[darkmatter]

Hi

1.- Could some please tell more specifications of the Mac Minis Hard Disk than the ones on Apples website?
2.- Is there only one memory slot?
3.- Does the 256 Mbytes RAM are on the slot or onboard?
4.- Any PIC of the Powersupply

The motherboard seemd to be very similar to the one of the iBooks

Best Regards

[afireinside]

1-no clue
2-1 DIMM slot
3-its a 256 stick. Not hard soldered like the ibook
4-why do you care about the PSU? You cant swap out the graphics card or CPU so it doesent matter.

[Dave N]

4. Check out the Quicktime movie/images of the mini on the apple site. You can see the power supply there.

[:dragonflypro:]

1. 2.5" (don't think a 3.5 would even fit)
2. 1 slot as mentioned
3. Stick only (site says Apple reseller installed only. whatever.)
4. http://www.apple.com/macmini/ see the QTVR

I want�

T

[Cory Bauer]

I gotta say I'm fairly positive the hard drive in the Mac Mini is a standard desktop drive, and not a laptop drive. Now I know it doesn't seem like it'd fit, but I measured a drive I had laying around and they are six inches long. The Mac Mini is six and a half inches. Assuming that the drives runs left to right with its front facing the RAM and its cables at the opposite side, it'd fit based on this photo:



More importantly, Apple charges $125 to upgrade from a 60 to an 80 GB hard drive in their PowerBook line. The higher end Mac Mini has an 80 GB drive instead of a 40 GB Drive, plus 1.42 Ghz instead of 1.25, and it's only $100 more than the base Mac Mini.

80 GB notebook drives are expensive. In fact retail price they cost 2-3 times more than a desktop drive of the same capacity. If it came down to making the Mac Mini .25" wider to accommodate a drives that are considerably cheaper, I think Apple would have done it considering the machine sells for $499. But that's just me trying to be logical, I could be wrong

[:dragonflypro:]

Originally posted by Cory Bauer:
I gotta say I'm fairly positive the hard drive in the Mac Mini is a standard desktop drive, and not a laptop drive. Now I know it doesn't seem like it'd fit, but I measured a drive I had laying around and they are six inches long. The Mac Mini is six and a half inches. Assuming that the drives runs left to right with its front facing the RAM and its cables at the opposite side, it'd fit based on this photo:



More importantly, Apple charges $125 to upgrade from a 60 to an 80 GB hard drive in their PowerBook line. The higher end Mac Mini has an 80 GB drive instead of a 40 GB Drive, plus 1.42 Ghz instead of 1.25, and it's only $100 more than the base Mac Mini.

80 GB notebook drives are expensive. In fact retail price they cost 2-3 times more than a desktop drive of the same capacity. If it came down to making the Mac Mini .25" wider to accommodate a drives that are considerably cheaper, I think Apple would have done it considering the machine sells for $499. But that's just me trying to be logical, I could be wrong

yeah, you may be right.

The Mm weighs 2.9lbs, so a 3.5 is not out of the question.

T

[tooki]

There's just seriously no room in there for a 3.5" drive. When you consider that a CPU, its cooling system, and the other components have to fit, there's realistically no room left. A normal 3.5" drive is exactly 1" thick. That's fully 1/2 of the whole height of the unit, and that's just not realistically gonna leave room for the rest.

I call that it's a notebook drive.

Besides, notebook drives (especially the slow ones) aren't that expensive anymore, and I'm quite sure Apple's not paying full retail on them anyway.

tooki

[sideus]

As soon as someone shows me how to open this thing so I can change the RAM, I'll order one. Apple's RAM prices are too high.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

So what is the RPM of the hard drive, I find laptop ones horribly slow.

[deboerjo]

Originally posted by tooki:
There's just seriously no room in there for a 3.5" drive. When you consider that a CPU, its cooling system, and the other components have to fit, there's realistically no room left. A normal 3.5" drive is exactly 1" thick. That's fully 1/2 of the whole height of the unit, and that's just not realistically gonna leave room for the rest.

