Getting a Mini with 512Mb - Some advice please

[Rottie]

Hi folks,

A friend of mine at work has offered me a Mac Mini 1.66GHz 512/120/Superdrive unit, at an incredibly low price of £200, as he doesn't use it very much and my G4 Quicksilver 2002 933MHz struggles a little bit with Youtube and some other stuff, like scanning, with the Epson software.

Now, I have a couple of Qs:
Firstly, how easy is it to get hold of a replacement top case for the Mini? Unfortunately, the top case got badly scratched when he was doing the HDD upgrade and if possible, I'll be looking to replace that, if it's cost effective.

Also, from what I understand, the Mini takes PC2-5300 RAM.
Do I need to install in pairs, or single sticks? I'm going to take this up to the maximum 2Gb eventually, but might put in another 512Mb for the time being, provided of course, that there isn't 2x256Mb in there at present.
If it is pairs, then I might as well just go straight up to 2Gb.

Finally, is there a PDF manual for upgrading the RAM? I've looked on Youtube, but seeing as my G4 lags a little on playback, this is not too helpful. I've also had a quick look over at OWC, as that's where I got the manual to upgrade the optical drive in my QS.

Thanks in advance.

[Rottie]

Disregard this post please - Mini died this AM when he was demoing it

[dtravis7]

That is sad. I wonder what happened to it? I have that very Mini that I upgraded to a C2D 2.16 from a 24" iMac that a person killed and 2GB. I was going to say Matched Pair of 1GB sticks no matter what anyone says. Mine flys.

[Rottie]

It powered up, briefly; got the chime, then daisy-wheeled and fans went haywire and then it shut down and wouldn't power back up again, even after trying another power brick.

C'est la vie. *sigh* Am off to trawl FleaBay - Wish my luck! LOL

[pigoo3]

Disregard this post please - Mini died this AM when he was demoing it

It is too bad that the mini died...but on the positive side...it's better that it happened now rather than later.

If it happened in like 2 weeks from now...it might have been a bit awkward trying to find a resolution with your friend at work (depending how "friendly" you are with this person).

Keep your eye open for another one...you just might come across an even better deal!

- Nick

[Rottie]

Hi folks,
An update for you - Today, I bit the bullet and went out and got myself a Mac Mini 2.26GHz C2D 2Gb/160/SD/BT/AP running Snow Leopard, for £495.
The only slight downer is that although it came new and sealed, there was no mini DVI - DVI connector in the box, but I've contacted the reseller and I should have one in 3 days time, but for now am borrowing a neighbors, who doesn't need it, as he's running his mini through HDMI.

My god, this little thing's quiet! I have to keep peeking at the light to see if it's still on!