05-17-2005, 10:24 AM

It seems that if you use a firewire drive for your mini, you can see up to 75% increase in disk performance.

Click Here for Article

05-17-2005, 10:44 AM

that is great info.

05-17-2005, 02:10 PM

The day I bought my mini I stuck a 60Gb 7200 RPM drive in it...I think it's a roughly similar performance increase and it's internal and keeps it portable. But yes, the cost is greater and you have to take your mini apart.

05-18-2005, 07:35 PM

You guys make it sound as though the 4200 RPM drive is from the Stone Age or something! It can't be THAT bad, can it?

05-18-2005, 09:06 PM

Not that its really THAT bad, but it definitly puts a bottleneck on the mini / iBook.

05-19-2005, 07:45 AM

I'd say the HD spindle speed/Seek time/transfer rate = the biggest slowdown in iBook/mini. Next on my particular list of issues...puny underpowered/out-of-date/undermemoried video chipset.

05-19-2005, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by mcsenerd

I'd say the HD spindle speed/Seek time/transfer rate = the biggest slowdown in iBook/mini. Next on my particular list of issues...puny underpowered/out-of-date/undermemoried video chipset.

No offense, mcsenerd, but it seems like you should have gone for an iMac or something. The extra money you must have spent maxing-out your Mini beyond its intended specs would likely have paid for one!

I too struggled with the Mini issues of "slow" disk speed (i.e. a few extra seconds here and there -- tragedy!!) and low VRAM, but let's face it: the Mini is NOT intended to be some kind of power machine! That what PowerMacs and PowerBooks are for, am I right? So I've taken the plunge a bought the Mini knowing that it will easily handle my everyday tasks and light gaming requirements and, according to many posts, even some moderately-intense Photoshopping and other graphics work when needed.

If I felt I had to install an internal 7,200 RPM drive, get a faster alternative to the SuperDrive, and over-clock my processor to make my Mini just so, I would have bought an iMac or PowerMac and avoided the hassle. Just my 2 cents worth, and pardon me if I appear a little grouchy about this - I'm just growing really weary of people expecting the Mini to somehow be more than it was intended to be. That's why Apple sells more than one kind of Mac.

05-19-2005, 11:46 AM

Agreed. 64 mb VRAM + 7200 rpm hdd = teh wins on iBook/Mini. a whole different machine.

And there is a noticable difference between the hdd's RPM speed. Toy with a mini, then go to a powermac with a 7200 rpm hdd. BIIIG difference.

05-19-2005, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by djmitch

No offense, mcsenerd, but it seems like you should have gone for an iMac or something. The extra money you must have spent maxing-out your Mini beyond its intended specs would likely have paid for one!

I too struggled with the Mini issues of "slow" disk speed (i.e. a few extra seconds here and there -- tragedy!!) and low VRAM, but let's face it: the Mini is NOT intended to be some kind of power machine! That what PowerMacs and PowerBooks are for, am I right? So I've taken the plunge a bought the Mini knowing that it will easily handle my everyday tasks and light gaming requirements and, according to many posts, even some moderately-intense Photoshopping and other graphics work when needed.

If I felt I had to install an internal 7,200 RPM drive, get a faster alternative to the SuperDrive, and over-clock my processor to make my Mini just so, I would have bought an iMac or PowerMac and avoided the hassle. Just my 2 cents worth, and pardon me if I appear a little grouchy about this - I'm just growing really weary of people expecting the Mini to somehow be more than it was intended to be. That's why Apple sells more than one kind of Mac.

But maybe he didn't want a white all in one machine! :yinyang:

Or he wanted to save space, or be different.

05-19-2005, 11:58 AM

Originally Posted by JSchultz

But maybe he didn't want a white all in one machine! :yinyang:

Good point - that's the exact same reason I've bought a Mini, although I debated for a couple of weeks about the single 1.8GHz PowerMac because of the extra power. I eventually realized I didn't need it, however, especially given the huge extra cost.

Or he wanted to save space, or be different.

More good points! I hope I haven't jumped to a conclusion about mcsenerd. However, I'm not sure how much of a factor space is when one wants a powerful computer.

05-19-2005, 12:46 PM

I have a Mini for two reasons: It was a cheap way to become a Mac person, and I have a lovely if heavy 20" CRT monitor that still has plenty of life left in it. My next Mac will be a 20" iMac G5, but that's out there in the future.

My real question, however, is does this firewire-as-primary-disk really speed things up in an appreciable, noticeable way? Because I will be upgrading the amount of disk space I have available since that is simply the way things go - as you go along you collect more stuff. Especially if you, as I do, work with audio (albeit very amateur) and especially video. If switching the primary drive to a firewire drive that I'm going to be buying anyway is going to also result in a performance increase I'm all over that, but I would want to have an idea that it would actually work before I bothered to go to that trouble. Not that I have a real issue with the Mini's speed at the moment, but any performance increase is welcome.

05-19-2005, 02:49 PM

I take it that if you use a firewire drive as the primary, that you can still use the internal drive for storage?

05-19-2005, 03:14 PM

Yes, you would just make the firewire drive the bootable hdd. Use the internal for storage.

05-19-2005, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by djmitch

No offense, mcsenerd, but it seems like you should have gone for an iMac or something. The extra money you must have spent maxing-out your Mini beyond its intended specs would likely have paid for one! ...

Ah no doubt my friend...but you see I'm a die-hard hacker/tweaker/tinkerer/messser-upper/insert-your-phrase-here! I've been tearing things up and trying to make them better/bigger/louder/whatever ever since I could twist a screwdriver. I'm one of those people whose parent's always accused them of never being happy with anything the way it is...I've just got to mess with things. I know dang good and well that I'm not the typical machead...I think most apple/mac have more fanish-type emotions tied to their machines and wouldn't dare touch or modify them thereby jeapordizing the machines pristine state...I however, harbour no fandom towards any manufacturer in particular. I likely would never have bought a mac at all if not for the mini. I just thought it was sleek, sexy, cool, and hey...it ran OS X and I was ready to give it a try...plus as was stated as well...I had a very nice Viewsonic 20" CRT that I wasn't really ready to throw on the scrap heap yet.