I call that it's a notebook drive.

Besides, notebook drives (especially the slow ones) aren't that expensive anymore, and I'm quite sure Apple's not paying full retail on them anyway.

tooki

A Powerbook is what, 3/4 inch thick without the display? And that's with the keyboard and touchpad and everything, the innards have got to be no more than 5/8", and that's with the mobo and drives sandwitched on top of each other. At most the CPU and cooling would need 3/8" thickness. Add another 1/8" for total thickness the casing adds, and another 1/2" for the optical drive, and you've got 1" to spare for a full-size hard drive.

As previously mentioned, only $50 to upgrade from 40GB to 80GB, when an iBook costs you $75 to upgrade from 60GB to 80GB. Gotta be a desktop drive.

[Targon]

Originally posted by Cory Bauer:
80 GB notebook drives are expensive. In fact retail price they cost 2-3 times more than a desktop drive of the same capacity. If it came down to making the Mac Mini .25" wider to accommodate a drives that are considerably cheaper, I think Apple would have done it considering the machine sells for $499. But that's just me trying to be logical, I could be wrong

My thoughts exactly. 1.5" wider/longer/higher.

The cash they saved on using a standard 3.5' drive could have been used to put 2 more USB 2.0 connectors for a total of 4 (Printer, Scanner, Mouse & Keyboard) and a better graphics card that supports core image.

Ppl could buy USB hubs but why? At the end of the day, the user has to buy all these addons which would hike the price to some level of a cheepo PC that would easily be 3 x faster.

Apple need to give the first time PC user a machine which performs admirably for them else they would only be highly disappointed and put them off Mac's thinking they are slow.

Specs as standard :

2 Ghz G5, 512meg, 80 gig 3.5' disk, Combodrive, 4x USB 2.0, 2x Firewire 400, 64meg Quartz 2D Extreme/ Core Image qualified video card with DVI connector, 100BaseT Ethernet, 56k Modem, Sound I/O.

Options, Superdrive, Bluetooth, Airport Extreme, Keyboard (reduce price drastically) Design a 2 button scroll wheel mouse cheep (wireless optical would be great).

[mattsgotredhair]

Originally posted by Targon:
Ppl could buy USB hubs but why? At the end of the day, the user has to buy all these addons which would hike the price to some level of a cheepo PC that would easily be 3 x faster.

All together with a bugged out OS that will be eaten alive within a month. Wow, I guess I should buy Dell's.

Originally posted by Targon:
Options, Superdrive, Bluetooth, Airport Extreme, Keyboard (reduce price drastically) Design a 2 button scroll wheel mouse cheep (wireless optical would be great).

Yeah, that 2 button mouse with a scroll would really sell me on that system too.

[darthslacker]

As far as the hard drive, I'm thinking it is a 3.5" drive. The price to upgrade from 40GB to 80GB is $50 which is the same price as it is to do the same on an eMac.

I thought it would be a laptop drive at first due to size but as far as costs go, I think it is going to be a 3.5" drive.

[OB1]

To quote Apple - "All Mac mini models include standard Ultra ATA hard drives. ATA hard drives (also known as IDE drives) combine low cost with excellent performance."

Cool, one of my concerns with Mac mini was HD speed. One of my other concerns is noise. To quote Apple again - "Best of all, Mac mini purrs along at a whisper-quiet sound level." Does anyone know if it has a fan at all?

[afireinside]

"Ppl could buy USB hubs but why? At the end of the day, the user has to buy all these addons which would hike the price to some level of a cheepo PC that would easily be 3 x faster."

1:a cheapo celeron dell is far from faster
2:the OS sucks

[JasonA]

Actually, just last month I picked up a Dell 3ghz celeron machine *with* a 15" LCD and 512mb RAM for under $500 for my Mom. Heck, they even threw in a keyboard and mouse. Of course, that was during a good deal with a coupon, etc., but not that uncommon.

Speedwise that thing would easily outdo this Mini. But I'd rather have given her the Mac OS to use, and the Mini is much smaller and cooler.

[darkmatter]

Hi,

Thanks for all the answers

So, what's the verdict?

LAPTOP:
1.- 2.5" 4200 RPM 1 MByte cache
2.- 2.5" 4200 RPM 2 MByte cache
3.- 2.5" 4200 RPM 8 Mbyte cache
4.- 2.5" 4200 RPM 16 Mbyte cache
5.- 2.5" 5400 RPM 2 Mbyte cache
6.- 2.5" 5400 RPM 8 Mbyte cache
7.- 2.5" 5400 RPM 16 Mbyte cache

If 2.5" -> Would be great to change it for a 7K60

DESKTOP
1.- Quatum BigFoot?

Best Regards

[darkmatter]

Hi,

Thanks for answering

[/QUOTE]
4-why do you care about the PSU? You cant swap out the graphics card or CPU so it doesent matter. [/QUOTE]

I intend to adopt this computer as a mobile computer, only wanted to compare the size. I wonder if an iBook wouldn't be a better choice (keyboard and mouse included)

Regards

[suprz's ghost]

as long as the HD isnt a 4200rpm....I can still remember my ibook 700 with it's 4200rpm HD it took a LONG time to boot....and that's when it was new and didnt have anything in it except the operating system

[JHromadka]

Originally posted by Targon:
Ppl could buy USB hubs but why? At the end of the day, the user has to buy all these addons which would hike the price to some level of a cheepo PC that would easily be 3 x faster.

How many cheapo PCs come with 4 USB and 2 firewire ports?

[discotronic]

Originally posted by JHromadka:
How many cheapo PCs come with 4 USB and 2 firewire ports?

Most cheap PC's will have the 4 USB ports plus 1 or 2 on the front. I don't think any of them come with firewire unless something has changed in the last couple months.

[tooki]

Originally posted by deboerjo:
A Powerbook is what, 3/4 inch thick without the display? And that's with the keyboard and touchpad and everything, the innards have got to be no more than 5/8", and that's with the mobo and drives sandwitched on top of each other. At most the CPU and cooling would need 3/8" thickness. Add another 1/8" for total thickness the casing adds, and another 1/2" for the optical drive, and you've got 1" to spare for a full-size hard drive.

As previously mentioned, only $50 to upgrade from 40GB to 80GB, when an iBook costs you $75 to upgrade from 60GB to 80GB. Gotta be a desktop drive.

But the PowerBooks have about twice the footprint, so they have more total VOLUME left for the other components. (Also, it depends on what PowerBook model. The 17" -- which has a HUGE footprint, is 1" thick with the display. The 12 and 15" models are about 1.25" thick with the display.

There is NO WAY that it's a desktop drive in the Mac mini, there just isn't enough space.

Besides, every single report is of it being a 2.5" drive, and at this price, it's gonna be a 4200 RPM drive.

As for the drive upgrade price discrepancy: :shrug:
Apple's done weird stuff like that before.

tooki

[gzeus]

This is just begging to have its warranty voided - the ridiculous prices for the ram upgrade will probably have most people doing it themselves. While you're in there, might as well chuck that 4200rpm hard drive (image of a gerbil running around in its wheel). It's only a matter of time before we see the first mac mini with a user-embedded lcd, a la the 6" lcd on the flamecube:

[MaxPower2k3]

While it does seem unlikely, i think it would be possible to use a 3.5" drive. they're 5.75x4x1", leaving about 3/4 of an inch for casing/cables and 2.5" of width and 1.5" of height (partially taken by the CD drive, which is, what, 1/2" tall? so, if the drive is pushed all the way to one side, you've got a space of around 2.5"x6.5"x2" (along with up to an inch above the HDD and below the CD drive)

After writing that, it does seem like quite a stretch... i wouldn't put it past them to be able to do that, though.

[Rumor Addict]

According to a macbidouille its a 2.5 inch 4200 rpm drive.

Does the processor have any L2 or L3 cache?

[darkmatter]

Originally posted by Rumor Addict:
According to a macbidouille its a 2.5 inch 4200 rpm drive.

Does the processor have any L2 or L3 cache?

* 1.25GHz or 1.42GHz PowerPC G4 processor with Velocity Engine
* 512K on-chip level 2 cache at full processor speed
* 167MHz system bus
* 256MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM, expandable to up to 1GB

Regards

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by gzeus:
This is just begging to have its warranty voided - the ridiculous prices for the ram upgrade will probably have most people doing it themselves. While you're in there, might as well chuck that 4200rpm hard drive (image of a gerbil running around in its wheel). It's only a matter of time before we see the first mac mini with a user-embedded lcd, a la the 6" lcd on the flamecube:

I can see these things showing up all over the place.

I still don't understand why they went with the smaller more expensive drive. Why not add 1/2 inch or so to fit it in there? Save everyone some money.

[stuffedmonkey]

I can confirm from actual Apple training materials that it is indeed a 2.5" laptop hard drive. I was not able to find out which brand or RPM speed.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by discotronic:
Most cheap PC's will have the 4 USB ports plus 1 or 2 on the front. I don't think any of them come with firewire unless something has changed in the last couple months.

Yes more PC's have 4-6 USB ports and you can get a firewire PCI card for about $15. Since the iPod supports USB 2.0 on the PC's I don't see why they normally want firewire anyway.

[Targon]

Originally posted by discotronic:
Most cheap PC's will have the 4 USB ports plus 1 or 2 on the front. I don't think any of them come with firewire unless something has changed in the last couple months.

Many motherboards costing less than $100 have 6 USB 2.0 and 2-3 firewire and Gigabit Ethernet.

[discotronic]

Originally posted by Targon:
Many motherboards costing less than $100 have 6 USB 2.0 and 2-3 firewire and Gigabit Ethernet.

Most cheap low-end PC's have a motherboard that costs about $25. Most likely less for a company like HP or Dell. You won't find firewire or Gigabit Ethernet on those.

[gowolverines]

So I just ordered a mini with the mem u/g to 512. My question is, I have a "Wintel" PC with corsair branded PC2700 512MB stick, can I use this in the mini? I want 1GB but don't want to spend the money right now, so I was thinking I could swap the memory in each machine and if I need more than 256 for XP, I can always add a much cheaper 2nd 256MB stick. Also, how much does everyone think places will charge to install the memory in the mini, in case I'm not feeling brave? Thanks in advance.

[SouthPaW1227]

Welcome, and congrats. Sadly, the Mac Mini has "ONE" RAM slot, thus another 512MB DIMM won't do you any good. To get higher than 512MB in your Mac, you'll need a 1GIG DIMM stick.

[PER3]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I can see these things showing up all over the place.

I still don't understand why they went with the smaller more expensive drive. Why not add 1/2 inch or so to fit it in there? Save everyone some money.

Heat and noise probably. And weight etc...

[Leonard]

MacInTouch also confirms it's a laptop hard drive in their report:

http://www.macintouch.com/mwsf2005notebook.html

They also mention that if the user upgrades the memory, without breaking anything, that it does not void the warranty.

[darkmatter]

Hi

Hopefully the statement about warranty also applies to the Hard Disk

For the ones discussing about motherboards take a look to:

http://www.mini-itx.com/
http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives...head/mini-itx/

Best Regards

Originally posted by Leonard:
MacInTouch also confirms it's a laptop hard drive in their report:

http://www.macintouch.com/mwsf2005notebook.html

They also mention that if the user upgrades the memory, without breaking anything, that it does not void the warranty.

[Skip Breakfast]

Since the iPod supports USB 2.0 on the PC's I don't see why they normally want firewire anyway.

Three words: Digital Video camera.


