Getting a Mac Mini advice needed

[LostintheNW]

Hello

I am thinking about getting a Mac Mini seeing as this will be the first mac that I will ever have owned! and well didn't want to shell out over a grand for a g5 thing and then decide its not what I really want.

Just looking for some answers if poss

Whats the processor speed like compared to that of a PC as I know the macs do run faster but I am not sure what a G4 1.25 or 1.42 is compared to with a pc

Are these ones actually any good? and I know they cannot easily be upgraded but not bothered about that as I can network it with the pc so can ues my pc drives for storage

Any other useful info about macs anyone has would be greatly appreciated as well!

Thanks in advance!

[Halcyon]

Its been a while since I looked at that Spec, but from what I can remember it was average. It wasnt the best for performance, however it does what its meant for...eg. a typical family computer that would be fine for the typical user.

are they not rediculously expensive too??

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

are they not rediculously expensive too??

Not really: http://www.microanvika.com/mac/default.asp

You do need to provide a Monitor, and USB keyboard and mouse though.

[LostintheNW]

they are either £339 or £399 depening on the one you go for

Anyone think its worth going the extra £60 then?

Originally Posted by scastle

Not really: http://www.microanvika.com/mac/default.asp

You do need to provide a Monitor, and USB keyboard and mouse though.

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

they are either £339 or £399 depening on the one you go for

Anyone think its worth going the extra £60 then?

They dont seem to expensive afterall,would be nice not to be a pawn in microsofts quest for world domination just for a while

I agree there not crazy money but you dont get many bangs for your bucks do you?

[LostintheNW]

True you dont but compared to the price of a full blown mac they are not bad, and I am right in thinking that they are pretty fast for the price? (I know nowhere near a G5 speed)

[Graham M]

Perfect for a compact Home Entertainment system i guess? Do they have S-Video out?

Personally as a system builder if someone wanted a compact system I would build a media centre pc for about the same price,but its purely my opinion,The G4 is a 32 bit cpu is it not?the G5 has 64 bit extentions

Shuttle XPC SK43G Aluminium Barebones System - Socket A £104.70
.
AMD Sempron 2400+ 1.67GHz (Socket A) CPU - £38.95
.
Crucial 512MB DDR PC3200 CAS3 £29.95
.
NEC ND3520 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter £29.00
.
Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 80GB ATA-133 2M £29.95
.
Connect3D ATI Radeon 9250SE £25.95
.
Hauppage WinTV-Go PCI Adapter (GX-016-HA) 1 £27.95
.
Subtotal £286.45
VAT £50.13
Total £336.58
kit from overclockers complete with faster cpu more ram,just add xp home or media centre (might need a different tv card to run media centre)
This is all done purely from my opinion and just to highlight what you can get for same cash

[punky]

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

Hello

I am thinking about getting a Mac Mini seeing as this will be the first mac that I will ever have owned! and well didn't want to shell out over a grand for a g5 thing and then decide its not what I really want.

Just looking for some answers if poss

Whats the processor speed like compared to that of a PC as I know the macs do run faster but I am not sure what a G4 1.25 or 1.42 is compared to with a pc

Are these ones actually any good? and I know they cannot easily be upgraded but not bothered about that as I can network it with the pc so can ues my pc drives for storage

Any other useful info about macs anyone has would be greatly appreciated as well!

Thanks in advance!

First off, Apples work really nicely with Windows. I have a 1.25gnz G4, and it is fairly powerful. I read sometwhere that it is equivilent to like a Athlon XP2000, but don't hold me to that. My desktop is that, and my apple does feel about that powerful.

The Mac mini looks good value, but be warned, the price does go up pretty steeply when you add nice belss and whistles like built in wireless, etc. I was going to get one, but I had some reservations with heat issues, as there is little airflow, etc. I haven't heard of any problems though, and they have been out a while now.

If you can, you should try and get to an Apple store, or a retailer, and get your hands on one to try it. See what you think of it.

If you do get one... AppleCare extended warantey is important.

[LostintheNW]

pc does look good but i have one and i fancied a bit of a change - plus its just going to be used for photos and movie editing etc - something my pc is slow at doing.....well the movies anyway

I can't imagine the mac will be any faster with video (which is very cpu intensive) than a relatively low powered pc in todays mkt
You could upgrade your pc and try linux

[LostintheNW]

lol tried linux and well couldnt work the thing, couldnt even get the thing to let me online!

[Halcyon]

Indeeed, if you you intend on doing some video editing, You will be wanting more Ram and a better CPU than what the Mac Mini has.

[punky]

Originally Posted by LostintheNW

lol tried linux and well couldnt work the thing, couldnt even get the thing to let me online!

Well, the Apple GUI is really nice, so you don't have to be able to deal with Linux, to use it. Steve Jobs doesn't want you to use the linux that powers the Apple, but it can through the terminal. I very rarely have to dip into the Linnux part of the OS. I only do it to compile Linux apps onto Apple.