Is the basic Mac Mini too slow ?

[BEEEsH]

Yeah, but a $499 price-point is a MUCH easier sell than $1499 or $1299 (even if it *is* a good deal).

$499 plus keyboard, mouse & monitor just SOUNDS better than $1299. Know what I mean?

True, but remember that the future is everyday. A year from now you might *need* your computer to do more for you. (you or your dad might have different interests a year from now and power could be an issue.)

I say this because I have a 1.25ghz Mac mini with 1 gig of ram. I don't mind its speed, but it scrapes the barrel in performance with only 512. Its video card is pretty poor, and its not very upgradable. Especially with the switch to Intel now, spending all that money on a base mac(powerpc) would be shooting yourself in the foot. I would at least wait for intel mini to see what that offers.

I use it for the adobe creative suite programs, as well as video editing. Its fine for the most part but video editing can take forever sometimes. Sometimes i feel like driving 30 minutes to school just to use their computers. Its fine for general use, but even then its nothing special.

 

[curious]

its not very upgradable.

Hmmm... I'm not sure if my dad would ever upgrade his computer, as he never has before (he usually buys a new inexpensive Dell) -- but it is a good point. Thanks.

 

[dtravis7]

Just to point this out, You can get the 56k Modem as an option with the 1.42Ghz models.

 

[BEEEsH]

Hmmm... I'm not sure if my dad would ever upgrade his computer, as he never has before (he usually buys a new inexpensive Dell) -- but it is a good point. Thanks.

The maximum amount of ram is 1 gig, which isn't much considering how OSX and the apps love ram.

 

[deus_ex_machina]

The maximum amount of ram is 1 gig, which isn't much considering how OSX and the apps love ram.

True for pro apps (ie Adobe CS) but if his father usually buys an inexpensive Dell, video editing doesn't sound like his forte. The Mac mini sounds perfect for his needs and 1 GB will ensure that he never sees a pinwheel

 

[Osiris22x]

I haven't read the other replies, so I apologize if this is a repeat: the biggest factor in the Mac Mini is the hard drive speed. I started booting mine from an external high speed drive. That, combined with 1GB RAM made the thing scream.

Either way, it's plenty fast for daily use of almost any application...even with the stock 512MB RAM.

 

[hondagus87]

The package I am offering is perfect if you are willing to pay 750, he would get the monitor (nice 19 inch LCD), the mac mini with modem, an external 16x dvd burner, external 200GB 7200rpm hard drive, a kensington macintosh keyboard, and a usb optical mouse.

I know the 499 price is tempting, but once you buy the ram to upgrade to 1gb you are already close to 600, then the monitor, keyboard, and mouse add at least another 100 or so, then the extra hard drive and 16x burner is close to 150, so my deal isn't bad. Plus its a 19" LCD which is very nice. If you want pictures I can email them to ya if you post your email address, or email me at [email protected]

 

[curious]

The package I am offering is perfect if you are willing to pay 750

I'll let him know... but to be honest, he's not mad about buying used. Neither am I, for that matter. Plus I can get him a Corporate discount, so the price is a bit lower than retail. Not a lot less, but less.

 

[bfx]

You can use any Monitor with the Mini, as long as you have the DVI to VGA adapter, which comes standard with the Mini.

I have the 1.25ghz version of the Mini and run a 19" Samsung Sync Master LCD, no problems what so ever. I also do A LOT of video editing and sound creation on it, and I have never had a problem with it.

Rendering the Video's does take more time then I would like, but I do it at night when its cold anyways, so it can dedicate more power to the render.

I would say to go to CompUSA and try one out.

Probably Off Topic but I came here first as I'm in the process buying a MacMini - after I find out more so I can get most stuff I'll need to go with it at the same time.

One thing I want to do with it is create sound effects from scratch. Some I can probably do by tweaking existing files or - maybe -by recording a source then tweaking it.

But some of the sounds will certainly need to be done from scratch by creating a wave form within an app then tweaking it.

