Mac Mini 2.0 or 2.26GHz
This has been discussed before, but I can't get "Search" to find it.
Is the 2.26 GHz upgrade on the Mini worth the price? $135 (education cost) seems a lot to me for the bump.
2.26 or 2.27 seems to be the average bump on other Macs and the price varies according to which Mac it's on.
As I mentioned in another post, one of my coworkers is just about to buy a new Mini. She is debating whether to get the 2.26 upgrade. Since she is not going to do heavy duty computing, I told her that she doesn't need it, but she wants the "best". I seem to be losing this argument. I need more ammunition.
Just what advantage does the 2.26 have over the 2.0?
Is the 2.26 GHz upgrade on the Mini worth the price? $135 (education cost) seems a lot to me for the bump.
2.26 or 2.27 seems to be the average bump on other Macs and the price varies according to which Mac it's on.
As I mentioned in another post, one of my coworkers is just about to buy a new Mini. She is debating whether to get the 2.26 upgrade. Since she is not going to do heavy duty computing, I told her that she doesn't need it, but she wants the "best". I seem to be losing this argument. I need more ammunition.
Just what advantage does the 2.26 have over the 2.0?
Comments
Just what advantage does the 2.26 have over the 2.0?
About 10%.
This has been discussed before, but I can't get "Search" to find it.
Is the 2.26 GHz upgrade on the Mini worth the price? $135 (education cost) seems a lot to me for the bump.
2.26 or 2.27 seems to be the average bump on other Macs and the price varies according to which Mac it's on.
As I mentioned in another post, one of my coworkers is just about to buy a new Mini. She is debating whether to get the 2.26 upgrade. Since she is not going to do heavy duty computing, I told her that she doesn't need it, but she wants the "best". I seem to be losing this argument. I need more ammunition.
Just what advantage does the 2.26 have over the 2.0?
That $135 for the 2.26 GHz processor is the last money I'd spend on an upgrade. I'd pay for 4 GB RAM and a large HDD first (at least 250 GB). After that figure out if you still want to pay even more for the CPU. Has she committed to the other upgrades already?
BTW: the RAM upgrade is going to have a far greater influence on perceived "speed" than the CPU will.
That $135 for the 2.26 GHz processor is the last money I'd spend on an upgrade. I'd pay for 4 GB RAM and a large HDD first (at least 250 GB). After that figure out if you still want to pay even more for the CPU. Has she committed to the other upgrades already?
BTW: the RAM upgrade is going to have a far greater influence on perceived "speed" than the CPU will.
This.
That $135 for the 2.26 GHz processor is the last money I'd spend on an upgrade. I'd pay for 4 GB RAM and a large HDD first (at least 250 GB). After that figure out if you still want to pay even more for the CPU. Has she committed to the other upgrades already?
BTW: the RAM upgrade is going to have a far greater influence on perceived "speed" than the CPU will.
She's getting the 4 GB RAM pre-installed. I suggested a FW800 250 GB (or larger) external HDD because I read in MacWorld that it's faster than the internal HDD.
From Mar 12, 2009 issue of MacWorld:
"Still, it?s worth noting that the relatively slow laptop drives used in the mini line remain among its limiting factors compared to a traditional desktop Mac. In fact, when we ran the same Finder tests on the $599 Mac mini while booted from a FireWire 800 drive, the results were notably better than with either stock mini; for example, our Finder Unzip Archive test came in at just 1:01 (compared to 1:19 and 1:41 for the two minis booted from their stock drives)"
She's getting the lower end Mini, 4GB RAM, iWork, AppleCare, and an Adaptor FW 4 to 6 pin (I assume that's to transfer from old computer to the Mini). As a teacher, this is going to cost her $912.71 including sales tax. Should she get the 2.26, too?
(Quoting backtomac-"10%): What does 10% actually mean in this case?
She's getting the 4 GB RAM pre-installed. I suggested a FW800 250 GB (or larger) external HDD because I read in MacWorld that it's faster than the internal HDD.
