not having a dvd player makes it a less useful home-theater computer. but not fatal if air superdrive works well.
Not having a br players makes it a less useful home-theater computer. Losing the superdrive in this context doesn't mean all that much if you had a BR player in your rack anyway.
This is pretty much the best outcome there could ever have been for the Mini. I am so pleased with every choice made here because they have given each model a clear role and specced the machines accordingly.
I'd like to have had a lower cost 128GB SSD (or even 64GB) BTO option. The 256GB option is a bit steep and all I really want is a SSD that can hold Lion and a few apps.
I guess that when I do get one I'll have to take it apart to update the drives but it's a lot more annoying than the older white minis. Maybe I'll let OWC do it for $99 unless there's a local shop who will do it.
I just ordered the 2.5 with the 750GB drive, it will replace my mini server at home.
It's a pity they didn't make the 500GB drive in the upgrade 7200RPM, bit of a cop-out, you have to upgrade to the 750GB to get the extra speed. No point in getting bogged down with a slow drive.
Silly question, but I'm not familiar with the i5 and i7. I'm looking at the new $799 mini. Is it worth the $100 extra to bump it up to an i7?
Yes, the i7 chips offer good performance improvements over the i5. However, the i5 will still be noticeably faster than the last model anyway.
i5-2520M gets Geekbench scores around 5500
i7-2620M gets scores around 7500
So 35% faster for 10% more money. Whether you will actually notice that extra speed is always debatable but it's at least good value.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elliots11
Based on re specs would any of these minis be good for Final Cut Pro 7? I know the graphics are discrete, but is that good enough for FCP or Color? If they are and I could BTO with a quad core that'd be potentially pretty sweet.
Yes the discrete GPU is fine for those apps. The HD 3000 isn't. It's on the supported list but it has no OpenCL support. Go with the Radeon and you will get a GPU with 480GFLOPs of compute performance and GDDR5 VRAM.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goldenclaw
I'm a bit shocked that 2GB of RAM is still the base memory.
They have to buy RAM from someone else so it's added expense. They would have passed this cost onto the consumer. 2GB should be plenty for most tasks like a media centre and basic PC. I think it's great the price dropped down by $100.
I was so pleased with the update on the Mini that I've already placed an order for one speced out rather aggressively. The 256 SSD+750 7200 RPM, the 2.7 i7, 8Gb of RAM.
I wanted a lot more performance than I was getting out of my current Mini which I have now hooked up to my TV for streaming Netflix, etc. I thought I was going to need to step up to a Mac Pro but Apple has so dramatically upgraded the Mini that I think I can live with the system as I have it configured.
The best part is that with the current Mini running in the household still, the absence of an optical drive is not going to be a big issue in the new unit. In addition, I have a USB DVD drive kicking around that I had bought to use with a netbook, so if need be I can always hook that up and still have DVD access.
This machine is pretty much what I had advocated for Apple to make, namely remove the optical drive to make room for discreet graphics and an SSD. Add in Thunderbolt and I really think Apple has finally delivered on a mac desktop with the expandability and power to meet the needs of all but the true pro user.
I consider myself to be a prosumer, not doing it for money but dabbling in enough demanding activities, like video rendering, to warrant something with a little muscle. Up until today, Apple didn't have a product that fit that niche. Now, though, I believe Apple has such a product.
Lot's of versatility in how the Mini is offered, too. You can go all out, as I have, or for a lot less than $1,000 you can have a perfectly adequate little desktop for basic uses. A win all around in my estimation.
I am thrilled by what Apple has done and I can't wait for the new Mini to arrive.
Why do think it's not a good home-theater computer?
It never was a good home theatre PC. No BD drive makes it a total non-starter.
Personally I can't see any non-gaming box ever standing much chance in the living room. How could anyone compete with an all-in-one like the PS3? That thing does just about everything.
