I had an original G4 mini which I used as my main computer (still had a pc to play civ4). I love it to death, but replaced it this weekend with a new iMac. It was just too tempting. Still, I probably could've happily gone on using it for at least a couple of years more. It was my first mac too, if someone tells you the mini isn't luring people to Apple they don't know what they're talking about.
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Mac mini
- Thread starter djejrejk
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I had an original G4 mini which I used as my main computer (still had a pc to play civ4). I love it to death, but replaced it this weekend with a new iMac. It was just too tempting. Still, I probably could've happily gone on using it for at least a couple of years more. It was my first mac too, if someone tells you the mini isn't luring people to Apple they don't know what they're talking about.
Will there ever be Mini with better GPU?
GMA950 was one of industry's lowest performance back in 2005.
Is Mini fading away or updated when MacBooks will be refreshed?
GMA950 was one of industry's lowest performance back in 2005.
Is Mini fading away or updated when MacBooks will be refreshed?
hahaha, no.
Games on a mini, lol, that's funny!
Games? Yeh I know games don't run on a Mini. I'm talking about Creative Suite 3.
How come CS runs OK an eMac 700Mhz 512Mb RAM? I thought Mini would be sufficient. Only doing Web and Graphic Design.
I just received my new Macmini (1.83). I ordered it on the 8th of August and got it today. Now I really want to go home and set it up, work sucks .
.
ok, has apple raised the prices on the mini refurbs? This is the 2nd time I saw them back at 649? This was 479 last week after the imac announcement! what's going on?
Refurbished Mac mini 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory
80GB hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 memory
Learn More
Save 19% off the original price
Original price: $799.00
Your price: $649.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
Free Shipping
Refurbished Mac mini 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo
512MB memory
80GB hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 memory
Learn More
Save 19% off the original price
Original price: $799.00
Your price: $649.00
Estimated Ship:
3-5 business days
Free Shipping
Damn you. I use a 1.66 CD as a conversion machine for the AppleTV, and as an AppleTV server. Now I want a new one. It's all your fault.
It would be most helpful if you could find out the part number - I'd really appreciate it. I'm planning to make mine into a "Mac Maxi"
this fall with the same processor you have, a 250gb hard drive and 802.11n. I'd like to do it all at once. I'm even thinking about splitting the SATA connector to provide an eSATA port.
I assume you mean Photoshop CS3? I run it on my mini with the 1.66 core duo chip and it's fine. I also run Aperture to do raw image editing, and it renders such files in about 2 sec on average. The mini is fine for 2D image processing.
When the mini gets santa rosa, it'll have a slightly better GPU. It'll never be a great 3D gaming machine.
Some of the rumor sites have been predicting the mini's demise. I don't think Apple will dump it without offering a new Mac in that price range to replace it. I think the mini is still selling well enough for Apple to keep it around. I just bought one.
Got my new Mac Mini today!
It's a Mac Mini 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo with 2GB RAM and 160GB Hitachi internal HD; I plan to boot from a 7200rpm external drive since the internal one is only 5400-rpm.
First thing I did was install CIV4 Warlords and play a game, just to see if I could in spite of all the "minis ain't got no game" hype, and in spite of CIV4 not being supported on the GMA 950 graphics chip.
After a little tweaking to lower the graphics settings, I played a smooth game set at "Duel" from start to finish, and it was a little faster than I have been getting with my G4 PowerBook. The pictures weren't quite as detailed, but for me it was just fine. I enjoy the strategy and don't need super graphics.
CIV4 is the only graphics-intensive game I play, so I'm lucky.
Of course I am aware that the graphics chip (GMA 950 with 64 MB of shared memory) is terrible for gaming in general, and I sure wish it was a real, medium-grade graphics card, but it isn't.
For me it's tolerable because the mini promises to be very fast for the surfing, email, word processing, light web design, photo/video and audio work I need it for.
It's my first Intel Mac, the price was right, and it will be fun to play with until Apple comes out with an updated Mac Pro or a new mid-range headless desktop.
Cheers,
--Alice in Portland, OR
It's a Mac Mini 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo with 2GB RAM and 160GB Hitachi internal HD; I plan to boot from a 7200rpm external drive since the internal one is only 5400-rpm.
First thing I did was install CIV4 Warlords and play a game, just to see if I could in spite of all the "minis ain't got no game" hype, and in spite of CIV4 not being supported on the GMA 950 graphics chip.
After a little tweaking to lower the graphics settings, I played a smooth game set at "Duel" from start to finish, and it was a little faster than I have been getting with my G4 PowerBook. The pictures weren't quite as detailed, but for me it was just fine. I enjoy the strategy and don't need super graphics.
CIV4 is the only graphics-intensive game I play, so I'm lucky.
Of course I am aware that the graphics chip (GMA 950 with 64 MB of shared memory) is terrible for gaming in general, and I sure wish it was a real, medium-grade graphics card, but it isn't.
For me it's tolerable because the mini promises to be very fast for the surfing, email, word processing, light web design, photo/video and audio work I need it for.
It's my first Intel Mac, the price was right, and it will be fun to play with until Apple comes out with an updated Mac Pro or a new mid-range headless desktop.
