What is the Mac Mini?

[Last Gladius]

I saw the Mac Mini on Apples' website this morning, and I want to figure out what it is...is it just a Mac that you plug in to your desktop computer and it turns into a Mac? The site wasn't clear at all what it does, so I am feeling pretty stupid.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Superbike81]

It's a Mac computer, just like an iMac or a MacBook, just in a tiny little case.

Many people use it at a home theater PC because it's tiny and silent. They connect it to their HDTV and use it to play media. But it also works very well as a basic computer if you connect it to a monitor.

I thought about buying one as a HTPC, but it's was just more money than I wanted to spend. Maybe next year.

 

[Hasty]

Great little machine that's almost inaudible when running. I leave mine on 24/7 as a home server.
Only drawback is the slow speed and size of the hard drive but it never seems a problem in use. You also need to supply your own keyboard, mouse and monitor.

 

[gentlefury]

I have one in the living room as a media server.

 

[col.bris]

I have several installed with the bigger version 2x 500 gb drives and unlimited appleshare server license in small LANs as servers running 7/24 quite amazing actually and cost effective. It replaced aging older g4 servers

 

[Digikid]

They seem to run a little hot but they are decent computers. You will need a mouse, keyboard, and display to use it.
I agree though.....they ARE overpriced for what they are. I would give it $500CDN MAXIMUM for what they do and the specs.

 

[JAILBIRD]

I have one in my car. It's more of a show piece but it works great for on the road music and movies in the back seat.

 

[zorah]

I have two. One is pre intel chip, the other has an intel chip. The intel one is my main desktop in fact and I love it. Fits in perfectly, does exactly what I need. I already had a monitor, so that part was no big deal. It is very quiet, takes up no space. I'm not a hard core graphics user, etc, so it totally suits for me. I agree, a tad pricier than it needs to be, but I do like having it! I leave it on 24.7.

 

[xune]

<3 the Mac mini!

Bought two Mac mini's - one in '07 and one in'08

They both ran ran silent, cool, and inconspicuous.

An awesome value, considering the mini offered nearly the same performance as the smaller iMac for about half the price. (bought my mini's for 599.00). Especially if you've already got a monitor/TV, keyboard, and mouse already..

It was almost like getting two macs for the price of one

I had my last one paired up with my 46" Samsung LCD, a wireless keyboard & wireless mouse. I usually had to point it out twice to friends who came over who didn't see it at first(or couldn't believe that what they were looking at was actually my entire computer). Those who had never seen one before would gasp and exclaim, "that's your entire computer?!" - <3 the Mac mini.

 

[Digikid]

Wonder why mine runs so hot. Better open it up and see what HDD Brand it has.

I swear if that thing has a Seagate HDD the HDD is going right out my window and replaced with a Western Digital. LOL!!!

Better check the fans as well.

 

[freebirdforever]

I just picked up a newer mac mini for 100 bucks at pawn america. Damn steal if you ask me!

 

[Tinman]

I have the latest mini... and have to say it is not a bad little machine.

They are a bit high on price, considering they went up to $700 and only have 2GB RAM. I upped mine to 8GB, the maximum it can hold, for $110.

I will say that even at their price, they seem well built.

Granted I could have gotten a PC with similar specs for nearly half the price. But after using it for a while, and setting up a few "low end PCs" for friends I am convinced it is not such a bad deal after-all.

For one thing, you don't start out with a crap-ware infested system from the get-go. To me that is a big drawback on many popular brand PCs. Nothing like spending the first hour or so--or few hours--getting rid of the crap preinstalled.

Also, the budget PCs I have seen usually don't have gigabit ethernet AND dual band WiFi (a/b/g/n).... not to mention bluetooth that actually works and HDMI out of the box. And Firewire 800 if you need that (but USB only 2.0 not 3.0).

So overpriced a bit, yes, but a solid buy too. I think they would be a good deal if they had 4GB of RAM and/or were $100 less in price.



Michael

 

[Canadian144]

I'm planning to get a Mac Mini this week. Currently I'm using a quad-core, 8GB of RAM Windows machine. I'm giving it to my parents (well they bought it so technically it's theirs) to use as a TV recorder, as it has a 1TB internal HDD and a TV tuner card.

Seeing as I'm going to be away at university next September (with a new Macbook Pro 15", when the new ones come out in April this year), I don't really need that powerful or expensive of a computer to use at home - the Mac Mini seems to be the perfect tool for the job. I already have a 23" Acer LCD display, so I really don't want to pony up for an iMac. I'm gonna upgrade it to 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and upgrade the HDD to a 500GB 7200RPM model.

 

[Hasty]

Funny the mini with 2gig feels as fast as a 4gig win7 machine and it's only in apps like lightroom that you notice the difference between 2 and 8gig.
Love the little minx but looking into a ssd to replace the dvd drive as the installed hdd is slow to keep the internal heat down.

 

[Canadian144]

^ Would there be any risk then in installing a 7200rpm drive in one of the new 2010 models? As in the heat rising too high?

I'm planning to pick up my mini sometime this week, along with a 4GB of RAM upgrade, and I plan on upgrading the hard drive later on down the road.