Yep. My 17" iMac will need to be replaced for me to join the Lion party. I was thinking a mini would soften the hit to the credit card, but I'd like the discreet graphics, and then you're very close to an iMac with quad-core CPU, faster GPU, etc.
The article here about the new 27" display states "Thunderbolt-based Macs with discrete graphics can drive two external displays giving professional users over 7 million additional pixels of display real estate and the ability to daisy chain additional Thunderbolt devices, as well as video and audio capture devices."
My understanding then is, only the mid-range mini has discrete graphics. And only the 2011 15" and 17" (and not the 13") mac books qualify. I would like to see a picture of the ports on the new monitor, won't there have to be TWO thunderbird plugs, to enable the daisy chain?
The article here about the new 27" display states "Thunderbolt-based Macs with discrete graphics can drive two external displays giving professional users over 7 million additional pixels of display real estate and the ability to daisy chain additional Thunderbolt devices, as well as video and audio capture devices."
My understanding then is, only the mid-range mini has discrete graphics. And only the 2011 15" and 17" (and not the 13") mac books qualify. I would like to see a picture of the ports on the new monitor, won't there have to be TWO thunderbird plugs, to enable the daisy chain?
http://www.apple.com/displays/ has a picture of the display's ports. 2 different plugs does not a daisy chain make. Daisy chain would require plugging into one and then continuing from that one to the next. I don't see any thunderbolt cables except as options when buying TB enabled Apple computers. My guess is you plug a cable from your TB port on your computer to the back of your Display, then the TB cable that comes out the back of the display hooks into the TB port on the 2nd monitor. Hence, daisy chain. The display has a built in TB cable coming out the back.
Well, being a die-hard Optical disk and Optical storage user, having no Cd/DVD drive is discouraging.
I'm glad I've got the slightly older mini with Optical. (tho of course, the cpu in it is now way slower in comparison. --- )
The only upside is that without the optical slot in front, there now is no reason not to turn the Mini sideways so that one would at least have some *Hope* of finding the right port hole to plug things into!
My reading of the models in the Apple store says you can't get both quad-core-i7 and discrete graphics. You can get discrete graphics and dual-core i5 or i7. Or you can move to the server for quad core.
I think you're right. Looks like you can't do quad plus discrete graphics. That's too bad because I'd be all over that, but I guess it'd cannibalize iMac sales or something. Maybe it wouldn't physically fit or work, but I'll bet its a business move. Drat! That could've served a lot of purposes for me.
I read with much dismay the Cult of Mac recommendation to buy the $799 2.5 GHz i5 Mini. I guess the author has no clue how much more bang you get for your buck when you spend only $100 more for a 2.7 GHz i7 capable of Turbo Boosting (2.0) up to 3.4 GHz while it Hyper-Threads 4 threads instead of 2 on an i5 that can't even Turbo Boost.
That's almost an additional 2 GHz of dual thread x2 capacity for only $100 more for a total of 6.8 GHz vs 8 GHz on the $999 2.0 GHz Quad Core i7 Server, although it too has substantial Turbo Boost 2.0 capacity albeit with no dedicated graphics processor which makes it sort of an almost best but no cigar option.
I've been a Mac Pro kind of guy forever. But this is looking to me like the sweet spot for a complementary Lion future that is supplementing an iPad-iPhone dominant lifestyle. It's $600 less than the same power in the high end 13" MacBook Pro without dedicated graphics. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on this puppy pretty soon. Looks to me like the best value Mac among all this year's offerings. Will add RAM and SSD drive from OWC soon thereafter.
Also will order the mini-display to dual Link DVI adapter $99 to drive my 30" HP monitor. So the total comes to $998. A $49 Thunderbolt cable will come into play when the Thunderbolt HD cases become available empty. I hope we can daisy chain Thunderbolt to an external HD then the mini-display cable to a dual link DVI monitor. Otherwise we'll need a new Thunderbolt to Dual Link DVI adapter which is not for sale yet - that I know of.
