I don't post much, but some of you may remember the topic I had a while back stating that I'd be purchasing a Mac soon. I was going too. I had worked all summer long, saved up all the money I needed, and put that money in a savings account until I could order one. Here's the problem, I'm still a minor. I'm only 15. My Dad conviently told me that I wasn't allowed to spend any of the money in my savings account after I put all the freaking money in it. How lame is that?!? I had been talking about getting one all summer. I haven't asked him if I could order it yet, but I know what he's going to say. He's going to say that the specs of the Mac Mini aren't worth 500 dollars, and that I could buy a PC that's loads more powerful for the same price. If Apple updates their Mac Mini's soon, even if it's a small speed bump, I'm going to bring it up to him. If they don't, I will still bring it up to him. I can't let him win this one. I had been talking about it all summer and made CLEAR to him that I would be getting one. What's the point of this topic? How is the performance of the Mac Mini? How fast do programs respond, and is does it fit me? I listen to a lot of music. I watch a DVD every now and then, and sometimes I may pop in a game, but that hasn't happened since I bought my GameCube 6 months ago.
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Question for Mac Mini Owners
- Thread starter BarfBag
- Start date
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I love my mini. The performance is not earth-shattering or anything, but it is more than adequate for everyday computing. Especially now that they come with 512 MB of RAM standard (256 was NOT enough). Here's some examples of thing I do with mine:
Web Design (including running a local server to test sites)
Photoshop & Illustrator
iMovie editing
iDVD creation
Final Cut Pro editing
Web Surfing
Email
Report writing
Occasional Gaming, but not really anything intense
Just remember that your bargain basement PCs usually come with Celeron processors and typically have 256 MB of RAM with video cards that use shared memory. No DVI, no Firewire, and they are big and loud. Just some things to remind your dad about.
Web Design (including running a local server to test sites)
Photoshop & Illustrator
iMovie editing
iDVD creation
Final Cut Pro editing
Web Surfing
Report writing
Occasional Gaming, but not really anything intense
Just remember that your bargain basement PCs usually come with Celeron processors and typically have 256 MB of RAM with video cards that use shared memory. No DVI, no Firewire, and they are big and loud. Just some things to remind your dad about.
BarfBag said:
You'd be much better served just stating your question and leaving out all of that frivolous (for us, not you) detail.
Nobody likes wading through pablum just to find a simple question.
BarfBag,
While I'm in no position to tell you what to do, he still is your dad. Being 15 and presumably still living at home, you have to follow what he says.
However, in my personal opinion, your dad is wrong here. You earned the money yourself, so you've shown responsibility. I don't think your dad has any right to dictate how you spend that money, as long as it isn't for drugs or alcohol, etc.
BTW, what does being a minor have anything to do with anything? If it's your account, you have access to it. Take the $500 out and get yourself to the store.
BTW2, don't do what I say.
While I'm in no position to tell you what to do, he still is your dad. Being 15 and presumably still living at home, you have to follow what he says.
However, in my personal opinion, your dad is wrong here. You earned the money yourself, so you've shown responsibility. I don't think your dad has any right to dictate how you spend that money, as long as it isn't for drugs or alcohol, etc.
BTW, what does being a minor have anything to do with anything? If it's your account, you have access to it. Take the $500 out and get yourself to the store.
BTW2, don't do what I say.
I'm 17 and have had full access to my various accounts since I was 14. There is no way at all your dad can prevent the bank from allowing you to withdraw money, its just his way of scaring you out of it.
Trust me... when I was 15 I bought an iPAQ (Yes, PAQ, not Pod) and it was without him knowing until he saw the bank statement. This is after he told me I had no way of withdrawing money from my account.
Go for it, dude. If you have the cash, use it. (Save some for a car when you are 16 and for college -- insurance and gas bites.)
In terms of performance, I have built five or six PCs and have repaired and upgraded countless others. I still prefer the Mac platform. Cheap PCs tend to be crap and have crappy components and won't run any better than the mini. Try to somehow convince him that the G4 is equivalent more to a P4-M than it is to a 3.8GHz P4 EE with Hyperthreading.
Of all my computers (including a 2.4GHz P4) I have found that a 300MHz G3 is sometimes more responsive in loading programs such as iTunes and QuickTime that my PCs. In addition, it wasn't until I blew $1250 on a Toshiba laptop with a 1.7GHz Centrino that I was finally satisfied with the overall performance (in the PC world).
