Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Your impression about mac mini
- Thread starter mifka
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They're a tad fiddly to get into, but once you've got the casing off, pretty easy to work on. Reliability seems to be pretty good, too.
Frankly, I'd rather work on a Mini than an iMac.
Overall, they're good little machines for the money - there's a small performance hit due to the laptop HD, and an iMac is certainly faster, but if you already have a screen you can't go far wrong. Buy one
Frankly, I'd rather work on a Mini than an iMac.
Overall, they're good little machines for the money - there's a small performance hit due to the laptop HD, and an iMac is certainly faster, but if you already have a screen you can't go far wrong. Buy one
I nice little machine. Not super powerful, but they're great family computers. I have one that the kids use (though not nearly enough to be worth what I paid) and it handles things great. Even games aren't bad. My son plays LEGO Star Wars and it sails along on it nicely.
The mini is a great solution to any home entertainment setup. Nice and discrete, and if hooked up with a network drive, will allow to act as a nice media player. That's how I'm currently using mine.
I was hesitant when I first opened mine, but after getting over that fear, it's not too bad to play around inside. Just be sure to connect the fan again or it'll be VERY loud. Upping it to 2 GB ram and a faster HD helps greatly.
I was hesitant when I first opened mine, but after getting over that fear, it's not too bad to play around inside. Just be sure to connect the fan again or it'll be VERY loud. Upping it to 2 GB ram and a faster HD helps greatly.
I bought a 1.66 Superdrive Mini refurb last year as a holdover till the aluminum iMacs came out. It was a great little computer. Not being a gamer the integrated graphics was fine and I had no issues with the HDD size or speed. It was a fantastic little machine. As soon as I got it I upgraded it myself to 2GB of RAM following the video at OWC. It was not hard. I could have replaced the HDD too if I wanted. I even swapped the RAM out when I took it in to Apple for Bluetooth issues - turned out to be my mouse. Then I swapped the RAM back in when I brought it home (just in case they needed to replace my machine, always backup data and put the original RAM back in.)
I have two Mac minis in my little collection o'Macs, and they really are great little machines. Not the fastest in the world but still have plenty of decent speed and power and work quite well. They're great if you already have a good screen (and so don't want to buy an iMac), and don't want to spend a whole lot of money on a Mac Pro.
As stated before, these aren't designed to be gamer machines, but they will actually do WoW and even Sl reasonably well. And they'll of course stand up well to video editing tasks and most other apps just fine.
So if you're in the market for a cheap little Mac, I'd say get the 2.0Ghz, get the base RAM, then buy memory upgrades from Crucial and upgrade it that way. upgrading RAM does NOT void your warranty, as long as you're careful and don't break anything while you're in there. They're just fine at 1GB, but with the added RAM (at least 2GB), these macs really are quite responsive and perform well.
As stated before, these aren't designed to be gamer machines, but they will actually do WoW and even Sl reasonably well. And they'll of course stand up well to video editing tasks and most other apps just fine.
So if you're in the market for a cheap little Mac, I'd say get the 2.0Ghz, get the base RAM, then buy memory upgrades from Crucial and upgrade it that way. upgrading RAM does NOT void your warranty, as long as you're careful and don't break anything while you're in there. They're just fine at 1GB, but with the added RAM (at least 2GB), these macs really are quite responsive and perform well.
Best computer I have bought to date. That is, I was a windows user prior to this Mac. Had a Gateway tower with a dual core AMD processor with 1Gb Ram and 2.0Ghz processor. I now own the Mac Mini and I would say it blows the power of the Gateway away. I already had my 21" HD Widescreen Gateway monitor so this was perfect and it has DVI which my Gateway didn't have. Would never look back at a Windows PC.
Mac Mini 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo with 1Gb Ram.
Mac Mini 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo with 1Gb Ram.
Wow, you have the EXACT before-and-after configurations that *I* have.
Well okay, I put 2GB on my mini, but other than that...