Note the Mini is the only Mac with an HDMI port that supports 1920 x 1200 not just 1080p. Plus the HDMI to DVI adapter is included!
Comments
not having a dvd player makes it a less useful home-theater computer. but not fatal if air superdrive works well.
Not having a br players makes it a less useful home-theater computer. Losing the superdrive in this context doesn't mean all that much if you had a BR player in your rack anyway.
Most of my DVDs are finally ripped anyway.
This is pretty much the best outcome there could ever have been for the Mini. I am so pleased with every choice made here because they have given each model a clear role and specced the machines accordingly.
I'd like to have had a lower cost 128GB SSD (or even 64GB) BTO option. The 256GB option is a bit steep and all I really want is a SSD that can hold Lion and a few apps.
I guess that when I do get one I'll have to take it apart to update the drives but it's a lot more annoying than the older white minis. Maybe I'll let OWC do it for $99 unless there's a local shop who will do it.
Why do think it's not a good home-theater computer?
Without an optical drive you'll need an external drive. Another piece of clutter in the living room. Or don't you use DVDs?
You can build the $799 Mac Mini to order with a dualcore i7 for an extra $100.
Thanks!
I was looking for a quad core so hard I missed that.
Cheers!
It's a pity they didn't make the 500GB drive in the upgrade 7200RPM, bit of a cop-out, you have to upgrade to the 750GB to get the extra speed. No point in getting bogged down with a slow drive.
Without an optical drive you'll need an external drive. Another piece of clutter in the living room. Or don't you use DVDs?
No, I use blueray. Meaning the superdrive wasn't all that useful either.
Silly question, but I'm not familiar with the i5 and i7. I'm looking at the new $799 mini. Is it worth the $100 extra to bump it up to an i7?
Yes, the i7 chips offer good performance improvements over the i5. However, the i5 will still be noticeably faster than the last model anyway.
i5-2520M gets Geekbench scores around 5500
i7-2620M gets scores around 7500
So 35% faster for 10% more money. Whether you will actually notice that extra speed is always debatable but it's at least good value.
Based on re specs would any of these minis be good for Final Cut Pro 7? I know the graphics are discrete, but is that good enough for FCP or Color? If they are and I could BTO with a quad core that'd be potentially pretty sweet.
Yes the discrete GPU is fine for those apps. The HD 3000 isn't. It's on the supported list but it has no OpenCL support. Go with the Radeon and you will get a GPU with 480GFLOPs of compute performance and GDDR5 VRAM.
I'm a bit shocked that 2GB of RAM is still the base memory.
They have to buy RAM from someone else so it's added expense. They would have passed this cost onto the consumer. 2GB should be plenty for most tasks like a media centre and basic PC. I think it's great the price dropped down by $100.
I wanted a lot more performance than I was getting out of my current Mini which I have now hooked up to my TV for streaming Netflix, etc. I thought I was going to need to step up to a Mac Pro but Apple has so dramatically upgraded the Mini that I think I can live with the system as I have it configured.
The best part is that with the current Mini running in the household still, the absence of an optical drive is not going to be a big issue in the new unit. In addition, I have a USB DVD drive kicking around that I had bought to use with a netbook, so if need be I can always hook that up and still have DVD access.
This machine is pretty much what I had advocated for Apple to make, namely remove the optical drive to make room for discreet graphics and an SSD. Add in Thunderbolt and I really think Apple has finally delivered on a mac desktop with the expandability and power to meet the needs of all but the true pro user.
I consider myself to be a prosumer, not doing it for money but dabbling in enough demanding activities, like video rendering, to warrant something with a little muscle. Up until today, Apple didn't have a product that fit that niche. Now, though, I believe Apple has such a product.
Lot's of versatility in how the Mini is offered, too. You can go all out, as I have, or for a lot less than $1,000 you can have a perfectly adequate little desktop for basic uses. A win all around in my estimation.
I am thrilled by what Apple has done and I can't wait for the new Mini to arrive.
