[Zim]

I've been looking to pick up a mini for connecting to my HT setup, which on the video side consists of a Panny EDTV (not HDTV). 90% sure it does NOT accept 720p, but does take 480p and 1080i, so I do not need 1080p playback, and by the time I get a better TV, I'd be willing to upgrade the Mini and relegate this one to some kind of server function.

Also plan to use as an iTunes server, photo album (and digital camera movie) server.

All GPU arguments aside, I'm upgrading froma G4/800 Pmac, so while the GPU might not be everything everyone wanted, it should still be better than what I have now.. so I plan some light gaming on it, but I tend towards turn based strategy games anyway, not UT 2004, etc.

Lastly, I will use this as my mail/web server.

I plan to keep my G4/800, at least for the time being.. so if I really needed a 2nd proc to crunch on something, I have that.

Given these constraints, will I really see the benefit of a Duo?

Thanks,
Mike

[MacOS-Fan]

If you are planning on runninig at 1080, get the Duo.

[Agent69]

I'm making trying to make this same decision right now. The Mini Core Solo is in my price range but my local Apple Store didn't have a Core Solo on display to test with, only a couple of Core Duos.

By the way, the 512MB Core Duo Mini I tested was surprisingly quick. Of course, the slow hard drive hampers it a bit but with enough RAM, that would probably not be noticed.

[inkhead]

You could upgrade the processors to the dual core one later ;-) buy the processors off www.pricewatch.com Currently it sells here http://www.antaresdigital.com/custom...cat=365&page=1 for $269 but if you bought the single core, and in say 6 months wanted to buy the dual core of 1.66ghz I bet it would be dirt cheep like $80

[Barefoot Matt]

Originally Posted by inkhead

You could upgrade the processors to the dual core one later ;-) buy the processors off www.pricewatch.com Currently it sells here http://www.antaresdigital.com/custom...cat=365&page=1 for $269 but if you bought the single core, and in say 6 months wanted to buy the dual core of 1.66ghz I bet it would be dirt cheep like $80

So the processor on the mini is socketed? I'm surprised they would do that on a mini and not the MBP.

[sniffer]

Doing server tasks in the background while using the machine for day to day tasks (inkluding 1080p HD) you'll be much better off with a duo and some extra ram.

[inkhead]

Originally Posted by Barefoot Matt

So the processor on the mini is socketed? I'm surprised they would do that on a mini and not the MBP.

yes it's socketed.

Has anyone actually confirmed that the solo does however play 1080p fine? Anyone tried it in the Apple store?

[Zim]

Originally Posted by Agent69

I'm making trying to make this same decision right now. The Mini Core Solo is in my price range but my local Apple Store didn't have a Core Solo on display to test with, only a couple of Core Duos.

By the way, the 512MB Core Duo Mini I tested was surprisingly quick. Of course, the slow hard drive hampers it a bit but with enough RAM, that would probably not be noticed.

Getting 1G or RAM either way.. that is a given

Mike

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Zim

I've been looking to pick up a mini for connecting to my HT setup, which on the video side consists of a Panny EDTV (not HDTV). 90% sure it does NOT accept 720p, but does take 480p and 1080i, so I do not need 1080p playback, and by the time I get a better TV, I'd be willing to upgrade the Mini and relegate this one to some kind of server function.

Since it's only an EDTV, it's downscaling the 1080i signal to 480. I'd go with Core Solo.

Originally Posted by inkhead

You could upgrade the processors to the dual core one later ;-) buy the processors off www.pricewatch.com Currently it sells here http://www.antaresdigital.com/custom...cat=365&page=1 for $269 but if you bought the single core, and in say 6 months wanted to buy the dual core of 1.66ghz I bet it would be dirt cheep like $80

What gave you that idea? Based on Intel's historical pricing trends, dual core 1.66 will be $150-225 in 6 months.

Originally Posted by inkhead

Has anyone actually confirmed that the solo does however play 1080p fine? Anyone tried it in the Apple store?

Core Solo plays 720p, but you need Core Duo for 1080p.

[Zim]

Originally Posted by mduell

Core Solo plays 720p, but you need Core Duo for 1080p.

When I can afford a 1080p display, I won't bother to even think about Duo vs Solo

Mike