Mac mini suitable for basic desktop needs?

Raider

Raider

Raider

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Location
Leamington Spa / Oxford
Basically I've had it with my Desktop PC at home. I spent all of today messing around with hard drives, and after a year of Macbook Pro ownership I've realised that it's time to ditch the PC and get a Mac for desktop use too.

I already have a 32" LCD that I want to use, and the iMac is a bit pricey for the casual use that I have in mind. I mainly need it for:

  • Downloading / Newsgroups
  • Burning the odd DVD
  • Playing DVDs / Movies

So nothing intensive like gaming.
The 2Ghz / 120Gb Superdrive (£448 for HE) one looks like the right thing. So will this be more than acceptable? I imagine 1Gb should be ok too, although a 2Gb upgrade for around £40 is probably a good idea.
 
What resolution will you be running that screen at? Thats the only thing I can think might be lacking.

2GB, like you say, is worth the extra £40. Aside from that the Mini seems perfect; I'd have no problem buying one in your position.
 
Umm it's only 720p, but the native resolution is 1360x768. I usually use the DVI connector on the LCD for that. So I assume I can just connect it to the Mac mini DVI connector.

Can it run custom resolutions like that?
 
I'm not 100% sure connecting to a TV but you should be fine. The onboard graphics should handle that sort of resolution fine that was my only concern.

The GMA950 on my MacBook handles 1280x800 perfectly, only struggling a tiny bit with 1080p video.
 
I use my MacBook for a lot more. It has basically replaced my desktop. I hook it up to my 22" screen. And leave it on for long periods of time with out problems. I use it for downloading off newsgroups, web browsing, office 2008, photoshop and virtual machines.

So I think you will be fine with a Mac Mini especially with 2GB of ram. I use 4GB in my MacBook :).
 
Check the LCD as not all of them accept native res via DVI. My Panasonic TV only accepts it via VGA and I needed to use SwitchResX to add a custom resoltuion on the Mac.

Go for 2Gb, it's well worth it for £40. OS X likes RAM. Cost me over three times that...

It should be well up to the task. I use my original rev Feb 06 MacBook Pro for just about everything in preference to a big over-specced crossfired up Desktop PC. It just works!
 
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Or do what I did get an older model cheap, chuck 2GB in it and throw an also cheap 2.16 or higher Core Duo into it, total cost, 340 all in :)
 
I replaced my old PC desktop with a Mac Mini last November and I've not looked back since. I run Photoshop, Office 2008 etc plus VMware Fusion without any issues and I only have 1gb. However RAM is so cheap now that I might upgrade to 2gb anyway.
 
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