The basics: Mac Mini, PowerPC G4; 512 MB SDRAM. Me: quite non-expert user, so be gentle with the big fancy words. Bought used (the Mini, not me) off eBay with AppleCare package included.
It's been great generally, but has issues with some CDs. It plays most fine, but every once in a while a disc slows it down and the cute little box starts grinding like an old wooden flour mill. The "good" CDs and the "bad" CDs seem consistent; i.e., it has trouble with particular CDs. There's one that it can't play at all; in fact, the first time I put it in (sometime last year) the whole computer ground to a halt (spinning color wheel, etc.) and I had to reboot with the power button to even eject the CD. That spooked me enough that I mostly haven't played CDs in it, and have even put off getting some software I need because I'm leary of putting anything in the disc slot. I recently decided it's way past time I do something about this, since I have just a couple months left on the AppleCare, and two big schmancy Apple stores just a subway ride away in Manhattan. Today I experimented for a while with various CDs; no big problems this time, but still won't play that one disc (although it didn't screw the whole system this time).
-Is this a common or uncommon problem? Will the severity continue to fluctuate, or get worse in time, so I should definitely have it looked at? Or is it just a quirk I have to live with, like the way certain earlier DVD players were sometimes incompatible with certain DVDs?
-If I can and should have it fixed, is it a physical problem with the drive that will require repair or even replacement of the unit? Or do I just need more RAM (which seems to be the answer to 80% of computer problems)?
Any insight into any of these questions would be appreciated. Thanks, folks.
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