Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Official "I Ordered an Intel Mac Mini" Thread...
- Thread starter tjwett
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
patrick0brien said:
Ah, thats my next question. What network cameras are you using and what would you recommend?
I am thinking of a wireless camera in the garage linked to the Mac Mini and possibly another one connected to it upstairs. I am a bit worried that teh wireless will be too far (2 stories up through a grill and a window).
The AXIS 207W looks like a good choice but its expensive downunder compared to US prices.
But the D-Link DCS-2100G is a bit cheaper and seems to have most of the same features. It also looks like I can chage aerials for better range.
patrick0brien said:
is this the best solution out there in your opinion? i do a lot of AppleScripting and have tinkered with some X10's and a USB power thing a while back that was scriptable but nothing with a GUI. does this software allow you to add your own manual scripts? does it ship with any Automator Actions?
*EDIT: oop! found the entire dictionary posted right on their site. looks cool! doing anything weird with it or basic lighting etc?
-tjwetttjwett said:
Oh, boy - well, I was warned by a good friend that I had "Broken on through to the other side" with the wierd crap my home can do now. Obviously, lighting control is the first thing I have it do. Modes for when I'm out of town, etc. But due to our friend the Variable, If I leave the garage open for 15 minutes, and there is no motion in it, it closes itself. I can control scenes using my Philips Pronto Remote and the IR543 and KeyPadLinc's.
Though I don't have the sprinklers yet, when I do get them, they'll only water if it hasn't rained for the last 24 hours.
Yes, Variables are our friend. But they are too complex for the PowerLinc (the powerline/computer interface) to understand all by itself. If you want truly intelligent control, you need a computer on, and controlling the automation directly - ergo "Argos".
Tell you this: Sure reduced the electrical bill!
-aswitcher
To be honest - I'm still playing with those. The D-Link DCS-900W is good, but it's 802.11b. I think we all want G. So I'm looking at the AIRLINK AIC250W - but it's not on the list of tested stuff, soo....
patrick0brien said:
Thanks. Yeah I want G for bandwidth and so it doesn't pull down the rest of my network to "B".
Well I would be interested in knowing how the Mac Mini handles a couple of cameras whilst doing other things when you get it up and running.
srobert said:
I couldn't stand it anymore and purchased a Core Duo MacMini. 1080p plays perfect. Handbrake at 24 fps! Real time!
So happy!
Streaming internet and iTunes from my G4. Also some video I encoded for an iPod. So yes you can stream video. I'm trying to network all the other media together between the 2 Macs. I want to access all the files on the G4 any help? Then I can stream 480p H.264 from there.
Did I mention I was happy?
I guess Xbench is next...
I.
punkmac said:
awesome. would you mind running an XBench without hard disk and memory options checked and beam sync off?
tjwett said:
Ijust ran it with memory and disc options off. Iwas encoding H.264 at the time. I don't know where the beam sync options are.Results 52.65
System Info
Xbench Version 1.2
System Version 10.4.5 (8H1619)
Physical RAM 512 MB
Model Macmini1,1
Drive Type ST98823AS
CPU Test 63.83
GCD Loop 215.55 11.36 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 75.40 1.79 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 37.76 1.25 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 54.70 9.53 Mops/sec
Thread Test 152.46
Computation 142.49 2.89 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 163.94 7.05 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Quartz Graphics Test 57.97
Line 55.13 3.67 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 49.05 14.64 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 48.71 3.97 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 74.81 1.89 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 72.32 4.52 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 148.78
Spinning Squares 148.78 188.73 frames/sec
User Interface Test 20.50
Elements 20.50 94.10 refresh/sec
I paused Handbrake...
Results 81.58
System Info
Xbench Version 1.2
System Version 10.4.5 (8H1619)
Physical RAM 512 MB
Model Macmini1,1
Drive Type ST98823AS
CPU Test 64.20
GCD Loop 216.18 11.40 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 75.68 1.80 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 37.37 1.23 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 56.48 9.83 Mops/sec
Thread Test 160.19
Computation 144.31 2.92 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 179.99 7.74 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Quartz Graphics Test 62.39
Line 58.66 3.91 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 49.53 14.79 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 50.88 4.15 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 81.20 2.05 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 91.47 5.72 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 188.86
Spinning Squares 188.86 239.58 frames/sec
User Interface Test 55.10
Elements 55.10 252.87 refresh/sec
Very nice I think...
