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More versatile Mac mini expected at Macworld - Page 3

post #81 of 93
1/2/09 at 3:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post

I foresee the Mini height differential and general widthxlength will change.

I'd like to see them increase the size- to the 7.7"x7.7" base of the AppleTV and Time Capsule, and increase the height by an inch or so. That would allow the mini to use desktop processors, real hard drives, and a lot of other stuff.

Don't see it happening, though.
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post #82 of 93
1/5/09 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh View Post

Why not just make a little bigger for a real HD... A second HD and the optical drive... $2700+ is too much for such a configuration.

Exactly. A second HD only makes sense if both are 3.5 drives, ONE large 3.5 is way way cheaper than two 2.5s and allows for far more capacity.

Let's hope the redesign is a bit bigger and switches from laptop to desktop parts, otherwise it's just a wasted opportunity to finally fix a device that was poorly conceived from the start.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kim kap sol View Post

With good reason too...and the good reason isn't configuring for two HDDs. 3.5" is going the way of the dodo. SSD are faster than 15k RPM HDDs, make less noise, need less cooling, are becoming cheaper by the month, and are rapidly going to match HDD capacities within the next 2 years. And SSDs are usually in 2.5" formats.

Are you kidding? With a 3.5 drive you can get 1TB for about $140 and 1.5TB for about $180. If there's anything that comes remotely close in ANY other form factor I'd love to see it.

3.5 is going nowhere anytime soon. With the big file sizes of things like HD video, it would seem that it is becoming MORE necessary, not less.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maggot777 View Post

What about new Mac Pros???!!!! Why are the pro consumers being ignored so?? I need a new machine but not until it gets a rev!

Amen to that, I've been waiting since fall to get a new machine. Unfortunately the latest rumors are saying february. A hackintosh is getting more and more tempting.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post

Screw the 3.5 drive.

If you don't have plans to move to SSD in the next couple of years you're just throwing performance out the window as far as storage is concerned.

But for many people, "performance" is irrelevant, particularly when you need to store huge amounts of audio and video but not need to retrieve it any faster than it takes to play it back or copy it to a playback unit. How much does it cost for 1.5 terrabytes of SSD? Do you honestly think it will get anywhere close to 3.5 pricing in the next few years?
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post #83 of 93
1/5/09 at 8:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post

Amen to that, I've been waiting since fall to get a new machine. Unfortunately the latest rumors are saying february. A hackintosh is getting more and more tempting.



But for many people, "performance" is irrelevant, particularly when you need to store huge amounts of audio and video but not need to retrieve it any faster than it takes to play it back or copy it to a playback unit. How much does it cost for 1.5 terrabytes of SSD? Do you honestly think it will get anywhere close to 3.5 pricing in the next few years?

Why exactly do you need to wait to get a new MacPro? What's wrong with the current offerings?

Mac Mini (Mid 2011) 2.5 GHz Core i5
120 GB SSD/500 GB HD/8 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB

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Mac Mini (Mid 2011) 2.5 GHz Core i5
120 GB SSD/500 GB HD/8 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB

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post #84 of 93
1/5/09 at 8:15am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post

I'd like to see them increase the size- to the 7.7"x7.7" base of the AppleTV and Time Capsule, and increase the height by an inch or so. That would allow the mini to use desktop processors, real hard drives, and a lot of other stuff.

Don't see it happening, though.

If the rumors are correct and the case is being changed, there is a good chance it will be bigger. Maybe flatter too but it introduces some new possibilities.
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post #85 of 93
1/5/09 at 8:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by franksargent View Post

So no, a 3.5" HD will not ever fit into the Mac mini, since the Mac mini doesn't include a full height CD/DVD drive.

That assumes they wouldn't change the form factor.

I'd like to see them make the case bigger (as others have said, they could keep the footprint and make it taller, and since time capsule and aTV are already wider, why not just jump to that footprint?) to allow for 3.5 and other desktop parts. Increasing the size a bit wouldn't change the "mini" status of the unit although I'd rather see them dump it completely in favor of a midtower.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank777 View Post

We're starting to talk about much larger form factors with desktop RAM, SSDs and 3.5" drives and expansion cards. That's simply not going to happen.

While expansion cards would definitely need much more space (less likely), desktop ram, cpu, and 3.5 wouldn't need that much more space. And who's to say if a bigger case would happen or not? I think apple would be reluctant but it would be an extremely smart move to suck it up and make it a bit bigger to get the huge boost in price/performance ratio.

Quote:
Originally Posted by franksargent View Post

If for no other reason, then that the internals would have to be arranged differently. There would be space around the first 2.5" HD occupied by other internals. These would have to be moved to accommodate the the larger footprint of the 3.5" HD.

...

Why exactly are you so desperate for a 3.5" HD in the mini anyway?

Of course the internals would be arranged differently, that's the whole point of a redesign. Apple would simply standardize the machine on 3.5 HD, once the case is a bit bigger there's no advantage to 2.5 HD.

And 3.5 is desirable because it offers huge increases in capacity and huge cost savings, particularly as you go up in capacity. In a machine that is NOT a portable, 2.5 is just a waste of money with minimal benefit.
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post #86 of 93
1/5/09 at 8:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by macxpress View Post

Why exactly do you need to wait to get a new MacPro? What's wrong with the current offerings?

While nothing is "wrong" with the current version, intel has new chips out soon (already?) so an update is likely. If there will be a new machine out that is faster for the same price, why not wait for it? Not to mention that when an update ships, the price will be dropped on the remaining stock of the current model.

Overall, this seems like it would be a terrible time to buy a mac pro. In general it usually makes the most sense to buy a new mac just after an update, if you buy months later you are paying top dollar but not getting the latest and greatest.
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post #87 of 93
1/5/09 at 9:25am
Assuming that the mini takes on the 7.7 by 7.7 format, this is what the internals may look like. As you can see, there is plenty of room for 2 full sized memory slots.

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post #88 of 93
1/5/09 at 11:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Outsider View Post

Assuming that the mini takes on the 7.7 by 7.7 format, this is what the internals may look like. As you can see, there is plenty of room for 2 full sized memory slots.

I think the main benefit of increasing the size would be to use 3.5" hard drives and still have room for everything else.
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post #89 of 93
1/5/09 at 11:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FuturePastNow View Post

I think the main benefit of increasing the size would be to use 3.5" hard drives and still have room for everything else.

Well, it would greatly reduce the size of the motherboard unless they made it taller so the motherboard would extend under it. I guess they could do it.
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post #90 of 93
1/5/09 at 11:34am
3.5" drive would be nice both for performance and price,!
My dream would to have the cube back were a latch enables the user to pull out a inner casing with good access to everything. Even room for a PCIe graphic card.

But I can settle for som integrated nvidia and a 1 TB 3.5" HD so I can replace my old Sawtooth
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post #91 of 93
1/5/09 at 2:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by minderbinder View Post

While nothing is "wrong" with the current version, intel has new chips out soon (already?) so an update is likely. If there will be a new machine out that is faster for the same price, why not wait for it? Not to mention that when an update ships, the price will be dropped on the remaining stock of the current model.

Overall, this seems like it would be a terrible time to buy a mac pro. In general it usually makes the most sense to buy a new mac just after an update, if you buy months later you are paying top dollar but not getting the latest and greatest.

Ok, but that doesn't explain why a hackintosh is more appealing? Why exactly do you think you need the latest and greatest? Either way you're still getting a top notch computer no matter what.

Mac Mini (Mid 2011) 2.5 GHz Core i5
120 GB SSD/500 GB HD/8 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB

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Mac Mini (Mid 2011) 2.5 GHz Core i5
120 GB SSD/500 GB HD/8 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB

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post #92 of 93
1/5/09 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Outsider View Post

Well, it would greatly reduce the size of the motherboard unless they made it taller so the motherboard would extend under it. I guess they could do it.

You can run the system more quiet and cooler if they had 120mm fans or at least a couple 90mm. The increased volumetric flow would be a boon for those who are building farms of these as well.
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post #93 of 93
1/5/09 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by macxpress View Post

Ok, but that doesn't explain why a hackintosh is more appealing? Why exactly do you think you need the latest and greatest? Either way you're still getting a top notch computer no matter what.

I wouldn't say a hackintosh is more appealing unless you're talking about gaming. Either way, I'm in the same boat as him. I've been waiting for the Nehalem Mac Pros for a long time. When it comes to multi-threading application there is no competition. The new Nehalem just creams the current cpu in every single test. Why would you want to buy a mac pro now for the same price you'd get one 33%+/- faster if you waited a few months? Also, since no one wants to produce after market video cards, it's a good idea to wait for the next revision if you can just for updated graphics cards. 8800GT was great 18 months ago. We're on to bigger and better things now. Who knows what the next Mac Pro will bring. I can guarantee it will be worth the wait though. There are a lot of new technology changes right around the corner. I think it's a safe bet to wait it out and see.

 

 

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