Trust me... when I was 15 I bought an iPAQ (Yes, PAQ, not Pod) and it was without him knowing until he saw the bank statement. This is after he told me I had no way of withdrawing money from my account.
Go for it, dude. If you have the cash, use it. (Save some for a car when you are 16 and for college -- insurance and gas bites.)
In terms of performance, I have built five or six PCs and have repaired and upgraded countless others. I still prefer the Mac platform. Cheap PCs tend to be crap and have crappy components and won't run any better than the mini. Try to somehow convince him that the G4 is equivalent more to a P4-M than it is to a 3.8GHz P4 EE with Hyperthreading.
Of all my computers (including a 2.4GHz P4) I have found that a 300MHz G3 is sometimes more responsive in loading programs such as iTunes and QuickTime that my PCs. In addition, it wasn't until I blew $1250 on a Toshiba laptop with a 1.7GHz Centrino that I was finally satisfied with the overall performance (in the PC world).
Yeah, if you worked for the money, you deserve to do whatever you please with it. I say, screw your father, go buy your Mac mini. I advise the high end version with AP and BT installed. It's great! It's my minor replacement of my old powermac, and when revision B/C of intel computers ship enxt year, I'll be buying one.
I never did anything my parents told me concerning money, which is why I'm better off today.
And if your dad doesn't like the specs, just tell him "yeah, but it doesn't run windows." That right there is more than triple worth the money.
I never did anything my parents told me concerning money, which is why I'm better off today.
And if your dad doesn't like the specs, just tell him "yeah, but it doesn't run windows." That right there is more than triple worth the money.
barfbag
i had a pc 3ghz processor, 200gb hdd, 512mb memory single dimm dvd recorders and everthing.
my boss advised me to get a mac, i looked at the mac mini, and saw it was half of what i had before, and he kept telling me that it would be faster, (which i didnt belive him), and he explained that with a mac you cant just put any old sodtware in there its all made to work together which makes it run quicker. baring in mind i had a 3ghz which was slow on a lot of ocations.
any way, i lost my job and with the redundancy money i brought a mac mini. talk about quick wow, its a lot faster than my pc, the only problem programme i have is mac msn and every one who has mac msn has problems, mind you i even had problems with windows msn so whats new there.
but i have never looked back,
and would i ever buy a pc or build another ever again?
NO, id always buy a mac, and i cant wait till the 19th to get the new power book.
but if you want to buy a pc im selling my old 1, which has been rebuilt for the resale.
tell him to read that.
p.s. also there are very few viruses for a mac, buy a windows machine have all the firewall and anti virus you want, block all the cookies and pop ups, and in 8 months time youll be buying a mac, because it will break down. more people are having problems with windows and viruses and the general working of it, they most people have reverted to having windows 98 back on there pc
a macs for life, not just for xmas!
a pc's for 8 months not even a year. rember this when you tell him.
and another p.s.
if you ever come to resell a mac the re-sell value is almost as great as the origional cost. a pc will devalue as soon as you get it home
no jokemcheck on ebay, thats why i brought my mini new i could get the 512 mb mac for about £80 more than the old 256mb mini, and if 512 isnt enough, get a putty knife buy a 1gb stick and pop that in close it agian and continue.
i had a pc 3ghz processor, 200gb hdd, 512mb memory single dimm dvd recorders and everthing.
my boss advised me to get a mac, i looked at the mac mini, and saw it was half of what i had before, and he kept telling me that it would be faster, (which i didnt belive him), and he explained that with a mac you cant just put any old sodtware in there its all made to work together which makes it run quicker. baring in mind i had a 3ghz which was slow on a lot of ocations.
any way, i lost my job and with the redundancy money i brought a mac mini. talk about quick wow, its a lot faster than my pc, the only problem programme i have is mac msn and every one who has mac msn has problems, mind you i even had problems with windows msn so whats new there.
but i have never looked back,
and would i ever buy a pc or build another ever again?
