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Waiting to pull the trigger on Mac Mini 2011 Refresh, this Feb

Is anyone running the Mini Server with an SSD as their boot drive and a 7200 as their storage drive. Seems like it would be the best of both worlds.

I recently installed an OCZ SSD in my MBP and it definitely speeds things up. Size wise works fine, since most of my large files are on our '09 Mini (basically our home server)/home computer.
 
what i would really like to see is a Mac Mini Tower or Mac Mini Pro or Mac Pro Mini or Mac Pro Junior....I don't care what they call it, I would just like to see a middle of the row, faceless, desktop machine. Wouldn't that be sweet? Something upgradable, with decent power, that doesn't cost $2500. I am not complaining that they charge too much, I am just saying that there has to be a computer that fits into the space between a $1000 mini and a $2500 mac pro, that isn't an imac.
 

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I always hear people praising OWC but I've always found better deals on Newegg with a lot more options to choose from.
 
bry223 said:
I always hear people praising OWC but I've always found better deals on Newegg with a lot more options to choose from.
Click to expand...

Sometimes you don't want options, but you just want what works well. OWC (or Crucial.com for that matter) make the selection process easy.
 
aaaaaaron said:
what i would really like to see is a Mac Mini Tower or Mac Mini Pro or Mac Pro Mini or Mac Pro Junior....I don't care what they call it, I would just like to see a middle of the row, faceless, desktop machine. Wouldn't that be sweet? Something upgradable, with decent power, that doesn't cost $2500. I am not complaining that they charge too much, I am just saying that there has to be a computer that fits into the space between a $1000 mini and a $2500 mac pro, that isn't an imac.
Click to expand...

I want the same thing. The iMac is not a replacement for a true mid range Mac. It isn't about the money. It is about being able to buy what I need. A mini just doesn't cut it. And why buy the Pro when it is twice what I need expansion wise and twice as big as I have room for? The idea of an all in one is just too limiting. It would like going to buy clothes and only being able to pick from a rack of coveralls. When I see Steve Jobs wearing nothing but all in one (top and bottom) coveralls then I'll consider an all in one Mac.
 
talmy said:
Sometimes you don't want options, but you just want what works well. OWC (or Crucial.com for that matter) make the selection process easy.
Click to expand...

Exactly! OWC will sell you ram that will work in your specific Mac while it may be, more or less, a crap shoot with NewEgg if you do not know the exact specs your machine requires. In fairness to NewEgg, I have called them in the past for pre-sales questions (they were awsome!) but I can't say if it's still possible to do that.

Seems like OWC drops its prices less often but in bigger drops than the other guys but that may be just my perception.
 
aaaaaaron said:
what i would really like to see is a Mac Mini Tower or Mac Mini Pro or Mac Pro Mini or Mac Pro Junior....I don't care what they call it, I would just like to see a middle of the row, faceless, desktop machine. Wouldn't that be sweet? Something upgradable, with decent power, that doesn't cost $2500. I am not complaining that they charge too much, I am just saying that there has to be a computer that fits into the space between a $1000 mini and a $2500 mac pro, that isn't an imac.
Click to expand...

This has been suggested/asked about/hoped for/prayed for for a very long time. It's often called a Mini Tower or xMac. Very unlikely that Apple would actually build one; allowing people to add all kinds of components would be a headache for support.
 
talmy said:
Sometimes you don't want options, but you just want what works well. OWC (or Crucial.com for that matter) make the selection process easy.
Click to expand...

Normally that's true but in the case of SSDs, you don't want to use Crucial's drives in Macs at the moment because the firmware relies on TRIM to keep the drive fast over time. TRIM is not yet implemented in OS X.

QuantumLo0p said:
Seems like OWC drops its prices less often but in bigger drops than the other guys but that may be just my perception.
Click to expand...

They've been dropping prices on their SSDs pretty regularly over the past two months. For 60 and 120 GB capacities, the price premium is now low enough to go with them instead of another brand on newegg with less of a reputation for compatibility with Macs (be it actual or merely perceived).
 
old-wiz said:
This has been suggested/asked about/hoped for/prayed for for a very long time. It's often called a Mini Tower or xMac. Very unlikely that Apple would actually build one; allowing people to add all kinds of components would be a headache for support.
Click to expand...

Yet Apple offers the Mac Pro so that argument really doesn't hold water. Are people who happen to have more money automatically smarter? No. Are professionals that need everything the Pro offers automatically better at installing things? No. What Apple has done is to create an artificial barrier. It's Apple's choice but it is related to marketing and nothing else.
 
G4er? said:
Yet Apple offers the Mac Pro so that argument really doesn't hold water. Are people who happen to have more money automatically smarter? No. Are professionals that need everything the Pro offers automatically better at installing things? No. What Apple has done is to create an artificial barrier. It's Apple's choice but it is related to marketing and nothing else.
Click to expand...
The Mac Pro isn't exactly cheap, allowing for support. A cheap mid-tower would'nt create that extra needed revenue.
 
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
The Mac Pro isn't exactly cheap, allowing for support. A cheap mid-tower would'nt create that extra needed revenue.
Click to expand...

Boy if there was ever a single statement that proves that Apple has become what it protested against in the famous 1984 commercial.
"Apple will help you. But only if you bought the most expensive product. We have to make sure you are exclusive enough."
 
Well, I've had the mac mini for about a week and a half and I love this thing. Once I upgrade the ram to 8gigs, I know this thing is going to fly...especially since I've moved my entire iTunes media to an external hard drive. In fact, I keep everything on the external. Almost nothing is on the internal hard drive.

But, having this mini has caused some internal conflict.

