[buggsuperstar]

Originally Posted by Agent69

It must have something to do with the overall brightness of the screen. I tried turning down the brightness but then everything else was too dim. Ironically, I have never had this problem with a laptop LCD.

precisely! this is exactly the problem.

in the end i settled for a happy medium somewhere in between. but my screen brightness is set really really low.

And as the good Captain pointed out, it does have something to do with the ambient lighting in the room. As my room is dimly lit, on purpose as i like the ambience, the brightness problem of the LCD is exascerbated.

[southtdi]

I don't have a problem with using a notebook drive in a mini. I actually might be buying a used one so ai can rip the Hd out and put a 5400 rpm drive in there. I don't care to much about teh warranty for this one since I am going to use it for OSX server.

The bit about the memory is one thing that they could fix right now. Ther eis room there to use 2 SO-Dimms side-by-side. Sure SO-Dimm memory isn't designed to be stood up but a simple plastic bracket with a back behind the memory would solve that. Third party SO-Dimm memory is actually not that unexpensive.

Anyway the memory bit to me makes sense being that they pretty much use portable parts for just about everything else in there.

[Agent69]

Originally Posted by southtdi

I don't have a problem with using a notebook drive in a mini. I actually might be buying a used one so ai can rip the Hd out and put a 5400 rpm drive in there. I don't care to much about teh warranty for this one since I am going to use it for OSX server.

Check out this page at Hitachi, which lists their Travelstar drives. Drives with an "E" at the beginning are designed for 24/7 usage.

[Agent69]

By the way Southtdi, I recently got an email from my local CompUSA Apple Rep. that they were selling the older Panther Minis for $429 (1.25ghz) and $479 (1.42ghz), brand new. Of course, they have 256MB of RAM and they come with no Airport Extreme or Bluetooth, but that probably wouldn't concern you for what you are talking about doing.

[Sporty G]

I was one of the individuals who received the 1.5Ghz Mac mini in place of the mid-point 1.42Ghz Mac mini.

Interestingly, the box clearly states the specifications of the unit that I had actually ordered (1.42Ghz G4, 32mb of video memory, etc.), but the unit is very much different. "About this Mac" states it is a 1.5Ghz Mac mini and the system profiler claims it includes 512mb of PC3200 DDR Ram and a 64mb ATI 9200. I was originally going to order this machine through school but they have a horrendously slow shipping time... 10-14 business days. Instead I just ordered through Apple.ca and the unit shipped from California and arrived in about 3 days.

At first I was impressed with the speed of the unit, but after a little bit of use I realized it's in desperate need of a RAM upgrade. I can't believe that these once shipped with ONLY 256mb of RAM!!!

Maybe I feel it's slow just because my personal machine is a dual processor G5 with 2gb of RAM.

[Krypton]

Originally Posted by Sporty G

I was one of the individuals who received the 1.5Ghz Mac mini in place of the mid-point 1.42Ghz Mac mini.

Interestingly, the box clearly states the specifications of the unit that I had actually ordered (1.42Ghz G4, 32mb of video memory, etc.), but the unit is very much different. "About this Mac" states it is a 1.5Ghz Mac mini and the system profiler claims it includes 512mb of PC3200 DDR Ram and a 64mb ATI 9200. I was originally going to order this machine through school but they have a horrendously slow shipping time... 10-14 business days. Instead I just ordered through Apple.ca and the unit shipped from California and arrived in about 3 days.

At first I was impressed with the speed of the unit, but after a little bit of use I realized it's in desperate need of a RAM upgrade. I can't believe that these once shipped with ONLY 256mb of RAM!!!

Maybe I feel it's slow just because my personal machine is a dual processor G5 with 2gb of RAM.

So you don't have Core Image support, but the vram got bumped to 64Mb?

[John123]

Well, here is proof-positive that it's coming:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25517

Think that nails it...don't you guys?

[jhogarty]

Must be a popular page - having trouble loading it. But I think Apple Insider had some info on the new ones coming.

J.

[zign]

Originally Posted by Sporty G

I was one of the individuals who received the 1.5Ghz Mac mini in place of the mid-point 1.42Ghz Mac mini.

