[Randman]

Decided to get a mini as a second computer (and my first "desktop" Mac at home). Got a very good deal andpulled a 1.42 combo drive with AirPort and Bluetooth installed, added 1GB of ram for about US$100 and hooked it up to the Apple 15" monitor with wireless keyboard and Optical Trackman.

So far, I've been quite impressed with it. Haven't run any benchmarks yet but the performance isn't too far behind my PB17 (the mini's more for the s/o and to let me keep all my external HDs plugged in and move my music collection to it, freeing up the PB's space).

It's very quiet and doesn't run too hot. Still have to see how it handles something like Doom, but so far, am very pleased with it, especially for the cost.

[Big Mac]

Cool. The mini will not handle Doom, however.

[Randman]

1.42Ghz with 1GB of ram won't handle it? My PB17 does fine with it (1.5Ghz, 1.5GB of ram). Might have to tweak some of the settings naturally but I'd be surprised if it wouldn't play.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Randman

1.42Ghz with 1GB of ram won't handle it? My PB17 does fine with it (1.5Ghz, 1.5GB of ram).

Ummm, Radeon Mobility 9700 64MB VRAM != Radeon 9200 32MB VRAM. The latter is by far inferior.

[Randman]

Inferior, yes. But will it truly handicap play that much (at work now and not doing any major installs on the mini till Tiger comes at the end of the week). The PB will be used more for gaming anyway. The mini's more for the wife, letting her have her own computer (and letting me move my music collection (about 43GB right now) off the PB as well as having the external monitor, external HDs and other kit all plugged in all of the time.

When we upgrade next, I'll probably give the mini to my dad, give the PB17 to her and get a new Mac for moi.

[liquidtrance123]

If you can get Doom3 to play on the mini, it would be a miracle. 9200 is extremely handicapped compared to a 9700.