This really sucks for everyone who wants their Mini to be an HTPC.
I (like many others) need my mini to have an optical drive to watch DVDs from Netflix. I wanted to mount my new mini on the wall below my TV to look super sexy but now I'm gonna have a superdrive dongle hanging off the side. Yeah right!
This is terribly dissappointing... but at least I don't have to spend cash on a new mini...
... In what way is this a good thing? I am okay with the lack of an optical drive in a laptop, but a desktop system????
Now people MUST buy a superdrive to install Windows with Bootcamp...or did Apple remove that as well?
Only if the mini is the only computer in the house. Otherwise you can use the optical drive of any Mac on your home network.
Besides, this is what you should expect for being so cheap. You are using the cheapest computer Apple makes and you are running two OS's on it. I bet you are running on minimal RAM and have a VGA BenQ monitor attached to it as well.
The only thing cheaper would be switching back to Windows and buying some awful windows box that will last all of a year before it blows up or needs to be upgraded. Maybe that's your future.
So, why not make this Apple TV? Why have different hardware for this?
Because despite what you might think from reading tech forums, only a very tiny minority of Mac mini purchasers are going to use them as a connection to the TV for media serving. The number one use is desktop computer, followed by server. The hobbyists are much further down the chain.
Maybe this is a silly question, but I was considering an iMac and now wonder if the Mac Mini may be more cost effective. Aside from the gorgeous display, how does the Mac Mini compare to the iMac in terms of performance? I have a 24" Dell monitor that's still working great. Is the iMac that much faster? What about the video cards? Would an app like xplane be far far superior on the iMac vs the Mini?
Not having an optical drive is tough imo. DVDs will be hanging around for years to come. One can be an external one, but that destroys the aesthetic, no.
We run a large theatre program in the Seattle area. All of our shows are sold to the students on DVD so that they have a memory of their production. How do we distribute these 80-100 purchases? Using DVD's of course. What other method is there?
I see a need for the DVD to be around for a little longer than Apple is forcing on everyone.
Final Cut Pro X ---- Don't even get me started on that one!!!
1. Some people only have one computer. Kinda hard to use remote disc without a second computer. So now the Mac Mini requires either a superdrive or another computer entirely to do the same thing its predecessor did? ...
Except you are leaving out the part where the new one is hundred dollars less than the old one, and that you can buy an optical drive to attach to it for .... a hundred bucks.
So ... crisis, what crisis? Tempest in a teapot fuelled by ignorance is all.
Well, booo on the lack of an optical drive. I guess I will be buying a refurb as I still use my optical drive quite often. I really don't want to add on almost $100 to the price of the Mac Mini just to have an optical drive.
In what way is this a good thing? I am okay with the lack of an optical drive in a laptop, but a desktop system????
Now people MUST buy a superdrive to install Windows with Bootcamp...or did Apple remove that as well?
For the first time ever, Apple's new Mac mini models, released on Wednesday, lack an optical drive for CDs or DVDs, as the Mac maker continues to move away from physical formats like discs.
Ok who's gonna say it... ooh it looks like it'll be me then... The Mac mini bundled with Snow Leopard Server lacked an optical drive. So that phrase "For the first time ever" needs to go!
Could you install Windows on your Boot Camp partition using vmware + remote disc, then uninstall vmware, unmount the remote disk, reboot in to Boot Camp, and install the correct drivers?
This assumes the ownership of a second computer. I know it can be done with a disc image and parallels. You idea sounds solid as well. But you need a second computer and I actually know several folks who only have one system.
Not having an optical drive is tough imo. DVDs will be hanging around for years to come. One can be an external one, but that destroys the aesthetic, no.
Nope. Spinning discs are dead.
Quote:
Originally Posted by circling
We run a large theatre program in the Seattle area. All of our shows are sold to the students on DVD so that they have a memory of their production. How do we distribute these 80-100 purchases? Using DVD's of course. What other method is there?
I see a need for the DVD to be around for a little longer than Apple is forcing on everyone.
Final Cut Pro X ---- Don't even get me started on that one!!!
And you seriously burn every single DVD on a Mac Mini? Really?
Buy a tower disc duplicator, for heaven's sake. Alleviate your headaches. No computer needs an optical drive.
Only if the mini is the only computer in the house. Otherwise you can use the optical drive of any Mac on your home network.
