Mac Mini

LJH

Registered
I am thinking of buying a Mac Mini - does anybody have one and what are your thoughts/comments.
Thanks.
 

This illustrates plainly how some have problems with their system.
'twould be tough to sell many systems that are 'painfully slow' I would think (lol)
Too bad you don't see any evidence other than these generalized complaints - and nothing constructive about fixes other than the generic 'the finder remains ... pathetic', as if that contributes to the 'painfully slow'

partial point taken - get the Mac mini with 2GB of memory.
The Mac mini is very much the same as the MacBook, just no display (and obviously not a portable running from a battery). A 'painfully slow' Intel Mac probably needs the hard drive replaced (which would be warranty), and likely additional memory (the 2GB I mentioned)
 
You can get the 2 GB upgrade cheaper than what Apple charges, often - from third parties. If you're thinking about the Mini, realize that it's just a step up to the iMac - which is more powerful, has a screen, keyboard, and mouse - and the MacBook has similar features as the mini, but it is portable.

Lastly, you can save a few hundred bucks by buying from Apple Refurbished - but make sure that you aren't buying a PowerPC - G4 or G5 - Mac at the refurbished site, unless you really know what you're doing. These machines will become obsolete faster than an intel-based product.
 
'A 'painfully slow' Intel Mac probably needs the hard drive replaced (which would be warranty)' - is only an assertation. The capacity, speed, and overall performance of the hard disk drive, hdd, here and with others is acceptable and not related to the Mac Minis performance (non video editing). As for installing a larger capacity hdd - BestBuy has a 120 GB for $199.00 (impressive).

The problem of the Mac Mini's sluggishness is due to insuffienct RAM. Not that 512 MB is insufficient. MacOS X'es hording and allocation of the 512 MB causes the sluggishness. And yes, applications such as 'Finder' and 'Safari' add to the overall sluggishness (because of excessive threads and / or memory leaks). Using 'Firefox' on a stock 512 MB Mac Mini works fine.

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LJH -

If you intend to purchase a non custom built Mac Mini - consider the purchasing of a minimum of 1 GB of RAM.
The Mac Mini currently comes with two (2) 256 MB memory cards, mc. If you do purchase at a minimum 1 GB - purchase a single 1 GB mc - not two (2) 512 MB mcs. This will allow you, in the future, to increase the RAM size to 2 GB.

If you believe the 60 or 80 GB hdd is too small in capacity, then consider purchasing a larger hdd and install it at the same time you install the RAM.

To crack open a Mac Mini and perform a RAM and / or hdd replacement see this '(OWC)' video (as one of many sources).

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I was about to purchase a PPC based Mac Mini when the Intel version was announced. I then decided to wait a little. Just recently I was handed one. Now I am in the process of purchasing 2 GB of RAM for it. I do recommend it to many - as long as they know to purchase it with 1 or 2 GB of RAM (however, Apple is typically more expensive), or are prepared to install 1 or 2 GB of RAM - unless they will only be launching one or two applications.
 
Yesterday, 02.03.2007, two (in quantity) 1GB DDR2 SDRAM cards were installed into a provided Mac Mini (intel). The experience since (the RAM installation) is quite impressive.
 
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