Mac Mini business use... any good?

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theog

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I am thinking about getting one of these mini's for my business... for years customers have asked for our graphics/ebooks for macs.... Now, I am looking at this machine thinking I might be able to buy this plus have the extra "external" hard drive when not using for development purposes.

My question is: how is this mini $499, on ram, and vid card? I would use adobe acrobat and some installer so I don't think I would have a problem... any insight would be helpful... could I use as an external hd?

I am a windows person and know nothing about Apple computers... but I have always enjoyed watching Steve Jobs "perform."

--edit--
any installer programs you can recommend to help install programs would be helpful as well... thanks.
 
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theog said:
I am thinking about getting one of these mini's for my business... for years customers have asked for our graphics/ebooks for macs.... Now, I am looking at this machine thinking I might be able to buy this plus have the extra "external" hard drive when not using for development purposes.

If it is attached to a network then you can save to it via that. There is a target disk mode: you could hook it up to anther mac and have it act as a firewire connected external hard drive. I Don't think that works with Mac to PC though. I might be wrong.

theog said:
My question is: how is this mini $499, on ram, and vid card? I would use adobe acrobat and some installer so I don't think I would have a problem... any insight would be helpful... could I use as an external hd?

With the spec that it is, if you don't up the ammount of ram, you're not really going to fully enjoy using OS X. OS X is ok with 256 meg of ram installed, but you really don't experience how amazing it is unless you put a Gig of ram in it. It might be better to get the ram from a 3rd party though, apple sell theirs at quite a high price!

With the graphics card, you'll get decent performance but not great. If you get enough performance out of a 32 meg graphics card with a PC, you'll get better performance out of the mac with the same ammount of video ram.

theog said:
any installer programs you can recommend to help install programs would be helpful as well... thanks.

What do you mean by this? If you mean installer programs to help install programs onto your mac mini, you don't really need one. The built in installer is great.

If you mean an installer program to help you create an installer for your own developed software then have a look here:

http://wincent.com/a/products/install/

Hope this helps.
 
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theog

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johnnyluu said:
If it is attached to a network then you can save to it via that. There is a target disk mode: you could hook it up to anther mac and have it act as a firewire connected external hard drive. I Don't think that works with Mac to PC though. I might be wrong.



With the spec that it is, if you don't up the ammount of ram, you're not really going to fully enjoy using OS X. OS X is ok with 256 meg of ram installed, but you really don't experience how amazing it is unless you put a Gig of ram in it. It might be better to get the ram from a 3rd party though, apple sell theirs at quite a high price!

With the graphics card, you'll get decent performance but not great. If you get enough performance out of a 32 meg graphics card with a PC, you'll get better performance out of the mac with the same ammount of video ram.



What do you mean by this? If you mean installer programs to help install programs onto your mac mini, you don't really need one. The built in installer is great.

If you mean an installer program to help you create an installer for your own developed software then have a look here:

http://wincent.com/a/products/install/

Hope this helps.

I found this: http://www.stuffit.com/mac/installermaker/index.html for the install... yes, I develop (kinda) software... e-books, graphics... mostly pdf's. The only problem in the past was not having a mac around... this will provide me with cheap entry with a machine with a warranty, latest os, etc.... A test machine that I can also use as a hd backup (throw in a closet and run a network cable to it). macmall has them with keyboard and mouse... lol...

I was also lucky, found an apple store about 10 miles from me... did not know it existed. I will get to test the mini before actual purchase. All good.


Thanks.
 
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theog said:
My question is: how is this mini $499, on ram, and vid card? I would use adobe acrobat and some installer so I don't think I would have a problem... any insight would be helpful... could I use as an external hd?

I am a windows person and know nothing about Apple computers... but I have always enjoyed watching Steve Jobs "perform."

First off you have to remember, you are buying a "low end" system when you buy the mini, so don't expect top end performance. However, from what i have seen of Mac systems, i would say that a low end Mac will probably give you as good a service as a mid range ibm system. I would make sure that you have at least 512 or better in ram.

You will be able to use an external hard drive, either a USB 2 or Firewire drive should work quite nicely. I think i would go for the Firewire drive as they are a bit faster and you only have a couple of usb slots. I would use one of those for a wireless keyboard and mouse...leaving the other open for any usb device, such as a printer that you would want to use.

As for being a "windows person", well what the heck, we all have our faults...(G) You will find the Mac and OS X very compatable and easy to use if you have used windows. In fact after a few days you will find it actually easier to use than windows as it will allow you to do things that windows won't.
 
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James said:
First off you have to remember, you are buying a "low end" system when you buy the mini, so don't expect top end performance. However, from what i have seen of Mac systems, i would say that a low end Mac will probably give you as good a service as a mid range ibm system. I would make sure that you have at least 512 or better in ram.

