I like the idea of stackable minis, but I think the heat issues and diffuculty in designing modular systems would make it impractical.
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What would a BYOM desktop between the mini and Mac Pro look like?
- Thread starter BurtonCCC
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Wow, I really like that.
And to all you "ARG! THAT COULD NEVER HAPPEN! OMGLOLROFL!!!!!one!!!111!!!eleven!!!" I was just having a little fun and making something I would mind seeing.
And I think two optical drives is very useful. Sorrrrrrrrrry.
Daniel.
Wow, I really like that.
And to all you "ARG! THAT COULD NEVER HAPPEN! OMGLOLROFL!!!!!one!!!111!!!eleven!!!" I was just having a little fun and making something I would mind seeing.
And I think two optical drives is very useful. Sorrrrrrrrrry.
Daniel.
Sorry, but I've always assumed that when someone posts on a forum, they're open to some sort of discussion. People have an annoying habit of posting their own views on these sorts of things.
I've gotta think that they'll do a middle line "headless iMac" sooner than later; they've got to realize that people want something like that.
Whether they do or not...who knows.
All's I know is that Mac Pro is overkill for me + too pricey, and an iMac is nice yet I don't need the monitor and the light upgradability turns me off...so I don't know what to do. I'm hoping they do come up with a smaller tower designed computer with a single C2D (E6600)...if they don't, I may just build a PC of those types of specs (for around $1100) and muck it through the Windows world for awhile longer.
Whether they do or not...who knows.
All's I know is that Mac Pro is overkill for me + too pricey, and an iMac is nice yet I don't need the monitor and the light upgradability turns me off...so I don't know what to do. I'm hoping they do come up with a smaller tower designed computer with a single C2D (E6600)...if they don't, I may just build a PC of those types of specs (for around $1100) and muck it through the Windows world for awhile longer.
I've gotta think that they'll do a middle line "headless iMac" sooner than later; they've got to realize that people want something like that.
Whether they do or not...who knows.
All's I know is that Mac Pro is overkill for me + too pricey, and an iMac is nice yet I don't need the monitor and the light upgradability turns me off...so I don't know what to do. I'm hoping they do come up with a smaller tower designed computer with a single C2D (E6600)...if they don't, I may just build a PC of those types of specs (for around $1100) and muck it through the Windows world for awhile longer.
I'm in the same boat, except I won't go back to Windows. :/ What's likely is that I buy a refurb mini, or at best the cheapest new mini I can get with a SD. I would have likely spent a lot more money for a machine that was what I wanted, but now I'll probably end up spending as little as I can on a Mac and getting a new display (from Dell or another manufacturer) and an Xbox360 or a Wii or something.
Actually, a lot of people who buy the Mac mini do so because of money constraints. Since Leopard is only a few months away, even if Apple updated the Mac mini with a Core 2 Duo and X1300 GPU, most would still wait to buy until Leopard and iLife '07 shipped. So maybe they're waiting for that to upgrade the Mac mini.
Also, the high-end Mac mini is 900$CAD and the low-end GMA950 17" iMac is 1100$CAD. Seriously, a 200$CAD difference is way too small, especially for the hardware differences between the two computers. For only 200$CAD more you get a faster drive, more storage space, a better CPU, a widescreen LCD, a keyboard and mouse... Either the low-end iMac is priced too low or the high-end Mac mini is priced too high.
I like both the designs and would quite happily have either.
It is a shame all of this is just conjecture.
It is a shame all of this is just conjecture.
I'm in that boat. I've got a G4 PowerBook that a friend is offering me a large sum of money for because it's in flawless condition with a lot of design software, but I'm not well-off enough to upgrade right away to the MacBook Pro that I want. So my thought is that I'm going to go fully-upgraded Mac mini with a 24" Dell panel. Altogether, this costs less than $1,900, only about $1,600 if I get the job with Apple. The lack of the "2" between the words "Core" and "Duo" is holding me back though. Also, I think the clock speeds could be a great deal higher in the next update, or even Apple should recognize that there needs to be a third configuration with more upgrades. There's really no need for the speeds in the top configuration to be under 2.0 GHz in the next mini. And no freaking need for a Combo Drive.
Daniel.
Can't we just have a Mac Pro with a Core 2 Duo (x2 possibly) and DDR2?
The current Mac Pro's use DDR2 RAM, dont they?
Well, yes, it's DDR2, but it's fully buffered ECC memory, which means it's really, really expensive. Stupidly expensive for any kind of desktop machine.
It's one of the main things keeping me from at least considering a min. spec refurb Mac Pro... adding another gig of RAM is several hundred dollars, as opposed to <$100 like it would be with standard DDR2 memory.
FB-DIMMs are really nice to have for the super high pros the Mac Pro is actually meant for as it's a workstation. The problem comes from Apple not replacing the desktop segment the PowerMacs formerly resided in.
Please bring back a colored Mac Pro mini seriously. A mini tower with 2 PCI slots would be sweet.
Shrug, I suppose that if you are trying to eek out every possible bit of performance at any cost it's great... but like you said it's just one more thing that pushes the Mac Pro out of the reach of the more "average" consumer.
Does this fall into the more money than brains scenario?
Of course Apple is closely aligned with Disney these days, and if you want a server/workstation in a nifty case -- I'm all for the Mickey Mouse theme.
That way when you talk about the Mickey Mouse Macs ... or the Goofy Mac cases.
And what is the difference between these and the cheap kind? performance? failure rate?
Nuno
I think you make a good point about the iMac: the primary audience is people who want to pull a nice-looking machine out of the box, plug in a couple of things and have it work. Not that there aren't thousands of iMacs doing prosumer work, but they are, quite naturally, over-represented on this forum. It is dreadfully un-upgradeable, not to mention married to a monitor that isn't as good as it could be.
Can you provide a reference for your last point? I'm not arguing--I don't know any better--but I'm surprised that a majority of switchers are coming in via laptops. I would've guessed iMacs purchased by people fed up with the vagaries of Windows and the beige boxes and searching for something that works better would make up the biggest portion of switchers, but I don't have any evidence to support that.
You also lose the DVD burner, and get a screen that you may or may not want.
In fact, why not offer the Mini in the low end iMac's processor speed as well?
Because they're purposely crippling the Mini so they can sell the more expensive iMac.
This would be a great design for a mini. There would be room for a 5.25" optical drive, a 3.5" 7200 RPM HDD, and room for an expansion slot or two. If given 2 PCI express slots and X300, you could install a graphics card in one bay and still have some expandability. This would answer all the clamor about not having a SD standard and having slow small hard drives, etc. Plus, the mini would fit the design scheme of the Mac Pro and ACD, and probably result in Apple selling more ACD's.
High end mini has a 1.83 CD, and the low end iMac has a 1.83 GHz C2D, not much of a difference.
By the time you upgrade the high-end Mini to be reasonably comparable to the lowest SuperDrive 17" iMac, (1 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, KB & Mouse) you're at $1152 for the mini and $1199 for the iMac, which is now a 2.0 GHz C2D and has all the other advantages of the larger form factor (3.5" vs 2.5", dedicated graphics card, iSight, ... ) which all seem worth $40 to me. Nevermind that you also get a monitor as part of the deal.
The mini isn't a very cost effective "cheap Mac" I sure hope they come up with something more appealing to replace the current Mini when Santa Rosa hits.
B