And he should wear ear plugs. You need to get used to this crunching noise when you use the putty knife.
BUT it's very easy!
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Is Mini self upgrade really worth it?
- Thread starter Richard8655
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BUT it's very easy!
I think your analysis is a little biased toward the Apple upgrade. First, many people don't get an educational discount so your discounting the Mini and upgrades over states savings that is not available to most people.
Second, you don't consider tax savings buy purchasing from a vendor such as Amazon and NewEgg. For me the savings is substantial at $250 or 28% off what I would pay for having Apple do the work. It takes no more than 30 minutes to do the upgrade so think of it as getting paid $500 per hour to do the upgrade. The other benefits of doing it yourself is you get a 120gb drive (value $50) and a 1gb memory stick (value $10.) In addition, the 320gb drive is 7200rpm vs. the slower 5400 rpm that Apple will sell you. If you include these other savings the savings is well in excess of $300. That is close to 30% savings from what an average customer would pay.
In my case I would never consider the 2.26Ghz model since you won't see much if any performance difference and it probably requires you to pay sales tax depending on where you live by purchasing directly from Apple. Its better to buy the $599 model from an internet vendor and save on sales tax and do the work yourself.
Self upgrade:
$599 2.0 GHz base model
$67 Hitachi 7K320 HDD (OEM)
$60 4GB RAM (OEM)
Total cost: $726 + 120gb drive + 1GB memory + Faster Drive
Apple Store
$799 high end model (with 320gb HDD)
$100 add 4GB RAM
Total cost: $899
Tax - $77
Total After Tax - $976
Second, you don't consider tax savings buy purchasing from a vendor such as Amazon and NewEgg. For me the savings is substantial at $250 or 28% off what I would pay for having Apple do the work. It takes no more than 30 minutes to do the upgrade so think of it as getting paid $500 per hour to do the upgrade. The other benefits of doing it yourself is you get a 120gb drive (value $50) and a 1gb memory stick (value $10.) In addition, the 320gb drive is 7200rpm vs. the slower 5400 rpm that Apple will sell you. If you include these other savings the savings is well in excess of $300. That is close to 30% savings from what an average customer would pay.
In my case I would never consider the 2.26Ghz model since you won't see much if any performance difference and it probably requires you to pay sales tax depending on where you live by purchasing directly from Apple. Its better to buy the $599 model from an internet vendor and save on sales tax and do the work yourself.
Self upgrade:
$599 2.0 GHz base model
$67 Hitachi 7K320 HDD (OEM)
$60 4GB RAM (OEM)
Total cost: $726 + 120gb drive + 1GB memory + Faster Drive
Apple Store
$799 high end model (with 320gb HDD)
$100 add 4GB RAM
Total cost: $899
Tax - $77
Total After Tax - $976
Good points, especially a bit of tax savings from internet vendors. Removing tax, the difference is $173. Still humble savings for the inherent risk of doing it yourself, and possibly losing support. I think I counted about 6 threads here recently of people looking for help after self upgrade glitches (no video signal, no audio, broken socket connection to the board, etc.).
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/663030/
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/666786/
As far as re-selling the original parts, I wonder how many people go to that effort in their already busy lives.
If by 'future servicing' you mean warranty then I've read:
"Apples policy has always been that as long as you dont break anything in the process, youre free to upgrade your Mac mini yourself. The company confirmed to Macworld that this is still the case."
So as far as I'm concerned as long as I don't break it I still have my warranty.
A 320gb 7200rpm hd and 4gb ram costs me £100, apple charges £260. I can't justify another £160 when they probably come of the shelf like that or takes a apple tech 15 mins to do it
Besides I get a faster hard drive and learn something new and feel good for doing it myself! Anyway the money I've saved can go towards a few heavy drinking sessions with my mates or what ever else floats my boat
If by 'future servicing' you mean warranty then I've read:
"Apples policy has always been that as long as you dont break anything in the process, youre free to upgrade your Mac mini yourself. The company confirmed to Macworld that this is still the case."
So as far as I'm concerned as long as I don't break it I still have my warranty.
