Did I get a good deal on a mac mini

[TJman]

I was in a store and happened to see a mac mini. I inquired about it, since there was no price tag on it. After a while of waiting around, the sales person said that it was an older model and that they couldn't get me a price on it. To make a long story short I got it for $319 total.

Specs:
2.0Ghz core 2 duo processor
4MB shared L2 cache
1GB of DDR2 SDRAM supports up to 2GB
120GB serial ata hard drive
intel GMA 950 graphics processor 64MB of ddr2 sdram
Networking 802.11g and bluetooth 2.0 + edr

If you need more info, I will try to give it.
I am just wondering if I should return it and try to spend a lot more money on a new one.

 

[Bkxmnr]

I would say you did pretty good. I think even the older G4's go for that much. So to get a core2duo for that price is pretty good. I would max out the ram though.

 

[spinnerlys]

It might be an okay price according to Mac2Sell, but depending on your needs it might not be sufficient enough for your.

My brother has that Mac mini with 2GB RAM and it seems to do him well, even with using Logic (audio production software) and lots of Office documents open.

 

[rprebel]

Sounds good, but you should definitely upgrade the RAM. Also, if you're thinking about upgrading the HD, you should do it at the same time you do the RAM. You don't want to have to open that case more than once.

 

[BlindSoul]

I would never touch a Mac Mini , with Intel GMA 950. Seriously it's like the worse graphic card i've ever seen. I wouldn't even buy it if it was for $100.
But it all depends in your use so yeah...

 

[MikeinJapan]

I think it's a good price for it but for sure more ram.

 

[opeter]

I would never touch a Mac Mini , with Intel GMA 950. Seriously it's like the worse graphic card i've ever seen. I wouldn't even buy it if it was for $100.
But it all depends in your use so yeah...

That's right. You will soon see, that the GMA + Core 2 Duo 2 GHz will be the bottleneck in your Mac mini. Anyway, I wish you good luck at using it.

 

[mr.steevo]

hi,

Was it used or new in box? Can you get Apple Care on it? What version of OS X is included? That is a three year old mini which was released in August 07.

I agree with others to increase the RAM to 2.5GB or 3GB as the video takes 64mb away from your current 1 GB RAM. More RAM the better in that machine. My sister has a Macbook of similar vintage and she is fine with the GMA 950 as she just watches Youtube videos and home movies from her camera.

What is interesting about that Mini is the CPU is upgradeable as there is a socket. Ask around about popping out the 2.0 C2D and sticking in something faster. You may be surprised to find how cheap you can get an upgraded chip for.

I think $300 to get a new Mac is a pretty good deal, especially given the upgrade potential. In it's current state t wouldn't impress the Mac-Heads but who cares, right?

s.

 

[TJman]

hi,

Was it used or new in box? Can you get Apple Care on it? What version of OS X is included? That is a three year old mini which was released in August 07.

I agree with others to increase the RAM to 2.5GB or 3GB as the video takes 64mb away from your current 1 GB RAM. More RAM the better in that machine. My sister has a Macbook of similar vintage and she is fine with the GMA 950 as she just watches Youtube videos and home movies from her camera.

What is interesting about that Mini is the CPU is upgradeable as there is a socket. Ask around about popping out the 2.0 C2D and sticking in something faster. You may be surprised to find how cheap you can get an upgraded chip for.

I think $300 to get a new Mac is a pretty good deal, especially given the upgrade potential. In it's current state t wouldn't impress the Mac-Heads but who cares, right?

s.

I bought it brand new in the box. It's never been opened yet. I am not positive on what operating system it has on it. It dose have iLife 08 in it. My planes for it are to use it for some computing but mostly home theater. But as of now, I don't even have a TV for it yet. Which brings me to another point. What TV would be best for what I plan on doing? I am not usually much for forums, but this is a wonderful site and I appreciate all your comments. Thanks.

 

[MikeinJapan]

Most TVs will be fine. I have heard LGs are bad though. I personal have used Sony and panasonic with macs with no trouble at all.

 

[cfedu]

I don't this it was a good deal,

I have seen deals on kijiji for mac mini's for under $400 (9400M GPU, KB and Mouse included). last week I picked up a mac mini 2.0, 4GB ram, 120GB HD , 9400M gpu for $350 candiann $. when I got home to register the mac I found out it had 19 months of apple care left.


Even if you the above mac mini that had only one gig , you can get 1 GB stick of pc3 8500 ram for almost free. I have 4 sticks that I would give to anyone who comes to pick it up. the other mini will cost more to upgrade the ram at least 20$ for used ram since you will need 2 sticks.

I also second that I would not touch mac with an intel 950 gpu, not worth it unless you are getting it for $200 or less, $300 or less for a macbook.

 

[Boss250]

That's right. You will soon see, that the GMA + Core 2 Duo 2 GHz will be the bottleneck in your Mac mini. Anyway, I wish you good luck at using it.

I reluctantly agree with this, but if your not using it for gaming or anything else that really needs a decent gpu, it wont and hasn't been a problem for me but on that topic does anyone know of a way to upgrade/update that part of this particular mac mini, is there such thing as an external graphics card that will work for these minis? anything that wont rely on the not so monster processor.I bought mine just before any major games would even install on a mini but now there are a few and not being able to run steam now is killing me.

 

[mangrove]

If you want this for a TV, save for another $280 and get a refurb'd 2010 Mini direct from apple. Then you get HDMI out. I am using one right now as I type this on my big 'ol TV and it's the best thing I ever did.

You can stream unlimited Netfix movies to it for $8.99/month.

Again like so many said-it depends on your current AND future wants and needs. Once you have an HDMI TV which is what you'd no doubt want anyway then the new mini is the perfect fit.

I use a wireless keyboard on like a TV tray and a wireless mouse.

 

[opeter]

I reluctantly agree with this, but if your not using it for gaming or anything else that really needs a decent gpu, it wont and hasn't been a problem for me but on that topic does anyone know of a way to upgrade/update that part of this particular mac mini, is there such thing as an external graphics card that will work for these minis? anything that wont rely on the not so monster processor.I bought mine just before any major games would even install on a mini but now there are a few and not being able to run steam now is killing me.

The things you can upgrade in that Mac mini:
- RAM to 4 GB (usable: 3 GB)
- CPU to a T7400 (2,16 GHz) or T7600 (2,33 GHz Core 2 Duo S479 FPGA) - costs about 100 $ (can be found on eBay sometimes)
- swap the HDD for a bigger one or an SSD

You cannot change/upgrade the integrated GPU, nor do you have any options for an external graphic card.

If you want to play games, I really recommend you, that you build yourself a PC (for 300 - 400 $ -> AMD Athlon X3 or X4, 4 GB RAM, Radeon 5670, 5750 or better etc.) or look for used iMacs with minimum Radeon 2600 Pro (i think the 2,66 GHz with 20" LCDs did have them).

Also the 2007 24" model with 2,8 GHz CPU had Radeons 2600 Pro. But even better would be a Geforce 8800 or something never for playing games on a Mac. But you can look for these new minis, but these are very expensive (especially here, where I live).

I don't know what you budget is, so that is all, I can say.