Are New Mac Mini Worth It?

[jwilcox09]

Hello All,
As you are aware apple came out with an upgraded version of the mac mini that includes the Nvidia graphics processor and are selling the older version online for 499 now. I was wondering if it was worth the extra 100 for the Nvidia processor if I plan on attaching the mini to my 42" 720 plasma via DVI-to-HDMI. Will it diplay any better on such a large screen.

Thanks for any help.

 

[liquidtrend]

Hello All,
As you are aware apple came out with an upgraded version of the mac mini that includes the Nvidia graphics processor and are selling the older version online for 499 now. I was wondering if it was worth the extra 100 for the Nvidia processor if I plan on attaching the mini to my 42" 720 plasma via DVI-to-HDMI. Will it diplay any better on such a large screen.

Thanks for any help.

the new mac mini is a pretty big difference to the old mac mini...imo.
so to me, it is worth it.

 

[xraydoc]

Better graphics and dual display, including support for one 30" display. That's a very nice improvement.

Needs something faster than a 2.0GHz processor though. Not sure if that was done from a heat standpoint or a profit standpoint.

 

[jwilcox09]

I guess my main question was whether the graphics would be noticably different on my tv. I am only using as a media center type thing to attach my external drives with movies and music too.

 

[jw2002]

the new mac mini is a pretty big difference to the old mac mini

Agree. People with previous versions of the mini had to do backwards somersaults to achieve 1080p performance and this was spotty at best while pushing the cpu to the max. The new mini should be much better at this task.

 

[jw2002]

I guess my main question was whether the graphics would be noticably different on my tv.

Do you have an ancient G4 mini, or is it an Intel mini?

 

[mrklaw]

its a pretty nice upgrade - worth $100 IMO. the new processor is the same speed but should still be faster in real life. Faster ram, *way* better graphics (especially considering snow leopard coming which should be able to leverage it)

Overall it should be quite a bit snappier in real use than the top end previous generation.

I'd want 2GB minimum in it though - quite a tricky upgrade so maybe worth looking at apple doing it...

 

[jwilcox09]

Agree. People with previous versions of the mini had to do backwards somersaults to achieve 1080p performance and this was spotty at best while pushing the cpu to the max. The new mini should be much better at this task.

Thanks, Thats basically what I was wondering.

 

[mrklaw]

I guess my main question was whether the graphics would be noticably different on my tv. I am only using as a media center type thing to attach my external drives with movies and music too.

Hmm. depends what you're using. Old 2.0GHz can do 1080p video and run 1920x1080 screens fine (I'm doing that now via DVI).

But I think the new one is more futureproofed - the old one was getting on a bit already. I'm happy with the previous gen one I bought used but if it was only $100 difference and I had the same choice now - I'd get the new one.

 

[xraydoc]

Hey, just noticed - the new mini will support up to 4GB of RAM and has a BTO option for a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo.

While it approaches the price of an iMac, it's nice to have options (especially from Apple).

 

[jwilcox09]

its a pretty nice upgrade - worth $100 IMO. the new processor is the same speed but should still be faster in real life. Faster ram, *way* better graphics (especially considering snow leopard coming which should be able to leverage it)

Overall it should be quite a bit snappier in real use than the top end previous generation.

I'd want 2GB minimum in it though - quite a tricky upgrade so maybe worth looking at apple doing it...

I have the old ram from my Macbook when i upgraded to 4gb. does the mini use the same RAM as the macbook?

 

[DannySmurf]

I have the old ram from my Macbook when i upgraded to 4gb. does the mini use the same RAM as the macbook?

Depends which Macbook. The new mini uses DDR3. Late 2008 (aluminum) and 2009 carbonite models use DDR3. Older than that all use DDR2.