Safari and Dashboard still open.
punkmac said:
not bad at all! i hate to be a pain in the @$$ but could you run the same config again without any other apps running (quit everything except XBench and Dashboard)? i'd like to see it at full bore. i have a feeling this thing is capable crossing the 90 mark.
I paused handbrake( I don't want to lose the file) and closed everything else...tjwett said:not bad at all! i hate to be a pain in the @$$ but could you run the same config again without any other apps running (quit everything except XBench and Dashboard)? i'd like to see it at full bore. i have a feeling this thing is capable crossing the 90 mark.
Results 83.17
System Info
Xbench Version 1.2
System Version 10.4.5 (8H1619)
Physical RAM 512 MB
Model Macmini1,1
Drive Type ST98823AS
CPU Test 63.92
GCD Loop 216.80 11.43 Mops/sec
Floating Point Basic 75.76 1.80 Gflop/sec
vecLib FFT 36.96 1.22 Gflop/sec
Floating Point Library 56.47 9.83 Mops/sec
Thread Test 163.82
Computation 149.16 3.02 Mops/sec, 4 threads
Lock Contention 181.69 7.82 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
Quartz Graphics Test 62.05
Line 58.15 3.87 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
Rectangle 49.46 14.77 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
Circle 49.80 4.06 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
Bezier 81.40 2.05 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
Text 92.55 5.79 Kchars/sec
OpenGL Graphics Test 188.97
Spinning Squares 188.97 239.72 frames/sec
User Interface Test 58.95
Elements 58.95 270.57 refresh/sec
I bet it could hit 90 if everything was shutdown...
Still 83% of a Dual 2 ghz G5 is very nice.
punkmac said:
definitely. interesting number considering i just sold my dual G5 for exactly 83% of the original price and used 83% of the money to buy my mini. hey, one of my sisters was born in '83 and i think my girlfriend's grandmother is 83 years old. 83 Fest um, 2006!
ahem, seriously though... very psyched by those numbers. now if mine would only leave the factory and make it's way to my house!I haven't read through the entire thread yet, but can someone please answer one simple question... is the Mac mini performing better than we all expected it to be, considering it has integrated graphics now? Thanks!
p0intblank said:I haven't read through the entire thread yet, but can someone please answer one simple question... is the Mac mini performing better than we all expected it to be, considering it has integrated graphics now? Thanks!
depends on who you ask. this test doesn't touch on any 3D at all, at least not that i know of. so for what it's testing yeah, it's got some nice numbers. the threads are particularly impressive. but i think someone did some Cinebench tests with 3D and it wasn't as pretty. basically i think the story is as was speculated. for 2D and video this is pretty nice. for 3D, not so hot. makes the line pretty clear though for potential buyers if it will meet their needs or not. non-gamers should have a good old time on this machine. eager to see how my duo with more ram holds up.
So I finally got my new Core Solo Mini set up and running...I noticed something kind of weird though...see if you can spot the weirdness in this screen shot:
http://www.adamsuniverse.com/images/soloweird.png
I'll give you a hint. I was very excited for a moment when I saw About This Mac, and then less so when I looked at the system profiler
http://www.adamsuniverse.com/images/soloweird.png
I'll give you a hint. I was very excited for a moment when I saw About This Mac, and then less so when I looked at the system profiler
Now I'm really thinking of getting one... my main tasks are as follows:
Web surfing
Instant messaging
E-mailing
Graphic design
Digital photography
Minor Web design
Minor video editing
Okay, basically everything but gaming. And I don't ever do 3D rendering, and don't plan on doing so anytime in the near future. And if I do, I always have my PowerBook for that (specs in sig). Ah, now I'm really tempted! I've wanted the new iMac since it was shown at MacWorld this year, but the Mac mini Duo would also be awesome. I already have a 20.1" screen so I could hook it up to that via DVI. I hate making decisions.
But anyway, thanks for the quick response.
Web surfing
Instant messaging
E-mailing
Graphic design
Digital photography
Minor Web design
Minor video editing
Okay, basically everything but gaming. And I don't ever do 3D rendering, and don't plan on doing so anytime in the near future. And if I do, I always have my PowerBook for that (specs in sig). Ah, now I'm really tempted! I've wanted the new iMac since it was shown at MacWorld this year, but the Mac mini Duo would also be awesome. I already have a 20.1" screen so I could hook it up to that via DVI. I hate making decisions.