Frankly, my Apple TV is pissing me off. I don't think it's the machine. It's my wifi signal. Via road runner, it's much stronger than when I was using DSL. At the same time, I look at my mini and instantly I know this thing would settle all my worries about my digital content on my HDTV. Frankly, wifi isn't consistent enough for me. I don't have a hardwire ethernet capabilities downstairs so I have no choice but to do wifi. It's okay for my PS3 since I only go online with it to do updates and rarely do some BD Live activity.

But with Netflix and the studios holding back new releases for 28 days, it just makes sense to go through either iTunes or Apple TV to rent new releases. Problem comes with actually accessing my rental through Apple TV. Sometimes it's okay. Other times, it takes forever. At least with the mini, through iTunes, I know it wouldn't be as bad. It'd be okay.

But, I bought the mini to be done with Windows based computers forever. And I just don't know if I want to also do my computer work on my HDTV along with using it as a HTPC. I think if the Apple TV were a bit more consistent, I wouldn't have a crisis of conscious with the machine.

But, I gotta tell you, having that mini downstairs would cure the problems of this home theater enthusiast.

Yet, Cloud is coming. Wouldn't that pretty much make having an external hard drive downstairs with your HTPC pretty much pointless?

What the hell to do...
 
bry223 said:
I always hear people praising OWC but I've always found better deals on Newegg with a lot more options to choose from.
Click to expand...

head to head i would say newegg is cheaper but owc has a lot of stuff that works well for macs. if you diy owc has very good install videos. If you use a lot of computer gear.
www.newegg.com
www.superbiiz.com
www.chiefvalue.com neweggs 1st cousin
www.zipzoomfly.com
www.macsales.com (owc)
www.amazon.com
www.buy.com
www.jr.com
www.bhphoto.com

of course ebay and craiglist all of these sites can have a good deal.

and www.apple.com
refrub link below.


http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=OTY2ODY3Nw

there are 2 or 3 other worth while sites www.applecomponents.com for repair parts.

I used all of the above to mod and sell about 100 2008-2009 mini's. with ebay and craigslist being the riskiest sites to buy.
 
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Intel Sandy Bridge out this Jen-Feb too

With the Sandy Bridge version of intel's i series chips out this January, supposedly with much faster internal graphics, an i3 or i5 upgrade of the mac mini seems likely.....
 
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suffeks said:
I want to see SATA3 so I can use those new 500MB/s SSD's coming out soon ;)
Click to expand...

I'd like to see this too... although SATA II SSDs are already fast enough for me :p.

skipjakk said:
With the Sandy Bridge version of intel's i series chips out this January, supposedly with much faster internal graphics, an i3 or i5 upgrade of the mac mini seems likely.....
Click to expand...

Have any benchmarking sites obtained engineering samples to test the graphics performance of the Sandy Bridge chips? I was under the impression that they'll still trail behind integrated chips like the 320m.
 
Is Mini enough computer for my upgrade?

After reading these posts I wonder if the pre 2010 mini would be a sufficient upgrade for me. I would appreciate advice.
I'm looking for a cost efficient upgrade from a G5 Power Mac 1.8GHz. I need to run Photoshop CS5 and must have decent performance of basic multimedia and iMovie creations.
Is the 2.4GHz mini sufficient? Or an earlier version?
I don't need a monitor, so haven't been considering the iMac, but it looks like there's a performance hole between the current mini and the i3 iMac.

Thanks in advance,
Abbycat
 
I'm starting to come back to thinking that this would be a great upgrade. Small, hdmi port, whack a 750GB hard drive in, hooked up to a 24 inch monitor with facetime, sorted, and long lasting, while having an ipad around to take notes with its long battery life.
Yeah, i like this idea lol.
 
abbycat said:
After reading these posts I wonder if the pre 2010 mini would be a sufficient upgrade for me. I would appreciate advice.
I'm looking for a cost efficient upgrade from a G5 Power Mac 1.8GHz. I need to run Photoshop CS5 and must have decent performance of basic multimedia and iMovie creations.
Is the 2.4GHz mini sufficient? Or an earlier version?
I don't need a monitor, so haven't been considering the iMac, but it looks like there's a performance hole between the current mini and the i3 iMac.

Thanks in advance,
Abbycat
Click to expand...

A last-gen Mini + a modern SSD would certainly make the system incredibly responsive; it would 'feel' light-years ahead of your Power Mac. However, if you will be running lots of filters and complex workflows with Photoshop, and plan on doing a lot of video encoding, the i-series chips in the iMacs will complete those tasks noticeably faster. It's a no-brainer to recommend the older Mac + SSD combo to general users nowadays (I just stuck an SSD in a 3-year-old MacBook and for the basics it's more responsive than anything Apple sells today), but when you're talking about a more professional workload, the limits of the 9400m gpu and Core 2 Duo will become apparent.
 
dolphin842 said:
It depends on Apple finding a suitable low-end GPU to use with the H55 chipset. If the 320m could have been paired with an i3/i5, I'm sure they would have done it for the 2010 refresh, but since Intel doesn't want to license the chipset tech to nVidia, Apple is stuck with either the on-chip IGP (which is very slow compared to the 320m or 9400m), or a more expensive discrete gpu like the 330m. Perhaps one of these factors will change in 2011, but if not, don't be surprised to see a Core 2 Duo in next year's refresh.
Click to expand...

So, looks like we may get our wish, as it appears Intel and nVidia will settle their differences out of court, and nVidia will be allowed to make chipsets compatible with the i-series CPUs.
 
has anyone looked to the new asrock 3D minis here ?

Hello APPLE ? HELLOOOOOOO - thats the way to go.... DO IT :D
 
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