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liquidh2o · May 3, 2005, 05:49 AM

hey all, I purchased a Mac mini (1.42 bells&whistles edition) with the intention of getting back into the OSX realm while still maintaining a PC for gaming.

It would seem however, that I've completely migrated to macland and have no use for the pc, but I don't feel the mac mini has the right amount of oomph! for my every day needs.

What would be a step up from the mini that would suit my needs?

It'll be just an every day computer, w/ mail/safari/adium being used, along w/ some mild to moderate use of the iLife/iWork (family newsletters, storing a lot of photos/music, playing piano and mixing w/ garageband, but nothing bigtime).

Usually have 6-7 programs open at a time, looking for decent HDD space for photos and music as well. No intentions of gaming.

Thoughts and tips would be greatly appreciated

Thanks!

Randman · May 3, 2005, 05:55 AM

With 1GB of ram, a mini would meet all of your needs as you describe. An external HD would give more space.

But if you're serious about an upgrade, either get a PB15 or 17 or an iMac (and the iMacs are rumoured to be getting a tweak, maybe even tomorrow).

Remember, ram is about as important to OSX as Ghz.

ajprice · May 3, 2005, 06:28 AM

I'd say keep the mini, fill it with RAM and add a hard drive, maybe one of those MiniMate mini style enclosure/hubs to sit under your mini (up to 400Gb 7200rpm drives in those things!). I haven't got Tiger yet, but its ordered, that is pretty likely to make your mini more snappy. The mini has a fairly slow speed laptop drive in it, so maybe running your system off the external fast drive will be quicker than off the internal drive???

On the other hand, if you go Powerbook, you can run your mini's monitor as a second scree, if that floats your boat??!!

nickw311 · May 3, 2005, 07:58 AM

Well since you have the Mini, I would assume you have a decent monitor you like using so I would suggest one of the new lower model PowerMacs or a refurbished PowerMac...

Otherwise load it with ram and get a FW hard drive and it should suit you.

liquidh2o · May 3, 2005, 11:44 AM

I do have a 20" lcd but I wouldn't be opposed to be selling it either.

I just noticed that new imacs were released and the Rev. A's were given a nice discount.

Would a 20" imac (1.8ghz model) w/ say 512mb-1gb of ram provide a substantial boost in performance? More importantly, would it bring me teh snappy? One small thing about the mini that agitates me is the slight wait time for programs to load. Not looking for instantaneous, but faster would be better.

I also have Tiger, and it did help quite a bit (imo).

Thanks for the thoughts, keep em coming!

Luca Rescigno · May 3, 2005, 12:13 PM

The faster hard drive and processor of the iMac G5 would indeed help performance, but one of the things that makes the iMac a good deal is the built-in display. Since you already have a nice monitor, I think you should go with a tower of some kind.

You can always go with a used G4 or G5 tower of some kind... the current single 1.8 GHz from Apple is a really bad deal, so avoid that one unless you *insist* on buying new. If you really want "TEH SNAPPEY�," I would suggest a dual processor machine. Even older dual processor G4s are really noticeably faster than single processor models. Apple's selling old-model dual 1.8 GHz G5s for $1699 right now in the "special deals" section of their store. You could also scour eBay for dual G4s and G5s, but you have to be much more cautious. A dual 1.42 GHz G4 would be much faster than the mini and would probably rival any iMac G5 in terms of performance, but good luck finding one for a good deal on eBay. They're not that common.

Personally I'd recommend the dual 1.8 from Apple. It seems like a very good price for a very powerful and expandable machine. It should still be nice several years from now, and with the possibility of upgrades it'll last even longer.

kjbetz · May 3, 2005, 09:02 PM

I really like my Mac mini, but one thing has been bothering the heck out of me since I've gotten it. And I feel, like you have said, it doesn't have enough "oomph" for my tasks.

I too have the 1.42 Ghz, AE, BT model and added a 1 GB stick of Crucial memory and the thing bogs down every once and awhile. I get SBOD all the time, especially when using my music notation software.

I'm assuming this is due to the 4200 RPM HD and have just ordered the Hitachi 7200 RPM drive and hopes this makes the difference. If not I plan on selling it and getting a PowerMac. I might end up doing this eventually anyway, but I'd like to spend the money on a laptop first.

Maybe a HD or memory upgrade will give you the "oomph" you seek.

andrewgf · May 3, 2005, 09:48 PM

I'm in the same boat. In search of "teh snappy". Deciding whether to add to the existing Mini or jump up to something a little more powerful.

My Mini is the 1.25Ghz to which I've changed to 512Mb. Picked up an external 3 1/2" drive enclosure and upgraded to Tiger. Its a world of difference in terms of performance though.

Still get the occasional beach balls and the new hi def trailers kill it stone dead. I've got a spare 2 1/2" Samsung 5400RPM 8Mb cache drive which I plan to put in at some time.

The thing is that to invest further when the processor seems to be coming up short based on my needs seems silly. I'd bought the Mini to dabble but find I'm reaching limitations. Chiefly I wanted to play with the new Tiger programming libraries and video editing, along with the usual stuff.

I could pretty much make the complete "switch" to an Imac Rev B, a superceded 1.8 PM or a new 2.0 PM. The Imac is nice in that its a neat little unit. The Powermac adds alot of expansion and a second processor at the cost of space. At a cost of no Airport or bluetooth included. But would I make use of the expandability ?

Decisions. Decision. For the moment I'll stay on the Mini but won't bother spending more until I've tried out all the things I like to do on it.

liquidh2o · May 7, 2005, 12:56 PM

follow-up:

ended up with a Rev. A DP 1.8ghz G5. Couldn't be happier, this thing is frigging great and I don't feel any slowdowns at all, and it's upgradable so it should last me for years to come.

Randman · May 7, 2005, 12:57 PM

Hope you got enough ram.

liquidh2o · May 7, 2005, 12:58 PM

1gb to start off with

Randman · May 7, 2005, 01:04 PM

Congrats then. Always hate when people get a G5 tower then handicap it with the barest amount of ram.

If you find you want to trade for a mini, let me know.

liquidh2o · May 7, 2005, 01:09 PM

I actually ended up trading the mini for the powermac! And I agree about the ram. I was hesitant to go from 512mb to 1gb on the mini because I didn't think it would satisfy me. Going this route removed all doubts

andrewgf · May 7, 2005, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by liquidh2o

I actually ended up trading the mini for the powermac! And I agree about the ram. I was hesitant to go from 512mb to 1gb on the mini because I didn't think it would satisfy me. Going this route removed all doubts

Congats. Like you, I've decided that I'm a poweruser and that a Powermac is most likely to fit my needs. I figure I'll need the upgradeability.

However I'm going to wait for a while. My needs are pressing. Plus see if PCIe shows up. Even though technical performance between PCIe and AGP is pretty much the same.