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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Your Mac Mini and You

Your Mac Mini and You
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Applefreak01
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Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Nebraska
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Feb 13, 2008, 05:42 PM
 
Hello everyone! I've been away from the Mac world for awhile now but I'm wanting to rejoin my lost brethren. So for those of you with the Mac Mini I am interested in hearing about what you think of them. My computing needs are simple. I use to be a gamer and still am, just on the consoles now. I mainly use my current computer for email, the web and chatting with my friends and family. I love Mac OS X and want to get back on a Mac asap. I don't need a big fancy Mac Pro or a laptop as I don't travel a lot. Please list what Mac Mini you have. I am currently leaning toward the 2.0 GHz with Superdrive. Thank you for your input.
[Riding a circus elephant]
Peter: Look Lois, the two smybols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change. - Family Guy
     
Andrew Stephens
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Feb 13, 2008, 05:56 PM
 
I feel plenty of love for my mini. It rocks! It replaced my old G4 1GHz so it was a big step up in performance. It benefited from upping the RAM to 1.5GB (though 2GB would be better still).

When my new MBP went away for repairs (for nearly a month it turned out) it steped up to the plate running my CS3 apps perfectly well. It's pretty darn stable too.

All this in a tiny footprint.

Its only a 1.8 CD solo but it's fine. You'll love it.
     
Jacke
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Feb 13, 2008, 07:12 PM
 
Have had my mini for about two months now, using it for the regular stuff (web/mail/school) and a bit of Garageband, has been perfect for me so far, except for the occasional beachball when I have lots of stuff going on. (The second my student budget can take it I'm getting a 2GB stick.)

I have a 1.83 C2D with combo drive; I'm using mostly external harddrives for storage, occasionally burning some stuff to CD. Got a FW audio interface and two externals hooked up to the only FW port, has worked well so far.

The quietness of it is a big plus since I have a pretty small room (student apartment); I have the desk right next to the bed with the Mac mini about a meter away from the head when I sleep; the room is almost completely silent after the externals have spun down.
     
Applefreak01  (op)
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Feb 13, 2008, 08:30 PM
 
Thanks guys. I think I'm pretty much sold on the Mini. I just wanted to know how some real people felt about it instead of reading some reviewer. I'm looking at getting the 1.8GHz Mini now. I have a brand new 320GB hard drive and DVD burner that I could get some USB/Firewire external enclosures for. My current computer was a nice gaming rig until I gave up on PC games and my video card died. I figured instead of putting up with Windows and getting another $500-$600 video card that I might as well get another Mac again. My last Mac was a iBook G3 and I loved it, it did everything I wanted and never let me down at all.
[Riding a circus elephant]
Peter: Look Lois, the two smybols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change. - Family Guy
     
imitchellg5
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Feb 13, 2008, 09:24 PM
 
I think the mini would be great for you. However, if you really love chatting on the internet, maybe you should get a low end iMac so you can have iSight? Video chatting is pretty awesome, especially in Leopard. Just something you can think about.
     
Applefreak01  (op)
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Feb 14, 2008, 12:58 AM
 
I actually have an iSight web cam that I used when I had my iBook G3. Thanks for the input though.
[Riding a circus elephant]
Peter: Look Lois, the two smybols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change. - Family Guy
     
MichiganRich
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Michigan, USA
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Feb 17, 2008, 04:52 PM
 
Minis are awesome. I've owned lots of different Macs, and have used them at work since '94. The Intel dual-core based mini would be perfect for you. I bought a 1.66 Core Duo for my mom and was impressed when the benchmarks embarrassed my old G5 tower.

I sold all my old LCD displays, so the mini was not as good a choice for me as the iMac was.... so I bought myself the 24".

Order 2 of the 2gig 5300 SODIMM RAM sticks at the same time, from whichever vendor you prefer. The real-world importance of maxing the RAM cannot be understated with the mini.
     
   
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