Mac Mini

JIMA

JIMA

JIMA

Associate
Joined
15 May 2006
Posts
224
Hi,

I'm looking at getting a Mac to replace my Windows PC used for e-mail, internet browsing etc.

The 17" Mac 2.0 Ghz looks to be the best for what I need it for. However, the Mac Mini also looks pretty good and it's a bit cheaper. The only things I'd be concerned about are the disk space and the Intel graphics.

Can I ask if people have found either of these to be a problem? Can a Mac Mini play DVDs without dropping frames, and will it be able to run the next OSX? Could it be used for Java development or would an iMac be far better?

For reference I'm currently using an Athlon XP2000 so I guess it's bound to be a vast improvement on that?

Thanks for any help.

Jim
 
I have a Mac Mini (Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz, 1GB RAM, 100GB) and there fine for everything I do, especially for graphics. I watch quite a few DVD's on it and it has never dropped any frames ... it just wouldn't do that. I've even downloaded the Call of Duty 2 and Quake 4 demo's onto it and they've played fine ... a slight bit of stuttering every so often as it loads in data but pretty amazing for what the spec is.

As for disc space if the 160GB's isn't enough for you Iomega do a great 500GB external drive thats made especially to fit under the Mini and also comes with a firewire and usb hub built in ... you can find it on the Apple Store for £199 ... i'm thinking of getting myself one soon :)

It'll easily be able to cope with the next 2 operating systems at least, I might upgrade mine to 2GB RAM actually as i'm going to be using it as my main machine for the next couple of years or so but 1GB will handle Leopard without any problems.

Personally I would recommend a beefed up Mac Mini over an iMac :)
 
My model takes the following:

512 MB of PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM, SO-DIMM form factor, with 2 RAM slots (expandable to 2 GB)

... but you can find any of the models info here.
 
I routinely throw around 19Mbps HD MPEG2 files (1920x1080) on my mini and it can play them without a blip so you've no worries in that regard. I've got an 80Gb internal disk which is just about enough but I also bought a Western Digital 400Gb My Book firewire drive to go with it. The beauty of this drive is that it shuts down/starts up automatically with the mini.

I should think it would run the Leopard OS just fine. Processor-wise it's plenty. Whether they alter the CoreGraphics or something to require a step-up from the Intel GMA950, who knows? I doubt Apple would shaft people that quickly though.
 
Thanks for the info everyone.

Sounds like the Mac Mini would do what I want. The only thing against it is the fact that once you add a 160GB drive, 1GB memory, keyboard + mouse (I haven't got USB ones, my PC is that old) the price isn't that different to an iMac that's roughly equivalent in spec.

But then I'd be able to use my current PC monitor, plus it would save so much space on my desk. There are some difficult decisions to be made!
 
Surely if the mac mini + upgrades is equivelent in price to iMac with no upgrades, and the fact you want less desk space used, sounds like the iMac would be more suited.

But having said that, i am not a Mac user...yet. Hopefully get my Mac this week.
 
I got a 1.67 Duo mini a month or so back, upgraded from a xp2000 system also.

It is miles faster. The only bottlneck appears ot be writing to the hard disk - its only 5400rpm.

Plus, its SO TINY!
 
hogfather said:
It is miles faster. The only bottlneck appears ot be writing to the hard disk - its only 5400rpm.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the drive isn't terribly slow but it could be better and is definitely a bottleneck. I have a 250GB MyBook Premium coming tomorrow and i'm gonna try it as the boot drive over firewire 400 on my Mini.. will report back with XBench results etc. if anyones interested :)
 
Thanks for the further info. Sounds like the Mini is a fine machine from what everyone says.

The 1.66Ghz Mini with 1GB Ram and an 80GB HD would seem a bit of a bargain. The slowness of the disk probably wouldn't be a problem given what I want it to do (e-mail, Internet, exploring OSX etc). And the HD size wouldn't be a problem with the external drives on offer as mentioned by a couple of you. Good to hear that the 1.66Ghz is fast enough processor-wise too.

Those onboard graphics are the only weakness I can see, but it sounds like they've improved in the last few years if they can play DVDs well. I'm using a Radeon 9200 here on my ancient PC with no probs.

The only reason I'm moving from the PC is reliability issues. Well, that and a growing tiredness of Windows.
 
Caged said:
No way. If you have the money for the iMac, go for the iMac.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think so too.. despite owning a Core Duo Mini I would go for the iMac if I didn't already have a good monitor (2007WFP). They are both great systems but the potential elegant simplicity of the iMac (zero wires other than power) and the extra oomph of a 7200rpm drive and non-embedded graphics would just have swayed me in that direction. Plus you can get it with C2D now.. oh decisions decisions :p
 
the mini's onboard graphics are miles better than the 9200 it used to have in there, I think I read it had twice the performance in some areas, so dvds really arrent a prob.

I went for the 512 version, to keep costs down, you can always do the ram upgrade yourself (cheaper, and doesnt void the warranty iirc).
 
Thanks for the further info on the graphics etc.

I'm in the same position as Catalyst in that my monitor is pretty good and doesn't really need replacing.

I reckon I'll go for the Mac Mini to keep costs down as it'll be mainly used just for Internet, e-mail etc. and it'll also give me a relatively cheap look into OSX. If my development machine gave up I'd probably go for an iMac, as has been suggested, given the faster HD, better graphics etc.

It's good to see that Apple can offer a cheapish alternative that's still powerful enough to be really useful.
 
its just that macbooks are highly thought in the audio prodcution world wondered if mac mini where the same if its a realtek I doubt they are then :(
 
porkrind said:
its just that macbooks are highly thought in the audio prodcution world wondered if mac mini where the same if its a realtek I doubt they are then :(
Click to expand...

Whether it is the same as the Macbook or not is irrelevant mate - the on-board audio isn't (and has never been) the reason Macs are widely used throughout the audio production field so don't worry about it.. no pro or even serious amateur ever uses the on-board audio for anything critical as it is mediocre at best. Get yourself a firewire audio interface for the Mini and youre sorted :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom