mac mini

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:23 pm

soooo apple has introduced this small mac, starting at 499 bucks, you can get:

1,25 ghz G4 cpu
256 mb ddr333
40 gb hdd
combo cd-rw/dvd drive
radeon 9200 w 32 mb sd-ram

which all resides in a 6,5"*6,5"*2" box, which is quite small

now could anyone explain to me, why in the name of which ever god you believe in, i would want this thing?

the only use i see is web browsing and office work, and the whole spyware/malware thing doesnt matter to me really since i am a computer enthousiast, and keep my shit updated and clean, also should windows get to damn hairy with malware for me, ill just linuxize my laptop

so what edge does this mini mac have?

and can anyone explain the power ratio of x86 Vs PPC architecture to me?

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:40 pm

now could anyone explain to me, why in the name of which ever god you believe in, i would want this thing?

An expensive HTPC?

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:05 pm

could be, but it has only stereo out, and doesnt have TV-out, so unless you have a tv that excepts DVI or vga, youll need to buy a special DVI-Tvout adapter

so added cost for the TV adapter, and no 5.1 sound

Wagh · Post by **Wagh** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:06 pm

Don't get it then. Plain and simple, if you have to be told why you need it then you don't fucking need it.

Post by **|darc|** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:17 pm

That's a very good system for the money.

Macs have their high points, and if you're going to criticize them for petty things like low clock speed (as if it really matters) and the lack of a monitor and 5.1 sound, you're retarded.

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:18 pm

hell i wasnt planning on picking one up anyway, i was just wondering what the point is, and what kind of use this machine would allow that i couldnt get out of a 500 dollar pc

Post by **|darc|** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:21 pm

Just for starters: A superior no hassle operating system.

I don't care if you are the computer god who knows everything and doesn't mind wasting 1/4 of your time fixing up your computer. Until you have used OSX, you can't make excuses like that. That machine is fast for $500.

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:30 pm

my critcism on the 5.1 and monitor type was just a reason not to use it as a htpc, thats all, i dont need 5.1 and TV-out in regular use, i would just say those are must have's for a HTPC

and what good is a fast CPU if there hardly are any worthwile aps (i certainly cant think of any id like to use, sure there is the heavy graphic design shit, but i have no need for that, and for such heavy things, there are powermacs)

and as for the OS, i would like to try osX, but not at that cost, 500 bucks for a new OS is a bit much for me, especially when i can still discover practicly endless flavors of linux and other unix systems

and i dont know what you do with you windows rig, but if you spend 25% of your time fixing shit, then you are doing something seriously wrong, id be surprised if i have to spend more then 1% of my computer time fixing stuff, winXP is quite bug and problem free for me

CupNoodle · Post by **CupNoodle** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:31 pm

Macs are very good, I just wish they would come with more RAM instead of upgrading. That's just my two cents, to me macs function infinitely better with a memory upgrade.

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:34 pm

If they started with 80Gb harddrives and 512 RAM. It would be even sweeter

Disheveled DrFreeze · Post by **Disheveled DrFreeze** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:40 pm

you can get a better mini mac for 599, they have:
80 gb instead of 40 gb
1,42 ghz instead of 1,25

also for about 75 bucks extra , you can order one with 512 instead of 256

Clessy · Post by **Clessy** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:50 pm

Ok wait why is it mentioning it doesnt have a moniter. Does it not have ports for a moniter and keyboard...etc.?

Post by **Roofus** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:53 pm

|darc| wrote:Just for starters: A superior no hassle operating system.

I don't care if you are the computer god who knows everything and doesn't mind wasting 1/4 of your time fixing up your computer. Until you have used OSX, you can't make excuses like that. That machine is fast for $500.

I don't know anyone who needs to spend 1/4 of the time fixing their computer. I don't give a crap about the OS as much as what applications are available for the OS. Linux has its good points, as does OSX but Windows has the most applications I want. Finally, that machine is not fast for $500. Look what you can get for $279. Here's another.

Post by **Roofus** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:55 pm

Oh! And here's a $500 PC! Now that's fast for $500.

SuperMegatron · Post by **SuperMegatron** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 3:58 pm

DrFreeze wrote:could be, but it has only stereo out, and doesnt have TV-out, so unless you have a tv that excepts DVI or vga, youll need to buy a special DVI-Tvout adapter

so added cost for the TV adapter, and no 5.1 sound

It has a svideo out option for 19 bucks the video card on the mac mini supports the ati dvi to component cable thats about 30 bucks.

DrFreeze wrote:hell i wasnt planning on picking one up anyway, i was just wondering what the point is, and what kind of use this machine would allow that i couldnt get out of a 500 dollar pc

Macs dont have the virus problems that pcs have. Macs also have a higher resale value this 499 mac will hold a value of at least 350-400 for the next 4 years on ebay. The small size of this mac (its smaller then your dreamcast) will allow you to move it around with ease. The system come with ilife05 thats a cool thing to play with. All the i apps tie in together so if you have a photo in iphoto and a song in Itunes you can pull the 2 of them into a imovie your making with ease

MKE · Post by **MKE** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:03 pm

Roofus wrote:
|darc| wrote:Just for starters: A superior no hassle operating system.

I don't care if you are the computer god who knows everything and doesn't mind wasting 1/4 of your time fixing up your computer. Until you have used OSX, you can't make excuses like that. That machine is fast for $500.
I don't know anyone who needs to spend 1/4 of the time fixing their computer. I don't give a crap about the OS as much as what applications are available for the OS. Linux has its good points, as does OSX but Windows has the most applications I want. Finally, that machine is not fast for $500. Look what you can get for $279. Here's another.

but g4's are using a different architecture than a pc's, so 1.24ghz for a mac is fast. my laptop is an AMD 2500+ that operates at 1.5 ghz, but it compaires to an intel 2.5ghz....and you cant really compare a mac's clock speed with intel/amd clock speeds. when i got my laptop in feb. last year, i had Compusa do a benchmark test on an apple 900mhz and my amd 2500 and they compaired out to be the same, with the apple doing better in hdd read/write time... but i went with the hp one becasue it was about $1000 cheaper, bigger screen, and i know how to do more in windows vs osx/linux
and although those arent bad for the price, i plan on getting one of these mini macs because of there size and because macs i think are better for photo/video editing along with the os being a little better than windows...

Post by **pixel** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:04 pm

DrFreeze: It's called research. S-Video, 5.1 Surround are possible. Check the Apple Store.
And as I've said before, just because it doesn't fit your needs doesn't mean it sucks.

OneThirty8 · Post by **OneThirty8** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:04 pm

Roofus wrote: that machine is not fast for $500.

You really can't compare a G4 to a x86 chip based on MHz. When you take two machines whose CPU's are rated the same in that department, the Mac is going to perform better than the machine with the x86. If I had $500 to spare and had space in my room for another computer, I'd buy one of those machines just to have it. I love my Mac. It's the computer I use the most.

ETR · Post by **ETR** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:05 pm

Roofus wrote:Oh! And here's a $500 PC! Now that's fast for $500.

First off, thats a friggin celeron. I got a P42.8 for $320.

Secondly, the way macs are designed allow for high performance at slower clock speeds. It's like a 1mb l2 cache, and requires fewer instructions to perform a task. This is a VERY solid machine for $500.

But I don't like OSX, so I'd rather put that money toward a G3 or G4 lappy.

MulletMan13 · Post by **MulletMan13** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 4:07 pm

This is a great way to get people to try out OS X. As one of the only users on this board, I'd reccommend people to try it out. As for how this stacks up against any other machine... let's see.

I'm on a 1ghz Powerbook 12" G4 with 768mb of RAM. It can handle nearly anything I throw at it, video editing, large picture editing (in photoshop, with illustrator open in background). As long as you're not using it for gaming -- macs have NEVER been known for this, so dont complain about how bad it is for games-- it will do everything. Another thing it cannot do is run Motion-- a very very high end video rendering special effect program. Why would anybody try to create a Hollywood movie with special effects on this machine? They wouldn't. That's the point behind this Mac mini. If you dont play games, or make gigantic blockbuster films, check it out, and it will handle nearly everything you throw at it

Also-- be SURE to upgrade the RAM to 512. OS X on 256 isn't as bad as XP on 256, however 512 let's you sit comfortably and everything runs speedy.

Macs have come a long way since OS 8 and 9, OS X has transformed from NeXTstep-- so take everything you know about os 9 and throw it out the window. The OS is more reminiscent of Linux than OS 9. Sure, the GUI may be almost the same layout, but in the code, it is totally different.

For the person asking about the power/megahertz ratio, this has always been a point that Apple has made. The architecture of the tiny g4 processor, while running at a smaller clock frequency, it has a smaller 'pipeline', which equates to getting tasks done. There was a video, or just google "Megahertz myth" and click on a site there, and it should explain it to you. Basically it's the same reasoning that an AMD 1.8 ghz chip blows away a 2.4 ghz celeron chip. Also, with the OS being much more efficient, more of the clocks are used. Roughly double the mhz/ghz and you have the win equivalent (AMD processor). Finally I'm not saying this 1.25ghz g4 will be equal to a 2.4ghz AMD, as there are many many other variables, FSB, L1cache, l2cache, however roughly that is what it comes down to.

And in the next few posts I will inevitably get the "shut up fanboy", "STFU moron macs suck~!!!11" posts, but I tell you guys I was once like that. I only used macs at school for projects, old and new, and I really didnt get the actual feeling. Use it as a day to day machine for a week then tell me how bad it is.

*waits for the angry incorrigible mob*