From Mar 12, 2009 issue of MacWorld:
"Still, it?s worth noting that the relatively slow laptop drives used in the mini line remain among its limiting factors compared to a traditional desktop Mac. In fact, when we ran the same Finder tests on the $599 Mac mini while booted from a FireWire 800 drive, the results were notably better than with either stock mini; for example, our Finder Unzip Archive test came in at just 1:01 (compared to 1:19 and 1:41 for the two minis booted from their stock drives)"
She's getting the lower end Mini, 4GB RAM, iWork, AppleCare, and an Adaptor FW 4 to 6 pin (I assume that's to transfer from old computer to the Mini). As a teacher, this is going to cost her $912.71 including sales tax. Should she get the 2.26, too?
(Quoting backtomac-"10%): What does 10% actually mean in this case?
Personally, I'd skip both the FW800 external HDD and the CPU upgrade. But if she really wants to spend more money, the next amount I'd spend is the roughly $90 to go from the stock 120 GB HDD to 250 GB. The external drive adds bulk that in some ways defeats the size advantage of the mini. Plus she'd have to go through the whole exercise of making the external HDD the boot drive, etc.
If you want to help her save some money, you can buy a third-party 4 GB memory kit for a fraction of the cost that Apple charges. It's not all that difficult to install and there's a how-to guide pinned to this message board.
Personally, I'd skip both the FW800 external HDD and the CPU upgrade. But if she really wants to spend more money, the next amount I'd spend is the roughly $90 to go from the stock 120 GB HDD to 250 GB. The external drive adds bulk that in some ways defeats the size advantage of the mini. Plus she'd have to go through the whole exercise of making the external HDD the boot drive, etc.
Everyone should have an external drive for backup purposes. In this case, the internal drive would be the backup. Making the external drive the boot drive wouldn't take long with Carbon Copy Cloner.
If you want to help her save some money, you can buy a third-party 4 GB memory kit for a fraction of the cost that Apple charges. It's not all that difficult to install and there's a how-to guide pinned to this message board.
Yes.
Personally, I'd skip both the FW800 external HDD and the CPU upgrade. But if she really wants to spend more money, the next amount I'd spend is the roughly $90 to go from the stock 120 GB HDD to 250 GB. The external drive adds bulk that in some ways defeats the size advantage of the mini. Plus she'd have to go through the whole exercise of making the external HDD the boot drive, etc.
If you want to help her save some money, you can buy a third-party 4 GB memory kit for a fraction of the cost that Apple charges. It's not all that difficult to install and there's a how-to guide pinned to this message board.
As you suggested, $90 would buy her a HDD with an additional 130 GB, but that would buy a 500 GB external. That would give her a total of 620 GB for the same $90.
Thanks for the advice; however, advice is ALL I plan to give her. I don't want to set a precedent by offering hands-on help to coworkers. That sounds mean, but I've been down that road before, and I don't want to go there again. As for saving money, that's her decision.
Your advice will not be wasted. I plan to send all AI reples to her.
As you suggested, $90 would buy her a HDD with an additional 130 GB, but that would buy a 500 GB external. That would give her a total of 620 GB for the same $90.
Thanks for the advice; however, advice is ALL I plan to give her. I don't want to set a precedent by offering hands-on help to coworkers. That sounds mean, but I've been down that road before, and I don't want to go there again. As for saving money, that's her decision.
Your advice will not be wasted. I plan to send all AI reples to her.
Don't forget if she wants to use an external drive as additional storage, she'll need two or the stuff on the external drive won't be backed up. Alternatively, you can get externals with two HDDs installed in a mirrored RAID (e.g. NewerTech Guardian Maximus or Western Digital MyBook Studio II (note quoted capacities for the MyBook are in striped RAID rather than mirrored RAID config, divide by two to give mirrored capacity)), or only save data you don't care about on the external (but then, why are you saving it if you don't care about it?).