All the old Mac Minis please stand up!

[smithrh]

2012 Mac Mini - i7, I upgraded it to 16GB RAM right away, then eventually upgraded the spinning rust to a 1TB internal SSD about 2 years ago when it became clear the new Mini was not imminent.

It serves my iTunes and Photos via the SSD (for speed and always on nature) as well as 46 TB of storage. It also handles DVR duties with my SiliconDust OTA TV receivers (x2). It doesn't break a sweat but the USB and Thunderbolt interfaces are slow compared to today's options.

Looking forward to 4K via HDMI!

Also have a 2009-era Mini that I'm not using at the moment; that still has spinning rust in it - I believe the max RAM is 8GB IIRC.

 

[chevman]

2009 2 GHz Core2Duo here with 4GB RAM (purchased in April 2009), running El Cap (10.11.6).

Upgraded the HDD to a SSD myself 4 or so years ago. Basically made it feel like a snappy new machine at that point.

I use it for my main email/browsing/music/video watching desktop at home.

Think I will pull the trigger soon on one of the new mini's Apple just released.

Hoping I can retire my current box to the basement and use it as an iTunes server or media streamer for a few more years.

10 years out of a desktop is a pretty solid run.

 

[Ua D]

I'm typing this on a late 2006 mac mini 1.1 machine. It was a 1.83ghz Core Duo machine, but I installed a Core 2 Duo 2.33 ghz processor in it about 4 years ago, and installed the mac mini 2.1 firmware and 4 gb of ram. Apparently only 3 GB is readable. I used to lament the fact that the early intel mac minis were abandoned with OS support after only 10.6. It was kinda ******** it only was supported for 3 versions of OS X. Almost every mac before that had longer support. I guess G5 users got screwed the most though. Snow leopard has been stable and fast for me for years, so I guess no slow ass loading of newer versions of OS X. Browser security and web page loading has become an issue for some parts of the internet, but for the most part I'm fine if I avoid video or try a different browser.

I would say I have gotten my moneys worth (and more). It was hooked up to a big hdtv for a few years, but recently it went back on a desk (yay more living space) with an apple 23" cinema display.

A new mini will be on it's way next month, but the longest used computer I've owned will still stick around.

 

[MultiFinder17]

I have three minis that I use regularly.
My home server is a 2012 2.3GHz i7 mini with 16GB of RAM, 2x 2TB internal spinners, and a 3TB external USB3 HDD. This is my home media server/transcoding machine. It also serves my personal website and handles my e-mail. It's a brilliant little computer!
At school, I have a 2012 2.5GHz i5 mini with 12GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD in it as my classroom server and projector machine. I remote into it via my iMac. It serves as a small, snappy little machine to show things to the kiddos on.
Also at school, I have a 2006 mini. It's been upgraded to the 2,1 firmware and with a 2.33GHz C2D and 4GB of RAM. This machine is used for a few older Keynote presentations that don't work properly in modern versions of Keynote, and as my only machine in the room with an optical drive.

 

[harriska2]

I have three minis that I use regularly.
My home server is a 2012 2.3GHz i7 mini with 16GB of RAM, 2x 2TB internal spinners, and a 3TB external USB3 HDD. This is my home media server/transcoding machine. It also serves my personal website and handles my e-mail. It's a brilliant little computer!
At school, I have a 2012 2.5GHz i5 mini with 12GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD in it as my classroom server and projector machine. I remote into it via my iMac. It serves as a small, snappy little machine to show things to the kiddos on.
Also at school, I have a 2006 mini. It's been upgraded to the 2,1 firmware and with a 2.33GHz C2D and 4GB of RAM. This machine is used for a few older Keynote presentations that don't work properly in modern versions of Keynote, and as my only machine in the room with an optical drive.

How do you remote into the mac mini with the imac - do you use special software?

 

[MultiFinder17]

How do you remote into the mac mini with the imac - do you use special software?

Nope, just screen sharing. Nothing fancy

I have the machine hooked into my projector. It spends most of its life showing PowerPoint and Keynote Presentations, and occasional videos and coding demos. I teach middle school Programming and Robotics, so it gets a bunch of use showing off geeky little things.