Opening it does require a bit of courage, and you have to pay careful attention to making sure you put it back together correctly. I've had to be more careful with the mini than most laptops I've ever opened up. Once opened, it's not that bad to work on.
As a computer, it is perfect for me. I can't afford a Pro, and the integrated screen of the iMac just rubs me the wrong way... so the Mini was the logical choice. It's possibly the only computer I've ever purchased and did not later find some hidden flaw. It's a great desktop PC for around the house, and as a bonus, I now have a HTPC for the odd times when I may need one.
Only drawbacks to the Mini (IMO):
1) Graphics power not upgradable- though I made peace with that before I bought it
2) Lack of a DVD Burner as standard seems chintzy. This is 2008, come on, even free-in-a-cereal-box eMachines have DVD burners.
It is a fantastic small-footprint, energy-sipping computer that will more than likely excel in any task you throw at it.
For the price and the platform, it cannot be beat.
Many people on here use them as secondary/alternate purpose computers, and the mini is perfect for a lot of these tasks. Mine is a home server and workstation. On all the time, specs set to save energy, and I have no complaints.
Video-card wise, I do not do anything intensive, but I leave the mini on 24hrs/day, and run 6 spaces on a 23" ACD. I never see problems...
For the price and the platform, it cannot be beat.
Many people on here use them as secondary/alternate purpose computers, and the mini is perfect for a lot of these tasks. Mine is a home server and workstation. On all the time, specs set to save energy, and I have no complaints.
Video-card wise, I do not do anything intensive, but I leave the mini on 24hrs/day, and run 6 spaces on a 23" ACD. I never see problems...
Always connect it up and boot it up to make sure it is working correctly before fitting the case back together. I know this from getting it wrong myself.
The same for me. I can't stand the display on the new iMac so I went for the 2.0 mini with a 20" ACD. With some careful purchasing decisions I managed to get it for less than the cost of the base model iMac, including AppleCare.
1) The graphics don't bother me either, most people judge the mini on paper based on it's specifications, without ever using one anyway. Sure it won't be any good for professional applications but there's the Mac Pro for those users.
2) I got the high end model with the SuperDrive. It's ok for burning the occasional disc but I use a Firewire Pioneer DVR-112 burner most of the time because it is so much quicker, both for burning and reading discs.
I just bought one and it will be arriving on Monday. Somehow I seriously doubt that it will be "useless". For the huge number of people out there who aren't gamers, who don't use Pro Applications but want a good, solid computer with a small foot print, the Mac Mini is ideal.
I'd be very surprised if eric55lv has every actually SEEN a Mac Mini, much less used one...
The Mac mini far outpaces the iBook G3 you have in your sig. So what makes it "use less" and not your iBook?
The mini is intended for people to have a low-cost entry-level Mac, an enticement for people to switch who don't want to plunk down $1500+ for their first mac. It seems to be doing that job really well. Not to mention, it's a great secondary desktop Mac as well for those who do have iMacs, Macbook(Pros) or Mac Pros and want a little something extra in another room.
I bought my wife one for her birthday
It was the perfect solution. My wife was using her old Dell laptop to browse the web, e-mail, iTunes etc.... I was going to replace it with an iMac until I read a post on another forum (Audiworld) about a guy who had his Mini attached to his TV and it hit me. If I do the same, she can do all the stuff she normally does and I can basically hide it in the entertainment unit! With our first child here and a second in the works, space has become limited and the thought of not having to make room for another computer desk made me giddy!
It works great! She can do her normal stuff plus we also use it to rent movies.
My only complaint is the lack of dedicated graphics. Video games rock on the 46" HDTV but unfortunately they do NOT rock on the GMA950. If Apple includes dedicated graphics in the next update, I'll be buying a 2nd Mini.