You will be able to use an external hard drive, either a USB 2 or Firewire drive should work quite nicely. I think i would go for the Firewire drive as they are a bit faster and you only have a couple of usb slots. I would use one of those for a wireless keyboard and mouse...leaving the other open for any usb device, such as a printer that you would want to use.

As for being a "windows person", well what the heck, we all have our faults...(G) You will find the Mac and OS X very compatable and easy to use if you have used windows. In fact after a few days you will find it actually easier to use than windows as it will allow you to do things that windows won't.


[Rant]I do not get why everyone says the Mac Mini is a low end system. As if it would not run any apps and the Video card is not up to snuff. Maybe compaired to G5 it may seem to be under powered. I am currently running a G4 933 with a Nvidia mx 400 Video Card. This box Feels Way faster then any PC I have used. I am not a Gamer. If you are looking at a Mac Mini for Gaming you are looking at the wrong box.

My current Mac runs great. I Host a Web Page from it. Do everything I normally do on a PC. The only thing that is slow is working with iDVD. Takes a while to Burn the Project to DVD. However it is still better then Doing the Same thing on a PC. Also now that I upgraded the Superdrive to a 16X Burner IDVD is quite a bit better. I constaintly have 5 or 6 Apps open with no slow downs at all. [/Rant]

To me the Mac Mini has Great Specs. It will out perform my current rig (Faster CPU and Better Video Card)

The only thing I would suggest is to upgrade to 512MB or 1 GB of Ram.
 
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Well it is actually a low end system.. put the Macs on a scale of highest performance to lowest performance and the Mac Mini will be at the bottom. No one is saying that it doesnt work, that it's not up to snuff, and so forth.. they are just saying that look at what you need to do.. if you are a power user, get a dual G5, if not, get the Mac Mini.. it's a scale and you buy according to what you need and what you think you'll need in the future. They all work and they all work well! And compared to some PC manufacturers the Mac scale is a whole lot higher, in other words.. the low end.. is still a lot higher then the low end PC.
 
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jamin said:
[Rant]I do not get why everyone says the Mac Mini is a low end system. As if it would not run any apps and the Video card is not up to snuff. Maybe compaired to G5 it may seem to be under powered. I am currently running a G4 933 with a Nvidia mx 400 Video Card. This box Feels Way faster then any PC I have used. I am not a Gamer. If you are looking at a Mac Mini for Gaming you are looking at the wrong box.

My current Mac runs great. I Host a Web Page from it. Do everything I normally do on a PC. The only thing that is slow is working with iDVD. Takes a while to Burn the Project to DVD. However it is still better then Doing the Same thing on a PC. Also now that I upgraded the Superdrive to a 16X Burner IDVD is quite a bit better. I constaintly have 5 or 6 Apps open with no slow downs at all. [/Rant]

To me the Mac Mini has Great Specs. It will out perform my current rig (Faster CPU and Better Video Card)

The only thing I would suggest is to upgrade to 512MB or 1 GB of Ram.

Don't you bother to read what you want to rant about...?

"First off you have to remember, you are buying a "low end" system when you buy the mini, so don't expect top end performance. However, from what i have seen of Mac systems, i would say that a low end Mac will probably give you as good a service as a mid range ibm system. I would make sure that you have at least 512 or better in ram."

I said it is a low end system because it is, why lie about it, that is what is attracting the man to the system in the first place. I also said that it would probably perform as well as a mid range ibm style machine, so tell me just where I was bad mouthing the mini... From what i can see it looks to be a very good buy for the price, i certainly would rather have the Mac Mini than the $499 dell. Seems like i also recommended 512 or better ram too.

I answered his question about the external drive and made recomendations about what kind to get and how i think it should be set up for best usage of the available functions, then assured him that OS X was quite easy to use for anyone coming from the windows world, which was one of his concerns.

So, taking into consideration what i actually said and the manner in which i said it, i think your so called "rant" just just a bit misplaced don't you?
 
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theog

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Ladies and Gents, there is a newbie in the house... :)

Actually, for what I am doing, I will keep the current system as is... I am taking ebooks (pdf) built on windows, tests that I made (found out the program will let me save as .html), and pictures and putting on CD for Mac users. Not high tech stuff.

I develop software and before a $1000 mac was not an attractive price to offer a "Mac" line. Now the mini is out at $499, it is like, duhh... what is the excuse now? I have other test machines (win 98, win 2000) so monitors, keyboards and mice are around.

I will use to build and test. I can't use the mac since I also develop database apps, and other PC specific stuff. Not to cause a war, I don't know which is better (OS wise)... I could really care less. As long as it starts when I want and has resonable reliability, I am happy.

I have never used a Mac, but in college I wrote a paper on Steve Jobs... in my openion he is the best CEO on the planet. Bill may be richer, but I don't think Apple would be Apple without Mr. Jobs. When I took speech, he was who I wanted to be like!!! Bottom line... never did the PC vs. Mac... enough love for everyone.