Besides, this is what you should expect for being so cheap. You are using the cheapest computer Apple makes and you are running two OS's on it. I bet you are running on minimal RAM and have a VGA BenQ monitor attached to it as well.
The only thing cheaper would be switching back to Windows and buying some awful windows box that will last all of a year before it blows up or needs to be upgraded. Maybe that's your future.
So, you assume I am cheap and not:
1. a student, who needs a computer
or
2. poor, but still needs a computer
or
3. BOTH
To answer your rather rudely stated questions:
Yes, I am running Snow Leopard and Windows 7 (student giveaway) on 2GB of RAM. No, my monitor is a 17' NEC Multisync LCD 1770GX (about 4 years old). I had a Windows machine that I built back in September of 2006, which I gave to a student friend who needed a computer after I bought my Mac Mini. That "awful Windows box" still runs beautifully after 5 years of heavy use.
And you seriously burn every single DVD on a Mac Mini? Really?
Buy a tower disc duplicator, for heaven's sake. Alleviate your headaches. No computer needs an optical drive.
Sorry for the confusion... We don't use mini's to create these disks... I was thinking about the students that buy the disks. If a student gets a new mini, then they have to spend more money to see their show.
Um, no. Even MS has had Windows 7 USB install capability since 2009.
Who wants to install from DVD anyway??? The DVD needs to die! Why take a car across country when you can take a plane?
What part of "some people only own one computer" doesn't make sense? If that one computer were the new Mac Mini, then HOW would they make such an install USB drive without a optical drive or easy access to another machine? If the Mini had an optical drive so that I could make the install USB drive...then I wouldn't need the USB drive.
Why drive instead of flying?
Afraid to fly, get sick when flying, cheaper to drive, etc.
Comments
I (like many others) need my mini to have an optical drive to watch DVDs from Netflix. I wanted to mount my new mini on the wall below my TV to look super sexy but now I'm gonna have a superdrive dongle hanging off the side. Yeah right!
This is terribly dissappointing... but at least I don't have to spend cash on a new mini...
So now the Mac Mini requires either a superdrive or another computer entirely to do the same thing its predecessor did?
Tech changes. That's how it goes.
2. Windows cannot be installed via remote disc
Could have sworn it could be.
3. OS X has the built in capability to run Windows so, yes, it is a problem.
I'm confused how this is any sort of argument.
So, why not make this Apple TV? Why have different hardware for this?
Because Apple TV is $99....
So they removed the optical drive, and the price stayed the same?
I could understand ditching it on notebooks, but ditching it on a desktop machine that is already uber tiny to begin with seems ridiculous to me.
No, the price went down, they used to start at $699.
I like the lower price, but I'm one of those dinosaurs that needs an optical drive. Then again, I can buy one for $40 bucks, so whatever.
... In what way is this a good thing? I am okay with the lack of an optical drive in a laptop, but a desktop system????
Now people MUST buy a superdrive to install Windows with Bootcamp...or did Apple remove that as well?
Only if the mini is the only computer in the house. Otherwise you can use the optical drive of any Mac on your home network.
Besides, this is what you should expect for being so cheap. You are using the cheapest computer Apple makes and you are running two OS's on it. I bet you are running on minimal RAM and have a VGA BenQ monitor attached to it as well.
The only thing cheaper would be switching back to Windows and buying some awful windows box that will last all of a year before it blows up or needs to be upgraded. Maybe that's your future.
So, why not make this Apple TV? Why have different hardware for this?
Because despite what you might think from reading tech forums, only a very tiny minority of Mac mini purchasers are going to use them as a connection to the TV for media serving. The number one use is desktop computer, followed by server. The hobbyists are much further down the chain.
No, the price went down, they used to start at $699.
I like the lower price, but I'm one of those dinosaurs that needs an optical drive. Then again, I can buy one for $40 bucks, so whatever.
Ahh, OK. Thanks!
For what reason do you need an optical drive?
We run a large theatre program in the Seattle area. All of our shows are sold to the students on DVD so that they have a memory of their production. How do we distribute these 80-100 purchases? Using DVD's of course. What other method is there?
I see a need for the DVD to be around for a little longer than Apple is forcing on everyone.
Final Cut Pro X ---- Don't even get me started on that one!!!
