mac mini speed differences

[coday182]

I'm looking to buy a cheap mac mini as my first mac to help me wait longer for my MBP. Is there much of a difference in speed between the PPC ones and the intel ones? I won't be doing heavy duty stuff on it. I will just be using it like your average joe uses a computer.

 

[livingfortoday]

My girlfriend has a 1.25Ghz G4 with 1GB RAM and I have a 1.5Ghz Core Solo with 1GB RAM, and they both feel equally snappy for regular stuff like web surfing and word processing. The G4 is a bit faster running Office, actually, but that's just because there's no Universal Binary for it yet.

I would go with a G4 one, if I were you, and save a few hundred bucks. If you're not needing the heavy processing power, you'll be more than happy with it.

 

[coday182]

Ok thanks. I found a good one with 1 GB ram and a lot of extra software for $500. I either gotta talk my dad into it or buy it myself. The problem is if I buy it myself then thats $500 less I'll have when I finally buy my MBP.

 

[extraextra]

I'm looking to buy a cheap mac mini as my first mac to help me wait longer for my MBP. Is there much of a difference in speed between the PPC ones and the intel ones? I won't be doing heavy duty stuff on it. I will just be using it like your average joe uses a computer.

Go with a G4 PPC. You save money and it still works for what you need to do. I'm getting a Powerbook to hold me over, hehe.

 

[livingfortoday]

Ok thanks. I found a good one with 1 GB ram and a lot of extra software for $500. I either gotta talk my dad into it or buy it myself. The problem is if I buy it myself then thats $500 less I'll have when I finally buy my MBP.

True, but you can always resell it and get a large portion of that money back. I'm surprised at how slowly the older Minis have lost value. I still see 1.25Ghz G4's selling for $350 and higher on eBay.

 

[coday182]

ok a little help...

I got it narrowed down to 4 choices... you guys know better than me what is a good deal so help me out here...

1
1.5 Ghz Intel core solo, 512, 60 GB, Tiger, iLive, Frontrow, bluetooth adaptor
$550

2
PPC G4, 1.25Ghz, 1 GB, 40 GB, Tiger, iMovie HD, iPhoto, iWeb, iWork '06, MS Office 2004, Print Explosion Deluxe, Quicktime Player, Soundtrack Pro, Stickies, PhotoShop Elements 2, Adobe Reader v7, Compressor,Chess, DVD Studio Pro, DVD Player, Final Cut Pro, Firefox, Garageband, iDVD and others
built in bluetooth/Airport Extreme
$499

3
PPC G4, 1.42 Ghz, 512, 80 GB, OSX Tiger 10.4.7 - Fresh Install w/all Wirless Apple Keyboard
Scrolling Mouse
NeoOffice 1.2.2 (OpenOffice for OSX)
Firefox Web Browser - Latest Version 1.5.4
iLife (GarageBand, iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD, iMovie HD)
built in bluetooth/airport extreme
$450

4
PPC G4 1.43 Ghz, 512, 80,
iLife ’05 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand), Mail, Dashboard, Spotlight, iChat, Safari, Sherlock, QuickTime, iSync, iCal, DVD Player, Address Book, AppleWorks, iWork (30-day trial), Classic environment, Quicken 2005 for Macintosh, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold, Zinio Reader, and XCode Developer Tools
built in bluetooth/ airport extreme
$520

Thanks a lot guys on helpin me make the transition!

 

[Cybix]

I would personally just buy the newer unit, intel, etc... it's the way it's all heading, it's the in thing

James

 

[DannySmurf]

Skip #4. It's a stock unit, and every single thing in that list is on the disk which comes with every mini (and has since the minis shipped with Panther). Nothing in that description justifies $520.

For $50 more than #1, you can get a brand new 1.5GHz Core Solo mini with the same specs that comes with a warranty.

#2 and #3 are overpriced for the systems that they are. BUT the software included with #2 (particularly Office, Photoshop and Final Cut Pro) would make it worth the money if you use those kinds of apps.

#2 is the best option from that list. But I'd recommend just buying a new mini from Apple. If you're looking to spend within $100 of the price of a new machine, don't bother with something used.

 

[kiwi-in-uk]

2
PPC G4, 1.25Ghz, 1 GB, 40 GB, Tiger, iMovie HD, iPhoto, iWeb, iWork '06, MS Office 2004, Print Explosion Deluxe, Quicktime Player, Soundtrack Pro, Stickies, PhotoShop Elements 2, Adobe Reader v7, Compressor,Chess, DVD Studio Pro, DVD Player, Final Cut Pro, Firefox, Garageband, iDVD and others
built in bluetooth/Airport Extreme
$499

This one has a lot of extra software (the others are bog standard or have free stuff like Neo Office). Would you use the extra software? What version is each app (are they all a couple of generations old, like the PE2?) ? Do you get the original disks? Be aware that some of the pro apps might run slowly on the 1.25GHz G4.

I tend to agree with Cybix - get the intel mini (it comes with most of the software that is listed with 3 & 4) and load up with free stuff - Neo Office has a new update available now (for a fee) and will be free from 1 Sep - and iLife ('05 or '06?) might be all you need on the creative side. If not, there are now universal versions of some good freebies such as Artrage, Seashore, Rita, Image Tricks etc).

If you really need the pro stuff as listed in 2, check the versions & disks as I mentioned.

Good luck!

EDIT: DannySmurf has a good point about the new mini. If you can stretch to the extra $, do that (but check for rumours of any speed bump first).