How long do you plan on keeping your mini?

[Micky Do]

I ask this question because by early 2009 mini is nearing it's 4th year and it is running as smooth as ever. It pretty much does everything I need and I honestly see it being my main Mac for anther couple of years. 6 years of use as my primary Mac would make it a great value.

Not a bad run of far . I upped the RAM to the max (4) when I first purchased it and I'm thinking about an SSD down the road to see if it gives it a bit of a boost.

Similar story; I reckon my early 2009 Mini should be good for my needs for several more years.

I have the base model. It replaced the my original 2005 G4 Mini, on which the HDD and power supply had failed. The early 2009 came with Leopard, which had its shortcomings. I upgraded to Snow Leopard as soon as it came out.

By mid 2012, the 2009 Mini had become quite slow. The 1 GB of RAM was not up to the demands of the software updates that had been installed, and the HPSA mobile based internet connection I got when they discontinued CDMA; there is no telephone line to my apartment.

I put the Mini in to to the shop get the RAM upgraded, and have Mountain Lion installed (no credit card for me here, so no App Store a/c). They added 4 GB, so now it has 1 GB + 4 GB = 5 GB of RAM. I am well pleased with the the resulting performance improvement.

The original HDD still seems fine for now, but when it becomes dicky SSD will be the way to go.

 

[scottw324]

My goal is to keep it for 4-5 yrs. my Lenovo laptop, win7, dual core 2.2 GHz with 3GB of ram just got retired to be my travel laptop. Was using a netbook but it is really small, but the battery last forever, about 6 hrs, so can't complain much.

Just got some of the basics setup on the quad-core mini so I can run it as our media server for the house. Will work more on it tomorrow.

 

[philipma1957]

I am using a 2010 2.4 which is slower then the 2.66 2009 or the 2.53 2009 mini. it works fine for a dvr/net computer. streams netflix daily show steven colbert etc. I wall mounted it.

There is no reason for this to not make it up to 2015. It has time on applecare a stock hdd and 8gb ram.

 

[chrise2]

Until there's something cooler out there that I want and I find a buyer for what I have now. I usually just sell to a friend or family member cheap and I set it up for them while they feed me and give me alcohol. I like large iTunes and photo libraries. They take a long time to copy between computers. Gives me time to get bombed. Works out for everyone.

 

[mariotheotaku]

I just upgraded from an early '08 MBP to a mini. I'm hoping to keep it for at least 5 years just like the MPB. I'm just hoping by then the Mini will have a dedicated GPU again.

 

[OS-SEX]

I am awaiting arrival of a refurb 2011 mini which will be replacing my 2006 Mac Pro. I'm planning on keeping this mini for only 1 to 2 years at which time I hope I like the Mac lineup more than I do the current one. At that point, this mini will probably become a HTPC.

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I wall mounted it.

Looks pretty cool on the wall! The mini is too beautiful a machine to hide.

 

[AC Rempt]

I usually upgrade my desktop machines every three years, so three years, or until a compelling upgrade presents itself.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

My mid-2007 1.83GHz C2D was upgraded to 4GB RAM by OWC and was running Lion with no problems; I replaced it with a late 2012 quad-core that has enough processing power to run VMWare Fusion so that the new Mac Mini replaced both my old Mac Mini and my Windows 7 tower.

The old Mini was sold to a friend who could easily continue using it for another 2 or 3 years.

 

[USB123]

I ask this question because by early 2009 mini is nearing it's 4th year and it is running as smooth as ever. It pretty much does everything I need and I honestly see it being my main Mac for anther couple of years. 6 years of use as my primary Mac would make it a great value.

Wow, you are getting a great run of of it! I got my base late 2012 mini about a month ago and no complaints so far. I hope to have it as long as yours and possibly longer!
The only upgrade I see is installing 8 or 16GB of RAM, but only if it starts to run slow on applications, which it hasn't done (yet).

I plan to do some gameplay on YouTube for some simple flash-based website games (just for fun!) and I will probably upgrade the RAM then. I will get an external hardrive too.

I got 5 years from my old HP Pavilion laptop, so I can't see why I can't get more years from my new mini!
(Although, if money was no object, I would get the 27" iMac!)

 

[Headtalk]

This is a new trend keeping your PC for longer and tablets are out selling PC's 4 to 1. Keep your Mini for years and go buy a ipad.


