Newbie (comments from a Mac mini user)

[Mr R]

Hi folks - first post here and just wanted to say this is a really great site. We took delivery of a couple of Macs in the office at work recently - Mini's, which I personally am a fan of. I know there has been much talk about the Mini being dead and due to be replaced, hence the reason I won't buy one for home at the moment, but I am really loving the whole Mac experience. Previously used SuSE Linux, but OS X is a great system. The 23" cinema display is brilliant also.

We spec'd the Mini's with 2Gb RAM and the faster processor, but I can happily have Thunderbird, Firefox (with about 10 tabs open), MeetingMaker, Word, Excel, various connections to Terminals and X applications, I-Tunes and various network drives mapped, an RDC session open to an XP machine and the system copes without any problems at all - it never appears to struggle, nothing ever seems to crash and it seems really stable and robust! I can imagine that it would run forever without needing reboots (except when they are required for security updates )

I personally would love to see the Core 2 duos appear in the Mini then I would instantly buy one for home, so I really hope they don't axe it completely.

 

[iDave]

I personally would love to see the Core 2 duos appear in the Mini then I would instantly buy one for home, so I really hope they don't axe it completely.

You, me and several thousand other people, I suspect.

Welcome to the boards. I'm glad to hear you're pleased with the mini. Despite all its criticism, it really is a great computer.

Unfortunately since Apple has let it languish, it seems a bit overpriced and underspecked at the moment. This is why I'm waiting too. However, if Apple discontinues it, I will probably order one immediately anyway because it's bound to be a collectors item and the price on used minis will only go up for the next year or so. I'd rather get a mini for $599 today than a MacBook with a screen I don't need for $1099 tomorrow.

 

[solvs]

Couldn't hurt to wait a bit. Even if it's canceled, you can probably still buy one in the refurb store or something. Maybe Apple will replace it with something better. Which would be neat.

 

[Cave Man]

I personally would love to see the Core 2 duos appear in the Mini then I would instantly buy one for home, so I really hope they don't axe it completely.

Well, if you don't mind doing a little surgery, you can pull the Mini's Core Duo and plug in a Core 2 Duo, since they're socketed. I'm waiting for the 2.16 gHz chips to get to about $350, then I'll be replacing my 1.66.

 

[gkarris]

I have an original PPC Mini still sealed in the box as part of my collection (it was only $469 when it came out because the Apple Store sent me a coupon for $30 off a $300 or over order). I only opened the outer box!

I've been telling people to buy and and they have. I also got one for church and a CD one over last Christmas. They're awesome!

Hopefully the next version of the Mini will be one in an TV form factor and have iMac specs!

 

[iDave]

Hopefully the next version of the Mini will be one in an TV form factor and have iMac specs!

It's interesting that the aTV and the new Airport Extreme look so similar. It would be nice for a new mini to look the same.

edit: Actually, the aTV is silver, isn't it? I had been thinking it was white like the Extreme. So much for my theory.

 

[mkrishnan]

It's interesting that the aTV and the new Airport Extreme look so similar. It would be nice for a new mini to look the same.

edit: Actually, the aTV is silver, isn't it? I had been thinking it was white like the Extreme. So much for my theory.

It seems unlikely that the Mac Mini will get that small... the world doesn't seem quite ready to drop optical drives from the setup completely, yet. The Mini is as small as it is now only by virtue of using laptop components. I think, even if it went to solid-state disk space (e.g. drop the hard drive for flash), it still couldn't be too close to that size.

 

[iDave]

It seems unlikely that the Mac Mini will get that small... the world doesn't seem quite ready to drop optical drives from the setup completely, yet. The Mini is as small as it is now only by virtue of using laptop components. I think, even if it went to solid-state disk space (e.g. drop the hard drive for flash), it still couldn't be too close to that size.

I haven't seen aTV in person so don't really know how big it is. I have an Airport Extreme. It's only slightly thinner than a mini. You're probably right though and it's better the mini go a little bit bigger than smaller.

 

[SMM]

I am devastated to learn of the Minis pending demise. It does not make sense, unless their is something better replacing it. I saw the mega-thread on the subject, but did not read it. I figured it would become a 'bashing party', and I was already bummed enough. Maybe the Apple is replacing the Mini and just did not want to have the term 'mini' associated with the new product? We shall find out in good time.

 

[yetanotherdave]

I have an original PPC Mini still sealed in the box as part of my collection (it was only $469 when it came out because the Apple Store sent me a coupon for $30 off a $300 or over order). I only opened the outer box!

Why? I mean, really why?