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Thinking of Getting a old/used Mac Mini...

J

jbsmithmac

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 11, 2011
244
0
I have a need to have a machine run some scripts every evening (backup jobs of websites). Right now all I have are MBP's and I kick off the script manually when I get home and have one of the MBP's on.

I'd like to have a machine that is a small footprint that would essentially be an always-on device...that I'd simply remote into from one of the MBP's when needed.

So I was thinking of a Mac Mini for this (or some other really cheap linux box but finding a small, cheap, low power linux box is proving difficult for some reason.

That said to do what I'm looking to do (Which right now is an automator action that calls Transmit FTP and some apple script), could I get away with one of the G4 mini's...or one of the very early Intel Mini's? I'd need to at least run OSX 10.6.8. I probably don't want to spend more then ~$200.

Also this would be in my bedroom...is there any noise to them? I'd probably schedule the script to run at like 3am or something.
 
Well you're not going to get away with a G4 mini if you have to run snow leopard since it is intel only.

Get a core2duo from 2009/10, they're whisper quiet.
 
And said:
Well you're not going to get away with a G4 mini if you have to run snow leopard since it is intel only.

Get a core2duo from 2009/10, they're whisper quiet.
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That is what I was looking at on ebay...but for some odd reason a lot of them don't have a power cord/brick. Is that something I can get from apple as a replacement?
 
The oldest mini that will run Snow Leopard is the Early 2006 (Macmini1,1), (MA205LL/A), via Mactracker.

All of the blocky minis are dead quiet as far as I know. I have not owned the flatter style.

A.
 
And said:
2GB is pushing it a little, but you'd probably cope. If you could find a 2.0 GHz or 2.26 GHz with 4 GB for a similar price, or slightly increased price, you'd probably be happier you did.
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I've come to the same realization. But would a 2.0 with 4gb of ram or a 2.26 with 2gb of ram be better?

I'm thinking higher ram? Granted both can be upgraded to 8gb later for a relatively low cost.
 
jbsmithmac said:
I've come to the same realization. But would a 2.0 with 4gb of ram or a 2.26 with 2gb of ram be better?

I'm thinking higher ram? Granted both can be upgraded to 8gb later for a relatively low cost.
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I'd get 2.0 with 4GB if that was the choice. Yes, they can be upgraded in the future, but it is a serious pain with this design mini i'm afraid. You should also check Mavericks compatibility, IIRC the '09 2.0GHz is the earliest mini that can support mavericks, so you can be up to date with that purchase which could be a bonus depending on exactly what you want to do with it. You'd need to look into that, I'm relying on memory here.
 
And said:
...which could be a bonus depending on exactly what you want to do with it. You'd need to look into that, I'm relying on memory here.
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Well the only reason I'm looking to get a mini is because I don't have a desktop...and I'm planning on leaving it running 24/7 so I can schedule some scripts very early in the morning to do incremental backups of my websites.

So I don't see it doing any more than FTP/HTTP, web browsing. And I'll be running it headless and just use the screen sharing option from another mac.

My other Mac's that are more powerful will be used for my other tasks...

Still recommend the 2.0 with 4gb ram? (and yeah I confirmed it will support 10.9)
 
jbsmithmac said:
Still recommend the 2.0 with 4gb ram? (and yeah I confirmed it will support 10.9)
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Yes, that is what i'd go for (happens to be my current desktop set up). 4GB is a bit tight for general, multiple applications open, computing, but I think you should be fine if this is not your main machine. Happy shopping!
 
Thanks. I also just watched the OWC youtube video on how to change the memory...that is well within my skillset so if I decide to up to 8gb I feel confident I can do it.


Thanks again.
 
jbsmithmac said:
Thanks. I also just watched the OWC youtube video on how to change the memory...that is well within my skillset so if I decide to up to 8gb I feel confident I can do it.


Thanks again.
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I've done it myself and would prefer not to have to, put it like that! A few of the screws are a little awkward, but it's manageable.
 
I recently did the HD and ram upgrade on this machine. It made a big difference, and wasn't nearly as hard/bad as I thought it would be.
 
For running some backup scripts, consider a Raspberry Pi. Very good in always-on as it only uses 5 watts, it runs all current linux software and it is very cheap.
 
blanka said:
For running some backup scripts, consider a Raspberry Pi. Very good in always-on as it only uses 5 watts, it runs all current linux software and it is very cheap.
Click to expand...

I looked at that but I wanted a more finished system... Meaning I didn't want to build a case for it.

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BigRed1 said:
I recently did the HD and ram upgrade on this machine. It made a big difference, and wasn't nearly as hard/bad as I thought it would be.
Click to expand...

What is the HD upgrade? Dual or SSD?
 
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