Mac Mini, iWork, and iLife 05.

computers or skyscrapers?
and does this mean they are going to raise the height of the sky.
so many questions, so little pie.
 
Electronic Punk said:
Looks like a ripoff to be honest.
Initial price... very enticing.

But, ooh the matching keyboard lets have it wireless, wireless keyboard and mouse - may as well go for the airport addon so now wires. I wanna burn DVDs as that looks like a good addon, hmm all this dvd burning will kill my buffer better add some ram.
Whats the price now?

Could afford a normal mac with that and you might even get a monitor with it.


You don't need the rest of the accessories. Up to you. If you have a USB keyboard and mouse, the Mac Mini is enough, second, the DVD burning does not kill the buffer. On my 256 MB ram iBook i can burn DVD's on an external firewire DVD writter even with all kinds of apps open, without buffer underruns.

Second, the Airport is allready built in? If it is not, then wired ethernet is good enough for most. PLug it straight into the cable modem.

Not a rip off, smart move.
 
X-Istence said:
TheKore: Right. That is what we all say :p.

what, you dont believe me.
i could have been sitting in front of a 20" iMac G5 right now or the 15" powerbook, but i chose against it so i could get rid of some of my debt. I am perfectly on track for what i want and hopefully by november this year i will have all my debt cleared apart from the one loan we currently have which was taken out over 4 years, and then i will consider which mac platform (notebook/desktop) i think will suite my needs best and purchase one :p
 
Eep, just noticed something else.
What's with the lack of microphone and/or line-in ports? How in the world do you input audio into this thing then? For something that's touted as a "multimedia" system, that's just inexcusable to me.
Even the four year old Pentium-III desktop I have at home has a full-range of audio inputs and outputs. What gives?
 
Around 600 dollars shipped is not a deal considering most people will not only have to go buy the monitor keyboard and mouse plus the hassle of learning a new OS... makes it VERY VERY unappealing to me anyways.


I mean you can get an E machine for like 400 bucks with a monitor and printer and all that happy crap.
 
NetRyder said:
Eep, just noticed something else.
What's with the lack of microphone and/or line-in ports? How in the world do you input audio into this thing then? For something that's touted as a "multimedia" system, that's just inexcusable to me.
Even the four year old Pentium-III desktop I have at home has a full-range of audio inputs and outputs. What gives?

I use a Logitech USB mic with my G5 for Skype. I guess you'd need a USB mic to use with the Mini.
 
muzikool said:
I use a Logitech USB mic with my G5 for Skype. I guess you'd need a USB mic to use with the Mini.
What about line-in for audio input though? As I said, even the most basic x86 machines (including those that are several generations old) come with the ability to do this. I was extremely surprised to see it missing on the Mac Mini, to be honest.
 
I was going to look in to getting an eMac since they're fairly cheap or an old PowerMac but screw it, the mini has my attention. Won't work with my recording equipment sadly, but I guess my PC can go in the corner and be used as the recording machine. Now I don't have to use my laptop as my main machine. :)
 
NetRyder said:
What about line-in for audio input though? As I said, even the most basic x86 machines (including those that are several generations old) come with the ability to do this. I was extremely surprised to see it missing on the Mac Mini, to be honest.
My powerbook doesn't have a line-in, just a built-in microphone. It's not really as necessary as you think it is for the average day-to-day use although I guess it depends on the user. The mini is more like a stripped down laptop than a regular machine.
 
I have never seen the reason for having all the lines in and mic entries in the back of my PC.

Second, there are USB alternatives that can be used if required. How many home users do you know that use the line-in? Most webcams come with a mic built in.

I can not even think of a single friend or family member i know which uses them. Usually it causes a lot of confusion of what plug they plug in where.
 
X-Istence said:
I have never seen the reason for having all the lines in and mic entries in the back of my PC.

Second, there are USB alternatives that can be used if required. How many home users do you know that use the line-in? Most webcams come with a mic built in.

I can not even think of a single friend or family member i know which uses them. Usually it causes a lot of confusion of what plug they plug in where.
Seconded, the 'average user' (sorry for the cliché term) doesn't really use a line-in, maybe a mic to talk with relatives and friends over iChat etc, but not line-in. For that though there is of course stand alone USB mics, web-cam mics (I use my iSight mic) or if need be products like the griffin iMic. Simplicity is the key here. :)
 
SPeedY_B said:
Seconded, the 'average user' (sorry for the cliché term) doesn't really use a line-in, maybe a mic to talk with relatives and friends over iChat etc, but not line-in. For that though there is of course stand alone USB mics, web-cam mics (I use my iSight mic) or if need be products like the griffin iMic. Simplicity is the key here. :)
I consider myself a "power user" and the only thing I've ever used the line-in (not composite in... the only thing I use that for is hooking up the mixing board to CuBase) for is a headset for communication in counter-strike which wasn't even that necessary.
 
