place, bring it with you on a flight, ...?

Thanks in advance.

R.
 
M

MJL

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2011
845
1
rekhyt said:
Hello,
I was wondering how portable the current gen Mac Mini is. Is it feasible to move it around from place to place, bring it with you on a flight, ...?

Thanks in advance.

R.
Click to expand...

Wireless KB, wireless mouse, HDMI cable, miniDP - DVI_D cable, mains cable in checked lugage. Mac mini in hand luggage. Use TV in hotel or monitor at work destination (surely they'll have a spare monitor?) At home I have a wired trackball (Kensington orbit with scroll ring) and a (spare) wired Apple KB.

If in hotel then you might want to bring your own USB 3G/4G broadband modem.

No inconsiderate idiots wrecking your laptop in overhead checked luggage lockers in the plane.

Never had a problem carrying it with me. Plus it is less weight than a decent sized laptop (but I cannot use a laptop screen any longer - deteriorating eyesight).

In the past if I stayed more than a month in one location I would buy a cheap monitor and when leaving donate it to a local (primary) school. In comparison to the hotel costs it was not an issue.
 
E

elolaugesen

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2008
107
3
portability

yes do it all the time..
use small material/bubble bag for machine, bubble for keyboard, hdmi cable and connection cable. works like a charm....
 
R

rekhyt

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 20, 2008
1,127
78
Part of the old MR guard.
Alright thanks for the reply. I had a look at the specs page on Apple's website and it's surprisingly light. Interesting.

Regarding the hard drive inside the machine - do you guys (can you?) take the hard drive out while it's in transit? (Worries about the damage to the HDD from shock/movement?)
 
Q

QWERTYMac7

macrumors regular
Nov 20, 2012
157
14
I take my Mini with me on occasion, usually for trade shows and the like. It's really very easy.

I have a USB mouse and keyboard, that's easy to take with.

I purchased from Amazon a 15 power cord (about $6.00) and I never have problems finding an outlet.

I use a 16" AOC USB monitor (Amazon as well, $90.00) - works great - and all of the above fits into my laptop bag.


P.S. - I like the thought of bringing a HDMI cable - thanks for the tip!
 
M

MrGIS

macrumors regular
Jul 30, 2010
193
60
Ontario Canada
rekhyt said:
Hello,
I was wondering how portable the current gen Mac Mini is. Is it feasible to move it around from place to place, bring it with you on a flight, ...?

Thanks in advance.

R.
Click to expand...

The previous responses are legit, but I have to believe this would get old real quick if done on a regular basis. A laptop is a much more sensible option if you're a regular roadie...
 
B

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
Especially if you travel between 2 or 3 work spaces with a decent display, it is the best option there is, beating a laptop! I do photo work, and need a large critic display, so laptop's are no option for me. The mini is twice as portable as a RMBP, and can hold much data too (double drive bays). I only carry the Mini, I bought all the input devices and cables per work space for less than one lousy apple keyboard.
 
N

niteflyr

macrumors 65816
Nov 29, 2011
1,034
208
Southern Cal
rekhyt said:
Alright thanks for the reply. I had a look at the specs page on Apple's website and it's surprisingly light. Interesting.

Regarding the hard drive inside the machine - do you guys (can you?) take the hard drive out while it's in transit? (Worries about the damage to the HDD from shock/movement?)
Click to expand...

This is not a realistic option. Quite a lot of disassembly required.
 
E

elolaugesen

macrumors regular
Aug 1, 2008
107
3
you are all right...

it depends entirely on what kind of work you do.

if you work with photos, art images etc then color matching is of real concern and macbook's(pros) have to date not been able to do it properly.

If you have presentations, accounting, surfing, emails etc....then you can use any machine that is portable.

and sometimes you have no tv or monitor available with the right connectors...

We all must do what we must do to get the job done.. Sometimes I only bring my iPad. using data colour spyder tools I can even colour match the images on it.... for display purposes...


cheers elo
 
L

Larry-K

macrumors 68000
Jun 28, 2011
1,888
2,340
rekhyt said:
Hello,
I was wondering how portable the current gen Mac Mini is. Is it feasible to move it around from place to place, bring it with you on a flight, ...?

Thanks in advance.

R.
Click to expand...
I think it's a great portable solution, much smaller than a laptop, I carry mine in a relatively small camera bag along with a DVD drive and a dual link adapter for High-End Monitors, fits great, and camera bags tend to have generous padding.

Since it sits on edge, it's fairly unlikely to suffer shock damage. The primary drive is an SSD, so shock is not much of a problem there either. The thing most likely to break during travel on a laptop is the screen, no problem there.

I keep a 27" ACD at the office and at home, so it's a simple task to plug it in and get to work if critical color isn't necessary. I do the same things with laptops, no sense being constrained by a tiny screen.

I'll probably pick up another one, when there's a worthwhile upgrade.
 
C

CausticPuppy

macrumors 68000
May 1, 2012
1,536
68
rekhyt said:
Alright thanks for the reply. I had a look at the specs page on Apple's website and it's surprisingly light. Interesting.

Regarding the hard drive inside the machine - do you guys (can you?) take the hard drive out while it's in transit? (Worries about the damage to the HDD from shock/movement?)
Click to expand...

The Mini is basically a laptop without a screen or keyboard. Would you need to remove the HDD from a laptop before carrying it anywhere?

It makes perfect sense if you're carrying it between two locations that already have monitors and keyboards. All you'd need is the computer itself and the power cord.
 
M

MJL

macrumors 6502a
Jun 25, 2011
845
1
CausticPuppy said:
The Mini is basically a laptop without a screen or keyboard. Would you need to remove the HDD from a laptop before carrying it anywhere?
.
Click to expand...

HDD will "park" the heads when they are powered off. Many newer models can even have a "shock" sensor which will park the heads if it senses that it is falling and keep it parked for half a second or so afterwards. Have had broken screens, casings, DVD/CD writers but the HDD has not failed in any of the 20+ laptops that I've had.

Although it might be an idea to put a SSD in...
 
A

animatedude

macrumors 65816
Feb 27, 2010
1,143
88
the current models are very portable.

they will make a huge mistake if they make the new design a tower.
 
B

blanka

macrumors 68000
Jul 30, 2012
1,551
4
The Mini is a laptop without all the things that can break:
- no screen hinges
- no adapters
- no adapter connectors
- no flaky keyboards you can spill coffee on
- no screen
- no DVD drive
And thus it is half the weight of a laptop and even smaller.
 
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