mac mini not a good buy?

[Jason Beck]

Yah and don't get me wrong, I LOVE the iMac. I drool over
the 27" ones. But simply that is the only one I would buy because
I agree too; I like being able to switch displays. If one breaks or
gets messed up I am only out 200 bucks.

From a graphic design standpoint the 27" screen real estate and
the Apple display is jaw dropping. *If* yours doesn't have problems.
One thing though is I deal alot in the muck of color gamut, profiles,
you guys know how it is. If part of my screen was yellow, or had
bleed through or any sort of temp problems, I would stare and get
so irritated at it.

I actually returned the first monitor I bought for my Mini even because
of a temp issue and bleed through.

In any case, I would buy and probably will buy an iMac 27"
later this year. The screen size and power, I could use.
Until then, mah little Mac does me right.

 

[mcruzader]

Can I chip in slightly off-topic and ask how you find it as an HTPC? Does it run 1080p content smoothly? Added to which, will it run .M2TS video files?

I love it as a HTPC, 1080p, 720p everything runs perfectly, pretty soon I will be upgrading the ram and hdd since I use it for Fusion and Windows XP Pro, I normally use Plex and/or Front Row.

 

[Jason Beck]

It also runs Windows 7 very awesomely too I might add.

 

[DarkReaper79]

The main reason I got the Mac Mini was the fact I got a lcd already, and plan on switching from that to my 42" to watch movies. I got the middle one- 2.53GHz,320GB, 4GB ram, w/ wireless keyboard, magic mouse and a mini display adapt, all for 1050 with tax and everything. This is my first mac (not counting the G3 i got in the basement that i never used) and I love it!

 

[Jason Beck]

The main reason I got the Mac Mini was the fact I got a lcd already, and plan on switching from that to my 42" to watch movies. I got the middle one- 2.53GHz,320GB, 4GB ram, w/ wireless keyboard, magic mouse and a mini display adapt, all for 1050 with tax and everything. This is my first mac (not counting the G3 i got in the basement that i never used) and I love it!

hahah NICE! My friends see it, and they're like, "wow that is tiny".
I tell em, "good things come in small packages". bahahah
Seriously though it's a great little workhorse. I've been using computers
for over 12 years, and OSX/Apple for only... 7 months. Love Macs
now!

 

[MacMini2009]

hahah NICE! My friends see it, and they're like, "wow that is tiny".
I tell em, "good things come in small packages". bahahah
Seriously though it's a great little workhorse. I've been using computers
for over 12 years, and OSX/Apple for only... 7 months. Love Macs
now!

Lol sometimes my friends and relatives say "Where's the computer?" I say it's right there and they get surprised lol.

 

[Jason Beck]

Lol sometimes my friends and relatives say "Where's the computer?" I say it's right there and they get surprised lol.

ha ha ha. I like the look of wonder they have too. "It is all really in there?"
Dude, after YEARS of fiddling with jumpers, drive bays, disc drives, cases,
power supplies, the Mini is a nice, needed break. Seriously.

 

[HDH]

Returning my 3rd defective i5 27" iMac tomorrow, probably going to get the Mini instead.

Install a better faster hard drive myself, maybe like the Western Digital one, and some RAM.

Although costs just as much as the 21" iMacs, I can't bother taking the risk of running into more problems with these machines. The 27"s were too good to be true.

I know you can actually have 2 monitors up at the same time, question is ... how much RAM are they going to use? Sucks that these mini's can't handle more than 4GB of ram

 

[MacMini2009]

ha ha ha. I like the look of wonder they have too. "It is all really in there?"

Haha, they ask that question too.

Returning my 3rd defective i5 27" iMac tomorrow, probably going to get the Mini instead.

Install a better faster hard drive myself, maybe like the Western Digital one, and some RAM.

Although costs just as much as the 21" iMacs, I can't bother taking the risk of running into more problems with these machines. The 27"s were too good to be true.

I know you can actually have 2 monitors up at the same time, question is ... how much RAM are they going to use? Sucks that these mini's can't handle more than 4GB of ram

The early/late 2009 models of the Mac Mini can have 8GB of RAM unofficially.

 

[dh2005]

Hmm... would there be any benefit to installing 8GB? I mean, wouldn't the machine hit a ceiling before that quantity of RAM came into the equation?

If not, I'll certainly be looking into making that upgrade when I've bought mine.

 

[flopticalcube]

Hmm... would there be any benefit to installing 8GB? I mean, wouldn't the machine hit a ceiling before that quantity of RAM came into the equation?

If not, I'll certainly be looking into making that upgrade when I've bought mine.

