mac mini as desktop replacement?

craptakular

craptakular

craptakular

Soldato
Joined
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Sussex, UK
Hiya,

Im going through hell with my PC atm, I'm at the point of chucking it out the window!

I need a stable desktop machine, will the mac mini meet my needs?

Im on teacher training at the moment and am using my macbook at lot but I prefer working at my desk. I am sick to death of fiddling with PC hardware and just want something that will work for the next 7 months of my course and the 12 months of my first teaching year.

Basically mac mini or little linux mini-itx/m-atx build?

Whats the university discount on a mac mini?
 
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The Mac mini is basically a MacBook in a desktop box.

I got one in March and it's a very capable machine for general use. I'm very happy with it.
 
It'll be just like an iMac. The new nVidia mini's will work on any size of monitor including the 30" Apple beast.

I'm using an 20" IPS screen and it's lovely.
 
that will be good but ffs do not even look at those mac screens since the screen itself is made by samsung its got an apple logo on it and its white

thats it
 
yeh I can either use a 22" iiyama (lovely screen) or the DGM 24" I gto from OCUK for a bargin price of £110 delivered lol.

I already own office 2008 mac edition, an apple remote, a DVI adapter and a VGA adapter.

Already got mouse, leyboard and monitor.

Now to decide between Mac mini and i5 upgrade. I just cant be arsed building PC's anymore just for basic console ports. I only play old games anyway so my current pc can last a couple of years yet. I also aint gonna have much time for gaming over the next 2 years.

Mac mini makes sense - reliable, 3 years warranty, really small, energy effiecent, will holds its value as its apple.

It's just that i can get the stompting i5 setup for cheaper lol

What shall I do?

EDIt: is the mac mini truly silent? Can it read and write DVD RW?

The iMac looks sexy but its double the price, I shouldnt look at them, given that i already have mouse and keyboard and 24" monitor???? :p
 
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Why not use the mac book at your desk then ? I have the 07-09 mini C2D 2.0/2gb/GMA 950 and it's fine for almost anything apart from very high bit rate 1080p playback and if I ever bothered to game on it I assume i'd be unimpressed but that's to be expected. It's hooked up to my 40" Samsung running 1920x1080. In two years of ownership it's required nothing other than the odd software update and just runs along quite happily.
 
What macbook do you have? Unless its an old one, surely that will be just as good as the mini?

I'm just about to purchase a MBP 13" for work (£750!), which will primarily be used on the desktop, with the aid of a Cinema 24", bluetooth keyboard and magic mouse :)
 
I have a June 2007 macbook I think, its got a 2.1 C2D, 2 GB ram and 120HDD

I don't have a lot of deskspace so by the time I have the laptop on the desktop with the monitor there isn't enough space for a keyboard and mouse!

The mac mini could sit under my monitor, the other side of my router.
 
The new minis are brilliant little machines, apart from gaming I am using it more than my PC. Obviously it isn't as powerful but for most things it gets the job done.
Mine sits on the end of my desk under its monitor they really are good for small space requirements.
They are really quiet to the point where I can hear my brothers xbox over it two rooms away!
 
My two main machines are a Macbook Pro (Late 2008) and a Macmini (again 2008). The Macmini has been upgraded to an SSD and 4Gb of RAM.

It's an incredibly capable machine. I use it with Apple's Cinema screen and I rarely notice the difference between using it and my faster MBP.

I don't play games though, I mainly do MS design work so it's all Word/Visio and server virtualisation. Still, if the Mini can cope with that (and it does) that's a pretty big plus.
 
Actually - on your point of can't be arsed to build a powerful PC etc. - I couldn't agree more.

I love technology but often I just want technology to work. I remember a time I used to enjoy building stuff and getting things working, and I'd put up with crashes when things got too hot etc. Now? Not a chance. If it's work orientated (I'm self-employed) it has to work... personal time? I have other things to do.

I'm sure with a lot of fiddling I could drag out an extra 5 to 10% performance from my Mac and PC kit.... but it's too time consuming and the benefit is questionable!

If I'd have read this post back to myself of 10 years ago I'd be massively disappointed with myself :)
 
Early last year, I built my current PC, I spent an hour building it, and then about half hour fiddling with the overclock (Q6600 from 2.4GHz to 3.3GHz, thought I achieved 3.7), In a crappy £20 case from a high street electronics store, because I stupidly and unknowingly ordered an MATX case from OCUK with the rest of the bits.

My point is, well over a year later, its still running perfectly, the side hasn't been off since I built it. I'm not sure wanting things to work is a valid point for not building a PC, but more a case of the longevity of a Mac being the reason why it may be a better choice than a PC.

Personally, I'm going to be buying a mac partly because I love OSX (I tried OSX86 but the "Just work" point works great here :P), partly because they look fantastic and partly because with OSX, they don't "age" nearly as quickly as a "PC" might.
 
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See I have an old copy of XP MCE 2005 that I could use for an atom ion build for around £250.

Just need to think if the mac mini is worth another £200 on top, it is 3-4 times faster though.
 
I bought the latest Mac Mini (2.26ghz) for £450 as a desktop replacement. Just...WOW! It's tiny, it can play 1080p handles CoD4. love it! :D
 
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