Krux said:
Around 600 dollars shipped is not a deal considering most people will not only have to go buy the monitor keyboard and mouse plus the hassle of learning a new OS... makes it VERY VERY unappealing to me anyways.


I mean you can get an E machine for like 400 bucks with a monitor and printer and all that happy crap.
Who doesn't already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse around? Also with that E-machine you get what you pay for. ;) The only thing I see valid is the learning curve of the OS and I think in the end it would be less then someone learning Windows for the 1st time.
 
We need someone that either works for an Apple store* or just someone that works for Apple on these forums. I have serveral questions that I'll just jot down and hope maybe someone will have the answers. :)

1) I see the following statement on that Mac mini site but no real explainsion of what falls in what catagory.
Some of these options must be installed by Apple at the factory; the rest can be added in-store at an Apple Store or an Apple authorized reseller.

2) Excuse my ignorance about Mac hardware but I see that the RAM used in the Mac mini is "PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SDRAM". I assume this is the same as would be used in a x86 box, as in not "special" for Mac use?

3) If the answer to #2 was indeed that it was just normal PC2700 DDR that you can find in any computer store would it void the warrenty (or would you even be able to open the thing) to install more RAM yourself? If so would it be possible to buy the RAM and take it to an Apple store and have them install the RAM making it so you don't void said warrenty?

4) Same as above only replace RAM with SuperDrive. Also same with HD.

I think thats it for now. :nervous:


* Oh and a note on the Apple store. I just happend to find that we now have one in the crappy giant useless mall (only place with computer stores around here :(). Anyhoo I was really blown away with it's simplistic and eye catching design. I wanted to pillage everything in site. :pirate:
 
I'm getting one with income tax this year. I'm going to use it for my file/print/ftp server. I have a huge external hd so I don't need a big HD in it. $499.00 is a good price for me. Just slap it up to the KVM switch and go to town .

Also - Emachine SUX. Since Gateway bought them out they sux even more ;)
 
Xie:
1. things like the blutooth module need to be installed at the piont of sale, as A) you can't buy them B) fitting them would void your warranty post-purchase (I'm not saying it isn't possible though ;))

2. Every bit of hardware that's changeable inside a mac is plain old computer hardware at the end of the day (you can even buy new PPC chips etc if you really want to). Sitting in my powermac are 2 IBM/Hitachi drives, good ol' crucial ram and a plain old belkin PCI 802.11g card, which are all x86/windows compatible.

3. I'm not sure on this one, I don't know how easy the thing opens up, but the dimm slot is right on the side and very easily accessible, so i would of thought it placed there for upgradability.

4. as with machines like the iMac and eMac, HDD and Optical drive aren't meant to be upgraded, therefore doing so would likely void your warranty, but again that's not to say that it's not possible it's VERY possible ;)

Johnny:
Be sure to let us know when you get it, pics pics pics :D
 
Xie said:
Who doesn't already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse around? Also with that E-machine you get what you pay for. ;) The only thing I see valid is the learning curve of the OS and I think in the end it would be less then someone learning Windows for the 1st time.


Well if you mean for playing games then I don’t see your point because Mac’s don’t really have a huge library of games to play anyways. As for the 1st time user nowa days it would have to be some one of a terribly young age like 4-6yrs old and if that’s the case why would you want to get them started on hardware that is only used by 2% of the populace? Would put them at a disadvantage when it comes to school and what not. If you mean content creation I don’t see a huge difference in that either if the Mac can do it faster what are we looking at 4 hour encode time for a full movie or a 4 1/2 5 hour encode time. not a huge difference there. I'm not downing on Mac’s I just don’t think its feasible or even practical for some one to spend almost twice as much to have to learn a new OS and have very small if any gains over the pc. You also made your own point moot by saying that for first time users its a good deal but then if its there first computer why would they have a kb/mouse and monitor just laying around?
 

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Also Hi EP and people. I found this place again while looking through a oooollllllldddd backup. I have filled over 10TB and was looking at my collection of antiques. Any bids on the 500Mhz Win 95 fix?
Any of the SP crew still out there?
Xie wrote on Electronic Punk's profile.
Impressed you have kept this alive this long EP! So many sites have come and gone. :(

Just did some crude math and I apparently joined almost 18yrs ago, how is that possible???
hello peeps... is been some time since i last came here.
Electronic Punk wrote on Sazar's profile.
Rest in peace my friend, been trying to find you and finally did in the worst way imaginable.

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