Depends on what you do with it. I'm not sure of what "ceiling" you are referring to. To get 8GB you need 2X4GB SODIMMS which run over $200 a piece. Make sure you need the RAM first.

 

[bkspero]

Mini's niche as a HTPC

Let me add my support to the suitability of the Mini as a HTPC. I have mixed feelings about my Macs, and lots of admiration for Win7, but my Mini is very well suited to this application. It just disappears. The built-in bluetooth makes it dead simple to connect a BT keyboard and mouse. Gigabit ethernet means that it has more than enough bandwidth to stream anything I throw at it. Optical audio 5.1 output provides excellent sound to my HT receiver, and the firewire port allows connection of a humongous external drive for all the storage I need. All in a package small enough to hide just about anywhere.

I guess its possible to do all this on an iMac, including connect to the TV. But it would definitely not be unobtrusive ;-}!

Mine is an older 1.83 GHz C2D mini with lowly Intel graphics and it still displays smoothly in 1080p on my 46" Panasonic plasma via DVI to HDMI. The only upgrade was to 4 gigs of ram (it can only access 3, but interleaving allows for about 5% more speed).

I can watch HDTV via a Pinnacle USB mini stick tuner and EyeTV lite, stream local media, watch online TV via Hulu, and stream HD content via Amazon and Netflix.

You can pick up a mini one generation newer for about $500 refurbished on the Apple website. Supported and warranted the same as a new Mac.

The only thing I miss is Windows Media Center. Front Row is not very good in comparison. EyeTV lite (and even std EyeTV) are ok for watching HDTV, but not as simple and easy as WMC. Even Boxee falls short when it comes to watching HDTV via cable. So far, though, I have decided that I can do enough on the mini that I can live without WMC for now.

 

[dh2005]

Depends on what you do with it. I'm not sure of what "ceiling" you are referring to. To get 8GB you need 2X4GB SODIMMS which run over $200 a piece. Make sure you need the RAM first.

Fair point.

I meant that the speed of the CPU and the graphics chipset would limit what the machine could do before RAM became an issue. But yes, I was thinking with my own needs in mind.

 

[chris7777]

Informative thread.

I have a few questions for those that are familiar.

Is the mini worth it, after going out and getting monitor, KB, mouse etc? over a 21 Imac?

I still haven't ruled out a macbook, or MBP considering I can still get a MB for around $800 after rebates, and have the portability factor, and still hopefully have the option for an external monitor.

How much do the monitor adapters run for the mini dvi port?

And is the 9400 graphics card acceptable on most photoshop, or other CS graphics needs?

I am wanting to try and get in as cheap as possible, but If need be I can probably swing a few hundred extra if it will end up being cheaper in the long run.

 

[MacSA]

The Mini has completely lost its way - especially in terms of price. When it was first introduced it sold for £339, now it's £510.

 

[archipellago]

The Mini has completely lost its way - especially in terms of price. When it was first introduced it sold for £339, now it's £510.

re-quoted for truth....

http://gizmodo.com/5432507/when-to-buy-apple-products

Mac Mini

Apple's no-frills desktop just got a spec increase and added a server model in late October. It shouldn't be getting any more updates any time soon, which is a shame, because it's still not a very competitive product for the price. Check out the Acer AspireRevo R3610 as a more than viable alternative. Recommendation: DON'T BUY unless you insist on Apple, even when it flies in the face of all logic

 

[dh2005]

Informative thread.

I have a few questions for those that are familiar.

Is the mini worth it, after going out and getting monitor, KB, mouse etc? over a 21 Imac?

I still haven't ruled out a macbook, or MBP considering I can still get a MB for around $800 after rebates, and have the portability factor, and still hopefully have the option for an external monitor.

How much do the monitor adapters run for the mini dvi port?

And is the 9400 graphics card acceptable on most photoshop, or other CS graphics needs?

I am wanting to try and get in as cheap as possible, but If need be I can probably swing a few hundred extra if it will end up being cheaper in the long run.

Do you already run a Mac? If not, "as cheap as possible" probably sends you down the path of a PC.


You shouldn't 'build' a Mac system by buying a Mini, then a monitor, keyboard and mouse; unless you have money to burn, and it doesn't sound like this is the case. If those are your ambitions, you really should buy an iMac.

Run the numbers for yourself, and read the opening post - spec'ing the Mini to something close to (but not quite as good as...) the cheapest iMac without a monitor costs almost the same.

The reason that I am going to buy a Mini is that there's something about the current iMac range that doesn't quite satisfy me. Plus, I have an HDTV that I can use as a display. If I didn't have this television, no way in the World would I buy a Mini and new monitor to accompany it (and certainly not an Apple Cinema Display... those cost ouch! money).