Anyway, the Mac Mini should fit my needs without need of buying anything else. If I were to have graphic extensive files or something, then I might need something else. Moving html and pdf files for installation (burn to CD/DVD), I doubt if I will have any need for anything above the mini.
 
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Welcome

theog said:
Ladies and Gents, there is a newbie in the house... :)

Anyway, the Mac Mini should fit my needs without need of buying anything else. If I were to have graphic extensive files or something, then I might need something else. Moving html and pdf files for installation (burn to CD/DVD), I doubt if I will have any need for anything above the mini.

From your stated uses, i would say the mini will more than do the job. In fact after some usage of the mini and OS X i would not be surprised a bit if you don't find yourself doing more and more of your work on it.

I used windows style machines for close to 20 years and it was always one thing after another with the OS. After only a couple of months with the Mac there is no way i would go back, it's like being on vacation... Welcome to the Mac world...
 
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James said:
Don't you bother to read what you want to rant about...?

"First off you have to remember, you are buying a "low end" system when you buy the mini, so don't expect top end performance. However, from what i have seen of Mac systems, i would say that a low end Mac will probably give you as good a service as a mid range ibm system. I would make sure that you have at least 512 or better in ram."

I said it is a low end system because it is, why lie about it, that is what is attracting the man to the system in the first place. I also said that it would probably perform as well as a mid range ibm style machine, so tell me just where I was bad mouthing the mini... From what i can see it looks to be a very good buy for the price, i certainly would rather have the Mac Mini than the $499 dell. Seems like i also recommended 512 or better ram too.

I answered his question about the external drive and made recomendations about what kind to get and how i think it should be set up for best usage of the available functions, then assured him that OS X was quite easy to use for anyone coming from the windows world, which was one of his concerns.

So, taking into consideration what i actually said and the manner in which i said it, i think your so called "rant" just just a bit misplaced don't you?

Sorry if I have offended anyone. I have been looking at several posts from different places and there is 2 attitudes towards the Mac Mini. 1 it is a useful tool for a variety of purposes and First time Switchers. The other is really negative in how under powered it is and how it won't play games and Complaining about expandability etc.
I was only attempting to put out the view that this New mac is not such a slow beast as my even lower speced system runs better then any Windows Box I have used at Work. I am constantly amazed how in just a few Months of switching myself how amazing the Mac Platform is and that all the things I could do in Windows and Linux I can also do in OS X and most times a Better experience.

I think that any Business could replace PC's and use the Mini Mac for their task. Office 2004 for Mac is great. Plus Now the TCO would drop greatly as no Virus software to worry about No spyware or general unproductive issues that happen in the PC world.
 
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jamin said:
Sorry if I have offended anyone. I have been looking at several posts from different places and there is 2 attitudes towards the Mac Mini. 1 it is a useful tool for a variety of purposes and First time Switchers. The other is really negative in how under powered it is and how it won't play games and Complaining about expandability etc.

I think that any Business could replace PC's and use the Mini Mac for their task. Office 2004 for Mac is great. Plus Now the TCO would drop greatly as no Virus software to worry about No spyware or general unproductive issues that happen in the PC world.

I know what you mean, when I first purchased my PowerMac G5 and the iMac G5 for the wife I couldn't believe the number of messages i saw from people complaining how noisy they were...NOISY?? I couldn't believe how quiet they were after running a P4 3.o and an Amd 64bit, both water cooled gamers...As for the second bunch of complainers, they are always there no matter what. If God would come to earth and put a new computer on the market there would be thousands *****ing about it...

Your right, quite a few business would be able to use the Mac Mini to do word processing and other non intensive jobs, but that really isn't where the most usage will come from as most business are rather locked into the Winders world. The main customer for the mini will be the home user probably looking for a cheap way to get on the internet and want a low priced system. From what i can see, the mini will fill that bill just great.

The ease of use of OS X and its power will make the mini a force to be dealt with amoung low priced systems. I know personally i would much rather have the Mac Mini than the Dell $499 system, or any other system out there under $1000.

You talk about Office 2004 being great, have you seen and tried Open Office?, great stuff there and free...or on the Mac, better yet try NeoOfficeJ which is an OS X version of Open Office, also free... can't beat the price and both are Word/Excel/Access compatable...
 
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theog

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James said:
In fact after some usage of the mini and OS X i would not be surprised a bit if you don't find yourself doing more and more of your work on it...

And that, my friend, is why the mini will be a success for Apple.... Will I get the bug and use it more and more? I dunno.

I just got an email from an old friend of mine, an x-mac person (he is a Dell guy now), and he has already ordered one. He wants to see what OS X is all about and use for vids/dvds, etc. He recommended I go to 512 RAM... I guess I will do that now. If nothing, you might see a lot of x-mac people and new users who are simply "interested" purchase the mini. At worse, I will do what I need to do with it and stick it on the shelf as a file or video server on my network... at best I will become a Mac person with VIP passes to Mac World!

Thanks for all your help...
 

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