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bujumbura · Sep 29, 2005, 02:37 PM

Hi There

I want to buy a top of the line Mac mini and not sure if to go for 512 Mb or 1Gb of Ram. I'll be using the mini as a home computer mainly for iphoto, web, imovie and idvd (ocasionally though will want to use for apps like indesign, dreamweaver and xpress). My gut feeling is that 512 is barely sufficient but I would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks in advance

Randman · Sep 29, 2005, 02:40 PM

Get the 1GB. The design apps will love you for it.

Jacob · Sep 29, 2005, 04:34 PM

1GB of ram, upgrade the hdd to 5400rpm. then you're set. 512 isnt enough.

bujumbura · Sep 29, 2005, 04:56 PM

Thanks for confirming my hunch. Now just have to wait until the 1.5 officially comes out

ajprice · Sep 29, 2005, 05:15 PM

Go for the gig, as far as memory goes. The more the merrier!

Laurence · Sep 29, 2005, 06:41 PM

Has anyone tested to see whether the Mini will handle a 2GB DIMM? I know they are kind of expensive right now, but that should change within 6 months or so.

bradoesch · Sep 29, 2005, 08:17 PM

1 GB for sure. Even that isn't a whole lot these days.

Agent69 · Sep 30, 2005, 07:36 AM

1GB should be fine. You can buy it cheaper than Apple will sell it to you, however.

bujumbura · Sep 30, 2005, 12:47 PM

I'm convinced will go for the 1gb.

BTW any thoughts on the wireless keyboard and mouse. Is it worth it? Are there any interference issues.

Randman · Sep 30, 2005, 01:09 PM

The family mini has Airport and Bluetooth and I use an Apple wireless keyboard. No problems.

tooki · Sep 30, 2005, 06:42 PM

Why burden the environment with battery replacements to remove a cumulative 4 feet of cord? I've never seen the point of wireless keyboards and mice in a standard desktop environment.

tooki

bujumbura · Sep 30, 2005, 06:46 PM

when you put it in that context then you are absolutely right

Will C · Oct 1, 2005, 04:05 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

Why burden the environment with battery replacements to remove a cumulative 4 feet of cord? I've never seen the point of wireless keyboards and mice in a standard desktop environment.

tooki

How refreshing - an environmental angle! - I read so many posts about leaving macs on 24 hours a day and never a mention of the power they use 'doing nothing'.

Titom · Oct 2, 2005, 10:29 PM

When the first mini macs came out.. most said.. not enough ram.. get 512....

Now that the mini macs come with 512.. most say.. get 1 gig...

Is this because Tigar uses more ram?

vinster · Oct 2, 2005, 10:44 PM

I have 512MB RAM in my Mac mini but it's only used as a home-theater computer, so it rarely ever runs more than the OS and a few applications at any given time. If used as an everyday computer with the occasional high-end graphic/design program, then 1GB of RAM makes sense.

The 256MB that originally came with my mini is just about enough to boot the machine. I had an upgrade done by the store before I even picked it up.

CanadaRAM · Oct 2, 2005, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by Titom

When the first mini macs came out.. most said.. not enough ram.. get 512....

Now that the mini macs come with 512.. most say.. get 1 gig...

Is this because Tigar uses more ram?

Yes.

CanadaRAM · Oct 2, 2005, 10:59 PM

Originally Posted by Laurence

Has anyone tested to see whether the Mini will handle a 2GB DIMM? I know they are kind of expensive right now, but that should change within 6 months or so.

Do you have a source for a non-stacked, non-registered, non-ECC 16-chip PC2700 or PC3200 2 Gb DIMM?

Titom · Oct 2, 2005, 11:12 PM

So it's the widgets that use so much ram... as compared to Panthor, that have no widgets....??

Does the old Konfabulator, the paid version, work on Tigar?

tooki · Oct 2, 2005, 11:21 PM

Originally Posted by Will C

How refreshing - an environmental angle! - I read so many posts about leaving macs on 24 hours a day and never a mention of the power they use 'doing nothing'.

Well, a Mac in sleep mode uses minimal power -- and power generated in a power plant should have less overall environmental impact than disposable batteries, which contain all sorts of undesirable things.

tooki

iREZ · Oct 3, 2005, 04:04 PM

how bout just using rechargeable batteries? all i know is i love my mx duo...sorry for being a facist non environmentalist

buggsuperstar · Oct 3, 2005, 09:13 PM

Originally Posted by Titom

So it's the widgets that use so much ram... as compared to Panthor, that have no widgets....??

Does the old Konfabulator, the paid version, work on Tigar?

erm... don't mean to derail this thread, but doesn't Panthor and Tigar sounds very Masters Of The Universe-ish?

Randman · Oct 4, 2005, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

Why burden the environment with battery replacements to remove a cumulative 4 feet of cord? I've never seen the point of wireless keyboards and mice in a standard desktop environment.

Not everyone has a "standard desktop environment".

icruise · Oct 4, 2005, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by Randman

Not everyone has a "standard desktop environment".

I guess I missed the part where he said that...

gratisguy · Oct 6, 2005, 01:02 AM

I would say don't waiste your money upgrading a mini-mac. The purpose of the mini-mac is to be tiny and still do cool computer stuff, not to run high grade video editing applications. Get G-Series computer if you want to do that, if you just want a computer to browse pictures, the internet ad maybe some movies and music, stick to a standardized mac mini, THATS WHAT THEY ARE FOR!!

----~-~-~----
GratGuy
Get your mini-iPod, Photo iPod, and Nano iPods for almost nothing at! http://www.gratisinternetrocks.com

iREZ · Oct 7, 2005, 12:55 PM

mac mini can handle more than that, i dont see how a powerbook is considered a photoshop/illy, light final cut machine while the mini is only a browse net n movies machine. its the same effin thing!!!...i use my cuz' mini quite often while photoshopping n it works fantastically as long as i dont apply huge renders, but hey...it works better than my dated PB.

mduell · Oct 7, 2005, 11:53 PM

Go for 1GB... too bad Apple doesn't support 2GB DIMMs.

moonmonkey · Oct 8, 2005, 12:08 AM

you need the 1 Gig!

SmileyDude · Nov 1, 2005, 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Go for 1GB... too bad Apple doesn't support 2GB DIMMs.

Actually, the problem is trying to get 2GB DDR DIMMs that are non-ECC. Crucial doesn't currently offer them -- and, it's looking like they might never offer them.

When the mini came out, there was an unofficial report that the mini would be able to work with a 2GB stick if/when they came out...

mduell · Nov 1, 2005, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by SmileyDude

Actually, the problem is trying to get 2GB DDR DIMMs that are non-ECC. Crucial doesn't currently offer them -- and, it's looking like they might never offer them.

When the mini came out, there was an unofficial report that the mini would be able to work with a 2GB stick if/when they came out...

Correct, they need to upgrade the Mac mini to DDR2 to get 2GB non-ECC (and unbuffered) DIMMs. PC2700 will be 4 years old pretty soon.

Tuishimi · Nov 5, 2005, 01:29 PM

I use my macs to host our websites as well as work. I had a mini but switched to the iMac G5 in Sept. for build speeds... But as nice as the iMac is, I really really loved and miss my mini. I already told my wife that when the intel mini comes out I am hopping right on it. When I had my mini, I bought a 1GB crucial stick, and upgraded the internal drive to a 5400 100GB seagate drive. Made a HUGE difference in speed.

But I can picture my Mactel mini when they arrive... 64 MB VRAM and an upgraded ATI chip that will support core image and Quartz 2D Extreme and a zippy pentium M, maybe dual core, who knows

...

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...