Review and thoughts on mac mini?

[alittleloving]

I want to buy my mom a mac for her birthday but do not want to pay so much money. How well do mac minis work? she now has a dell desktop. Will it work as fast as a mac does? Im not too familiar with the mac minis so any information is greatly appreciated! thanks!

 

[flopticalcube]

For most things that people do, minis are great. Go to the refurb store and get a mini with a full 1 year warranty for $450 when it comes up but you have to be quick.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_mini

 

[alittleloving]

Ok thanks! do you know how well the refurbished ones work?

 

[flopticalcube]

Ok thanks! do you know how well the refurbished ones work?

Couldn't tell the diff between my refurb and a new one.

 

[bagelche]

refurbs are as good as new (some would even argue better because they've been checked out, presumably thoroughly). I would always recommend going for a refurbished mac over a new one. The monetary savings are noticeable and I don't see a downside (discounting the plain brown packaging--but really).

I like the mini. It's small and speedy for all non-intensive tasks. The only downside for me is I'd want to put more RAM in, which is a small PITA.

I would also factor in accessory costs. You may already have a monitor (DVI input? if not you might need a DVi-to-VGA adapter--check out monoprice.com). Also, keyboard and mouse.

 

[alent1234]

my G4 Mini is OK for most things except Flash. it slows to a crawl with flash