Why do think it's not a good home-theater computer?
It never was a good home theatre PC. No BD drive makes it a total non-starter.
Personally I can't see any non-gaming box ever standing much chance in the living room. How could anyone compete with an all-in-one like the PS3? That thing does just about everything.
Yep. My 17" iMac will need to be replaced for me to join the Lion party. I was thinking a mini would soften the hit to the credit card, but I'd like the discreet graphics, and then you're very close to an iMac with quad-core CPU, faster GPU, etc.
- Jasen.
And an optical drive.
My understanding then is, only the mid-range mini has discrete graphics. And only the 2011 15" and 17" (and not the 13") mac books qualify. I would like to see a picture of the ports on the new monitor, won't there have to be TWO thunderbird plugs, to enable the daisy chain?
No BD drive makes it a total non-starter.
That thing does just about everything.
Except be a computer.
The article here about the new 27" display states "Thunderbolt-based Macs with discrete graphics can drive two external displays giving professional users over 7 million additional pixels of display real estate and the ability to daisy chain additional Thunderbolt devices, as well as video and audio capture devices."
My understanding then is, only the mid-range mini has discrete graphics. And only the 2011 15" and 17" (and not the 13") mac books qualify. I would like to see a picture of the ports on the new monitor, won't there have to be TWO thunderbird plugs, to enable the daisy chain?
http://www.apple.com/displays/ has a picture of the display's ports. 2 different plugs does not a daisy chain make. Daisy chain would require plugging into one and then continuing from that one to the next. I don't see any thunderbolt cables except as options when buying TB enabled Apple computers. My guess is you plug a cable from your TB port on your computer to the back of your Display, then the TB cable that comes out the back of the display hooks into the TB port on the 2nd monitor. Hence, daisy chain. The display has a built in TB cable coming out the back.
I figure there's no point in dual mDP ports on a display because it has to be at the end of the chain in a TB chain anyways.
I'm glad I've got the slightly older mini with Optical. (tho of course, the cpu in it is now way slower in comparison.
The only upside is that without the optical slot in front, there now is no reason not to turn the Mini sideways so that one would at least have some *Hope* of finding the right port hole to plug things into!
My reading of the models in the Apple store says you can't get both quad-core-i7 and discrete graphics. You can get discrete graphics and dual-core i5 or i7. Or you can move to the server for quad core.
I think you're right. Looks like you can't do quad plus discrete graphics. That's too bad because I'd be all over that, but I guess it'd cannibalize iMac sales or something. Maybe it wouldn't physically fit or work, but I'll bet its a business move. Drat! That could've served a lot of purposes for me.
That's almost an additional 2 GHz of dual thread x2 capacity for only $100 more for a total of 6.8 GHz vs 8 GHz on the $999 2.0 GHz Quad Core i7 Server, although it too has substantial Turbo Boost 2.0 capacity albeit with no dedicated graphics processor which makes it sort of an almost best but no cigar option.
I've been a Mac Pro kind of guy forever. But this is looking to me like the sweet spot for a complementary Lion future that is supplementing an iPad-iPhone dominant lifestyle. It's $600 less than the same power in the high end 13" MacBook Pro without dedicated graphics. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on this puppy pretty soon. Looks to me like the best value Mac among all this year's offerings. Will add RAM and SSD drive from OWC soon thereafter.
Also will order the mini-display to dual Link DVI adapter $99 to drive my 30" HP monitor. So the total comes to $998. A $49 Thunderbolt cable will come into play when the Thunderbolt HD cases become available empty. I hope we can daisy chain Thunderbolt to an external HD then the mini-display cable to a dual link DVI monitor. Otherwise we'll need a new Thunderbolt to Dual Link DVI adapter which is not for sale yet - that I know of.
Note the Mini is the only Mac with an HDMI port that supports 1920 x 1200 not just 1080p. Plus the HDMI to DVI adapter is included!