mac mini pricing

2116 Views 19 Replies 12 Participants Last post by screature, Aug 30, 2007

dmpP

Discussion Starter · Aug 29, 2007

ok... so I've been looking around at getting an intel-base mac mini.

apple has refurb ones starting at $469 + tax.. core duo 1.6, 60gb, 512 ram, combo drive

a friend of mine offered his to me for $375 - core solo 1.5, 60gb, 512 ram, combo drive

Right now the system I have runs ftp, mysql, some file sharing, and remote desktop, printer sharing, and occasional tv video streaming. *It's about 7 years old, and runs well - but I'm looking to get something that uses less power, and is quieter. I would want to do the same things – so that I can connect to it remotely and do anything as if I was sitting in front of it. *I use VNC right now for that as it opens a web port to connect via a web browser and it runs via java. *Pretty neat stuff actually – and doesn’t require software installed on the client computer aside from a browser.

My current system is a mid-tower AMD Athlon 1ghz, 768MB ram, 20gb drive (only using about 8gb of it), dvd burner (rarely use it, but handy to have)., ATI all-in-wonder video card, running win2k server.

I can live without the video streaming, although it's pretty damn cool that I can stream live TV over the web, and allow multiple connections for my friends - good to have for olympics! beejacon

So, can I do the same things in OSX or should I put Win server 2k3 on it? Also, is my friends system good enough?

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

darkscot

· #2 · Aug 29, 2007

o9nly thing i hafta say: good price. ppc min's are running way too high $-wise right now as is.

hayesk

· #3 · Aug 29, 2007

One thing worth noting is an Intel Core Solo Mac mini cannot play HD video. A Core Duo can. You mentinoed TV streaming, so if you play to go to HD, then a Core Duo is a must.

dona83

· #4 · Aug 29, 2007

hayesk said:
One thing worth noting is an Intel Core Solo Mac mini cannot play HD video. A Core Duo can. You mentinoed TV streaming, so if you play to go to HD, then a Core Duo is a must.

Yep, 480p only on the Core Solo.

dmpP

Discussion Starter · #5 · Aug 29, 2007

how long until you think the C2D's will be available as refurbs?

col127

· #6 · Aug 29, 2007

where do you the mac mini's for $479 from apple? i went on their site and it's not listed in their refurb section! i'd be interested in picking up one myself

Kosh

· #7 · Aug 29, 2007

I would assume a Mac Mini Core Duo should be able to all of what you want, even the video streaming, just max the RAM. Alot of Mac Minis are used for home theatre media centers so it sounds perfect for what you want.

Which reminds me, I gotta set up my Slingbox Pro I bought at Futureshop, along with the new router (my existing router is at the wrong end of the house).

dmpP

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 29, 2007

how can I stream live tv? there's no video input on the mini...

Kosh

· #9 · Aug 29, 2007

dmpP said:
how can I stream live tv? there's no video input on the mini...

Yeah, that's true. And the elgato devices just input over-the-air which isn't much help, as most channels are digital these days. The elgato devices don't do digital.

You could use a slingbox, but then that's the same price as a Mac Mini and doesn't do everything you need.

ColBalt

· #10 · Aug 29, 2007

darkscot said:
o9nly thing i hafta say: good price. ppc min's are running way too high $-wise right now as is.

I agree, I want to get a G4 mini for my mom on the cheap.

dmpP

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 29, 2007

call macdoc... they have a few g4's....

also a buddy of mine at work has one... he's been thinking of selling it off... let me know if you want me to ask him for you - or put you in touch with him

gizmo321

· #12 · Aug 30, 2007

Where were you guys when I was selling my G4 Mini? I sold it for $300 early August...

I picked up a CoreDuo refurb on the cheap!

Maxed it out to 2gig's and it runs very nice.

dmpP

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 30, 2007

gizmo... I'm looking for an intel one....

if you're selling one of those now, let me know... hehe

which CoreDuo did you get? how much? from apple?

fyrefly

· #14 · Aug 30, 2007

dmpP said:
how long until you think the C2D's will be available as refurbs?

Hard to Say -- Though MBP refurbs showed up within a month of that products new release. But Core2Duo iMacs didn't start showing up until about a month ago -- nearly a year after they first were released.

col127 said:
where do you the mac mini's for $479 from apple? i went on their site and it's not listed in their refurb section! i'd be interested in picking up one myself

Apple's refurb site restocks regularly around 5am EST most weekdays. You gotta be up early (even by 8am most stuff is still there). If it's not there today -- wait a week and check back in the early AM. By 11 or 12noon, most of the good/cheap stuff is sold out.

gizmo321

· #15 · Aug 30, 2007

dmpP said:
gizmo... I'm looking for an intel one.... if you're selling one of those now, let me know... hehe

which CoreDuo did you get? how much? from apple?

