Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

So I am thinking of a Mac Mini

P

Primejimbo

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 10, 2008
3,295
131
Around
So I am going to restore my old XP computer that's about 5-6 years old and I am just sick of restoring in once a year. I don't use it very much since my wife and I got Macbooks and the only reason why I have it is for my daughters iTunes and her surfing the next for school and stuff. I am sick of virus protecting that slows it down and all that other junk. When my daughter graduates 8th grade in 3 years (with good grades) I am thinking of getting her a refurbished Macbook. So I am worried that the old XP won't last 3 more years til my daughter gets her Macbook and I'll end up getting a replacement anyways. I looked in the refurbished store and they just have one Mini at 699.00, so I am better off getting a basic new one unless something happens. They also have the last generation for 499.99.. is that a good deal? I probably won't get a mini for a few months also, so time isn't an issue... I just dreading restoring that XP PC and taking up a whole day :mad:
Thanks for your time and input on this.
 
Both are great deals. I assume that you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse from your PC machine? Mini is a great way to start.

One thing. Why don't you buy a MacBook for your daughter now? If no-one uses the Mini after 3 years, I think it's not the best deal. I know that you want to buy the MB as a present but spending 500-700$ for Mini now and 1000-1500$ for MB three years later sounds quite pricey for me. MacBook should last at least 3-5 years and if you're suspicious buy a AppleCare.

Just my opinion...
 
Hellhammer said:
Both are great deals. I assume that you already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse from your PC machine? Mini is a great way to start.

One thing. Why don't you buy a MacBook for your daughter now? If no-one uses the Mini after 3 years, I think it's not the best deal. I know that you want to buy the MB as a present but spending 500-700$ for Mini now and 1000-1500$ for MB three years later sounds quite pricey for me. MacBook should last at least 3-5 years and if you're suspicious buy a AppleCare.

Just my opinion...
Click to expand...
I thought about that, but I don't have the money now to buy a Macbook. I thought about that issue about having the Mini sit, but I could sell it on eBay or give it to my sister or another family member. If my daughter got a Macbook now, she would want to take it with her to her moms and stuff also and I feel she is too young yet to have a laptop.
I do have the monitor keyboard, and mouse also. One plus is my daughters schools have all Macs also, so she'll be use to using OSX.

Shake 'n' Bake said:
Definitely go for that refub mini. I got mine refurb and it was in brand-new condition. You won't be disappointed.
Click to expand...
I hope I can go this route when I am ready right now this all they have and it's $699.00:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB464LL/A?mco=MjE0NDk5Mw
A little pricey for what I want it for, so when I am ready I hope they have more of a selection.
 
Primejimbo said:
I thought about that, but I don't have the money now to buy a Macbook. I thought about that issue about having the Mini sit, but I could sell it on eBay or give it to my sister or another family member. If my daughter got a Macbook now, she would want to take it with her to her moms and stuff also and I feel she is too young yet to have a laptop.
I do have the monitor keyboard, and mouse also. One plus is my daughters schools have all Macs also, so she'll be use to using OSX.
Click to expand...

Okay. Mini is perfect as your first Mac.

By the way, how old is she?
 
Hellhammer said:
Okay. Mini is perfect as your first Mac.

By the way, how old is she?
Click to expand...

Right now she's 10 (11 next month), this is why I think a Macbook would make a great 8th grade graduation gift and she'll be ready for high school. She loves using the Mac over a PC and I figured this way she can have her iTunes set up on something that's not on my Macbook :D
I spent a few hours last week making sure nothing is on the PC that I haven't backed up and it is ready for the restore... but I really am sick of this.
 
Why do you have to restore your PC every year? I haven't had to do that with my PCs. I did replace them with Macs because I don't like Vista and got tired of the AV stuff needed, too. But, I didn't need to do restores with them, either. The only time Windows was reinstalled was when I updated the hardware that required a new install to work right.
 
Primejimbo said:
Right now she's 10 (11 next month), this is why I think a Macbook would make a great 8th grade graduation gift and she'll be ready for high school. She loves using the Mac over a PC and I figured this way she can have her iTunes set up on something that's not on my Macbook :D
I spent a few hours last week making sure nothing is on the PC that I haven't backed up and it is ready for the restore... but I really am sick of this.
Click to expand...

OK, now I understand. The school system is little bit different here in Finland. I guess $1200 laptop isn't best for 10 years old kid yet.

Keleko said:
Why do you have to restore your PC every year? I haven't had to do that with my PCs. I did replace them with Macs because I don't like Vista and got tired of the AV stuff needed, too. But, I didn't need to do restores with them, either. The only time Windows was reinstalled was when I updated the hardware that required a new install to work right.
Click to expand...

That's the only way to get rid of all viruses. I have formated my PC 5 times now and its hard drive have been changed 2 times.
 
Hellhammer said:
OK, now I understand. The school system is little bit different here in Finland. I guess $1200 laptop isn't best for 10 years old kid yet.



That's the only way to get rid of all viruses. I have formated my PC 5 times now and its hard drive have been changed 2 times.
Click to expand...

that's not completely true. I never get any viruses on my PC but i do reformat every once and awhile just because it you get all this **** on there you dont want. Your computer slows down after awhile.
 