Interestingly, the box clearly states the specifications of the unit that I had actually ordered (1.42Ghz G4, 32mb of video memory, etc.), but the unit is very much different. "About this Mac" states it is a 1.5Ghz Mac mini and the system profiler claims it includes 512mb of PC3200 DDR Ram and a 64mb ATI 9200. I was originally going to order this machine through school but they have a horrendously slow shipping time... 10-14 business days. Instead I just ordered through Apple.ca and the unit shipped from California and arrived in about 3 days.

At first I was impressed with the speed of the unit, but after a little bit of use I realized it's in desperate need of a RAM upgrade. I can't believe that these once shipped with ONLY 256mb of RAM!!!

Maybe I feel it's slow just because my personal machine is a dual processor G5 with 2gb of RAM.

Only 256mb of RAM? You really did get a weird set up. Someone asked already, but do you have Core Image?

[zign]

If apple do make these new minis, I will definitely get one of the top models for my parents. I am sick and tired of using their Celeron PC when I visit and not have my iBook on me.

[Agent69]

Originally Posted by zign

Only 256mb of RAM? You really did get a weird set up. Someone asked already, but do you have Core Image?

It's still a Radeon 9200 but it has been upgraded to 64MB of RAM. Until recently, I used a 64MB Radeon 9000 enabled PowerMac and I never once missed video card Core Image capatibility.

[Agent69]

I think I will buy one of these and then wait until the Mactels are available, since the iMac's screen gives me headaches and I have a CRT I like using (Mitsi 930SB). Sure, the GPU is not Core Image compatable but I never missed it on my single processor MDD with Radeon 9000 w 64MB of RAM.

At least it will be quietier than the MDD was.

[echosphere]

Release info updated on ThinkSecret:

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0509macmini2.html

[Agent69]

Originally Posted by Sporty G

I was one of the individuals who received the 1.5Ghz Mac mini in place of the mid-point 1.42Ghz Mac mini.

Sporty,

Are you using this machine with a monitor? The previous Minis has a problem with dim video when using the DVI > VGA connector. I was wondering if you have to ability to check this and see if it looks good to you.

[echosphere]

tuaw.com/2005/09/27/1-5ghz-mac-mini-in-the-wild/

Lists someone with the following serial number who got a 1.5Ghz:

"5. Checking the warranty status of the above serial number on the form at shows it as a "Mac mini (Late 2005) YM5360V2TAC" and the "estimated date of purchase was 19-Sep-05"."

If the updated TS story is true about new machines being mixed into the old stock, just check the serial box on the one you buy at the store and make sure it is higher than the one listed above.

Enjoy.

[Big Mac]

Originally Posted by Agent69

Sporty,

Are you using this machine with a monitor? The previous Minis has a problem with dim video when using the DVI > VGA connector. I was wondering if you have to ability to check this and see if it looks good to you.

The mini I purchased two weeks ago (argh) has no issues with the VGA monitor I've used with it.

[southtdi]

Originally Posted by Agent69

By the way Southtdi, I recently got an email from my local CompUSA Apple Rep. that they were selling the older Panther Minis for $429 (1.25ghz) and $479 (1.42ghz), brand new. Of course, they have 256MB of RAM and they come with no Airport Extreme or Bluetooth, but that probably wouldn't concern you for what you are talking about doing.

Agent69, thank for the info. I have to talk to the reps at CompUsa and see what they say here. You are right, I don;t care about Airport or Bluetooth in this one. Using as a server doesn;t need much.

Also thank so much about the drives. That will be the way to go being what I am using it for. Probably going to also act as a simple webserver in the future too and the drives are so much the better.

Now the new ones could be a possibility for my home theater hookup but the audio is the weak lnk there.

[ghporter]

I am still saving up for my own Mini, but a friend brought his over last weekend so I could check out my USB KVM (worked GREAT!). I noticed that the display was not as bright as it was with my other computer, but not "dim" by any means. It seemed "richer" with less contrast and more saturated colors.

However, (not to hijack the thread) I went looking for the brightness control, and I couldnt' find it! There's supposed to be a slider on the appropriate tab, but all it showed was options for color settings and such. It correctly identified my Dell LCD monitor, but no option or control for adjusting brightness. Is this part of the video card in the Mini, or does it have to do with the monitor I was using?

And by the way, everything new I hear about the new crop of Minis sounds better and better!

[gururafiki]

Odd...
http://news.com.com/Apple+offers+Mac...85.html?tag=nl

[ApplCmptrDood]

"At first I was impressed with the speed of the unit, but after a little bit of use I realized it's in desperate need of a RAM upgrade. I can't believe that these once shipped with ONLY 256mb of RAM!!! "

Running tiger on one of these with 256 megs, the only thing tiger needs RAM for is widgets, so nwo i only have about 2 up at a time. 256 Megs is fine for me (at least)

[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?"

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?

[Agent69]

Well, I got tired of waiting and bought a Mac Mini. I bought a 1.42ghz Combo unit, which of course came with BT, AE, 512MB of RAM, and a 4200 rpm drive.

The unit performs a lot better than I thought it would but the 4200 rpm drive does fell a bit slow, especially when launching applications. I will probably upgrade the drive, as the 512MB of RAM seems to be sufficient for me.

This unit is the quietest Mac I have owned since the G4 Cube, and way quietier than the MDD I used to own. The only time I have heard the fan is when I use Windows Media Player.

EDIT: The Mini still has the dim VGA problem, at least with my model which was manufactures in August of this year. Luckily, my monitor can adjust for this.

[mduell]

I've heard that the low voltage on the VGA output and static on the DVI output have persisted into this revision.

Hopefully they'll go away when Apple finally upgrades the video chipset (for one that is Core Image capable).

[Simon]

Originally Posted by mduell

...static on the DVI output have persisted into this revision.

Would you care to elborate on that? How many people have it? What disturbance does it cause? I was thinking about getting a mini to drive my home cinema projector...

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Simon

Would you care to elborate on that? How many people have it? What disturbance does it cause? I was thinking about getting a mini to drive my home cinema projector...

The video output (VGA or DVI) is out of spec. As far as I can tell, it affects most Mac minis; in other words, it would be unusual to find one with proper video outputs. On the DVI side of things, this flaw manifests itsself as static (random pixels or groups of pixels will be the wrong color). Sometimes it's white, sometimes it's green, sometimes it's other colors. This page has a few pictures of the problem.

This flaw has upset a good number of Mac mini owners, and some have gone a little overboard on it. Some guy compilied this list of DVI LCDs that do and do not have static with the Mac mini. A few interesting things to note, many Apple LCDs (espically recent ones) have problems, while most Dell LCDs (espically recent ones) work fine.

[Apfhex]

Originally Posted by Agent69

I think I will buy one of these and then wait until the Mactels are available, since the iMac's screen gives me headaches and I have a CRT I like using (Mitsi 930SB). Sure, the GPU is not Core Image compatable but I never missed it on my single processor MDD with Radeon 9000 w 64MB of RAM.

Ooh ooh! I want to do exactly the same thing. In fact my plan is to: buy a Dell 2405FPW 24" LCD (I'm drooling like mad over a monitor that big) then buy a mini to plug it into as a placeholder for a full-blown Intel-powered PowerMac (by that time I should be out of school and needing a powerful work machine—and I'd already have the monitor!). Also immediately install some Crucial RAM to bring it up to 1GB.

My concerns are
- no Core Image support
- slow hard drive

I hadn't really though about those until reading this thread, but if they released mini's with 5400 RPM drives and core image supported video cards that would greatly sweeten the deal for me. I've not had the opportunity to use a Core Image supported machine running Tiger. In the mini's case, what kind of performance improvements would that bring? Especially driving a 24" display, which is at the limits of the Radeon 9200 (according to Apple's specs page).

Originally Posted by mduell

This flaw has upset a good number of Mac mini owners, and some have gone a little overboard on it. Some guy compilied this list of DVI LCDs that do and do not have static with the Mac mini. A few interesting things to note, many Apple LCDs (espically recent ones) have problems, while most Dell LCDs (espically recent ones) work fine.

Yikes! Good to know the monitor I want seems to play nice with the mini though.

I read that the latest mini's that are shipping with the different specs have 5400 RPM drives, which is good, but I'm *not* going to buy once and chance not getting a better one.... boo to that!

[Helmling]

You know what I want on the new mini:

That Apple Remote and Front Row.

I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

[Apfhex]

Originally Posted by Helmling

That Apple Remote and Front Row.

Give it optical audio output and plug it into an HDTV and you have the perfect Mac media center!

[PurdueRPh]

Originally Posted by Apfhex

Give it optical audio output and plug it into an HDTV and you have the perfect Mac media center!

My sentiments exactly. And hook the mini up to a NAS that holds all your movies and songs...Perfection


Joe

[residentEvil]

I was suprised they didn't put these things in the mini first. I would dare say that many users have a much larger/better TV than a 17" or 20" LCD. I would prefer to use my HD displays (34" tube and LCD projector) as my displays than an iMac. not sure if the specs in the new iMac play well with the small size of the mini, but i'm holding off for awhile in hopes to see these features (minus the iSight, that was dumb) appear in the mini.

[No Time 4 Love Dr. Jones]

I have a new top-of-the-line mini arriving tomorrow...I'll report if it has the upgraded specs.

[smoke-tetsu]

They should at least when upgrading the powerbooks upgrade the mac mini to be equal to what the powerbooks previously where.

[No Time 4 Love Dr. Jones]

Just fired up my mini and it indeed is the upgraded configuration. The outside packaging and even the sticker along the bottom edge near the ports lists the old SuperDrive config, but the internal hardware is the new stuff. Very pleased, lemme tell ya.

[echosphere]

It would seem that all the old Superdrive models are the only updated ones then...

[iskater]

I ordered a new (mid-price) macmini on October 13th. It was built and shipped on the 14th. Don't expect delivery until next week. I hadn't planned to upgrade the 512MB memory due to cost until I noticed the 1GB upgrade had been discounted significantly from just a day or two earlier (now $100). I ordered the 1G, which showed as 333MHz in the initial oder. But when I got the order build status details, it seems they are putting in 400MHz SRAM. I don't know why they'd put in faster RAM unless the system bus speed had been boosted to 200 MHz.

[monkeybrain]

So why haven't they already announced these things? Very frustrating. My only thought is they are waiting until they update the Powerbooks, or else they'd make the 'Books look even worse with a Mini update (I suppose they have a similar market, people wanting minimalist computers).

Fingers crossed for this week.

[wilsonng]

Well, I've been sitting on the fence waiting for that 1.5Ghz Mac Mini. I just have a question about the 1.42Ghz Mac Mini.

How does it perform when playing HD Quicktime movies? I'm wondering about frame rates and if it stutters while playing back.

I'd love to get a Mac Mini and using it to watch Quicktime h.264 movies.... Thanks.

[No Time 4 Love Dr. Jones]

Originally Posted by wilsonng

Well, I've been sitting on the fence waiting for that 1.5Ghz Mac Mini. I just have a question about the 1.42Ghz Mac Mini.

How does it perform when playing HD Quicktime movies? I'm wondering about frame rates and if it stutters while playing back.

I'd love to get a Mac Mini and using it to watch Quicktime h.264 movies.... Thanks.

Well, there's a guy selling a 1.5 mini in the classifieds forum.

[Zim]

I'm amazed/shocked that they still have yet to offically upgrade the specs.

And with the new powermacs, we still have a $1500 gap in the product line for units that don't come with built-in displays

Mike

[teney7]

Of all the Mac products I am looking forward to the Intel switch to affect it is the mini... will they keep it on a leash so as not to hurt iMac/PM sales or will they let it run wild as a excellent upgrade option for those who need just a computer... I think that it has the potential to sell a ton...

BTW, anyone see Voodoo's look-alike mini...? $900 for PC version? Yuck.

[Zim]

Originally Posted by teney7

Of all the Mac products I am looking forward to the Intel switch to affect it is the mini... will they keep it on a leash so as not to hurt iMac/PM sales or will they let it run wild as a excellent upgrade option for those who need just a computer... I think that it has the potential to sell a ton....

What they fail to realize is that had they NOT kept it on a leash, I would have upgraded from my G4/800 PM well over a year ago... instead I have been sitting tight and they have lost a sale (ie. if I'd upgraded a year ago, I'd prob still be ready to upgrade in another year... which is what it will seem to take before Apple will rev anything I'd be interested in buying since I will NOT buy a Mac with integrated display).

Mike

[Vidal]

Originally Posted by Zim

What they fail to realize is that had they NOT kept it on a leash, I would have upgraded from my G4/800 PM well over a year ago... instead I have been sitting tight and they have lost a sale (ie. if I'd upgraded a year ago, I'd prob still be ready to upgrade in another year... which is what it will seem to take before Apple will rev anything I'd be interested in buying since I will NOT buy a Mac with integrated display).

Exactly!

I have joined this forum to avoid going mad in the wait for the upgrade to the mini. Forget the small increase in speed to 1.5 Mhz, it's the 5400 rpm HDD and 64MB Radeon 9200 that were the final pieces for me that make the MAC mini an irresistable option (although I agree with what's been said about the need for Digital Audio out).

I may be a MAC virgin in terms of not having owned one but like many PC users I have used a MAC on and off at work for years and have been salivating at some of the models that the Apple designers have produced over the last few years. Salivating at everything except the price.

The Anglepoise G4 iMAC was when I knew for certain that someday I would own a MAC. But it still wasn't priced at a level that would encourage me to convert my home PC and all the apps I need to a MAC. Then came the G5 imac which I'm sorry to say was not a winner for me - technologically cool but in design terms it's a Volvo and seemed to me to be a step backwards from the gorgeous G4 imac. With the MAC mini Apple had produced a product that gave you the MAC experience but without the boxy, integrated display and at a sensible price too, but it just wasn't at a spec that could quite compete bang-for-buck with, ahem, a Win%*&% box. But after the speed bumps in July I was very interested and so when I heard the rumours of these latest upgrades I was 'ready for prom night' - as it were.

But then, just like prom night, the long wait began - aarrrrgh! The problem is that my old machine is (forgive me) a Win*&%" machine and it's drawing its last breath. I have to get a new machine before it goes the way of the dodo and leaves me with my stable but impossibly slow Compaq laptop and an old box that now runs Redhat Linux. [If you're getting the impression that my network resembles a scene from Star Wars where C-3P0 is stacked up on a pile of junk technology in a rotting corner then you're getting the picture.]

The point is that unless this upgrade happens soon, I will either have to spend way more than I want to and buy a G5 Powermac or I may be forced - kicking and screaming - into buying another Win*&%" box - against my better judgement - and Apple will lose a very willing potential convert.

I'm really sorry to rant on, I want to be a MAC owner but this waiting is driving me CRAZY!!

[Simon]

MAC = Media Access Control

Mac = The computer we love to use.

[Vidal]

Originally Posted by Simon

MAC = Media Access Control

Mac = The computer we love to use.

Lesson learned. Thank you.

[hangtown]

Originally Posted by Vidal

I have joined this forum to avoid going mad in the wait for the upgrade to the mini. Forget the small increase in speed to 1.5 Mhz, it's the 5400 rpm HDD and 64MB Radeon 9200 that were the final pieces for me that make the MAC mini an irresistable option (although I agree with what's been said about the need for Digital Audio out).

(snip)

The point is that unless this upgrade happens soon, I will either have to spend way more than I want to and buy a G5 Powermac or I may be forced - kicking and screaming - into buying another Win*&%" box - against my better judgement - and Apple will lose a very willing potential convert.

I'm really sorry to rant on, I want to be a MAC owner but this waiting is driving me CRAZY!!

If by the upgrades you are indeed referring to the 1.5 Ghz cpu, the 5400 rpm drive, and the 64 meg radeon, they are here now. Yesterday I bought my mini at the local apple store and I did get all those things.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by hangtown

If by the upgrades you are indeed referring to the 1.5 Ghz cpu, the 5400 rpm drive, and the 64 meg radeon, they are here now. Yesterday I bought my mini at the local apple store and I did get all those things.

Did you buy the SuperDrive version? Did the box mention the updated specs or did it give the old ones (1.42GHz, etc.)

[kick52]

i wonder what it will look like....

i wouldnt mind a mac mini in the shape (but larger) of a airport base station...
but it would suck if you would want to upgrade it...

[Spaceman Spiff]

Originally Posted by kick52

i wonder what it will look like....

i wouldnt mind a mac mini in the shape (but larger) of a airport base station...
but it would suck if you would want to upgrade it...

It will most likely be the same form factor, just different hardware on the inside.

[Spaceman Spiff]

[Double Post] Sorry.

[Drakino]

Originally Posted by Simon

Did you buy the SuperDrive version? Did the box mention the updated specs or did it give the old ones (1.42GHz, etc.)

The Mini I just got is a 1.5ghz model with the combo drive, not the super drive. So the stealth upgrades are across the board it seems.

The box, and the bottom system serial number labels both say 1.42.