Why almost the Mac Mini reviews on the internet are bad?

[xheathen]

Many of the reviews are 9/10, 4/5, 4.5/5 etc. So I think there's a pretty good blend of them out there.

To even consider the optical drive is so weird to me because the ONLY reference anyone seems to make about it is the con for being a HTPC. Why in the hell would anyone buy a 2011 Mac Mini to be a HTPC when they now have the choice of either buying the 2010 Mini, which will work great, for less money, or buy the 2011 Mini with a separate Blu Ray drive (which people have been screaming for).

If you ask me, this really opened up the game for just about anyone's needs. The HTPC minis are now fairly competitively priced. I'd rather fork over $470 for a refurb than $300 for an 1.6ghz intel Atom based nettop for God sake (which, if I may be so bold, does NOT have an optical drive).

 

[Man9z0r]

They dropped the price by $100 on the base model, and you can buy any cd rom drive to hook up to it. Also, there is remote disc. They aren't forcing you to conform to anything, other than more HDD space and the same/smaller footprint.

Well seeing that they actually raised the price just for the 2010 model all they really did was go back to the price they had it at before but strip the ODD.

They could of at least gave an option but no Apple doesn't like options! I bet that will change when Steve Job's leaves. That is a whole different subject though.

 

[ezekielrage_99]

I thought engadget rated everything 8/10

 

[MacHamster68]

because a fast processor is not everything , Apple has reinvented the netbox with the new mini , and Apple again walks alone with thunderbold , like they did with firewire , they scrapped the floppy 10 years before the rest . and what the heck is that 5400rpm HDD for in 2011

and now you not only have to buy a keyboard ,mouse ,trackpad,monitor , no now you even need to buy a ODD
and no, generic things wont do , at least i buy Apple products because of their design too, otherwise i am better off with a hackintosh , so i want matching stuff .. let me explain

when i bought my G5 iMac i did want a second monitor/tv , white and a silver stand and about the same size as the iMac , but i could back then only find either white monitors or silver or black tv's , so the only solution for me was to buy 2 monitors/tvs a white one and a black one but the black one had a silver stand, swapped the stands and perfect a white monitor/tv with silver /alu stand , then sold the black tv again with a white stand

so for me that leaves now if i buy a mini 2 options

1st i need to buy a 2011 mini for its fast processor , try to not void my warranty by changeing the HDD for a faster one ,top up the ram ,then buy a 2010 mini , gut it out to make it a usb ODD for under the 2011 mini .
or
2nd try to find space inside the 2011 mini for a ODD and take a angle grinder to give it a slot for the ODD

 

[barkmonster]

3 perfectly viable options:-

Option 1

Buy one of any number of off-the-shelf desktop or portable USB burners. I've seen mobile one's for under £30, desktop one's for under £40.

Option 2, Buy:

1 USB housing for 5 1/4 drives

1 DVD Burner

1 USB lead

Then spend 5 minutes with a screwdriver and you've got an optical drive that's either cheaper than the Apple one or cheaper and got Lightscribe features. (This also appeases the "Boo! no Blu-Ray" crowd).

I know some people won't like the aethetics of the roll-your-own approach, the most stylish you could manage is matching the colours of the case and the drive. Personally, I don't care what my external hard drive looks as long as it mirrors my data for emergencies. Going that route also leaves you short of desk space so you could go one further and mount the Mac Mini on the back of your LCD using a vesa adapter like the Mac Cuff then have an external DVD drive on you're desk.

Option 3, Re-purpose the Mac you're replacing with it:

1) Buy a cross over ethernet cable (Or just jack into you're existing network if you have one).

2) Enable sharing of the DVD on you're old mac for loading software etc...

3) Stuff the old mac full of drives and share the volumes with the Mac Mini to use with Time Machine/Carbon Copy Cloner or even as Network Attached Storage.

4) I don't know if this is becoming a common feature on newer LCDs but I have dual inputs on my main display so anyone with that option could use a software KM system over the same network to share the keyboard and mouse with both Macs too.

 

[MJL]

because a fast processor is not everything , Apple has reinvented the netbox with the new mini , and Apple again walks alone with thunderbold , like they did with firewire , they scrapped the floppy 10 years before the rest . and what the heck is that 5400rpm HDD for in 2011

and now you not only have to buy a keyboard ,mouse ,trackpad,monitor , no now you even need to buy a ODD
and no, generic things wont do , at least i buy Apple products because of their design too, otherwise i am better off with a hackintosh , so i want matching stuff .. let me explain

when i bought my G5 iMac i did want a second monitor/tv , white and a silver stand and about the same size as the iMac , but i could back then only find either white monitors or silver or black tv's , so the only solution for me was to buy 2 monitors/tvs a white one and a black one but the black one had a silver stand, swapped the stands and perfect a white monitor/tv with silver /alu stand , then sold the black tv again with a white stand

so for me that leaves now if i buy a mini 2 options

1st i need to buy a 2011 mini for its fast processor , try to not void my warranty by changeing the HDD for a faster one ,top up the ram ,then buy a 2010 mini , gut it out to make it a usb ODD for under the 2011 mini .
or
2nd try to find space inside the 2011 mini for a ODD and take a angle grinder to give it a slot for the ODD

The USB implementation in Mac is limited to around 18 Mb r/w, you are better off using the FW800 as a network (if that is still supported) will give at least three times that performance. Basically you'll have a mac server on one side of the screen and a mac mini 2010 on the other side. Use DVI for one and HDMI for the other as input into the screen. Ah wait, the mac mini 2011 with the discrete graphics is better screen performance so you better hook that one up to the screen and use the mac mini 2010 for the DVD/CD. Will look real cute having three little boxes sitting next to each other (not on top of each other - it will lead to heat issues). Over a hundred of my music CD's are not on iTunes and I have a collection of about 1400, many obtained second hand. Can I buy second hand iTunes music somewhere? And playing movies using the external USB DVD does not work nicely with the Apple software, you may have to get VLC for that. So call me names whatever you want but I am more than happy with the mid 2010 Mac Mini that I bought on the 12th July. By the way: DVD and CD do not fall in the same category as the 3.5 and 5.25 " floppies. Those really died long before they disappeared put of the PC's because of their limited capacity and unreliability. I did not fancy loading 26 3.5" floppies to load Windows NT, a CD was a lot easier (and faster).

 

[Blue Fox]

I think people rate it badly because with the lack of cdrom it is like Apple making you conform to their app store. Plus Apple has to know that a lot of people use the Mac Mini as a media center pc. So they are just limiting it's use also. It is one thing to rip a ODD from a computer that is not meant to be a main computer but kind of silly to rip it from one that it. Some people use them quite often still. Being a student I get class books all the time with cdroms.

So get an external drive. The new Mini is $100 cheaper, and if you buy an external drive for $70 bucks (most third-party ones are half that), you're STILL $30 cheaper than last years model. And it's desktop, so it'll sit there along with it. Seriouly, I don't understand the issue people are having. Just because the ODD is not built in doesn't mean that you can't use one still.

And Apple isn't making people "conform", they're just seeing that the majority of users hardly use the ODD anymore, so why include it? Lower the price, and let people who NEED it buy it separately. Simple as that.

 

[Blue Fox]

.......AND who knows, maybe Apple will come out with a wireless SuperDrive. Far-fetched, I know, but still, you never know.

 

[daneoni]

I have to agree with them. The entry-level mini is laughably overpriced for what you get and getting rid of the SuperDrive on a desktop/media-centric computer was a boneheaded move. I know why they did it (lock into iTunes content) but it is still ridonkulous and it means i would never come near a Mini again.

 

[Nightarchaon]

Personally i think its because people expect the mini to be an "entry level" computer and therefore should be under £500 rather than £699 for the "high end" mini, and around £300 rather than £599 for the entry level.

with cheap as chips PCs now costing £249-£299 with keyboard, monitor and mouse some places the mini is percieved as a rip off by the general public, and many reviewers are comparing it with these PCs

Apple gear is expensive, but your paying "apple tax" for the OS, its not free for them to develop and maintain, and id rather pay the initial lump for the hardware and have cheap updates, than the windows method of charging as much as the PC cost for a new OS every few years (Retail box windows 7 ultimate upgrade vs Lion !! )

 

[nomad01]

I replaced our old Mini with the previous gen MacMini Server earlier this year. The other half complained like mad about the loss of the superdrive so I bought the seperate superdrive for it. Guess how many times it's been used in around 5 months? One to my knowledge!