NO, id always buy a mac, and i cant wait till the 19th to get the new power book.
but if you want to buy a pc im selling my old 1, which has been rebuilt for the resale.
tell him to read that.
p.s. also there are very few viruses for a mac, buy a windows machine have all the firewall and anti virus you want, block all the cookies and pop ups, and in 8 months time youll be buying a mac, because it will break down. more people are having problems with windows and viruses and the general working of it, they most people have reverted to having windows 98 back on there pc
a macs for life, not just for xmas!
a pc's for 8 months not even a year. rember this when you tell him.
and another p.s.
if you ever come to resell a mac the re-sell value is almost as great as the origional cost. a pc will devalue as soon as you get it home
no jokemcheck on ebay, thats why i brought my mini new i could get the 512 mb mac for about £80 more than the old 256mb mini, and if 512 isnt enough, get a putty knife buy a 1gb stick and pop that in close it agian and continue.
specs
ftaok and onizuka are right. you worked for the money, saved it and can now you can spend it as you want.
mac minis could have the world's worst specs, but if you want it, you should get it and your dad should step aside. (minis are great by the way).
what would be better still, would be for him to support your decision and be happy that not only can his son can take decisions, but have goals, go for them and achieve them. what more could any parent want?
any other parental reaction is counterproductive, doubt-creating and just as importantly, ethically wrong.
sounds to me that specs really aren't the issue here, but its time for you to sit down with your dad and have a good talk.
this dilema is not about specs, but self reSPECt.
and he owes you that. good luck
i think you are wrong here. it is in fact the dynamics of the situation that are interesting.chucknorris said:
ftaok and onizuka are right. you worked for the money, saved it and can now you can spend it as you want.
mac minis could have the world's worst specs, but if you want it, you should get it and your dad should step aside. (minis are great by the way).
what would be better still, would be for him to support your decision and be happy that not only can his son can take decisions, but have goals, go for them and achieve them. what more could any parent want?
any other parental reaction is counterproductive, doubt-creating and just as importantly, ethically wrong.
sounds to me that specs really aren't the issue here, but its time for you to sit down with your dad and have a good talk.
this dilema is not about specs, but self reSPECt.
and he owes you that. good luck
panda said:i think you are wrong here. it is in fact the dynamics of the situation that are interesting.
ftaok and onizuka are right. you worked for the money, saved it and can now you can spend it as you want.
mac minis could have the world's worst specs, but if you want it, you should get it and your dad should step aside. (minis are great by the way).
what would be better still, would be for him to support your decision and be happy that not only can his son can take decisions, but have goals, go for them and achieve them. what more could any parent want?
any other parental reaction is counterproductive, doubt-creating and just as importantly, ethically wrong.
sounds to me that specs really aren't the issue here, but its time for you to sit down with your dad and have a good talk.
this dilema is not about specs, but self reSPECt.
and he owes you that. good luck
that is so true (i almost cried) you both need to show the respect for each other, my dad was upset when i got mine, but i showed him the size comparison. he was still upset and by now my other pc had broken down. my dad wanted to use the internat so i let him
i even paid and placed his bike on ebay which didnt sell.
but now he doesnt mind me having it.
hes gone from saying
" dont bring any thing else home" to, "tell me 1st if you want to bring anything else home" and i do now, he asks me how much somthing is and i tell him its rude to ask for what people pay for things and he shuts up.
try that
Thank you for the replies. Can't tell you how much it means to me.
*takes a deep breath*
I marched into his basement office and asked him. And just like I suspected he would do, he said that the computer that I have now is "just fine." Man, I almost blew up in his face. But I held it in and did my best to be respectful. I think he could tell too. I said, "Dad, don't get me wrong, this computer is great. It fit me well for a little while. But I hate Windows. You know that. And always being elbow deep in Linux was fun at first, but it's starting to get a little old." Here's the part that got me angry. He claimed that I agreed to keep the money in the bank, when I said nothing of the sort. After a little talking and me almost cussing him out (held it in, tried to be respectful, and I think he saw it), it came to the classic answer, "We'll see." HOWEVER! There is still some hope in this situation. One thing he said...
"Rich, I don't want to making the same mistakes I did. I'm not telling you what to do with your money, but I don't think it's such a good idea. You may regret buying something like this. We'll see. I'll think about it."
There it is. I won't be able to sleep tonight. And I'm pissed. I worked hard for this money. HARD! You know how hard? 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and DOWNTOWN! Folks, I live in the county. I had to take the bus down everyday. And he seems to not even care about how hard I worked. This makes me angry. I probably will end up getting it because I can talk him into it. I'll let you know what happens.