TheNewsPaperBoy said:
Hunt around on ebay I got a brand new previous generation mac mini for 480.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll look
Keleko said:
Why do you have to restore your PC every year? I haven't had to do that with my PCs. I did replace them with Macs because I don't like Vista and got tired of the AV stuff needed, too. But, I didn't need to do restores with them, either. The only time Windows was reinstalled was when I updated the hardware that required a new install to work right.
Click to expand...
Maybe not once a year, but it seems like it. It runs so slow after a while and I don't even go on sites I shouldn't (I have cable for that lol). It's 5 years old and I just don't see it lasting 3 more years.

PaperMacWriter said:
They also have the lower end current gen refurbished for 499(although not right now).
SG :apple:
Click to expand...
I did see this and it's very temping just to buy it now, and it doesn't look refurbished either from what I can see.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB138LL/A?mco=Mjk1NDIxOQ

Hellhammer said:
OK, now I understand. The school system is little bit different here in Finland. I guess $1200 laptop isn't best for 10 years old kid yet.
Click to expand...

I also want to make sure she is responsible also 1st. She does have an iPod and a cell phone (only because she doesn't live with me full time and we talk and text every night when she's not with me). She's doing very well with those things at keeping them safe and using them wisely.
WhatLukeSaid said:
that's not completely true. I never get any viruses on my PC but i do reformat every once and awhile just because it you get all this **** on there you dont want. Your computer slows down after awhile.
Click to expand...
I do have virus scanner on it, but it is running slow and there is stuff on there I don't need anymore either. I figured a fresh start is the way to go.
 
Primejimbo said:
Thanks, I'll look

Maybe not once a year, but it seems like it. It runs so slow after a while and I don't even go on sites I shouldn't (I have cable for that lol). It's 5 years old and I just don't see it lasting 3 more years.

I did see this and it's very temping just to buy it now, and it doesn't look refurbished either from what I can see.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB138LL/A?mco=Mjk1NDIxOQ



I also want to make sure she is responsible also 1st. She does have an iPod and a cell phone (only because she doesn't live with me full time and we talk and text every night when she's not with me). She's doing very well with those things at keeping them safe and using them wisely.
I do have virus scanner on it, but it is running slow and there is stuff on there I don't need anymore either. I figured a fresh start is the way to go.
Click to expand...

Refurb gear comes in just-about-new condition. Here's what happens:

Guy returns a computer either after light use or not even opening the package.

Apple gets it, fixes what is wrong, and tests it.

You get it in better-than-new condition. :)
 
I think for $500-$600 the new mini is a much better unit than the last gen. My daughter quickly outgrew her mini (1.66CD/GMA950) because the graphics card was just not up to most modern games. We ended getting her a 17" iMac but had the new mini been around, that would have been my choice.
 
...a 5 yr old winXP machine isn't that old... I've got a Dell Dimension 8100 still running pushing 10+ yrs, try maxing out your RAM = its cheap and if you still don't like it then find the refurb mini you want...
 
flopticalcube said:
I think for $500-$600 the new mini is a much better unit than the last gen. My daughter quickly outgrew her mini (1.66CD/GMA950) because the graphics card was just not up to most modern games. We ended getting her a 17" iMac but had the new mini been around, that would have been my choice.
Click to expand...

i've been great with the GMA950. i can watch movies in 1080p, play some star wars games (KOTOR, KOTOR2, JK2, JK3) and do some editing on Photoshop.

great for what it is, and if i t wasn't, i could always drop in a 2.33GHz Intel C2D
 
flopticalcube said:
The cost of a T7600 is halfway to a new mini. Very poor value, IMO. Furthermore, there is nothing anyone can do with the GMA950 to make it support more recent games. The new mini wins hands down.
Click to expand...

i didn't say my old mini did. obviously if you put up atleast 750 bucks for a computer, you'd get a lot more than a computer that is 3 years old - especially with less than half of the processing power

and i'm not planning on dropping a 2.33 in. for 100 bucks less i could drop a 2.16 or a 2.00 in. the 2.33 is extremely overpriced. i don't see the reasoning where a 250 dollar chip is halfway to a 2.26 either...

i'm not much of a gamer. if i was i wouldn't buy a Mac
 
I just picked up a previous gen Mini at MicroCenter since they had them for $400. At that price I think it's a pretty decent value. I just wanted something small and inexpensive and this thing barely cost more than most nettops yet offers much, much more. The CPU runs circles around virtually any full-size desktop that can be had for that price. World of Warcraft runs adequately, and that's about the only game I even use. Stuff like video and audio encoding run quite fast and video playback is smooth. Sure, another $200 could have gotten me a faster CPU and much faster graphics card and memory subsystem, but that's a 50% increase in price from this machine. That said, I also don't feel this machine is worth more than $400 since even at $500 it is too close to the cost of the new one.
 
Either way a Mini or MacBook refurb or new you can not go wrong. I have two sons 14 and 16, one loves the PC with Vista only bc he is a Gamer, the other loves the Mac because it is simple, at age 11 it is not too young for them to have a Computer, but I would suggest the White MacBook with 9400M, or a Uni MacBook 2.0 Refurb this way it doesn't make you broke, she just needs to learn not to carry it around until she is a little older.


Think of it this way, when you have a Mac you have the best of both worlds, because you also have a PC :D

Good Luck, but I have one Mac Mini soon I will be getting 2 more and a MacBook Uni 2.4, and everyone is soo much happier not dealing with Windows and I am in the MIS field so it makes it easier for me as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back