I have primarily been a of guy all my life but as time goes by and my towers get old and unsupported I usually update them to Ubuntu or win7. Anyway I heard the performance of the Mac mini was pretty good. I also wanted to give OS X a shot I'm not particularly loyal to an os so I think I'll overcome the differences in software just fine. Anyway I picked up a 07 model on eBay with the following specs. 2.0ghz core 2 duo 2gb of ram and 500 gig hard drive (300 bucks). It is in good physical condition and is reported as being in perfect working condition. Was this a good buy for a Mac newbie? Spec wise I know the hardware is fine I'm not a power user for games or anything . Just web browsing iTunes and some programs.
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Is an 07 Mac mini a good start?
- Thread starter Droidrage729
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2007 is a long time ago specially in tech years,at least go up to 2010
But if your ok with the performance.....
I assume you have primarily been a PC guy all your life.....
Otherwise, if you have primarily been a guy... Did you have multiple..err... surgeries or something?Now for the seriousness, yes if you are just wanting to play around with OSX, that should work. You can only run Lion with that computer, you won't be able to run the newest OS, but if you like it then you can always upgrade and if you don't then you are only out 300. Probably not the best deal, but it could have been a lot worse.
Sorry auto correct I meant pc/ windows guy. Your right that it is old but dude I'm using. 2002 dell dimension as my primary pc now. I won't go into the specs because my iPhone 5 is faster and it's funny. I was even satisfied with that set up for my use but the age has gotten to it and even clean installs of Ubuntu and windows aren't helping anymore. So 2007 hardware will probably blow me away.
I assume you have primarily been a PC guy all your life.....
Now for the seriousness, yes if you are just wanting to play around with OSX, that should work. You can only run Lion with that computer, you won't be able to run the newest OS, but if you like it then you can always upgrade and if you don't then you are only out 300. Probably not the best deal, but it could have been a lot worse.
Lol yea always been a guy lol no surgery. Well I paid 2 and change with shipping from California it was 300. Most of the minis on eBay had less the 2gb of ram and way less then a 500gb hard drive. Most are prior to 07 and wanted the same or more so I don't think I did terrible given the slight ram and hardware upgrade. Yea I'm poor so a new one probably isn't going to happen even if I fall in love with this one lol you mac guys have deep pockets.
Your right and I've been surfing Craigslist for over a month with nothing. Now there's really old g4 Mac minis but I wanted one running a core 2 duo so I could run lion. They were pricier on eBay but at the same time the lower model with the 1.8ghz processor 1gb of ram and an 80gb Hard drive was going for that much and more. I overpaid for the unit but I did ok for eBay prices I think.
I'd look for a 2009 at minimum. It's far more flexible and will easily run the latest version of Mac OS X.
I did and quickly learned it wasn't in my budget. Trust me if money wasn't an issue I would probably get a newer one. I'm sure when I get my use out of it ill make a few of my bucks back. Shoot I may even keep it . From what I hear from everyone the Mac mini is an awesome machine I've yet to hear anyone say sucks or its slow or I just don't like it. I think for a first time mac er this set up will suit me. We shall see next week. It's shipping with a fresh lion install. Can't wait.
You could've done worse, there's a guy in New York selling a G4 Mini for $350 right now. All Macs on New York's Craigslist are pretty overpriced.
It's all relative. I laugh when i see people asking huge prices for 1,1 mac pros. $1200 for a machine that is just shy of 7 years old and incapable of many new features is insane. Personally I'm not sure I'd pay more than $400 for a 2006 Mac Pro. And that's only because I could get a good deal on upgraded cpus to use the machine as a work horse for a while.
Although minis hold their value well, an old machine is an old machine. Its value depreciates and must also be compared with the costs of new machines(particularly refurbs and sale prices).
I moved out of ny about 6 years ago and can confirm floridians also sell their Mac minis for a lot. Again a Mac Pro wasn't in the budget either. I just dropped 400 on 64gb i5. People love their Mac minis cause like I said older Mac minis are in there for 400+
I'm curious where you see them going for 75-150? Around where I live they still go for at least $200 (and usually about 250-300). The only ones going for less than 200 are either the 2006 core solos or the old G4's.... Heck I still see the G4 models popping up on my local Craigslist for 200 and then eventually they drop the price down to around $100 before someone finally picks it up. If you can get them for 75-150, I'd highly recommend buying and putting on eBay!
the 2007 2.0 ghz machine is okay.
first you can do a 2gb stick of ram along with one of the 1gb sticks that came with it.
second you can add a hdd. see the thumbnail
edit just buy the 2gb stick of ram as you have a 500gb hdd. the machine will run better with 3gb ram
and if you go to 2x 2gb = 4gb ram it only uses 3.1gb so the price move for power improvement is add 1 2gb stick of ram.
first you can do a 2gb stick of ram along with one of the 1gb sticks that came with it.
second you can add a hdd. see the thumbnail
edit just buy the 2gb stick of ram as you have a 500gb hdd. the machine will run better with 3gb ram
and if you go to 2x 2gb = 4gb ram it only uses 3.1gb so the price move for power improvement is add 1 2gb stick of ram.
Attachments
Which brings me to my next question. Is the Mac mini easy to work on? I'm sure it's not a pop the cover off And pop the stick in and your done kind of machine. Or is it?
-that model would run about 200-250 here in vanc cdn
-there fairly easy to work on...just use a clean putty knife to open
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac_Mini_Model_A1176
-there fairly easy to work on...just use a clean putty knife to open
http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Mac_Mini_Model_A1176
Thanks for the advice everyone it's much appreciated. I think the census of my purchase is depending on where I got it I may have got it cheaper but 250 is reasonable. I'm going to swap the ram after I use it for a bit to determine if I even need to. I'm just hoping I catch on to OS X in a reasonable amount of time lol.
Western New York. When i was following them in the New York City and Long Island areas, they sold for similar prices, though asking prices were usually a little higher there.
You must remember that an asking prices on craigslist are what people hope they can get. They are not necessarily the sale price.
On Long Island and New York City, the asking prices were usually closer to $250. Anyone you emailed would come down to reasonable prices very quickly.
Where in ny are you from? I moved put of Suffolk county Long Island 6 years ago . I lived in west Babylon to be exact .
Between work and school, I'm back and forth between Western New York and Long Island.
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Just to confirm the listed super talent ram is for my model? The 2.0 ghz intel core 2 duo model?
ok i orderd this one Super Talent DDR3-1066 2GB Mac Memory For Apple Mac that should work on an 07 model right? im so confused by this and a google search makes it worst lol. the stock one in the mac is a ddr2 im assuming (no idea yet) is it ok if the newer one is a ddr3?