*takes a deep breath*
I marched into his basement office and asked him. And just like I suspected he would do, he said that the computer that I have now is "just fine." Man, I almost blew up in his face. But I held it in and did my best to be respectful. I think he could tell too. I said, "Dad, don't get me wrong, this computer is great. It fit me well for a little while. But I hate Windows. You know that. And always being elbow deep in Linux was fun at first, but it's starting to get a little old." Here's the part that got me angry. He claimed that I agreed to keep the money in the bank, when I said nothing of the sort. After a little talking and me almost cussing him out (held it in, tried to be respectful, and I think he saw it), it came to the classic answer, "We'll see." HOWEVER! There is still some hope in this situation. One thing he said...
"Rich, I don't want to making the same mistakes I did. I'm not telling you what to do with your money, but I don't think it's such a good idea. You may regret buying something like this. We'll see. I'll think about it."
There it is. I won't be able to sleep tonight. And I'm pissed. I worked hard for this money. HARD! You know how hard? 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and DOWNTOWN! Folks, I live in the county. I had to take the bus down everyday. And he seems to not even care about how hard I worked. This makes me angry. I probably will end up getting it because I can talk him into it. I'll let you know what happens.
BarfBag said:
Wow, where do you live? Here, a minor can only work up to 38 hours a week. If you are 17 you can work 50 hours only if it is split between more than one job.
im_to_hyper said:
I live in Baltimore, Maryland. When school is not in session, I can *legally* work 8 hours a day. But I found a loophole. I worked 10 hours a day and stored up a lot of over time. All I had to do was fill out an extra time card at the end of the summer with all of my overtime.
Hmm, I'm a father myself, although my two little girls are much younger than you so they don't have this problem with me. But I can see myself trying to persuade them not to buy a Windows PC!
Anyway, no matter how unreasonable your father is being about this, and I agree he is being very unreasonable, he is still your father, and if he tells you to keep the money in your account, you should do so. If you take it out after he told you not to, he will no longer trust you.
You best you can do is to try to persuade him. Print out articles praising the mini and OSX, show him how it is more productive despite being a slower machine on paper. And make sure he realises that if it does turn out buying a Mini means you make a mistake, it's your mistake made with money you earned, and you'll learn from it.
One thing I've learned from being a father, if you keep at it long enough, he'll give in just for some peace.
But no matter what, don't disobey him.
Anyway, no matter how unreasonable your father is being about this, and I agree he is being very unreasonable, he is still your father, and if he tells you to keep the money in your account, you should do so. If you take it out after he told you not to, he will no longer trust you.
You best you can do is to try to persuade him. Print out articles praising the mini and OSX, show him how it is more productive despite being a slower machine on paper. And make sure he realises that if it does turn out buying a Mini means you make a mistake, it's your mistake made with money you earned, and you'll learn from it.
One thing I've learned from being a father, if you keep at it long enough, he'll give in just for some peace.
But no matter what, don't disobey him.
I have a Mac Mini with 512mb memory. I LOVE it! It boots up way faster than my windows machine which sits right next to it. So if I want to get on the internet quickly, I use the Mac Mini. If I want to play online games on MSN or YAHOO, I wait for my windows machine to warm up.
My only stupid choice was buying the Mini without bluetooth and a wireless internet card. BUT I called an Apple Store and they said they could put them in for the same price I would have paid when I ordered my Mac Mini from Apple.com.
I like my Mac and hope to add a powerbook or Ibook. ( I already have a windows based laptop but love the MAC OS!)
One last thing... if you order the MacMini from Apple, be sure to get a student discount from the Education store on the Apple site.
My only stupid choice was buying the Mini without bluetooth and a wireless internet card. BUT I called an Apple Store and they said they could put them in for the same price I would have paid when I ordered my Mac Mini from Apple.com.
I like my Mac and hope to add a powerbook or Ibook. ( I already have a windows based laptop but love the MAC OS!)
One last thing... if you order the MacMini from Apple, be sure to get a student discount from the Education store on the Apple site.
bodeh6 said:512k memory. I think you are confusing the mini for a computer that came out 20 years ago.
Whoops!!!!! So right! LOL I mean 512 MB! My oh my... I'm showing my age!
Thanks for catching that!more breaths
again, i feel he is being unfair. but you are certainly showing more maturity than him, by willing to discuss it and to take it to him, playing his game.
if anything, this could be a great learning experience in negotiating tactics!
i really hope that you can get it sorted out and agree/disagree with plinden. your dad should not stand in your way, but certainly being underhanded and deceitful is wrong (which you clearly are not).
let the force be with you.
well that is certainly a good step. it sure is not easy.BarfBag said:
again, i feel he is being unfair. but you are certainly showing more maturity than him, by willing to discuss it and to take it to him, playing his game.
if anything, this could be a great learning experience in negotiating tactics!
i really hope that you can get it sorted out and agree/disagree with plinden. your dad should not stand in your way, but certainly being underhanded and deceitful is wrong (which you clearly are not).
let the force be with you.