A 320gb 7200rpm hd and 4gb ram costs me £100, apple charges £260. I can't justify another £160 when they probably come of the shelf like that or takes a apple tech 15 mins to do it
Anyway the money I've saved can go towards a few heavy drinking sessions with my mates or what ever else floats my boat
For that price Apple only gives you a 5400 RPM 320G drive, not a 7200 RPM....there's no way to even order that upgrade from Apple.
If by 'future servicing' you mean warranty then I've read:
"Apples policy has always been that as long as you dont break anything in the process, youre free to upgrade your Mac mini yourself. The company confirmed to Macworld that this is still the case."
So as far as I'm concerned as long as I don't break it I still have my warranty.
A 320gb 7200rpm hd and 4gb ram costs me £100, apple charges £260. I can't justify another £160 when they probably come of the shelf like that or takes a apple tech 15 mins to do it
Anyway the money I've saved can go towards a few heavy drinking sessions with my mates or what ever else floats my boat
Glad to see those savings put to good use.
Glad to see those saving put to good use.
of course! But it's more likely the savings will be used towards some new carpet (if the misses catches wind of it) Listen, In my opinion I would do it myself and save those $163 for something else. Just go and read some guides and carefully tear your mini apart. It won't ruin your warranty if you don't break anything and if you break it, destiny knew it already .
."Good points, especially a bit of tax savings from internet vendors. Removing tax, the difference is $173. Still humble savings for the inherent risk of doing it yourself, and possibly losing support."
For anyone living in the US in a sales tax state, why would you disregard the tax? The sales tax may be a different rate but its still a cost which can be avoided by doing it yourself. As I stated above, the savings to upgrade (parts, tax, additional drive/memory) is close to $300 and you still get a better drive in deal. Now for those of us who use the mini as a HTPC, then you can multiply that savings by the number Mini's you have in your house. I have the previous generation Mini but plan to get a new one and use both on two different TVs.
Regarding the risks, consider what is the probability of messing up the system that it can't be fixed versus the savings in doing it yourself. I would definitely bet that the benefits out way the risks.
For anyone living in the US in a sales tax state, why would you disregard the tax? The sales tax may be a different rate but its still a cost which can be avoided by doing it yourself. As I stated above, the savings to upgrade (parts, tax, additional drive/memory) is close to $300 and you still get a better drive in deal. Now for those of us who use the mini as a HTPC, then you can multiply that savings by the number Mini's you have in your house. I have the previous generation Mini but plan to get a new one and use both on two different TVs.
Regarding the risks, consider what is the probability of messing up the system that it can't be fixed versus the savings in doing it yourself. I would definitely bet that the benefits out way the risks.
Huge speed increase in Software Update!
I did a Software Update for the first time since doing the 4GB RAM and 320GB 7200 rpm HD upgrades. Wow! Software Update seemed about 4X as fast as before. The progress bar literally flew across the info box. That alone is worth the price of admission.
I did a Software Update for the first time since doing the 4GB RAM and 320GB 7200 rpm HD upgrades. Wow! Software Update seemed about 4X as fast as before. The progress bar literally flew across the info box. That alone is worth the price of admission.
For the 2.0 Mac, calculating 6.5% tax in my area, the difference is $231. Granted, not insignificant, but still comes with risks. For those choosing the 2.26 from Apple, the difference is even less, at about $176. For those who want to count on Apple support and not screwing up the upgrade, still not worth it in my opinion.
If you have a need for so many Minis in the house, then yeah it'll add up. In that case, I think I'd ask myself if this thing isn't taking up too much of my life where I could be doing other things than sitting in front of the monitor or TV so much.
Whats wrong with hooking up a second Mini so my kids can have video on demand for our large library of movies? Instead of making stupid assumptions about someones lifestyle, I would suggest you think about why you can't open up a computer and do a very simple upgrade.
OK, you've pretty much made your statement that doing the upgrade yourself is not worth it for you. I take it that you're done now. Yet you keep giving everyone who posts a positive in favor of self upgrading your own negative reason for not doing it. It seems like you're the one spending too much time in your life defending your position here. I thought this wasn't meant to be argumentative? Where is this thread going?
I would rather buy a brand new $999 white macbook for portability. Can still hook a keyboard/mouse/monitor up to it!
I would rather buy a brand new $999 white macbook for portability. Can still hook a keyboard/mouse/monitor up to it!
It really depends on how you want to use the computer. I have a MBP for portability and power. For a HTPC application, I find the Mini to be the ideal solution. I wouldn't want a white book sitting in my entertainment center. I agree its probably more cost effective to have a Mac Book when you include the cost of monitor, keyboard, etc.
Great! Always nice to hear people saving money. I'm sure you'll be happy with it. But even at 17% off, it's still something I would have done myself. If I'd have only saved $75-$100, I'd do it myself.
I think it all comes down to what's more important to you. A little bit of time or a little bit of money. I'll be honest, I'm a cheap SOB. I'll drive an extra block to save 2 cents a gallon on gas. So saving $75 and doing it myself is plenty a motivator. Since I'm not upgrading the HDD, only the memory, I'm really only saving like $90 by opening up the Mini. It's all in what's most important to you and how significant you feel the risks are. I don't think any one stance is wrong, just different.
What's frustrating is OP basically had his mind already made up before he even posted the question. So if $200+ isn't a big enough motivator, then he was never going to do it to begin with. He decided the risk damage and voiding warranty outweighs his savings. That's all fine, but what a waste of time. LOL
EDIT: I could have been Trying to get to LVL 80 on WOW or something!
It's all your fault I have nothing better to do!
No one's forcing you to read this thread. If you don't like my opinion, go elsewhere. Plus I'm not keeping this thread alive, as lots of others here are continually posting their views, both pros and cons, all equally acceptable. If you want us to all be of the same opinion and shmooze with each other at how great we are in doing self upgrades, there are plenty of those endless threads going on that no one seems to want to end.
Great! Always nice to hear people saving money. I'm sure you'll be happy with it. But even at 17% off, it's still something I would have done myself. If I'd have only saved $75-$100, I'd do it myself.
I think it all comes down to what's more important to you. A little bit of time or a little bit of money. I'll be honest, I'm a cheap SOB. I'll drive an extra block to save 2 cents a gallon on gas. So saving $75 and doing it myself is plenty a motivator. Since I'm not upgrading the HDD, only the memory, I'm really only saving like $90 by opening up the Mini. It's all in what's most important to you and how significant you feel the risks are. I don't think any one stance is wrong, just different.
What's frustrating is OP basically had his mind already made up before he even posted the question. So if $200+ isn't a big enough motivator, then he was never going to do it to begin with. He decided the risk damage and voiding warranty outweighs his savings. That's all fine, but what a waste of time. LOL
EDIT: I could have been Trying to get to LVL 80 on WOW or something!
It's all your fault I have nothing better to do!
Waste of time only if you don't like what you hear. Sorry, everyone has an opinion, OP included. Eyeball rolling is a known geeky behavior.
Self upgrade is really really worth it.
I bought the $599 mini, took the RAM out and stuck 4gb in there ($45), put a hitachi travelstar 7200rpm 320GB hdd in there ($65).
All in all it was easy and cost much cheaper than the $799 with MUCH better specs.
It runs as my main machine for now and I use it for dual display (1 on the mini displayport via the 24" LED ACD) and the other connected to my 40" Sony Bravia XBR6 through the mini DVI port and works really well and fast.
On the 2nd monitor through the sony bravia xbr6, I just have plex player loaded full of all my hd tv shows and all bluray mkv 1080p movies and plays without any hitches while I d/l and browse the web on the 24" LED ACD at the same time.
I'm even considering staying away from the new Mac Pros since this one mini does it all!! Quality and performance is insane for the price.
I bought the $599 mini, took the RAM out and stuck 4gb in there ($45), put a hitachi travelstar 7200rpm 320GB hdd in there ($65).
All in all it was easy and cost much cheaper than the $799 with MUCH better specs.
It runs as my main machine for now and I use it for dual display (1 on the mini displayport via the 24" LED ACD) and the other connected to my 40" Sony Bravia XBR6 through the mini DVI port and works really well and fast.
On the 2nd monitor through the sony bravia xbr6, I just have plex player loaded full of all my hd tv shows and all bluray mkv 1080p movies and plays without any hitches while I d/l and browse the web on the 24" LED ACD at the same time.
I'm even considering staying away from the new Mac Pros since this one mini does it all!! Quality and performance is insane for the price.