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Updating Mac Mini graphics card??
- Thread starter purell16
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EricNau said:
He might be thinking of something more like a Shuttle sized box. They're reasonably sized.
EricNau said:
not really...
Single 2Ghz PowerPC G5
160 GB 7200 rpm HD- BTO up to 400GB
ATI 9600 with 128mb vram- BTO support for 30 inch ACD
4GB...maybe just 2GB?
Double layer Superdrive
and all the i/o that my 15inch PowerBook has...
nothing more, nothing less...
The G5 X Station: The adolescent Mac Mini is now shipping...
_Matt said:dont worry...you may not have to work for me...but if i have it my way...ull be buying macs that i designed...all in good time my friend...
Well, I wish you good luck. And please don't do anything to force me switch to Linux.
mkrishnan said:Well, I wish you good luck. And please don't do anything to force me switch to Linux.
Linux? What's that?
But now that we can have a serious conversation...
Why doesn't apple just make a pro mac mini? Is it that hard? Is there some sort of apple philosophy that would be compromised if this shipped?
There isn't any material that would be needed to be custom built for this X station...I mean, IBM must shell out truckloads of 2Ghz G5s each month. I just don't see how they could miss this opportunity. Make the X Station and sell it for a decent price $1200-$1500 and that way apple lures all those power users waiting for a Macintel PowerMac into buying an affordable
and stable system to hold them over for the intels in 2007... i can just picture on my desk right next to a 20" ACD...perfection...
_Matt said:
Mmmm... wait, now I'm confused. If you still want them to make it bigger and make a pro version, that's certainly going to require some doing. If you don't want them to make it bigger...don't you think there might be cooling issues with a G5 in a Mac Mini?
I guess...too...I suspect that there are marketing issues involved, that you would face yourself, if you become a designer at Apple. The lineup they have now seems to be selling well. What evidence do you have, besides the fact that you yourself want such a computer, that Apple's bottom line will be enhanced, or their image with consumers in general or us geeks in particular, if they made this thing for you?
Yeah, I figured even if you could remove the soldered on graphic card and replace it that it would be expensive and silly. I was just wondering if it was at all possible. Thanks for the info.
mkrishnan said:
Obviously the Mac mini and a desktop like this would cater to two completely different customers, but after looking from afar I do see some glitches with introducing this. From a marketing standpoint it makes the Mac mini look better in the eyes of switchers and low power users, but creates a new product for customers such as myself who enjoy more power, quality parts, and design but cannot or do not want to spend the money on a full PowerMac system which they do not need nor could they ever take full advantage of. This product does have the potential to take away a percentage of eMac/iMac sales as well. This system would be a PC killer and I believe could be a vital asset in increasing Apple's marketshare. Most PC users I talk to don't really see a place for them in the Mac family of products. I mean, yes there is the iMac but most of my friends don't trust the reliability of an all in one computer and tend to completely block out its amazing features and exceptional price point because they just don't feel "safe" using an all in one. Or better yet, they think the large bezel on the bottom is a careless design flaw.
Although the Mac mini is a fantastic little machine, most afluent computer users seek the best possible technology because they want their investment to last. I simply want there to be a broader selection of choices for the consumers so that they can have a median between the Mac Mini and the PowerMac that is completely upgradeable and can last for much longer than the Mac mini. I would love to discuss more about this idea and would appreciate criticism because there are definitely more problems with this idea that I have not seen myself. After all, I'm 15 and know nothing about the internal layout of computers, thermodynamics, or anything that would be necessary in perfecting this. I just have a dream.
As for size, I'm thinking two or two and a half Mac minis stacked ontop of each other. I think this system would be better suited right next to the ACD on a desk rather than somewhere else. Just my thoughts.
That's what I thought right before I bought mine (I switched from Windows about 3 months ago). Haven't had any problems with my iMac G5, but just tell 'em to buy Apple Care and that'll take care of it for atleast 3 years, (and at under $200 I think it is the cheapest 3 year warranty out there).
But I do understand what you are talking about with your "upgraded" mini. If there was something like this, I probably would have bought that at the time, but having bought the iMac, I couldn't imagine buying the same computer without the screen, what would be the point?
Say you buy an iMac, and the screen dies, I'm guessing you could just hook another screen up to it, and then you would have the computer you were just talking about, (but I doubt this screen will die before my computer is "obsolete" anyways). And I don't think the price would drop that much by taking the screen out...I think they should stick with the lineup they have now. (Remember they had the Single Processor Powermac but took it away after a very short time...guess it wasn't selling well.)
EricNau said:
The reason it wasnt selling well was because of it being ridiculously overpriced(you could get the bottom of the range dual processor model for not much more), not because people werent interested in a low end expandable mac.....But anyway i dont see a "Adolecent mac mini" ever seeing the light of day, more likely a Powermac G5 price drop,
ShadOW
_Matt said:Or better yet, they think the large bezel on the bottom is a careless design flaw.
I'm sorry you have to live with such incompetence!
Seriously, I just ordered custom mattes to put several of my art photos up on the wall, and they all have enlarged bottom edges to provide a more substantial feel to the positioning of the image within the frame. Which is essentially the same logic behind the iMac's body.
And besides. It gives plenty of room for the cute Apple logo! I definitely see your points though, about PC users and a more powerful computer in between the Mini and PM.
I guess they have to be balanced with a question of which PC users Apple wants to switch to Macs, and when, and how... I don't think Apple's goal is or should be to cater so much to how PC users think things should be that they lose their design elegance. But I think you don't think that either, at all.
And also, Apple has been criticized for bringing the PM line down too low, and periodically purge their low-end PMs, rather than having something with the appearance of the PM line that doesn't reek of high-end. Which means there will probably never be a PM at a low enough price point to meet the need you describe.
I also complained about that before I bought my iMac, now that I use it every day, I never notice it. Actually it puts the screen in the perfect place for viewing. Besides, it is the perfect size to put post-its! (assuming you don't use the ones on dashboard.)