1. Some people only have one computer. Kinda hard to use remote disc without a second computer. So now the Mac Mini requires either a superdrive or another computer entirely to do the same thing its predecessor did?
Except you are leaving out the part where the new one is hundred dollars less than the old one, and that you can buy an optical drive to attach to it for .... a hundred bucks.
So ... crisis, what crisis? Tempest in a teapot fuelled by ignorance is all.
Well, booo on the lack of an optical drive. I guess I will be buying a refurb as I still use my optical drive quite often. I really don't want to add on almost $100 to the price of the Mac Mini just to have an optical drive.
In what way is this a good thing? I am okay with the lack of an optical drive in a laptop, but a desktop system????
Now people MUST buy a superdrive to install Windows with Bootcamp...or did Apple remove that as well?
Apple knows best. How dare you question them....
For the first time ever, Apple's new Mac mini models, released on Wednesday, lack an optical drive for CDs or DVDs, as the Mac maker continues to move away from physical formats like discs.
Ok who's gonna say it... ooh it looks like it'll be me then... The Mac mini bundled with Snow Leopard Server lacked an optical drive. So that phrase "For the first time ever" needs to go!
Could you install Windows on your Boot Camp partition using vmware + remote disc, then uninstall vmware, unmount the remote disk, reboot in to Boot Camp, and install the correct drivers?
This assumes the ownership of a second computer. I know it can be done with a disc image and parallels. You idea sounds solid as well. But you need a second computer and I actually know several folks who only have one system.
Not having an optical drive is tough imo. DVDs will be hanging around for years to come. One can be an external one, but that destroys the aesthetic, no.
Nope. Spinning discs are dead.
We run a large theatre program in the Seattle area. All of our shows are sold to the students on DVD so that they have a memory of their production. How do we distribute these 80-100 purchases? Using DVD's of course. What other method is there?
I see a need for the DVD to be around for a little longer than Apple is forcing on everyone.
Final Cut Pro X ---- Don't even get me started on that one!!!
And you seriously burn every single DVD on a Mac Mini? Really?
Buy a tower disc duplicator, for heaven's sake. Alleviate your headaches. No computer needs an optical drive.
Only if the mini is the only computer in the house. Otherwise you can use the optical drive of any Mac on your home network.
Besides, this is what you should expect for being so cheap. You are using the cheapest computer Apple makes and you are running two OS's on it. I bet you are running on minimal RAM and have a VGA BenQ monitor attached to it as well.
The only thing cheaper would be switching back to Windows and buying some awful windows box that will last all of a year before it blows up or needs to be upgraded. Maybe that's your future.
So, you assume I am cheap and not:
1. a student, who needs a computer
or
2. poor, but still needs a computer
or
3. BOTH
To answer your rather rudely stated questions:
Yes, I am running Snow Leopard and Windows 7 (student giveaway) on 2GB of RAM. No, my monitor is a 17' NEC Multisync LCD 1770GX (about 4 years old). I had a Windows machine that I built back in September of 2006, which I gave to a student friend who needed a computer after I bought my Mac Mini. That "awful Windows box" still runs beautifully after 5 years of heavy use.
Stop being such a rude jerk.
Now people MUST buy a superdrive to install Windows with Bootcamp...or did Apple remove that as well?
Um, no. Even MS has had Windows 7 USB install capability since 2009.
Who wants to install from DVD anyway??? The DVD needs to die! Why take a car across country when you can take a plane?
Nope. Spinning discs are dead.
And you seriously burn every single DVD on a Mac Mini? Really?
Buy a tower disc duplicator, for heaven's sake. Alleviate your headaches. No computer needs an optical drive.
Sorry for the confusion... We don't use mini's to create these disks... I was thinking about the students that buy the disks. If a student gets a new mini, then they have to spend more money to see their show.
Um, no. Even MS has had Windows 7 USB install capability since 2009.
Who wants to install from DVD anyway??? The DVD needs to die! Why take a car across country when you can take a plane?
What part of "some people only own one computer" doesn't make sense? If that one computer were the new Mac Mini, then HOW would they make such an install USB drive without a optical drive or easy access to another machine? If the Mini had an optical drive so that I could make the install USB drive...then I wouldn't need the USB drive.
Why drive instead of flying?
Afraid to fly, get sick when flying, cheaper to drive, etc.
If you need one at all.
Try not to explain that to a Windows apologist.