Is there an app to do this?

Thanks

bfx

 

[dtravis7]

Are you talking about say with a Mic or external source? If so and it's a Mac Mini you need the Griffin iMic. It has Mic and Line inputs. There are many programs out there for OSX for recording or editing audio. One that costs a littie is Amadeus. There are others that are free. Audacity is free and works well.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

 

[bfx]

Yes - by using a mic to get a sound sample then tweaking the freq by compresing or expanding portions of it to alter the octave.

Somtimes I also blend two or more samples in variable influence to alter the sound.

A friend of mine that's pretty savvy about programming Linux apps made one for me that lets you click and drag points in window to create sine waves from scratch.

Unfortunately it output's the sound in a Linux file that is unroginizeable in the rest of the known uiverse and he's no longer available to add other formats.

Thanks for the tips - I'll definitely check them out.

At the moment I'm trying to keep software costs low until I'm sure I'll be happy with the Mac for things other than i'net access.

bfx

 

[kaidomac]

Probably Off Topic but I came here first as I'm in the process buying a MacMini - after I find out more so I can get most stuff I'll need to go with it at the same time.

One thing I want to do with it is create sound effects from scratch. Some I can probably do by tweaking existing files or - maybe -by recording a source then tweaking it.

But some of the sounds will certainly need to be done from scratch by creating a wave form within an app then tweaking it.

Is there an app to do this?

Thanks

bfx

I don't know about sound effects, but I have a good Mac Mini upgrade guide here:

http://mini.wiredby.com

If you want a really nice Mini, I'd suggest one of two options:

1. If you're hardware-savvy and don't mind opening up your Mini, order a mid-range Mini (1.42ghz/1gb ram/combo drive/Airport/Bluetooth), then pick up a 7200rpm internal hard drive (Hitachi makes a 100gb 7200rpm 2.5" hard drive that can be had for $200) and a Pioneer DVR-K05L dual-layer DVD burner (OWC has them for about $130). I figure getting the ram from Apple is fine since it's about the same price anywhere else and you know that it will work great with the Mini.

2. If you're not hardware-savvy, order a high-end Mini (1.42ghz/1gb ram/Superdrive/Airport/Bluetooth), then pick up a miniStack (Firewire external 7200rpm hard drive, up to 500gb). Use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the internal drive to the external drive, then use the external drive as your boot drive. This will give you better bootup performance, as well as let you open programs faster and do other things quicker. Plus, you won't have to open up the Mini.

Either of these would give you nice performance - 1gb ram, fast 7200rpm hard drive, and DVD burner. Also, if you don't want to install a DVD burner inside yourself, but you want dual-layer, you can get an external Firewire burner, which can also give you LightScribe capabilities if you want (about $50 for the drive, $60 for the enclosure).

 

[bfx]

Thanks kaidomac !

I'm used to building my own Intel boxes (and wish we could still build Macs) but I'm a bit leery about voiding the warranty. On the other hand - saves buying the AppleCare package.

I'll have to think about which way to go.

Might as well head over to Newegg and check on some prices. And I do have a couple of box-not-yet-opened 320gb, 7200 hd's sitting on a shelf just waiting for a home. Maybe a dual enclosre. :


Wish SATA II drives were supported.

Couldn't miss the part about a faster G4 and vid card either. With my luck I'll order just before they release the faster Mini. That beefed up vid card would also come in handy.

bfx

*** edit > added

Went looking for info on that 1.5 ghz mentioned in kaidomac's post.

Found this -

Bumping a 1.24 ghz Mini to 1.42 ghz

So it looks like a 1.42 should hit 1.5 ok.

But still has only 32 mb of vid ram.

end>edit

 

[CHR15B]

I've bought a 1.25 machine and its running very well, thats OSX Tiger.

I'm bidding on a 1GB stick for it, just to give it more poke.

I'd say go for it, unless your wanting very RAM hungry programs running its very good.