It's up to you, of course. And I'm still very new to this, so feel free to gather some more experienced opinion.

 

[paulrbeers]

I have both a Mac Mini Server and an 27" iMac (I am stating this from a reference point that I have current models of both).

If this is your first Mac and you already have a nice LCD screen and a good USB Mouse and Keyboard, then go with the iMac. The Mac Mini is really Apple's "entry" level product to get PC switchers. My Mac Mini server (which compares nicely to the $799 Mac Mini model) is fairly quick and the 4GB of ram is nice. I have a hard time recommending the 2.26ghz model since it will cost you another 80 dollars to swap out the 2GB and take it to 4GB. Plus you are still left with a slower processor and a smaller hard drive (by the time you upgrade the ram and hard drive, you will already be near $750 and running a slower processor).

However, for me I wanted the IPS LED screen of the iMac lines. I previously had cheap LCD monitors. In fact my Mac Mini is hooked to a 22" Acer TN panel via DVI and sits next to my iMac with its LED backlit IPS screen. The iMac crushes the Acer screen. It is sharper, whiter and brighter. Also you have a faster processor (2.xx vs 3.06), a faster hard drive (7200rpm 3.5" drive) and you can get faster graphics (ATI 4670, but by the time you upgrade the graphics processor, you are almost to a 27" entry level model!).

By the time you buy the 799 model (or spend $750 on the 599 + upgrades), add an IPS LCD screen, Keyboard, and mouse, you will already have spent the same amount as the entry level iMac (or more) and you have a slower processor, 2.5" hard drive, and a lot more cables to run.

What sold me on the 27" iMac as opposed to the 21.5" though, was the Quad Core processor (i5), the graphics processor (ATI 4850) and the ability to use my iMac as a video in should I someday want to buy another computer (or I could hook my Macbook Pro up). Obviously though the 27" iMac is not competing with the Mac Mini. This was just how I went from a Mac Mini all the way to the 27" iMac.

 

[yamawho]

As a switcher myself, I considered getting the iMac but at 1300$ CAD it was just too much. I purchased my entry level late 09 mini in November for 600$ CAD using the education discount. I have three displays to choose from and loads of keyboards and mice. Now running on a Benq 24" display

Besides the purchase price, the size of the mini is the other factor for my purchase. I just love small systems ...

Here's one I built a while ago that runs XP

It's rough around the edges but since there was nothing like this available at the time in the pc world ...

The entry level mini for the early 09 was 739$ CAD but since they upped the cpu, ram and hdd, at 600$ it's not too bad. The 160GB hdd is a real slap in the face ... entry level mini's should have 320GB as standard.

 

[dh2005]

Yeah, 160GB is pathetic. My netbook's drive is as big as that.


I've noticed many users installing 500GB drives into their Minis, but nobody fitting anything bigger. I assume the Minis take 2.5" SATA drives, yes? Don't they also come as 640GB, 750GB and 1TB models?

Is there a limitation in the Mini's firmware? I notice that even the Mini Server comes with two 500GB drives.

 

[flopticalcube]

Yeah, 160GB is pathetic. My netbook's drive is as big as that.


I've noticed many users installing 500GB drives into their Minis, but nobody fitting anything bigger. I assume the Minis take 2.5" SATA drives, yes? Don't they also come as 640GB, 750GB and 1TB models?

Is there a limitation in the Mini's firmware? I notice that even the Mini Server comes with two 500GB drives.

Any 2.5" SATA drive will fit. The biggest available right now is 640GB. When 1TB drives come out, the mini will be able to use those.

The Mini has completely lost its way - especially in terms of price. When it was first introduced it sold for £339, now it's £510.

This has a lot more to do with the falling value of GBP than the rising price of the mini. I would venture to say its the Pound that has lost its way.

 

[dh2005]

I know the 750GB drive exists already, because a friend has one in his PS3.

[does some checking]

Yeah. According to dabs.com, the 1TB is due for release in three or four weeks.

 

[flopticalcube]

I know the 750GB drive exists already, because a friend has one in his PS3.

[does some checking]

Yeah. According to dabs.com, the 1TB is due for release in three or four weeks.

Nice to know. I haven't looked in a few months.

 

[opeter]

I love my mini. I use it for 2D animations, After Effects CS3 & Premiere editing, dtp and 2D illustrations.

I used an older Mac mini before, the new one is really a big performance jump.

 

[Patmn]

Yeah, 160GB is pathetic. My netbook's drive is as big as that.

I'd be satisfied with 160GB, as my eMac only has a 40GB hard drive! (and when I recently upgraded from Panther to Leopard, an extra 15GB of that space was eaten up, so now I now only have 5GB left free compared to 20 GB before)