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Is this a good deal on a Mac Mini?

P

Patmn

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 15, 2009
35
0
Mississauga, ON
I'm the high bidder right now on this Mac Mini at $345 but I'm having second thoughts as to whether or not it's such a good deal and wondered what you guys thought:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330405693414&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

The big problem for me in Canada is that by the time you add the shipping cost and the brokerage fees/duty, it will add another $150 to the price tag, making it about $500 CDN. For just $120 more I could get a refurbished 2.26GHZ Mac Mini from the Apple store.

I guess I got trigger happy on E-Bay! :(

I probably should've forgotten about that first one and just bidded a bit higher for this iMac instead (currently at $300 US)

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270532991072&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
I would say this iMac is a much better deal. I wouldn't pay more than $300 USD for that Mini, and that may even be stretching it for me.

Not to mention the iMac is a C2D, whereas the Mini is just a CD. That right there makes the iMac a much more viable machine, along with the higher clock speed and RAM.
 
I have a 1.83 CD Mini. When I was looking to sell it, I saw models like mine (2GB RAM, Superdrive, 80GB HDD) going for about $300 on eBay. As far as speed, the 1.83 C2D seemed faster than mine when I used one, but not dramatically faster. With that said, I would still say the iMac is a better deal. It has a faster processor, more RAM, and a bigger hard drive. The only advantage the Mini has is that you can connect it to a monitor bigger than 17 inches if you want.
 
steve knight said:
most likely the prices will go way up. seldom are there good deals on macs on ebay.
Click to expand...

I've noticed that also, so hopefully someone will outbid me! :)

On the plus side though, even if I do win it, it will be a lot better than what I'm currently running. For one, I've only got a 40GB hard drive on my eMac, and the CD drive no longer works (the DVD drive still works but is read only) Plus this comes with the Snow Leopard disk also. And I definitely would prefer to have a bigger monitor than 17 inches, my plan has always been to eventually get a 22 inch monitor.
 
You can occasionally find the 2 GHz version of the last gen Mini (before the last speed bump) for $429 in the Apple Store refurb section. Picked up one for my sis a few weeks back. It's a nice upgrade from her G4 1.5 GHz Mini and a good deal in general. If you get outbid, troll the refurbs daily.
-C
 
I'd say for $350 it's a decent deal, especially with 2GB memory (better verify that since further down the listing says 512MB installed). But this will put you behing the technology ball right away, especially considering how fast things move these days. The big drawback is the slow and outdated graphics processor, along with limited hard drive space.

If it were me, unless I'd be really hard pressed for cash, I'd save and scrounge another $200 (or $120 for refurbished as you say) and go with the latest 2.26 160GB base Mini, with of course the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor.
 
Jackintosh said:
I'd say for $350 it's a decent deal, especially with 2GB memory (better verify that since further down the listing says 512MB installed). But this will put you behing the technology ball right away, especially considering how fast things move these days. The big drawback is the slow and outdated graphics processor, along with limited hard drive space.

If it were me, unless I'd be really hard pressed for cash, I'd save and scrounge another $200 (or $120 for refurbished as you say) and go with the latest 2.26 160GB base Mini, with of course the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor.
Click to expand...

I just made this transition. I went from the 1.83 CD to the 2.26 refurb. The difference is amazing. I knew it was going to be faster, but not that much faster. The difference is noticeable even on simple stuff like opening Firefox or iTunes. Of course, I did upgrade mine to 4GB of RAM, which makes a difference, but even in base form it is way faster.
 
steve2112 said:
I just made this transition. I went from the 1.83 CD to the 2.26 refurb. The difference is amazing. I knew it was going to be faster, but not that much faster. The difference is noticeable even on simple stuff like opening Firefox or iTunes. Of course, I did upgrade mine to 4GB of RAM, which makes a difference, but even in base form it is way faster.
Click to expand...

Do you use yours as your main computer or as a home theater setup?
 
Hi Patmn,
I think your total cost wouldn't be $150 on top of the bid price since I saw that the shipping to my place (Calgary AB) is listed as $45 International post. I don't see being charged $100 for brokerage on top of it.
But you should bid on that iMac...
 
Jackintosh said:
I'd say for $350 it's a decent deal, especially with 2GB memory (better verify that since further down the listing says 512MB installed).
Click to expand...

He explains in the ad that it definitely does have 2GB installed but that E-Bay's default specs for that computer lists it at 512 and he couldn't change any of the info in those specs.
 
Stan Mikulenka said:
Hi Patmn,
I think your total cost wouldn't be $150 on top of the bid price since I saw that the shipping to my place (Calgary AB) is listed as $45 International post. I don't see being charged $100 for brokerage on top of it.
But you should bid on that iMac...
Click to expand...

I actually did bid on that iMac before I bid on this Mini, but I was outbid, but I definitely won't bid again just in case I end up getting stuck with two computers!
 
I got my wish, I was outbid! :D

What I really need to do now is stop going on E-bay and just save my pennies and get a 2.53ghz Mini from the refurb section of the Apple store.
 
archipellago said:
no such thing as a good deal on a Mini.

overpriced and under specced.
Click to expand...

Not so. Mini is about as good a deal as you can get in the Mac world. Specs are very good. Nobody's matched this technology with this small footprint, quietness, features/functions, and OS X reliability. Better deal than an iMac for what you get, in my opinion.
 
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