I have a Macbook Air too and again, I don't use the SuperDrive with that either. It's bizarre to think how little I do use it when a few years ago it would be used constantly.

 

[G4er?]

For those who need it, no biggie. Just buy an external SuperDrive for $70. It's not really that big of a deal since it is a desktop anyways.

It is a desktop. That used to mean internal devices.

 

[Sdevante]

I replaced our old Mini with the previous gen MacMini Server earlier this year. The other half complained like mad about the loss of the superdrive so I bought the seperate superdrive for it. Guess how many times it's been used in around 5 months? One to my knowledge!

I have a Macbook Air too and again, I don't use the SuperDrive with that either. It's bizarre to think how little I do use it when a few years ago it would be used constantly.

Lol that sounds like me. I bought the superdrive to go with my MBA and I've used it maybe 5 times in the past two years

 

[MultiFinder17]

I wonder how people lived with the 9400M in the mini up until last week.

Because there were people dumb enough to buy them.

Still running happily with my mini purchased the day that the 9400M minis came out. Bit over two years old now, and I plan on pushing it out to four. 2.0GHZ C2D, 8GB RAM, 9400M, 320GB 7200RPM HDD, all of which make this little bugger a great performer

 

[madman962]

The USB implementation in Mac is limited to around 18 Mb r/w, you are better off using the FW800 as a network (if that is still supported) will give at least three times that performance. Basically you'll have a mac server on one side of the screen and a mac mini 2010 on the other side. Use DVI for one and HDMI for the other as input into the screen. Ah wait, the mac mini 2011 with the discrete graphics is better screen performance so you better hook that one up to the screen and use the mac mini 2010 for the DVD/CD. Will look real cute having three little boxes sitting next to each other (not on top of each other - it will lead to heat issues).

You're talking in circles. Three boxes? you're either going to have a 2010 with the CD drive you want or a 2011 with an external drive, that's 2 max, how would you have 3? It's a desktop computer, not a laptop. If the aesthetic appeal matters that much to you, buck up and buy and iMac that gives you everything you wanted in a desktop. If you're so picky about "the look" surely you can afford to pay.

Over a hundred of my music CD's are not on iTunes and I have a collection of about 1400, many obtained second hand. Can I buy second hand iTunes music somewhere?

So you're planning to hold onto those 1,400 CD's for life? Clearly music is important to you if you have that many, which is fine, by why not rip them all so that you'll have secure backups of your collection to protect the investment you've made? Once the backups are done, you'll no longer need the CD drive in the future.

And playing movies using the external USB DVD does not work nicely with the Apple software, you may have to get VLC for that. So call me names whatever you want but I am more than happy with the mid 2010 Mac Mini that I bought on the 12th July. By the way: DVD and CD do not fall in the same category as the 3.5 and 5.25 " floppies. Those really died long before they disappeared put of the PC's because of their limited capacity and unreliability. I did not fancy loading 26 3.5" floppies to load Windows NT, a CD was a lot easier (and faster).

Really clinging to that old tech huh? DVD and CD are falling into the same category as floppies. They've lasted longer than floppies, and they are still necessary in some cases, but their useful life is quickly going to come to an end. You said loading Windows NT was easier on a CD? Isn't it easier to download a program online now (even an OS in the case of Lion) rather than waste time running to the store to pick up CD/DVD?

I really don't mean any disrespect it just sounds like you're stuck on CD's because you have a vast collection that has yet to be ripped and you just purchased an 2010 Mini and need to justify not getting a 2011 instead.

At the end of the day it's your $ and your decision so do whatever you want, but the 2011 model appears to me to be an exceptional value when you compare the performance to the 2010 models even discounting the fact you may have to purchase an external CD drive.

