mac mini - new user

Hi,

I am thinking of switching over the mac mini from my PC system. I have a nice 24" flat panel and dont need the imac. i was thinking of getting the mac mini (1.83Ghz with 1GB of RAM).

Any thoughts on the mac mini? All i will be doing is email, iphoto, itunes, and surfing the web.

Thanks

Yeah I will get one too but with 2 GB RAM because I ned to run windoz/linux in virtual machines

Should be more then sufficient... It would never hurt to throw in 1 more GB however

I have the 1.83 ghz/512/80gb mac mini....I would definatly go with at least 1gb...

So far my mini suits me just fine. If you are heavy on gaming or things that require that higher end performance than go with the Imac or G5 tower...other wise for general use it's just fine. Sure is a space saver and for the money it's great for a test run for nubies to mac...I have 5 macs just for me..( piggish I know )...LOL...and they range from an eMac which is a 2002 model on up and they run great...

Good luck with the mini...if you have any questions on it feel free to PM me...

This link may help:http://www.macintouch.com/macmini/review.html

Thanks for the feedback. Now I am just waiting for my local Apple store to get a mini in stock. I could go online and order it but its not the same buying experience as walking out with one from a cool store.

Just bought the 2.0ghz Mini with Superdrive. Am so glad I did.

Surprised your local apple store don't have any in stock though. When I went to the Apple Store in Sheffield (uk) to buy mine they said they had 'plenty' in the stores out the back

You should definitely go for 2GB RAM, my new imac came with 1GB standard & I upgraded to 2GB, I don't use my system for much more than you but since I just installed leopard when I check activity monitor It normally shows I'm using over my original 1GB

One thing you should be sure to note about the mini is that it uses shared graphics, which is to say that the graphics is on board, not via a separate graphics card, and uses some portion of the main memory as video memory. So video performance is less than that from a dedicated graphics card, and some portion of main memory is "cordoned off" for graphics use.

I mention this only to warn you that if you are planning to do graphics intensive things, the mini may not be as good a choice as say an iMac. Personally, having spent lots of time on shared memory PCs, and not being a gamer, I can tell you that you likely won't even notice the difference.

The mini remains a superbly integrated machine with exceptional performance for the price point.

samw51 said:

Thanks for the feedback. Now I am just waiting for my local Apple store to get a mini in stock. I could go online and order it but its not the same buying experience as walking out with one from a cool store.

Click to expand...

You are starting to sound like a true Mac fan already....LOL

Enjoy!

Thanks for all the input. I just picked up the mac mini installed Leopard and seems slower than my PC. I am thinking about getting an additional 1GB of RAM for a total of 2GB.

Also it seems like the mouse cursors are slower than what was in the store. I have the Logitech Cordless MX Duo keyboard and mouse. I went into the control panel and set the mouse cursor to the fastest possible. Not sure if its me but I guess I just have to get used to the mac.

Did you JUST install Leopard? Spotlight may still be re-indexing...

T

yeah just completed the install around 6pm Eastern. The store's mac mini seemed noticably faster.

Bruki said:

You should definitely go for 2GB RAM, my new imac came with 1GB standard & I upgraded to 2GB, I don't use my system for much more than you but since I just installed leopard when I check activity monitor It normally shows I'm using over my original 1GB

Click to expand...

OS X keeps some things in memory from applications that you quit, so when you re-open them they load faster (Photoshop CS3 loads in 18 secs from a cold start; quit and re-open and it will load in 3 [on my system]).

If you only had 1GB, it would just dump that unneeded data from RAM sooner and you probably wouldn't notice any difference.

Still, more RAM is always better


To the OP:

The Mac mini was designed for users exactly like yourself; I hope you enjoy it, and let us know if you need help with anything

Levi,

Thanks. I might upgrade my RAM to 2GB in a few weeks. I want to make sure its not just me being unrealistic. So far the experience has been good.

Just be warned, opening the Mini is no easy task, and (someone can correct me if I'm wrong) opening the mini can void your warranty.

Stretch said:

Just be warned, opening the Mini is no easy task, and (someone can correct me if I'm wrong) opening the mini can void your warranty.

Click to expand...

I am not sure if this still applies or not, but back when the first 1.25 G4 Mini came out people asked that question. What was said at the time by Apple dealers was as long as you don't break anything, it would be fine to upgrade the RAM. There are videos on the net showing exactly how to open it. The one thing is that the G4 Mini was easier once you get inside. On the Intel Mini you have to take off the drive assembly to get to the RAM now. Not sure what Apples stance is anymore on the Minis. I just upgraded the RAM and Hard Drive in my one Mini. Took me 1/2 hour but I am very experienced with this sort of work.

So then how are you supposed to upgrade memory? If I buy it from an apple store will they install the memory for me at no cost or is there an install charge?

This is OWC's Mini upgrade page. At the bottom is a video in 3 sizes showing exactly how to take it apart and upgrade RAM, HDD and DVD ROM.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini/

Here is another take apart guide.

http://www.applefritter.com/Mac_Mini_Take_Apart_Guide

samw51 said:

Thanks for all the input. I just picked up the mac mini installed Leopard and seems slower than my PC. I am thinking about getting an additional 1GB of RAM for a total of 2GB.

Also it seems like the mouse cursors are slower than what was in the store. I have the Logitech Cordless MX Duo keyboard and mouse. I went into the control panel and set the mouse cursor to the fastest possible. Not sure if its me but I guess I just have to get used to the mac.

Click to expand...

The Leopard tech told me today that they are having compatability issues with Leopard and the logitech mouse ( blue screen of death)...my usb non apple mouse works great. I use the ( apple competitor mouse)...can't bare to say the "M" word on here...LOL any way it works super!...for wireless I use the Kensington keyboard and mouse very nice...got them as a set on ebay for 20.00 standard price...made for mac...

I got the cordless mx duo. no bsod yet.