I was wondering about the MiniMac: 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 512MB DDR333 SDRAM ATI Radeon 9200 32MB DDR video memory 40GB Ultra ATA hard drive Combo drive (DVD/CD-RW) DVI or VGA video output Optional AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth Built-in 56k Internal Modem 1.25 just doesnt seem like it would be"fast" should I go for the upgraded one, is it worth the $100 Im new to macs and at school i get to play on G5's in my Visual Art class . Im learning a little about them, mostly finding stuff out about them by myself. I just dont know if i want to make the switch to a Mac. (I was going to build a high end gaminc PC but realized that at the price of parts and games and the fact that im going to be in college next year, im going to just stay off that and play my Xbox) So I have a laptop right now but its broken (only a hinge (see post in laptop forums)) but i want to link my laptop to a my Mac (if I get one) But I have a few questions. With windows I can go online and get free programs (download.com) and get just about anything I need. So I was wondering if there was a lot of free shareware for macs and also If I dont want to buy the Word and office for the Mac is there a *cough* free way to get it *cough* like there is for windows? And can I get limewire for mac so I can *cough*pirate*cough* music? Because I basically want a computer that I can have some fun on, not really gaming but just the basic stuff and to learn more about the macs. Oh yeah and does OSX Tiger come on the MacMini's when you buy them? And is apple like windows where they have an autoupdate page and stuff? And my final question can i link my Mac and laptop together on my network? thats a lot of questions...
Oh yeah apple really gets you with there monitors. are they worth the $700 whatever for the 20'' or should i stick with my 15'' Sony LCD? And it says you have to have youre own mouse and keyboard, but my wireless mouse and keyboard has one USB and the other is a PS/2 hook up ad I noticed that Macs dont have a PS/2 hook up...how can I work this out or do I have to buy a MAC keyboard?
Buy a usb keyboard :/ download.com allows you to search by os, so search for apps for osx. There were plenty when i was using os9 on my old mac. There are programs for everything you could want on mac. Perhaps just not as many or as easy to find unless you know where to look, but google usually helps there. Tiger does come on new minis. You can download updates from apple.com but im not sure about autoupdate. Apple tend to release fewer updates than windows anyway. And yes you can network them quite happily.
with mac osx it is very very simple to network with pc and macs on 1 network, and there is an "auto update" when you get a mac just log on to it and click the blue apple symbol in the top left corner and go to software update. and the software update goes really fast and is done really quickly, unlike windows. i used to think macs sucked, then i went and bought a used powermac g3 and i installed 10.3 on it, and let me tall you, its been 1 and 1/2 months using a mac and i havent even used my 3 pcs in that amount of time, i love my mac it so easy to use, and i havent had and freezes of crashes or stalls or anything that i would get with a pc. all my pcs have virus ware and firewalls and they still get viruses and stuff like that, and im on my mac with no pretection(other then what osx has) and havent had any problems
So I should go and get it, well what about their screens, are they worth the 700 or should i stick with my 15'' Sony LCD or buy like a 17 or 19'' TFT and is it fast? I want where when i click it it opens right there.. Im not sure if under 2.0Ghz is enough should I spring for the next upgrade or are there ways to OC a mac or at least make them perform better?
I wouldn't buy an Apple display unless you have money to spare. I'd rather save more money and get a 20" Dell (2001FP or 2005FPW) for $560 (you can get down to about $430 with coupons). 1.25ghz should be fine for normal stuff (web browsing, word processing, listening to music, etc). The thing about the PowerPC chips is they provide more performance per clock cycle (citing Apple ). With a 1.25ghz Pentium, you may have had delays if you were trying to run Windows XP, but with the PowerPC G4, the performance should be fine for most things that are not too cpu-intensive.
-what about microsoft word for Macs, Can i borrow someones copy and install it on mine or do i have to actually buy the thing. -when i get the cheapest mini that they have, i know i can but should i upgrade the memory on my own? to something high performance and 1gig? -Are there tweaks for the graphics to make this thing better or higher quality, or can you do that with a MAc like you can with a PC (same with the CPU is there any chance to make it faster when i get it?)
Off course you could do that. There's no product registration on Mac software, but there are activation keys for Office. So if you want to go ahead and have an illegal copy on your machine, that's up to you and and Microsoft's legal team should they get wind of it. Yes, you can upgrade the memory - I have done so on my own mini, as has RTT. It's easy - if you can swap the ram out of a PC, you can do it on a mini. Here's a video showing you how to get the mini open. Tweaks? probably driver hacks and stuff, but that's not my area of expertise. If you mean hardware upgrades, No. The GFX hardware is built into the mobo. There are some instructions on how to overclock the processor though, but I can't recall where I saw them. A quick google should pull up the goods though, but what I do remember is it isn't for the feint of heart, as it requires the removal of some very small surface mount components from the mini's mobo to get it to work - and the increase in speed (small) is probably not worth it anyway.
why deleted? It was perfectly valid.... I will remake my point, hopefully this time less offensive. [point]A mac-mini costs a lot more than a dell laptop. (even with a better spec on the dell.) [/point]
Yes, maybe it was a valid point - but the way it was put was offensive, and trollish. For a fuller explanation, read your Private Mail.
I'm sure someone posted a link on IRC last night to test-drive a mini for 30-days free of charge, and you could send it back if you weren't satisfied etc. <A88>
Heres a little bit of insider info. Apple and Dell use the same LCDs, they're just branded differently ;p
They use the same panels iirc but not everything is the same. (refer to anandtech comparison if you're bothered). <A88>
Yep - the Dell display uses the same panel, but is infinitely better equipped than the Apple display on the switchable input front. VGA and DVI, with S-Video and Composite as well. P&P and PbyP modes and a 4 port USB hub. The only thing it lacks is a firewire hub - but as it's aimed at the PC market, it's understandable why it hasn't got one. Oh - and it's cheaper. That's why I bought one for my Mac Mini!
i was going to buy a mini simply to try and learn the mac os, i think now is a very good time to buy one Phil
One thing to mention about the mini.. The hard drive SUCKS. Seriously. You'll want to buy a firewire drive or something to store music and apps on. And at higher resolutions (Like that of one of the larger apple displays) the mini slows down quite a bit. Also, at the higher resolutions (not sure about the lower ones atm) you dont get the amazing graphics effects that tiger boasts, due to the lack of video memory, and the fact that its only a radeon 9200 chip. Other than that, it really is a great peice of hardware and i'd deffo buy another one!