I've usually seen PCs including one 1394 port once they cross the $700 threshold.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Leonard:
MacInTouch also confirms it's a laptop hard drive in their report:

http://www.macintouch.com/mwsf2005notebook.html

They also mention that if the user upgrades the memory, without breaking anything, that it does not void the warranty.

Thx. That's a good source with finally some harder facts.

-t

[JHromadka]

Originally posted by Leonard:
MacInTouch also confirms it's a laptop hard drive in their report:

http://www.macintouch.com/mwsf2005notebook.html

They also mention that if the user upgrades the memory, without breaking anything, that it does not void the warranty.

Excellent. Now all we need are user reports with pictures on how to take the thing apart and put it back together and I'm ordering one.

[iPoder]

I confirmed with the Mac representative in the Macworld show. The hard drive used in the Mac mini is 2.5" ATA drive.

If you see the Mini in person, you will wonder how they can fit a 3.5" drive in the case. So the mystery is solved.

However, I forgot to ask the drive rpm speed. But I bet it is 4200rpm.

[zwiebel_]

Maybe this sheds some light on the hd capacity?

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

So does it take a STANDARD airport card or a special one?

"espite Steve Jobs� lack of discussion of the Mac mini�s wireless capabilities at the Macworld Expo Keynote, the Mac mini can do wireless. Due to the tight spaces within the Mac mini, both the AirPort Extreme card and Bluetooth module attach to the Mac mini�s motherboard via a special connector."

http://www.macworld.com/2005/01/news...view/index.php

[Simon]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
"Despite Steve Jobs� lack of discussion of the Mac mini�s wireless capabilities at the Macworld Expo Keynote, the Mac mini can do wireless. Due to the tight spaces within the Mac mini, both the AirPort Extreme card and Bluetooth module attach to the Mac mini�s motherboard via a special connector."

If the APX card is custom, I'm wondering, can APX be installed later or only initially as BTO? Contrary to BT which can be also attached externally, with APX this would be a pain.

[Spliff]

FYI, I came across this useful info:

I spoke with the product manager for the Mac mini today to clarify a few facts.

Yes, it will boot headless, meaning with no display or video device connected, enabling you to have what I like to call an iServe.

While it is strongly recommended that you only have an Apple Autherized Service Provider crack it open and install RAM, hard drives, Airport and Bluetooth, it will NOT void your warranty if you do it yourself. As is standard operating procedure, however, anything you break while attempting anything on your own is not Apple�s responsibility and will not be covered under warranty. I think that is pretty much common sense.

Airport and Bluetooth can, in fact, be added after purchase. AirPort Extreme card and Bluetooth module attach to the Mac mini�s motherboard via a special connector and will be sold together as a kit for $129.

RAM is the most accessible upgrade once you get the case off. That much is clear from the picture.

All upgrades other than RAM are not as accessible, but accessing them won�t void your warranty, with list item #2 above in mind.

The reason the TOP of the Mac mini doesn�t glow and pulse (this is my only gripe so far) is that there wasn�t enough room to light it once the optical drive went in

http://apple.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000917027372/

[Eriamjh]

Insanely-dense

Based on this mobo, I would say the long connector on the right is the IDE for the HD and CD/DVD drive. The one on the left must be where the Airport and Blue-tooth add-ons would go. It does appear that a mini-card is needed to use a regular AP card (and I have no idea what the Bluetooth module looks like).

$129 is not cheap is the price of an AP card and a BT card so it sounds fair.

[FLYBOi]

[NO SPAM]

[FLYBOi]

[NO SPAM]

[typoon]

Also this article from Mac Central confirms that they use a 2.5" HD Mac Mini: What you need to know

[WizOSX]

Do we know yet, for sure, which processor is in the 1.25 and 1.42 ghz models? Are they using the 7448 yet?

[waffffffle]

So everyone says 2.5", but no one has shown a picture of the drive. I still find it hard to believe that Apple is charging so little for the larger drive in comparison with how they are pricing a similar hard drive upgrade in the iBook.