Mac Mini Questions

Did you choose the 100Gb hard drive?

EDIT: My Mini's here! I'm well chuffed. Had a quick tinker with it at dinner time and tried out Safari and Mail. Probably go back to Thunderbird and Opera though as they are available for Mac OS X. Can't wait to put it through its paces tonight with a bit of DVD making.
 
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Nah I'm gonna use an external. The way I see it, I'd end up using an external drive anyway if I paid for the 100GB upgrade, so there's no point paying extra to put off the inevitable by a couple of weeks.

Are there any decent hard drive cases that sit under the mini? I don't need one with the drive in, just the box.
 
The lacie mini is ment to be good and silent too :)

The 250gb is about £110 I think. There are bigger versions too.


Echo Toxin let us know how it gets on :D I'm eger to hear!
 
I already have a hard drive though, any models which come empty?

Also if the mini is going to sit on top it's going to be aluminium. If not I'll just use any old random enclosure.
 
Big-Mac-Please said:
Echo Toxin let us know how it gets on :D I'm eger to hear!
Click to expand...

I'm so glad Steve chose to switch to Intel processors. It's opening up a whole new realm of possibilities for OS X. And I'm so glad I've switched.

This little box is running like a dream. I was a bit worried about having only a 5400rpm disk after being used to my raided 10,000 Raptors, but it's sure managing to keep up with everything! I truly love the way software is packaged into folders so you don't get files strewn here, there and everywhere.

Ah, yes. It's like going outside after a thunderstorm - the air is clear and each breath you take is wonderfully fresh. A refreshing computing change with Mac OS X.
 
Unfortunately mine's now been delayed by 7-10 working days, apparently :( Might not get it for 2 weeks now! Still, I'll be patient :p

arty
 
lacie now do 500GB conpanion drive, i saw one at the apple store on oxford st, it has a fw and usb hub built in and looks almost exactly like the mini its self. wayy cool.
 
Just got my Mini and writing this post from it as is traditional with new computers :p

So far I'm finding it all fairly straightforward - the only thing that's giving me a slight peeve is that my forward / back buttons on my mouse don't appear to work in either Finder or Safari. I've had a quick poke around in the keyboard / mouse settings in the System Preferences but quickly felt out of depth and gave up :o Home and End don't seem to work either. Any tips gratefully received!

Will post pics with my new TV when I next have the chance :)

arty
 
I'm also after one of these to use whilst the missus is on the iMac. Going to relegate my PC to just gaming until its life expires then go mac entirely :)
 
I'm still absolutely chuffed with miine, its awesome.

As a traditional pc enthusiast, you forget just how great it is to have a silent computer. Its fast, silent, runs incredibly cool and OSX is just an absolute joy to use. Just starting to use keyboard shortcuts too, very useful indeed.

It stat up in seconds, and front row is wonderul!


BUY BUY BUY PEOPLE! :D
 
Some more questions:

  • Does anyone know of a way to get Mplayer to accept input from the Apple remote control?
  • Has anyone got any links to good terminal tutorials? I'd like to knock up a few simple scripts.
  • Along with the previous item, does anyone have links to decent general 'using OS X' tutorials?
  • How do you maximise an application a la Windows? :p
  • What do people tend to use for an MSN, ICQ and IRC combined client? I'm thinking a rough equivalent of Miranda.
  • How do you change the font size of window titles and the menu bar? At the moment it's really far too big for this monitor :)
  • (I'll add a few more of these as I think of them!)

Lovely machine, though. There's an increasing temptation to hook my digital piano up via USB and play with GarageBand when I get home (currently away!).

arty
 
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Arty,
I had the exact same mouse problem as you - using a microsoft intellimouse explorer. I just downloaded the intellipoint 6 drivers and now it works great. This puts a new pane into preferences called 'Microsoft Mouse'.
So - just look for the OSX drivers for your mouse brand and you should be good to go.
If you have no luck you could try USB overdrive - that also worked for me but it nags for payment (not free software).
cheers,
solp
 
Matt said:
MSN/ICQ = Adium
IRC = Colloquy

You can't maximise windows (you'll get used to it quickly) :)
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll take a look at those. Garageband is damn good for a free application - I think it'd make a terrific 'notepad' music app. Cool :)

arty
 
Do you ever buy a new box of tricks and then wish you hadn't?

I wanted a Mac so I got the cheapest one available - a new Core Duo mini for £700 (2Gb RAM). But it doesn't feel any faster than my 18-month Athlon PC. With some things, it's even slower, probably due to the 5400rpm disk being a bottleneck.

I think it'll have to go up for auction and then I'll hang on another 9 months or so until Vista and Leopard have arrived. Then I'll choose between a Mac Pro or a custom-built Core 2 Quadro.

As a gamer, it's difficult to decide. Do I compromise a little and go for a Mac Pro which gives me OS X to use, limited upgradeability (graphics-card wise) and possibly gaming quirks in Boot Camp or plump for a nice, custom-built rig and stick with Vista. :confused:
 
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