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Has the Mac Mini been a Failure?

I don't know, we own 2 (G4 1.33) because at the time that was the most cost effective way to add machines to our collection. I'm not sure if I would buy another one. Adding RAM and upgrading drives is a bit too much like work (knew that going in but still...). They also aren't as nice as previous Macs snd I really don't see them lasting near as long. They seem to be a bit prone to locking up (perhaps thermal issues). The iMac is a better deal now just because of specs. I'd rather keep the separate monitor, just because :) . To me, the ultimate would be a machine just big enough to have a reasonable RAM upgrade process and normal 3.5" hard disks. Slots aren't that big of a deal. My G4 400 has the same number of cards in it as when I took it out of the box many moons ago .
 
Easlier I said they were almost useless, but I will clarify myself. In a business environment they are great little machines, that are not a bad price for the base mac mini. The higher end model is too much money for what you are getting, especially if you have to buy the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I know people who use them for business and then will unplug them and take them home and hook it up to their monitor there. It's like a laptop, but at a fraction of the price.

A guy at my work, won the high end mac mini, and he loves it, but if he had to BUY it, he would have gotten an iMac, for sure. He uses an external 7200 firewire drive to boot from, so he is getting the same performance basically as an iMac.

For you average home user, which is commonly your "switcher", they usually end up buying an iMac. 2 years ago when the mac minis came out, the cheapest iMac was like $1599CAD and up. So a lot of people bought the minis. At my store, we have probably sold one maybe 2 since Christmas.

If they were priced a little better, I think they would sell a lot better.
 
As a new Mac user, for me it is. For $300 more you can get an iMac with a nice 17 inch monitor, and for the most part much better features..

$999 iMac

512mb Ram
160gb HD
Combo Drive

$599
512mb ram
60 gb
?? Drive?

It just doesn't seem right to me, I'd much rather see a bigger budget Mac, around $400-500, so the price difference from the introduction iMac is bigger. But who knows, it could be selling great.
 
I think the biggest issue for the mac mini is the HD size. I almost think it would have been better if Apple made the mini a little larger so it could fit a standard desktop HD.
 
:confused: I bought my brand new G4 1.42 Ghz 80Gb hdd mini two years ago for less than half the price of a new iMac with basically the same specs... upgraded the RAM to 1Gb and have never looked back. Sure I have an external storage drive and a 22" lcd flatscreen of my choosing, but for what I use it for and the amount of time I spend on the computer, I made out like a bandit! If the mini gets much better this year I may even purchase a new one over the dual G5 I have my eye on... but I hate to go intel just yet. I would rate minis up there with iPods on Apple's list of greatest ideas.:cool:
 
FleurDuMal said:
The only problem I have with the Mini is that it makes Apple's desktop line up seem a bit disjointed. At the low end you have a standalone unit, then the mid range is the iMac with its integrated monitor, and then the top end is standalone unit again. To me it'd make more sense to have an absolutely basic Mac with a cheap integrated monitor at the low end, and the everything else above it as a standalone unit.

Of course you could just turn that on it's head and say that it's actually the iMac which makes the desktop lineup disjointed.
Click to expand...

I think the iMac is the black sheep of the line up! ;) No, I like the iMac, but I don't think I'd buy one. Unless they get a huge price cut due to the overwhelming sales of mini's... :p
 
The main reason I want a mini instead of an imac is because I think the imac is ugly . I really don't like the extra space around the screen. I think it looks stupid and the mini is small enough to hide on, under or mounted to a desk (if you are concerned about space). Yes, the mini is a bit overpriced considering its specs, but you are paying for its size, look, and portability. I know most people like the imac, but there are some of us that think it looks pretty goofy.
 
well boys and girls i just 'pulled the trigger' on a mini for my rafting business reservation system. why? its the cheapest mac and you get to customize your lcd monitor. i still do all the photoshop on my powerbook and will upgrade that to a macbookpro at some point but i tell you these minis are great when you just want a solid machine for the office. they are not a failure IMHO.

i searched in vein for a refurb or used one that was less than retail BTW and finally just had to buy new. oh and screw the macrumors buyers guide - geez you could wait forever.
 
The Mini was my first Mac. A year after purchase, I gave it to my mother and bought an iMac. For me at least, it was a great switcher machine. It does seem to need a boost now though, the value isn't as good... :confused:
 
how ABOUT...

a built in nintendo wii with all necessary ports and cables.

a customizable back add on 2inches long to the side w/ a ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 inside for $400 more and a nVidia 6800 ultra for 200 more.

a user-upgradable 1.83GHz stock core duo to 2.16GHz core duo, and when santa rosa comes up, they will upgrade to core 2 duo.

not to mention a iPod dock integrated on the graphics card add on if you purchase it.

and switchable to intel gma950 if you want to preserve home power.

OH and a base configuration of 100GB hard drive, 1.83GHz core duo, combo-drive, nVidia 6200 64mb dedicated 384mb shared/gma950, and a optional back end to install mobile GPUs, like mobility radeon.

All for only... $1099

OWND
 
Mr. MacBook said:
how ABOUT...

a built in nintendo wii with all necessary ports and cables.

a customizable back add on 2inches long to the side w/ a ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 inside for $400 more and a nVidia 6800 ultra for 200 more.

a user-upgradable 1.83GHz stock core duo to 2.16GHz core duo, and when santa rosa comes up, they will upgrade to core 2 duo.

not to mention a iPod dock integrated on the graphics card add on if you purchase it.

and switchable to intel gma950 if you want to preserve home power.

OH and a base configuration of 100GB hard drive, 1.83GHz core duo, combo-drive, nVidia 6200 64mb dedicated 384mb shared/gma950, and a optional back end to install mobile GPUs, like mobility radeon.

All for only... $1099

OWND
Click to expand...

I'd jump at that if it were to happen, but knowing Apple... let's just say their "think different" philosophy is "all retarded" and "their **** is all ****ed up" (from Idiocracy) :rolleyes:

That is probably not going to happen, besides it steals control away from Apple, something that they are really anal about. If they could get away with it we'd probably be forced to buy Mac Pros with cases welded shut and every single PCI card soldered straight onto the logic board.
 
I love my mini, but I have to admit it was a tough choice between the Mini and the iMac 17 inch.

In the end, I decided I wanted portability and the ability to switch monitor sizes, more then I wanted all-in-one integration and photobooth.

What will my next Mac be? Well, depending on the new mini and iMac designs in 10 years, I will probably get another one, unless I happen to like the iMac design more.
 
Well, after switching to OS X via a Core Duo Mac mini (the second one, the first one was a failure - literally, it didn't work) I have gone on to purchase 10 Mac's. I think that's pretty successful in my case. A friend started with a G4 mini and went on to get one of the new MacBooks and an ACD, also a switcher. I don't know what Mac penetration is like in the UK, but knowing at least one other Windows user that was switched by a mini is pretty good in my book.

Still love the thing, excellent piece of kit - so fast and responsive, I don't know how it's so chirpy but it is.
 
new Mini

I like the mini too.
If they upgrade it, I am pretty sure I'll buy another one, and max it out on HD, and RAM, with a nice ACD.
But, it depends what the rumoured next gen iMac will look like. The above could work out to be pretty close to the base price of that illustrious iMac, if it looks the part, I may go back to an iMac.:apple:
 
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