 

[kaidomac]

Might as well head over to Newegg and check on some prices. And I do have a couple of box-not-yet-opened 320gb, 7200 hd's sitting on a shelf just waiting for a home. Maybe a dual enclosre. :


Wish SATA II drives were supported.

I don't know about SATA II, but there are some SATA enclosures available.

Edit: Wait, found one. A google search for "sata ii enclosure" brings up a number of options. They don't exactly match the Mini like the miniStack, but they should get the job done

 

[kaidomac]

Couldn't miss the part about a faster G4 and vid card either. With my luck I'll order just before they release the faster Mini. That beefed up vid card would also come in handy.

bfx

*** edit > added

Went looking for info on that 1.5 ghz mentioned in kaidomac's post.

Found this -

Bumping a 1.24 ghz Mini to 1.42 ghz

So it looks like a 1.42 should hit 1.5 ok.

But still has only 32 mb of vid ram.

end>edit

Actually, the upgraded Minis (not the Intel ones) have been shipping since last year. It seems that many of the people who are ordering new Mac Minis without a 56k modem receive the upgraded models with the 1.5ghz chip, 64mb vram, and Bluetooth 2+EDR. I was in the Apple store the other day and was playing around with a display Mini; "About this Mac" said it was running at 1.33ghz, so I'm guessing the 1.25ghz models are now 1.33ghz models. Also, the upgraded 1.5ghz Minis look like they're coming with 5400rpm hard drives now. You can check them out on eBay by doing a search for "1.5ghz Mac Mini".

 

[bfx]

Playing catch up since my last post ... hope I don't leave anything out.

CHR15B - my main interest in the Mini is for web surfing and d/l'ing stuff for transfer to my PC's. At the same time I want to check out the OS itself along with the apps that come with it. And maybe some intermediate audio and video editing aftermarket software as well. So more RAM is much better in my case. In general I've found that for my type of interests - photorealistic 3D animations and video/sound editing - RAM amount and vid card performance - even HD capacity and speed - of more important than cpu speed.

kaidomac - what I meant about SATA II drives is I wish Apple supported the data transfer rate of SATA II drives. Or even SATA i - the Seagate Raptors are very fast - among others. It's my understanding that Ultra ATA is fastest HD standard supported. Is that correct?

If 1.5 Minis are shipping I wonder why Apple hasn't made a big deal out of it on their website. Maybe too busy promoting the Intel boxes.

I'll most likely go with the middle Mini and build from there.with the mods suggested above. I don't expect the Mini to be a speed demon - but it seems to be a great entry point to the world of Mac computing though.

Thanks again

bfx

 

[kaidomac]

Playing catch up since my last post ... hope I don't leave anything out.

CHR15B - my main interest in the Mini is for web surfing and d/l'ing stuff for transfer to my PC's. At the same time I want to check out the OS itself along with the apps that come with it. And maybe some intermediate audio and video editing aftermarket software as well. So more RAM is much better in my case. In general I've found that for my type of interests - photorealistic 3D animations and video/sound editing - RAM amount and vid card performance - even HD capacity and speed - of more important than cpu speed.

kaidomac - what I meant about SATA II drives is I wish Apple supported the data transfer rate of SATA II drives. Or even SATA i - the Seagate Raptors are very fast - among others. It's my understanding that Ultra ATA is fastest HD standard supported. Is that correct?

If 1.5 Minis are shipping I wonder why Apple hasn't made a big deal out of it on their website. Maybe too busy promoting the Intel boxes.

I'll most likely go with the middle Mini and build from there.with the mods suggested above. I don't expect the Mini to be a speed demon - but it seems to be a great entry point to the world of Mac computing though.

Thanks again

bfx

I've heard that the next Minis, the Intel-based ones, are supposed to have a 3.5" hard drive inside of them. It doesn't really make sense for it not to be SATA since SATA has been around for awhile. Imagine sticking a Raptor 150, a Seagate 500gb, or a big, fast Maxtor MaXLine III hard drive in one of those!