Just tell him it's dual core 1.42Ghz AMD, which runs the same as a single 3.2Ghz intel
Or if he's not that dumb, remind him how hard you worked, and how he should be proud of the fact you could set a goal and achieve it (if he wasn't the obstacle). Just tell him you will commit suicide if he doesn't let you get the mini, as he wouldn't let you go to disneyland either
Good luck!
Or if he's not that dumb, remind him how hard you worked, and how he should be proud of the fact you could set a goal and achieve it (if he wasn't the obstacle). Just tell him you will commit suicide if he doesn't let you get the mini, as he wouldn't let you go to disneyland either
Good luck!
BarfBag said:
There it is.
Sometime, somewhere, he has done something he has regretted ever since.
And being a good dad (like me and a couple of the other guys on this thread
) he naturally wants to protect you. His heart's in the right place.I might not agree with the way he is choosing to explain it, but that's his prerogative.
See if you can find out what it is that's worrying him.
Is it that you might repeat one of his mistakes (buying a Mac Mini is a relatively harmless way to learn from your mistakes)?
Or is it that he thinks you are being a bit impetuous? Or would he prefer that you save your cash?
Have a heart to heart with him.
Listen.
And remember that sometimes dads find it difficult to say exactly what's on their minds.
Good luck!
Straight up.......the low end mini is whack! Too slow, programmes non-responsive and the beach ball of death 24-7. I maxed mine out with 1 gig of RAM and I boot from an external HD too. Things are a lot better. If you just wanna chill, surf a little and use non resources eating apps then its for you otherwise bully your old man into the new imac! Wowzers that thing is nice!
First of all, saving money is a good thing (TM). And yes, your dad knows best. It really is that simple, and you'll understand the day you get kids yourself. You probably wont see it this way now, but when you turn 23-25ish you probably want a place on your own. Not rent -but own a house.
That said: If your dad wants you to buy a PC instead, tell him you dont want a PC - you want a Mac. Its you who's gonna use the computer, not him - so you should get to decide. This is only fair. When he bought his car, he also got to decide what type and modell he bought based on his needs.
Edit: I'm also signing kiwi-in-uk's post. Very wise words.
That said: If your dad wants you to buy a PC instead, tell him you dont want a PC - you want a Mac. Its you who's gonna use the computer, not him - so you should get to decide. This is only fair. When he bought his car, he also got to decide what type and modell he bought based on his needs.
Edit: I'm also signing kiwi-in-uk's post. Very wise words.
Not trying to read into anyone's mind, it looks like BarfBag's dad is trying to get BarfBag to save his money, not necessarily to buy a PC.
The argument here is that the dad says that BB already has a computer that is fine. Also, the second assertion from dad is that BB agreed to save the money instead of spending it on whatever.
So the bottom line is this. Either follow your dad's instructions (aka commands) or not. But be prepared for the consequences if you take the second route.
I will amend my previous position and say that your dad is being fair. However, you can still try and convince him otherwise. Maybe you can sell the PC to offset some of the monetary burden of the Mac mini.
ft
The argument here is that the dad says that BB already has a computer that is fine. Also, the second assertion from dad is that BB agreed to save the money instead of spending it on whatever.
So the bottom line is this. Either follow your dad's instructions (aka commands) or not. But be prepared for the consequences if you take the second route.
I will amend my previous position and say that your dad is being fair. However, you can still try and convince him otherwise. Maybe you can sell the PC to offset some of the monetary burden of the Mac mini.
ft
In general, I would agree with this... but I don't necessarily think that his dad knows what is best in this case. He may be looking out for Barfbag's best interests (ie. saving the money), but really... how much is $500-600 going to do in terms of buying a house later? Not much really. In this case, I have to side with Barfbag because he showed a tremendous amount of maturity in working hard, saving his money, and discussing with his dad why he should be able to spend his money on what he was saving his money for... he worked for it, he should get to have it. Like a previous poster said, I don't see how the lesson of setting a goal and achieving it should be ignored so out of hand (seemingly).Loke said: