Just bought a mini!

[Steviant]

Mac mini that is, a 1.66ghz with 1gb/80gb.

Can't wait to see how CS runs on it compaired to the powerbook.

 

[Karen]

Hope it's better than my iMac lol.

 

[Daz]

They are great machines, but I dunno how well games run with their integrated graphics!

I've just bought one too - as a test machine. If I get on with OSX full time, I'll get a Macbook Pro, if I don't, I won't get a Macbook Pro. Much less risk with a Mini cus' you can sell them on and not loose that much (Altho, I have bought a G4 version.. which seem to have stabalised around the £300 mark!)

Mini's are a great machine to play around with!

 

[McBunny]

hum im waiting for leopard and the new memrom cpu's

 

[Daz]

hum im waiting for leopard and the new memrom cpu's

Leopard is the main thing - the Merom CPU's won't be *that* much of an increase in terms of noticable difference in the MB/MBP's.

Leopard looks set to be awesome tho
I guess 7th August at WWDC will be the day to look out for (as that's where Leopard is being previewed for the first time!)

 

[McBunny]

yup i know it wont be a huge increase but thermal output will lower iirc and supports virtualization does it not ?

i want leopard as hopefully it will have a good version of front row that can play hd stuff and ripped dvd's !!! and also supports tv tuners and pvr functions !!!!

 

[sn00p]

front row can play HD stuff? I've done it on the intel mac mini.

Leopard wont be out until at least the end of the year, that's a pretty long wait......

 

[Rich]

Nice one Steve. Just got my Macbook Pro back up and running after a faulty battery replacement under warrenty. Not impressed by the build qaulity of the latest stuff.

 

[McBunny]

it will play some hd stuff yes not all tho dont think it wal play transport streams nativly

 

[Steviant]

So easy to set up, all files transfered and passwords etc copied in under 2 hrs!

Amazing.

 

[Daz]

i want leopard as hopefully it will have a good version of front row that can play hd stuff and ripped dvd's !!! and also supports tv tuners and pvr functions !!!!

Well, that's one of the "wish list items" - an improved front row..
I get the feeling TV cards will be supported, as that's been requested forever.. heh. All rumours at the moment though.

No one really knows until they see the preview what it'll include.. Apple are very good at keeping things quiet

Great advertising tho.. cus' now we're talking about "what it may have" and they havn't spent a thing. People talk, forums get flooded with "What will it have?!?!?!?" and Apple just sit back - Very clever

 

[Daz]

So easy to set up, all files transfered and passwords etc copied in under 2 hrs!

Amazing.

That's where MacOS has always been ahead - things work, and usually, are very simple to do.

 

[McBunny]

yup i have a wishlist for leopard and its all about making it a htpc as the pc has very little that comes anywhere close

 

[Daz]

yup i have a wishlist for leopard and its all about making it a htpc as the pc has very little that comes anywhere close

Yea, a Mini would be a great HTPC. Near silent (you really do have to listen for it), very small.. slot load DVD (droool), and all easy to use. If they exand Front Row a bit.. it'd be amazing.

Pretty cool

 

[sn00p]

yup i have a wishlist for leopard and its all about making it a htpc as the pc has very little that comes anywhere close

I think apple know where they missed out first time around on the powerpc mini, I think they want everybody to have a mac mini sitting in their lounge as a one stop media shop......

 

[Daz]

I think apple know where they missed out first time around on the powerpc mini, I think they want everybody to have a mac mini sitting in their lounge as a one stop media shop......

Yea, I think they thought it'd be more HTPC than anything, but it seems.. a lot of people use them as their main machine - just a small one! Kinda takes the sales away from the iMac - a Mac Mini w/ 20" Apple Display + Keyboard/Mouse is about the same price as a 20" iMac.. and, IMO, the Mini with an Apple display looks better.

I went into PCWorld the other day - as they have Macbook Pro's on show.. so I went to have a look etc.. and they had a Media bit setup with a Mini, Chair, Mini, LCD TV and remote so you could try it out.. never seen them do something like that before with Mac stuff - always Media Center.

 

[McBunny]

tbh id consider having one as a main pc too as i dont game it makes perfect sense but if i had one as a htpc i wouldnt need anothert really i have my laptops

 

[Steviant]

I've bought this one as a home base station back up for my powerbook.

Made sense as I already hd the monitor and bluetooth keyboard as well.

Can't wait for the universal Adobe CS to come out now.

Might even do some work later today, but I doubt it as I'm off to Brands in half an hour.

 

[Rich]

Can't wait for the universal Adobe CS to come out now.

I have not used my MacBook for anything productive becasuse of this, just a toy still!

The file transfer utility is a great tool.

 

[dk]

just had a look at these and i now want one, is the cheapest place to get them the apple store as people seem to be selling them more expensive than apple on ebay?

also, anything that i am going to miss software wise from a PC, is the web browser any good, is it firefox of IE quality?

Also, can I do bit torrent on it fine as that and web is what i will mostly use it for.

Finally, I want ot connect it up to my 32" samsung lcd, it has HDMI, can I use the DVI port on the mac mini and convert it to HDMI or am i better off using vga?

thanks guys (mac virgin!)

 

[McBunny]

dvi to hdmi is best

you can use windows xp on the mini aswell as mac os if you like so you dont need to loose out on anything

 

[dk]

i'm not buying the mac to get another windows machine though, i want a play with tiger, it just looks so exciting compared to windows, are you saying you can run b oth at the same time or one or the other?

does the mac play .avi and .wmv files?

sorry if these are silly questions, up until now i've been 100% pc.

i find it funny though that vista is based on mac OS X and macs are using pc processors and will not allow you to use windows!

 

[sn00p]

i'm not buying the mac to get another windows machine though, i want a play with tiger, it just looks so exciting compared to windows, are you saying you can run b oth at the same time or one or the other?

You can dual boot or use parallels to run windows in a window.

does the mac play .avi and .wmv files?

Yes

i find it funny though that vista is based on mac OS X and macs are using pc processors and will not allow you to use windows!

Vista isn't based on Mac OS X. lol. And intel based macs do allow you to use windows!

 

[dk]

You can dual boot or use parallels to run windows in a window.

Yes

Vista isn't based on Mac OS X. lol. And intel based macs do allow you to use windows!

LOL, i mis typed it should have said will now allow you to use xp not 'not'!

ABout the vista thing though, its blatantly been based on the mac os, i was using it this week and it is so similar, just repackaged, didn't mean it was 'actually' based on mac OS, just copied.

oh and thanks for answering my questions

 

[sn00p]

LOL, i mis typed it should have said will now allow you to use xp not 'not'!

ABout the vista thing though, its blatantly been based on the mac os, i was using it this week and it is so similar, just repackaged, didn't mean it was 'actually' based on mac OS, just copied.

oh and thanks for answering my questions

Ahhh...look and feel! I'm with you now. Not actually seen vista yet.

Better than the typo I normally make, I must write the word sh*te far too often, always have to be careful that I dont write cambridgesh*te when I write my address down!

And no problem mate We're your friendly one stop mac helpline

 

[Daz]

just had a look at these and i now want one, is the cheapest place to get them the apple store as people seem to be selling them more expensive than apple on ebay?

Apple store is by far the best way.

also, anything that i am going to miss software wise from a PC, is the web browser any good, is it firefox of IE quality?

Safari is the default browser - and it's better than IE.
Only thing you *may* miss is sites which only support IE, but you shouldn't visit them anyway out of principle
Firefox runs fine, also

Also, can I do bit torrent on it fine as that and web is what i will mostly use it for.

Of course.

Finally, I want ot connect it up to my 32" samsung lcd, it has HDMI, can I use the DVI port on the mac mini and convert it to HDMI or am i better off using vga?

Mac Mini only has a DVI port on it. VGA uses a DVI->VGA Adapter.

thanks guys (mac virgin!)

 

[Daz]

Vista isn't based on Mac OS X. lol. And intel based macs do allow you to use windows!

Yea, it isn't "based" on it.. it's just ripping off every good idea Apple put into OSX Tiger..

 

[Darren S]

You've got to hand it to Apple. The way they remain a thorn in the side of Microsoft and continue to grow is a testiment to their planning and product range.

I'd never own a Mac due to the lack of decent game support (which is 90%+ what I use my home PC for.) However, I can definitely see their niche. As a DTP tool, they are superb. I wouldn't mind having a look at one of the quad-core G5's myself!

D.

 

[dk]

Mac mini that is, a 1.66ghz with 1gb/80gb.

Can't wait to see how CS runs on it compaired to the powerbook.

i know the mac mini comes with the DVI-VGA adapter but does it come with the VGA cable included, just deciding whether to just opt for the DVI-HDMI cable anyway and get it before hand.

Also, how is it, had a chance to play with it yet, is it as good as you had hoped??????

 

[sn00p]

i know the mac mini comes with the DVI-VGA adapter but does it come with the VGA cable included, just deciding whether to just opt for the DVI-HDMI cable anyway and get it before hand.

Also, how is it, had a chance to play with it yet, is it as good as you had hoped??????

I've played with a 1GB core-duo mac-mini and it was very good, very fast and played the 1080 HD content from apples site without a problem. I've got a G4 powerbook (and powermac) and I was suitably impressed.

I'd get a DVI-HDMI cable, I think we got one 12 quid one from some random site and it worked without problem. The mac mini also has digital audio, so if you get one of those 3.5mm optical cables you can hook it up to your surround system.

You'll probably want a utility called SwitchResX which lets you create your own resolutions for the display, that way you can stop the display looking stretched as apple don't currently support widescreen resolutions out of the box.

 

[sn00p]

However, I can definitely see their niche. As a DTP tool, they are superb. I wouldn't mind having a look at one of the quad-core G5's myself!

Is it still the 80's then?!

 

[Daz]

i know the mac mini comes with the DVI-VGA adapter but does it come with the VGA cable included, just deciding whether to just opt for the DVI-HDMI cable anyway and get it before hand.

I don't think they come with a monitor cable - monitor's come with their own cables normally..

 

[Darren S]

Is it still the 80's then?!

Sure is. I've forgot the Macified Colouring-In term for it these days..... :rasp:

D.

 

[dk]

I don't think they come with a monitor cable - monitor's come with their own cables normally..

lol, never bought a pc before or a monitor, have always had laptops.

 

[dk]

I've played with a 1GB core-duo mac-mini and it was very good, very fast and played the 1080 HD content from apples site without a problem. I've got a G4 powerbook (and powermac) and I was suitably impressed.

I'd get a DVI-HDMI cable, I think we got one 12 quid one from some random site and it worked without problem. The mac mini also has digital audio, so if you get one of those 3.5mm optical cables you can hook it up to your surround system.

You'll probably want a utility called SwitchResX which lets you create your own resolutions for the display, that way you can stop the display looking stretched as apple don't currently support widescreen resolutions out of the box.

thanks man, some very useful info there.

 

[Iain C]

ive got 1 of them!
At work tho

 

[Steviant]

i know the mac mini comes with the DVI-VGA adapter but does it come with the VGA cable included, just deciding whether to just opt for the DVI-HDMI cable anyway and get it before hand.

Also, how is it, had a chance to play with it yet, is it as good as you had hoped??????

Hi Dave,

No cable for monitor included, but an adaptor for VGA is.
I've been at Brands all weekend, so I haven't had time to do much with it except upload images of DTM pics.

I've always had macs, and from just the start up, I can tell that it is fast.
Universal sortware on it, like iphoto runs really fast.

More playing next week.

:approve:

 

[dk]

Hi Dave,

No cable for monitor included, but an adaptor for VGA is.
I've been at Brands all weekend, so I haven't had time to do much with it except upload images of DTM pics.

I've always had macs, and from just the start up, I can tell that it is fast.
Universal sortware on it, like iphoto runs really fast.

More playing next week.

:approve:

is it easy to add ram as i was thinking of buying the 512 one and then making it up to 1gb soon maybe using 3rd party ram like kingston.

 

[Steviant]

is it easy to add ram as i was thinking of buying the 512 one and then making it up to 1gb soon maybe using 3rd party ram like kingston.

It's not that expensive to have it done when you order it. That's what I did.
It's not an easy job to do yourself, as there isn't a lot of space inside there.

£55 for 1gb

I get all my mac stuff from www.computerwarehouse.co.uk. Can highly recommend them.

 

[dk]

It's not that expensive to have it done when you order it. That's what I did.
It's not an easy job to do yourself, as there isn't a lot of space inside there.

£55 for 1gb

I get all my mac stuff from www.computerwarehouse.co.uk. Can highly recommend them.

right ok, the only reason i ask is that as i work for a reseller i can buy the mini at trade price from a distributor but won't be able to configure it so will have to buy the 512mb one, then if its not good enough would upgrade to 1gb, i bet it only has 2 slots though and it contains 2 x 256mb so i will have to upgrade both, so will check at work tomorrow to see how much i can get it for trade and see if its worth doing it that way or just buying it configured off the apple store.