I got the 1.66 GHz CoreDuo for $429 from Apple. It came within TWO days. :clap:
I personally think the superdrive mini's from Apple aren't worth it. I have my own external Sony DVD burner that I got off craigslist for $70; and it's faster than the superdrive to boot!

I upgraded the ram myself. It was about $100 for 2x1GB sticks. Check out otherworldcomuting for video tutorials.

galanz

· #16 · Aug 30, 2007

col127 said:
where do you the mac mini's for $479 from apple? i went on their site and it's not listed in their refurb section! i'd be interested in picking up one myself

You have to check first thing in the morning, think 06:00 MST. They seem to be going quick.

dmpP

Discussion Starter · #17 · Aug 30, 2007

gizmo321 said:
I got the 1.66 GHz CoreDuo for $429 from Apple.

what's diff between what you got and what they have on the refurbs now? (specifically the 1.66 model below)

Refurbished Mac mini, 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo $469
512MB memory
60GB hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 memory

and

Refurbished Mac mini, 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo $529
512MB memory
80GB hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 memory

Yes... they have them in stock as of now... as they do every morning. :clap:

See less See more

j3tang

· #18 · Aug 30, 2007 (Edited)

Apple's still got the $469 1.66 CoreDuo Mini right now as of this posting ...

i just bought the $529 1.83 CoreDuo Mini

and after i bought one, i checked back at the refurb section, and that model was gone .. i'm guessing they only have 1 of each .. hehe or the quantities are ridiculously low .. since they had these 2 models a week ago .. as well as about 3 weeks ago ... so it seems like they just put them up for sale as they prepare more of them

in my opinion .. for the $60 difference in the 2 models, is the 1.83GHz model not a pretty good deal? for $60 you get a teeney weeney faster CPU, 20gb more HD space, and the superdrive.

i think the first 2 items may not be as much appealing, but the superdrive option seems to me like a pretty big deal. it makes the difference in being able to burn DVDs or ... well ...... not being able to at all. if the difference was to burn DVDs teeney weeney bit faster, then that's not really a good deal ...

thoughts?

dmpP

Discussion Starter · #19 · Aug 30, 2007

j3tang...

every day they add more to their refurb list. They probably have about 10-15 of each of the mini's they offer up.

Since I plan on using the mini as a server - I'm still not sure if I should go with the 1.83 or not. I like the idea of having a dvd burner in the server, but I have one in my MBP. I'm thinking that I'll go with the 1.66 in about a weeks time - and do a ram upgrad myself - take out 1 of the 256 chips and pop in a 1gb - which will give the system 1.25gb ram. Having said that, I don't know if I'll need the extra 20GB. My current PC server I have a 20GB drive in there, and only use about 7GB of it. I have an exteran 320GB drive that I use. At this point, I'm thinking more about the resale 2-3 years out. My current server I've been using since 1999 - and it runs just as good now as it did then 24/7. So I might end up using the mini for 5+ yrs. I guess there's noreal reason for me to be worried about the resale...

screature

· #20 · Aug 30, 2007

j3tang said:
Apple's still got the $469 1.66 CoreDuo Mini right now as of this posting ...

i just bought the $529 1.83 CoreDuo Mini and after i bought one, i checked back at the refurb section, and that model was gone .. i'm guessing they only have 1 of each .. hehe or the quantities are ridiculously low .. since they had these 2 models a week ago .. as well as about 3 weeks ago ...

in my opinion .. for the $60 difference in the 2 models, is the 1.83GHz model not a pretty good deal? for $60 you get a teeney weeney faster CPU, 20gb more HD space, and the superdrive.

i think the first 2 items may not be as much appealing, but the superdrive option seems to me like a pretty big deal. it makes the difference in being able to burn DVDs or ... well ...... not being able to at all. if the difference was to burn DVDs teeney weeney bit faster, then that's not really a good deal ...

thoughts?

I guess I placed my order before you this morning because I bought a refurb 1.83GHz Core Duo Mini today as well and my reasoning was pretty much identical to your's as to the the extra $60 bucks.

However, to me the superdrive issue wasn't so much about being able to burn DVD's but the ability to play back burned DVD's. In my experience, for whatever reason, I have found that superdrives are better able to playback burned DVD's than combo drives. I have taken a disk that plays perfectly well on a superdrive and when I try to play it on a combo drive I will quite frequently get read errors, which is very frustrating. So hopefully in addition to a little faster system the $60 will alleviate that problem.

Good luck with your purchase, hope we both get them sooner than later!

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