It was the perfect solution. My wife was using her old Dell laptop to browse the web, e-mail, iTunes etc.... I was going to replace it with an iMac until I read a post on another forum (Audiworld) about a guy who had his Mini attached to his TV and it hit me. If I do the same, she can do all the stuff she normally does and I can basically hide it in the entertainment unit! With our first child here and a second in the works, space has become limited and the thought of not having to make room for another computer desk made me giddy!
It works great! She can do her normal stuff plus we also use it to rent movies.
My only complaint is the lack of dedicated graphics. Video games rock on the 46" HDTV but unfortunately they do NOT rock on the GMA950. If Apple includes dedicated graphics in the next update, I'll be buying a 2nd Mini.
It is the perfect Mac for anyone who doesn't have much space and wants a desktop Mac or doesn't want an all-in-one Mac but can't afford the Mac Pro.
Honestly, I've used a Mac Mini at school with 512MB RAM, running Leopard and Final Cut Express HD. It runs amazingly well for something that apparently only just has the "Minimum requirements" for both pieces of software ON THEIR OWN.
Not only can they be used as computers, you can also get one instead of an Apple TV if you want to have a complete all-in-one solution for your media set-up (CD player, Media playing (front Row), Wireless stuff, iTunes store, Web Browsing, etc.). And they're cheap (for a Mac).
Honestly, I've used a Mac Mini at school with 512MB RAM, running Leopard and Final Cut Express HD. It runs amazingly well for something that apparently only just has the "Minimum requirements" for both pieces of software ON THEIR OWN.
Not only can they be used as computers, you can also get one instead of an Apple TV if you want to have a complete all-in-one solution for your media set-up (CD player, Media playing (front Row), Wireless stuff, iTunes store, Web Browsing, etc.). And they're cheap (for a Mac).
My 2Ghz Mac Mini is my first foray into Mac ownership. I'd never even dreamt of Mac before, given that I'm quite an avid gamer. I wasn't going to splurge out on an iMac or Mac Pro, in case I didn't like it, so the Mini was my obvious choice.
It's no games machine ( for the stuff I want to play at least ), but for everyday stuff it's been great. I bought mine with Leopard, so I've had a couple of OS bugs and it's been 'interesting' learning how to use Macs, after nearly 20 years on PCs, but on the whole it's been worth it.
I'm praying that they give the Mini a decent CPU and GPU upgrade sometime soon, so I can retire my current Mini to become a media player and buy a new Mini for games.
I have a 2Gb memory kit from Crucial, that'll be going in once I get the cajones to take it apart
All in all, it's a great little system and I'd certainly recommend one to a switcher or someone who doesn't need to play many games.
It's no games machine ( for the stuff I want to play at least ), but for everyday stuff it's been great. I bought mine with Leopard, so I've had a couple of OS bugs and it's been 'interesting' learning how to use Macs, after nearly 20 years on PCs, but on the whole it's been worth it.
I'm praying that they give the Mini a decent CPU and GPU upgrade sometime soon, so I can retire my current Mini to become a media player and buy a new Mini for games.
I have a 2Gb memory kit from Crucial, that'll be going in once I get the cajones to take it apart
All in all, it's a great little system and I'd certainly recommend one to a switcher or someone who doesn't need to play many games.
I used to have a Mini G4 but I sold it on ebay (you gotta love ebay)it was basically useless and I barley used it and it was slow so I got an iMac
My Mini runs CS3 and Lightroom just fine. Ive maxed out the ram and its a great little computer. I think the key thing to do is to increase the ram (i have 2x2gb in mine but even 2x1gb would see a difference)
Eventually It will become part of my home entertainment system and will be replaced by a mac pro but i think it will last me a few years yet
Eventually It will become part of my home entertainment system and will be replaced by a mac pro but i think it will last me a few years yet
I just recently bought a Mac min (low spec) one, It's doing a great job for what I need it to do. It's my first mac and I'm loving it. I'm guessing in next year or so (depends on money wise) I will either upgrade to the iMac/Mac Pro or whatever is out by the time I have the money