 

[Mr.C]

I really don't mean any disrespect it just sounds like you're stuck on CD's because you have a vast collection that has yet to be ripped and you just purchased an 2010 Mini and need to justify not getting a 2011 instead.

At the end of the day it's your $ and your decision so do whatever you want, but the 2011 model appears to me to be an exceptional value when you compare the performance to the 2010 models even discounting the fact you may have to purchase an external CD drive.

Well said.

 

[ForI]

1) Buy a cross over ethernet cable

Macs don't need a crossover cable.

 

[azentropy]

Having to add an external drive hanging off of it negates one of the benefits the Mac mini has.

I fully understand and support removing the DVD drive from laptops as there are many better uses for the space. I removed my DVD from my 13" MBP to put in a SSD in addition to the regular drive.

But I do not get the benefit of removing it on a desktop. It isn't like Apple did something great with the space - as the low end still as crappy graphics, they didn't make it smaller, they didn't allow the use of the 3.5" drives etc. They just removed the option.

It would have made more people happy to make it more flexible by maybe not including it by default, but still allowing the option of having a second HD or a DVD...

 

[Onimusha370]

Yeah, it is so weak, I wonder how people lived with the 9400M in the mini up until last week. :roll eyes:

This idiocracy should stop.

the last gen mac mini was running on a 320M, much more powerful than the 9400M.

 

[MarineR6er]

My feelings exactly MJL

So get an external drive. The new Mini is $100 cheaper, and if you buy an external drive for $70 bucks (most third-party ones are half that), you're STILL $30 cheaper than last years model. And it's desktop, so it'll sit there along with it. Seriouly, I don't understand the issue people are having. Just because the ODD is not built in doesn't mean that you can't use one still.

And Apple isn't making people "conform", they're just seeing that the majority of users hardly use the ODD anymore, so why include it? Lower the price, and let people who NEED it buy it separately. Simple as that.

You got it wrong. MJL has it right.

 

[barkmonster]

Macs don't need a crossover cable.

Good to know. It's going to be even cheaper then!

 

[scottsjack]

As a happy owner of a late 2009 mini 2.66GHz I would have rated the 2011 model a six out of ten.

The faster processors are a plus and would have been a big plus with a quad-core option.

The discrete video card is barely a plus since 256MB RAM is sort of a low-end, cheapie model joke now. The base should have been 500GB and the i7 1GB.

Using 5400 RPM HDDs for anything but the cheapest version is also behind the times. 320GB 7200 RPM drives for very inexpensive.

Finally, the lack of an internal optical drive as at least an option is a big hit. Steve's world doesn't exactly match the real world and it's the real world that we live in.

 

[Man9z0r]

So get an external drive. The new Mini is $100 cheaper, and if you buy an external drive for $70 bucks (most third-party ones are half that), you're STILL $30 cheaper than last years model. And it's desktop, so it'll sit there along with it. Seriouly, I don't understand the issue people are having. Just because the ODD is not built in doesn't mean that you can't use one still.

And Apple isn't making people "conform", they're just seeing that the majority of users hardly use the ODD anymore, so why include it? Lower the price, and let people who NEED it buy it separately. Simple as that.

I don't know where you get your fact for majority. Even more so with the Mac mini. Most of the people I know (which still wouldn't account for majority) use the Mac mini as a media center pc. They still rent DVDs from Netflix! I don't remember anyone taking a poll of majority of people who use ODD. Apple is just wanting you to "conform" to their app store. They don't sell software anywhere else. So of course they pulled it.

 

[MacHamster68]

It is a desktop. That used to mean internal devices.

it used to be a desktop ,but is it a HTPC....NO , the Mini is a netbox , the missing optical drive makes thats absolute clear, glorified ,expensive(ok,it is the cheapest Mac ) and fast at times , but not a desktop any more

 

[voyager03]

Most of the people I know (which still wouldn't account for majority) use the Mac mini as a media center pc. They still rent DVDs from Netflix! I don't remember anyone taking a poll of majority of people who use ODD. Apple is just wanting you to "conform" to their app store. They don't sell software anywhere else. So of course they pulled it.

Why do people who are using a Mini as a 'media centre pc' need to upgrade?