Cheers,
--Alice in Portland, OR
Got my new Mac Mini today!
For me it's tolerable because the mini promises to be very fast for the surfing, email, word processing, light web design, photo/video and audio work I need it for.
Congratulations! Got mine two days ago and am very happy with it.
Truth be told, hardly anyone needs a computer faster than a Mac mini. It doesn't give you any bragging rights, but the price is right (for a Mac). And, it's a very fast machine, capable of handling almost anything you throw at it. I'm sure glad I'm not a gamer, so I don't care one bit about what kind of GPU is in my Mac.
I've had my mac mini for almost a year now, and there is no need to tell the world I love it. The only problems I have faced is, sometimes it gets extremely laggy. However I think it has more to do with firefox than anything, because I notice when I run firefox, it slows everything down. I was a huge fan of firefox on Windows, but when I switched to Mac I noticed it wasn't very good. You'll also learn to HATE safari because it's still in the stone age (as far as browsers go) and unlike firefox, when it crashes (which is often), it doesn't reboot where it left off.
Other than that, I have been extremely happy with my mini.
Other than that, I have been extremely happy with my mini.
That's your problem. 512mb is so inadequate.
Go spend $60 and upgrade to 2gb of ram.
You won't believe the difference.
Will I have to send it in so they can put it in there?
Actually I live close to South Park Mall (in Charlotte, NC) and I know a guy who works at the genius bar so he might do free labor for me.
I'll have to check it out - I might be going down there friday, which happens to be pay day.
Do I buy it at the store, or on the internet?
And why would they bother making a mac so inadequate?
Actually I live close to South Park Mall (in Charlotte, NC) and I know a guy who works at the genius bar so he might do free labor for me.
I'll have to check it out - I might be going down there friday, which happens to be pay day.
Do I buy it at the store, or on the internet?
And why would they bother making a mac so inadequate?
They put 512mb to keep it cheap.
You can upgrade the Mac Mini yourself. Tons of videos and step by step instructions on the net. it's easy
Here is one I found quickly:
Low Res: http://media.macsales.com/videos/mini/intel/lowres.html
Med Res: http://media.macsales.com/videos/mini/intel/medres.html
You can buy the ram online as well. Should be around $60 for two(2) 1gb DDR2 667mhz chips.
Oh yeah, xodonniedarko, that's your whole problem. Just upgrading to 1GB of memory would help a whole lot but you might as well go for two if you're going to do it. My new mini came with a gigabyte but I went ahead and ordered two from Crucial. Crucial isn't cheapest but they were only about $20 higher than the cheapest price I could find. Try ramseeker.com for pricing.
In the meantime, be sure you're only running one or two programs at a time until you up that memory. Performance will be a lot better.
edit: By the way, one of the first things I (nearly always) do when I get a new Mac is to order more memory. It's just a fact of life that Apple doesn't provide enough. I just calculate that as part of the cost of the machine when I purchase it. But I only rarely purchase the extra memory from Apple. Apple's memory upgrades are overpriced.
In the meantime, be sure you're only running one or two programs at a time until you up that memory. Performance will be a lot better.
edit: By the way, one of the first things I (nearly always) do when I get a new Mac is to order more memory. It's just a fact of life that Apple doesn't provide enough. I just calculate that as part of the cost of the machine when I purchase it. But I only rarely purchase the extra memory from Apple. Apple's memory upgrades are overpriced.
I would have my brother do it, because he used to run a computer store with my dad from like 15-19 years old. I wouldn't do it myself because I don't trust myself with doing operation on my baby. I'm not completely sure if I trust my brother doing operation my baby, either.
But do they sell the ram at the apple stores?
But do they sell the ram at the apple stores?
Equip your brother with two putty knives.
Don't buy your memory from Apple. Check online for dealers like crucial.com, macsales.com and ramseeker.com. Ramseeker only provides pricing. They're not a dealer like the others.
boot camp
i have 1.66ghz duo, with 2gb ram, 60gb hard disk,
if you install boot camp and then install win xp,eek i see it gave me 128mb graphics up from the OS-X 64mb.
so some where it changes it, now if thats the case it may be possible to change it in OSX somewhere.
to give you more shared graphics.
just a thought!
Apple 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair Value Select, DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-5300 (667), 200 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, £58.20 scan.co.uk
i have 1.66ghz duo, with 2gb ram, 60gb hard disk,
if you install boot camp and then install win xp,
eek i see it gave me 128mb graphics up from the OS-X 64mb.so some where it changes it, now if thats the case it may be possible to change it in OSX somewhere.
to give you more shared graphics.
just a thought!
Apple 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair Value Select, DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-5300 (667), 200 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, £58.20 scan.co.uk
i have 1.66ghz duo, with 2gb ram, 60gb hard disk,
if you install boot camp and then install win xp,
so some where it changes it, now if thats the case it may be possible to change it in OSX somewhere.
to give you more shared graphics.
just a thought!
Apple 2GB (2x1GB) Corsair Value Select, DDR2 SO-DIMM PC2-5300 (667), 200 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, £58.20 scan.co.uk
Why bother? I doubt you're doing anything that requires more than 64mb of ram anyway. It's not like you can play 3-d video games so why bother?