Cheers!

-G

 

[COrocket]

I hope to keep mine until it dies, or for at least 6-7 years. I have a feeling once i max the RAM it will be viable for a long time. My previous MacBook ran strong for 5 years, and still runs fine today. After the iPad came out I lost the need of a laptop, so the MacBook got plugged into an external monitor and it stayed on the desk for the last year or so. It wasn't a purpose built/optimal solution, so the mini fit the bill as a cost effective desktop replacement.

 

[philipma1957]

I am awaiting arrival of a refurb 2011 mini which will be replacing my 2006 Mac Pro. I'm planning on keeping this mini for only 1 to 2 years at which time I hope I like the Mac lineup more than I do the current one. At that point, this mini will probably become a HTPC.

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Looks pretty cool on the wall! The mini is too beautiful a machine to hide.

thanks

 

[jamin100]

I've just replaced my 2009 24" 2.66 c2d iMac which had 8GB RAM and a 120GB SSD and 1TB HDD with a 2012 Mac mini

I got the Quad 2.3 i7 have upgraded to 16GB RAM and just ordered a 256GB OCZ Vector SSD to put in it. The stock 1TB 5400rpm drive is slooowwwwww

So ive maxed it out as soon as I've got it but I want it to last at least 5 years ideally. I figure with USB 3 on this aswell as the 16GB RAM and quad i7 its should be pretty future proof until then (hopefully)

My usage isnt too extreme,

It will host my itunes library that my 4 ATV's access
It encodes using Handbrake
I use lightroom quite a bit
I use iMovie a bit
I plan to look at Final Cut Pro but only for some basics

Apart from that Its just the usual web surfing and document editing etc..

 

[yegon]

This is a new trend keeping your PC for longer and tablets are out selling PC's 4 to 1. Keep your Mini for years and go buy a ipad.


Cheers!

-G

I agree, and it's a lot to do with the maturity of the space. Tablets have still got tonnes of room for improvement - weight, speed, functionality, uncertain things like flexible displays etc - whereas traditional computers, especially desktops, are extremely mature.

The only thing that dates for general users these days is gpu's, not nearly as fast as in times past though. The two year old gtx580 in my pc still runs virtually everything at 2560x1440, max detail at 60fps (or close enough that I rarely notice it dipping). Long time pc gamer, I don't recall a GPU ever performing so well for so long, although that's more to do with ancient consoles holding them back really. Given that most big titles start as console games then transition to PC these days, new consoles can't come soon enough - I want better textures dagnabbit, some spots in the otherwise splendid Dishonored looked like they'd been pulled from a ten year old game at 1440p.

Since I do nothing particularly GPU intensive on macs, I find they last me longer than ever. Won't be updating my 2011 MBA anytime soon, and for a lot of things my late 08 mbp is still decent for lighter tasks. That mbp->mba upgrade was more for weight and battery life than anything else.

 

[jhfenton]

I might buy another Mac in a year and turn my Mac mini (Late 2012) into a dedicated HTPC. At the moment, though, I can't bear to give it up, and I can't justify buying another one yet.

Otherwise, I tend to run computers into the ground, way past their "obsolete" date.

 

[Fishrrman]

I would reckon that 5-6 years of good functionality would be the minimum I'd expect out of any Mac I bought. After that, if it keeps running, just use it as long as you feel it's performing as well as you need and expect.

My old PowerMac g4 is 9 years old this year (retiring it within the next few days, as I get my new Mini set up here on table).

My white Intel iMac is just short of 5 years old -- still doing fine.

My Macbook Pro will be 3 years old in April -- again, running fine.

I don't have any extreme need for the "latest and greatest", so I keep using what I have. Even the old g4 still is pretty snappy, though the software (particularly browsers) is becoming dated and that was my main interest in replacing it.

I'm hoping at least 5 years from the new Mini 2.6 i7. We'll see....

 

[JimT1701]

I just replaced my 2006 Mac Pro with a 2012 i7 Mini 16Gig Corsair Vengence and the same 128 Samsung SSD I had in the Pro. Only reason for my upgrade was the fact that my Pro could not upgrade the OS any more and I hate being left behind. Planning to sell my Pro to my buddy for his wife to use for Photoshop and general stuff. Still runs Lion fine and I installed the 5770 so it is still a great machine I just wanted to stay up-to-date with OSX. Plus the mini uses a lot less power and the Pro was starting to be a space heater under my desk. In addition I have a custom i7 Ivy Bridge PC I built in July I use for handbrake and media server and an i5 Ivy Custom build Windows 8 connected to my TV for XBMC. I wish Apple would release just a motherboard and let us build our own boxes.

