Whats the best price/specs for the Mac mini?

tacojohn

Hey guys!



I just sold my iBook on eBay for $550 and I'm about to order the mac mini to replace it.



I can't decide what specs I should get- I'd like to keep the price down as much as possible. The mini is primarily going to be used as a web server, iTunes server, small file server, & rarly a back up computer to my iMac G5



Right now thats all I'm planning on using it for, 'cause I live in the dorms and my iMac is hooked directly to my TV as a second monitor. I'm a senior and this is my last semester, so by summer I will have my own place and an entertainment center which the mini will be part of.



So basically- how hard do you guys think it will be to crack that case open in 6 months and add in an airport card? I think I'm going to get bluetooth because you can't just buy the adapters yourself.



So this is what I'm looking at right now (I like to keep it around $650 or below- I get the education discount)



1.25

80 gig

512 RAM

Bluetooth

$636



or



1.42

80 gig

512 RAM

Bluetooth

$691



I think I might just pay the extra $60 for the faster processor- it'll be worth it in the long run I guess...what does everyone think? I'd like to put a order in this afternoon sometime.

g_warren

I had thought about the better model just because of the hard drive - I guess that for most things you won't really notice the difference between the processors. Since it seems that you can get the hard drive upgrade so cheaply, maybe you should just got for the 1.25Ghz though, and spend the money on the AirPort card.



I'm seriously considering doing the same thing - trade in my iBook in a few months my Tiger comes out - then I can get iLife 05 and Tiger, and just buy a 15in Cinema Display from eBay. Let us know what you do.

tacojohn

Quote:

Originally posted by G_Warren

I had thought about the better model just because of the hard drive - I guess that for most things you won't really notice the difference between the processors. Since it seems that you can get the hard drive upgrade so cheaply, maybe you should just got for the 1.25Ghz though, and spend the money on the AirPort card.



I'm seriously considering doing the same thing - trade in my iBook in a few months my Tiger comes out - then I can get iLife 05 and Tiger, and just buy a 15in Cinema Display from eBay. Let us know what you do.

Yeah- thats another reason why I'm just like F-it, I might as well do it 'cause I'm going to want iLife 05 anyway- which is $89- almost 1/4 of the starting price.

yikes600

Personally, I would hold back until people decide whether users can upgrade the RAM themselves. That could save you some money (and give you the opportunity to get 1GB without spending $450). Besides, the initial run of minis are sold and it's a 4 week wait right now.

g_warren

Quote:

Originally posted by G_Warren

... just buy a 15in Cinema Display from eBay...

Although strangely, 15in Apple LCD prices seem to have rocketed on eBay in the last few days. Maybe I'm not the only one to think of this!

tacojohn

Alright, so I kinda skimped out.



This is what I ordered:



1.25

512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 DIMM

40GB Ultra ATA drive

Combo Drive



I figured this is going to kinda be like a toy for me- so later down the road it will be cool to tinker with it and add in a bigger hard drive, or the airport card, or the RAM. I needed to save money basically.



Did anyone notice that you ca get the bluetooth adapter installed after the fact now by an authorized reseller?

macasaurus

Why not just skip out on the bluetooth preinstalled and get a bluetooth USB dongle instead? It's cheaper if you have a USB hub. Also, Bluetooth 2.0 should be out by this year too.

amorph

The best value IMO is the base model with 512MB RAM.



Need more space down the line? Get a FW drive, and enjoy the higher speeds and capacities of desktop drives.



512MB should be ample for most purposes. Even if upgrading RAM proves to be a pain, this greatly reduces the likelihood that you'll ever need to.



Get wireless if you need it, but since this the only Mac model that lets you add both AirPort and Bluetooth onboard after the fact, you can wait and see if you really need them first.



After playing with a few configurations at the Apple Store (for research purposes ) I've concluded that the best thing to do is to get what Apple is marketing: A cheap, stripped down machine. The bells and whistles quickly add up to the point where the goal of the machine is defeated.

macasaurus

Quote:

Originally posted by Amorph

The best value IMO is the base model with 512MB RAM.



Need more space down the line? Get a FW drive, and enjoy the higher speeds and capacities of desktop drives.



512MB should be ample for most purposes. Even if upgrading RAM proves to be a pain, this greatly reduces the likelihood that you'll ever need to.



Get wireless if you need it, but since this the only Mac model that lets you add both AirPort and Bluetooth onboard after the fact, you can wait and see if you really need them first.



After playing with a few configurations at the Apple Store (for research purposes ) I've concluded that the best thing to do is to get what Apple is marketing: A cheap, stripped down machine. The bells and whistles quickly add up to the point where the goal of the machine is defeated.

I agree with the majority of this post, but I disagree on getting the base model because I think the extra hard drive space and processor power are worth 100 more.