The Mac Mini

[dejamoi]

Hello Everyone!

I just signed up for this forum and I think I'll be here for a very long time! Anyway, I am currently a Windows user and really want to switch to OS X Tiger because, well, it looks and works much better than the PC I have now. Since I just bought a $400 LCD screen and was given a brand new keyboard and mouse, I was interested in purchasing the recently updated (July I think) Mac Mini. I was just wondering which configuration is the best bang for my buck. I really want a Mac but don't want to spend anything that I don't have to. My three choices are (and all come with free shipping! ):

First One: $629.00

1.25GHz PowerPC G4
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200
32MB DDR video memory
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD/CD-RW)
DVI or VGA video output
Optional AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth
Built-in 56k Internal Modem

The Second: $749.00

1.42GHz PowerPC G4
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200
32MB DDR video memory
80GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD/CD-RW)
DVI or VGA video output
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth
Optional 56k Internal Modem

And The Third: $899.00

1.42GHz PowerPC G4
512MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200
32MB DDR video memory
80GB Ultra ATA hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
DVI or VGA video output
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth
Optional 56k Internal Modem

I just knew that you guys here at MacRumors would know what would be the best selection. For those of you who want to know what I need it for, I basically need it for the following: surfing, e-mail, some light video-editing, editing and managing my photographs, and some school work (a.k.a. word processing, presentation, etc). By the way, does the Mac Mini with OS X Tiger come with iLife? Thanks so much, I know I ask alot but I'll be realy greatful!

Soon To Be Switcher ,

Bob Sullivan

 

[rdowns]

Welcome newbie. You might want to go read the front page of this site.

 

[bursty]

Yeah read the front page. They are expecting a MacMini update very soon. Base your purchase on what you think you will need and can afford. Whatever you choose, I think you will be glad you switched. Good luck.

 

[rockthecasbah]

agreed in checking up on the rumored mac mini updates, but where exactly do you hail from? Those Mac Mini prices seem very high to me...

 

[FF_productions]

You don't appear to be doing any heavy duty work, so the cheapest option would work. 400 dollar LCD? I would choose the second option for 750, but lets do some math first...

750 dollars mini
400 dollars lcd

1150 total-ish

1300 for a iMac g5. (BUT you have a lcd monitor, so forget it)
1200 EDU discount I believe.

The option in the middle would give you:

1.42 ghz (better than 1.25)
80 gig drive (double the space, you'll need it)
Airport built in

Go with Middle Option, and welcome to the forums.

 

[AstrosFan]

The Mini DOES come with Tiger, so that's a plus for you.
If you're doing video-editing, you can probably take advantage of the SuperDrive so I would consider one of those models.
However, the alternative would be to get one of the lower models & buy an external DVD burner. If I remember correctly, though, external DVD burners are not supported by iDVD (though I'm not 100% sure that's true).

Also, if you can wait, you should see what happens with the updates.
If you definitely need the computer now, though, go ahead & buy it b/c you'll still be getting a solid computer.

Good luck & welcome to the Mac world!

 

[dejamoi]

Wow!

Wow guys! Alot of feedback I'm getting here! By the way, I heard about that update and it should happen in the next week which is a good thing! I hail from Canada lmao, yeah, our dollar is worth less than the american dollar. Lol, but we get used to it. Um, I think I will go with the middle option because of the 80GB hard drive increase (think about it, Mac OS X Tiger is like what, 3 or 4 Gigs? With the 40GB that's about 7.5 to 10% of the entire drive! ) and the processor speed increase (which will soon be 1.5 right? ) .

Does anyone know if I could buy an external DVD burner and use it with iMovie? Because I think I can get one for cheaper than the price increase when buying it.

Once again, thanks alot for all your help! Your absolutely amazing!

(I CAN'T WAIT TO USE OS X TIGER!!!! ) Lol, I know, i'm weird... haha.

Bob

 

[wdlove]

Wow guys! Alot of feedback I'm getting here! By the way, I heard about that update and it should happen in the next week which is a good thing! I hail from Canada lmao, yeah, our dollar is worth less than the american dollar. Lol, but we get used to it. Um, I think I will go with the middle option because of the 80GB hard drive increase (think about it, Mac OS X Tiger is like what, 3 or 4 Gigs? With the 40GB that's about 7.5 to 10% of the entire drive! ) and the processor speed increase (which will soon be 1.5 right? ) .

Does anyone know if I could buy an external DVD burner and use it with iMovie? Because I think I can get one for cheaper than the price increase when buying it.

Once again, thanks alot for all your help! Your absolutely amazing!

(I CAN'T WAIT TO USE OS X TIGER!!!! ) Lol, I know, I'm weird... haha.

Bob

Welcome to MacRumors Bob. If you want to burn DVD's then you might as well go for the top model. Being an internal DVD burner it should function flawlessly. You should also get an additional 512 MB of RAM. You will notice increased performance. Also should purchase AppleCare.

Otherwise Lacie has some nice DVD burners.

 

[jamesW135]

Welcome, all the models you have considered have only 512 ram you want atleased a gig.

 

[MacSA]

Welcome, all the models you have considered have only 512 ram you want atleased a gig.

Thats BS..........

 

[MacPassion]

Go with Middle Option, and welcome to the forums.

Perfectly agree with this suggestion. My brother has the middle one and he loves it! If you need a dvd burner you might buy an external one: it is faster than the 8x that is on the Mac Mini....

 

[dejamoi]

Oh OK

Oh I see, alot of people are saying I should get the middle one, and I think I truly agree... An external DVD burner drive would go alot faster... Plus, I could use it as another CD/DVD drive for my Mac Mini! But do I really need 1 GB of RAM? That is quite a few dollars more... ? And by the way, does anyone know exactly what day Apple is going to change it from 1.42 to 1.5 GHz? Thanks!

Bob

 

[mzd]

And by the way, does anyone know exactly what day Apple is going to change it from 1.42 to 1.5 GHz? Thanks!
Bob

well, some guy in this thread already got one of the updated models. Sys specs show it as 1.5GHz w/ a 5400RPM 80GB Hdd and a 64MB 9200, plus BlueTooth 2.0+XYZ (or whatever the newer bluetooth is).

 

[wdlove]

Oh I see, alot of people are saying I should get the middle one, and I think I truly agree... An external DVD burner drive would go alot faster... Plus, I could use it as another CD/DVD drive for my Mac Mini! But do I really need 1 GB of RAM? That is quite a few dollars more... ? And by the way, does anyone know exactly what day Apple is going to change it from 1.42 to 1.5 GHz? Thanks!

Bob

A stick of 512 of RAM would be $125 from Apple or less from Crucial. So far no word on the exact day, just next week.

 

[shadowmoses]

512mb will do fine, its pretty nippy......256mb is a total disaster though it cripples the mini's performance,1gig is not neccecary unless you like your computer super fast or do RAM intensive things,

ShadOW

 

[feakbeak]

Thats BS..........

It's not BS. OS X will/can run fine on 512 MB, but it depends on usage. I ordered my Mini with 256 MB and upgraded it to 1 GB myself. Even still sometimes though I will max out my memory and start paging more, which is a double-hit on the Mac Mini because of the slow HDD. I think most of the 80 GB drives in the Mini's are 4200 RPM (not even 5400) so you have to keep that in mind. It is not uncommon that I will be running iTunes, FireFox, Adium (iChat), Mail, iPhoto, PS Elements, half a dozen widgets or so and maybe iCal or Address Book... and that takes up most/all of my 1 GB of RAM. I could choose to run fewer apps at once or utilize Dashboard less, but that is just not how I like using the OS.

With that said, getting 1 GB of memory from Apple is expensive. You should be able to find 1 GB of reputable RAM on the net for about 100 USD maybe a little less. Some vendors will guarantee it work with your Mac model, which is useful unless your rather knowledgable about RAM - Macs are more strict with tolerances on RAM specs. I purchased Crucial RAM off of newegg.com and it worked fine. It is rather easy to replace the only tricky part is opening the case but with a putty knife and instructions/videos on the net you should be fine. Plus you can sell the 512 MB stick to subsidize your 1 GB purchase. 512's are still in good demand, 256 MB is not very desireable any more.

Also, I ordered a SuperDrive with my Mac Mini and have not burned a single DVD yet and I've had my Mini about six months. Granted I don't own a digital videocam so I haven't had a need to use iMovie/iDVD really. Depending on how much you plan on using these apps/features I would pass on the SuperDrive. External burners can be had for cheap and are faster too, plus you can get a DL burner if you want. Just check on the compatibility with iMovie/iDVD - I'm not certain of this.

Good luck with your purchase and let us know how everything turns out. And another warm welcome to MR.

 

[wPod]

do not get the 1.25!!!! once you ad anything to the 1.25 you will pay the price of the 1.42. . . except the 1.42 already has everything built in!!! the only reason apple has the 1.25 is so they can say they have a computer for only 499! yes its a good computer, if you get it bone stock. but once you add wireless to it, then it is the price of the 1.42 which has wireless built in! so you might as well go with the 1.42 and pay the $30 extra for a built in modem. . . but do you really need that? if you need the wireless then you must have a wireless network and dont need a modem. just wondering. but thats my thoughts.

 

[dejamoi]

Don't Worry!

Hey,

Yeah, don't worry! I'm deffinately not getting the lowest one because the processor is too slow for the things I need it for; plus, the 1.43 GHz one will soon raise to 1.5 GHz! Anyway, yeah, and I am now using Bell Sympatico DSL service which I really like (it's fast in my area) so I don't need the Modem. Does anyone know for sure if Sympatico works with Macs? I have no idea since this will be my first Apple computer.

P.S. I'm going to purchase when the processor speed raises from 1.4 to 1.5, the video card doubles (64 MB), and whatever else gets better.

Thanks!

Bob