But anyway, thanks for the quick response.
admanimal said:So I finally got my new Core Solo Mini set up and running...I noticed something kind of weird though...see if you can spot the weirdness in this screen shot:
http://www.adamsuniverse.com/images/soloweird.png
I'll give you a hint. I was very excited for a moment when I saw About This Mac, and then less so when I looked at the system profiler
that is weird. hey maybe this is some kind of clue as to the ability to swap out the processors though. how cool would that be if you could slap a core duo in there next year!
Quite obvious - how did Apple make such a typo? Any other Core Solo owners out there see this?admanimal said:So I finally got my new Core Solo Mini set up and running...I noticed something kind of weird though...see if you can spot the weirdness in this screen shot:
http://www.adamsuniverse.com/images/soloweird.png
I'll give you a hint. I was very excited for a moment when I saw About This Mac, and then less so when I looked at the system profiler
So am I. I think fate is telling me something, that my PC broke down fatally just after I ordered my iMac, and my wife's died yesterday the day after the new mini was released. I think this will be a nice addition to the family. She thinks the mini's cute. She won't be playing any 3D games.p0intblank said:
p0intblank said:Now I'm really thinking of getting one... my main tasks are as follows:
Web surfing
Instant messaging
E-mailing
Graphic design
Digital photography
Minor Web design
Minor video editing
Okay, basically everything but gaming. And I don't ever do 3D rendering, and don't plan on doing so anytime in the near future. And if I do, I always have my PowerBook for that (specs in sig). Ah, now I'm really tempted! I've wanted the new iMac since it was shown at MacWorld this year, but the Mac mini Duo would also be awesome. I already have a 20.1" screen so I could hook it up to that via DVI. I hate making decisions.
But anyway, thanks for the quick response.
you're all clear up to the graphic design part. while i have no doubt this thing would do nice with low-res photoshopping for the web eventually (upon Universal binary release), gotta remember that Adobe CS won't be Universal until maybe as late as next year. i do a fair amount of web design work but luckily it will be on hold for the next 6 months or so. i still have my 12" PowerBook if i need it. yeah, that's as scary as it sounds. the 12" PowerBook clobbered the Core Duo iMac in Photoshop tests. this is Rosetta in action. just keep that in mind. iMovie will work great and maybe, MAYBE Final Cut Express. not sure of the min requirements when it goes Universal.
tjwett said:
Yeah, I realize the downfalls with Rosetta... but I rarely work with large files. Most of my graphic design work consists of layouts, logos, and business cards. I also do a lot of digital photography work, but nothing with RAW images if that makes a difference. I think I could get by with Rosetta. I've been reading it actually performs better than a G4 would. Mine is a 1.5 GHz with 1.5 GB of RAM, so what do you think? It's only a 4200 RPM drive by the way.
admanimal said:So I finally got my new Core Solo Mini set up and running...I noticed something kind of weird though...see if you can spot the weirdness in this screen shot:
http://www.adamsuniverse.com/images/soloweird.png
I'll give you a hint. I was very excited for a moment when I saw About This Mac, and then less so when I looked at the system profiler
Hmm...that's really weird! How can Apple make a typo like *that*?!
Now I'm confused. Are any other Solo owners seeing this as well?tjwett said:
Since we know it is not soldered in, I bet someone will try to swap the CPU in one sooner rather than later. Personally I would be weary to put in anything above a 1.67GHz Duo though, unless Apple themselves release a faster one without changing the design at all, so we know it can handle the temperatures.
Assuming that you can swap the CPU, this will be really sweet in say a year or two when Core Duo CPUs are $150-$200 rather than $250+
plinden said:
i can't give very good opinions about GIMP because the process of getting it running will overshadow and bias any rational thought i might have. i appreciate the UNIX underpinnngs of OS X. but much like a snow storm (or a car accident), i prefer to watch from a distance. you gotta install and configure X11. and then compile and install GIMP. i know i'm losing geek cred by saying this but it's just annoying, at least i found it to be so. if you don't mind a little Terminal and X11 then you might not mind at all. as for GIMP itself, i think i could see the value of it being free. it's missing a fair amount of features. if you're into typography you might get pretty frustrated with the limited control. i sure did. it's certainly no photoshop, but i'm sure it can do the job in a pinch. and i'm sure there are plenty of open source enthusiasts who use it as their primary. give it a whirl is all i can say. also worth mentioning, GraphicConverter is Universal binary and kicks ass, depending on what you're looking to do.
punkmac said:
That's a great score! Let us know when you're able to do the test again with no software running. I'd love to see that 90+! Go go gadget intel mini!