MacMini performance

clv101

clv101

clv101

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,959
Location
Bristol
My main system is a C2D E4300 running at 3.2GHz, 2GB of RAM (711MHz), all in sync at 356MHz (1422MHz effective FSB), I use two Seagate 7200.10 drives totalling 640GB, an ATI x1950PRO, a TV card and two monitors.

I really like MacOS so I’m considering a Mac replacement however £1700+ for a MacPro is just crazy money. How good is the MacMini? The 2GHz C2D I could probably live with but I’m concerned about the HDD, the graphics and loss of TV card.

I don’t game at all – the system is used mostly for MS Office, photo and video editing, web and email.

Questions:
I’m happy to use a ~500GB USB2 or Firewire external drive for the main storage, but how fast can I get the internal drive? I could put a 160GB 7200rpm drive in the Mini but how does that compare to a fast 3.5” drive?

The Mini uses Intel’s GMA 950, like I said I don’t game, but how good is this for regular use? Supporting two displays is essential, can the Mini drive two displays, how?

Are there good USB TV solutions for the Mac?

Considering I need a mouse, keyboard, external drive, TV tuner, printer… I’m getting tight on USB ports, can a powered USB hub be used?

Maybe the show stopper is 2 displays?

Failing that – anyway to run MacOS on OEM equipment?
 
bigredshark said:
It's the only way I know of to get dual displays. If you want 2x 20" displays by DVI then it likely isn't for you but it's a good product, read some reviews.
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Yeah, that's the problem, I want multiple high res DVI displays. The Matrox box has less than perfect image quality it seems.
 
Yeah, the box I want is the singe CPU (I'd be happy with a duel core) MacPro. Thing is I'd only pay £500 for it - it's shockingly expensive.
 
bigredshark said:
Indeed, if there a problem with the mac range it's lack of flexibility. Surely it shouldn't be necessary to pay £1500 for a system which supports multiple monitors. Surely at least one of the consumer Macs (mini or imac) should have a quad core processor by now, a £600 Dell does so why not.
Click to expand...

That's my problem - I want a regular computer. Industry standard, a couple of 3.5" drives, a couple of DVI outputs, a ~2.8GHz dual core C2D, 2-4GB RAM. Nothing excessive, Dell will sell me a box like that for well under £600.

Thing is I want OS X too.

The MacMini is the right price - it's just the wrong technology. The iMac is better technology - but it's got a screen attached which I don't want and its upgrade potential is too limited.

Why can't Apple do a MacPro - with basically the same hardware as a £500 Dell?
 
I don't know much about Apple's grand plan - but it seems to me if they did offer a system like this they would have a viable, competitive product for the largest segment of the market. The mainstream ~£500 Dell box. Maybe they just couldn’t get the profit margins they need in that segment though.
 
Yeah, I think an £800 Apple/OSX box would be competitive with a £500 Dell/Vista box with identical hardware. That £300 extra is Apple's margin for all the fancy packaging, brand development, software (given lower volumes) etc is paid for.

Who knows – maybe next year’s MacWorld!
 
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