 

[Luis2004]

I made the jump from a PC laptop to my first Mac (late 2012 mini, 2.3ghz i7) about 2 weeks ago and I love it. My PC's would last about 2 years each before viruses and crappy hardware made them useless.

I easily upgraded the 4GB of ram to 8GB, and swapped out the internal HD with a nice SSD for super fast startup and app launch. I use a 3TB external for documents, movies, etc.

I can easily see this thing lasting me til 2020 if I take care of it and don't knock it around too much.

The only drawback I see is that it's not as easily portable as a laptop (no battery, 23" separate monitor), but I recently was tipped onto Splashtop2 which turns my iPad into a monitor, and I'm planning on purchasing a 15" portable monitor in the future for working on the go.

I have to use Parallels for some work applications, and I was a little anxious over ram usage, computer slowdown, etc., but this mini doesn't lose a beat.

Great purchase!

 

[Mr Lightning]

I plan on getting the 2.6 GHz Mac Mini (2012), and upgrade the RAM to 16GB as well as trade out the HD for 512GB SSD. I'll keep this Mac for a good 5+ years until the amount of tabs I have open in Safari starts to slow me down!

 

[iamsen47]

Probably for as long as till the coming generation of technologies (TB, Retina/UltraHD/4K, 8.011ac, SSDs, stuff like that) somewhat stabilises.

 

[MultiFinder17]

My own 2009 mini will hit the end of its fourth year of constant service in early March of this year, and I'm still so incredibly pleased with its service and performance. I honestly never expected to be this happy with a 2.0GHz C2D with a Nvidia 9400M for this long, but I really am! Over the years I have maxed out its RAM at 8GB; 4GB as soon as I bought the machine, 8GB around 2011 or so. I installed a larger, speedier 320GB 7200RPM HDD midway through 2010, then pulled the SuperDrive a few months back and installed a 120GB SSD alongside that for even more speed! This little Mac is on its fourth major version of OS X (shipped with Leopard, now happily running Mountain Lion), and I can easily see myself getting another couple of years out of it!

Every few months I consider getting myself a new Mac, but I cannot bear the thought of parting ways with my trusty little mini. Besides, it still does everything that I ask of it. I'm sure that I will replace it on my desk at some point, but even after that, I can see this mini living on as a quiet little server somewhere.

 

[danbeckemeyer]

As a long-time PC user, I have gotten a couple iPads last year, an AppleTV just recently and I use a bombcool iMac at work for design. This is only pushing me to get a Mini to replace my dated desktop.

I built it top-of-the-line but budget-minded (if that's possible?) in 2006. Now Win7, it's gone through a handful of reformats. It still runs decent, but there's a clicking that I can't pinpoint and the heat-sink is MacGyver-ed on. On top of that, we just bought a home and it's in a room with no ethernet jack, so internet access either requires running a cable down the hall or getting a WiFi adapter (which I just refuse to). It's just a loud POS and I want a Mini now so bad to stream my media to the AppleTV without any hassle.

 

[RoastingPig]

I'll Buy a Mini When the Haswell Mini comes out to replace my 2010 13'' macbook with 840ssd and 8gb ram

 

[Uabcar]

I've got a base/2.26 late '09 mini with 5gig of ram. Runs great.

Over the holidays I swapped the original HD with a new SSD drive and replaced my monitor with a Nixeus 2560x1440 monitor. With these two upgrades I think I've reset the clock by 2+ years. I am going to pick up another 4gig ram module soon so I'll be at 8gig.

My use it pretty light generally so system speed isn't really an issue. The only time I really notice its age is when I use handbrake - but that's not very often.

My only concern is that ML may be the last compatible version of OSX I'll be able to run. This possible limitation will likely be the catalyst for my next Mini purchase.

 

[Mr. McMac]

I still use my 2007 1.83ghz core 2 duo mini occasionally. It's the only Mac I own running Snow Leopard. Still runs like a champ. I did install a larger hard drive and maxed out the ram a few years ago. Made a huge improvement. I'll probably keep it till it dies..