# MacMini



## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

Last week I purchased a refurbished 2010 MacMini for $599.00 from the online Apple store. Yesterday I added additional ram to it. So far this is the perfect PC replacement for me. It replaced a HP A1330 that cost me over $1000.00 in 2006. I am using the same Samsung monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse.

My HP was a nightmare machine. Out of the box and under warranty the SD card reader died. Then the ethernet card would not work. After many phone calls to India for tech support I finally got it to settle down. It worked OK until I decided to upgrade it to VISTA. Then both CD/DVD drives refused to work. I had to add an external CD drive. Also my Logitech keyboard, mouse and webcam would not work under Vista. This PC from hell sat unused for most of the last couple of years after I bought a MacBook Pro.

I now am Windowless!

The Logitech keyboard and mouse that would not work under Vista worked immediately when I plugged them in to the mini. The thing is so small it sits on a shelf where I used to keep a ream of paper. I now keep my digital SLR and case in the cabinet the HP tower used to sit in.

I am using the Mini and an Epson V500 photo scanner to convert over thousands of 35 slides to digital. So far all is working great. I also dump the digital pics into Iphoto and can show them on my Apple TV and Ipad.

I know the pro Windows folks will call me an Apple fanboy, but my Apple experience is so much better then what I have experienced with Windows over the years. I owned Packard Bell, E-machine and two HP's and used a lot of Dells. I am also working in a home environment, not corporate where PC's rule the world.

My daughters 2006 Gateway laptop became a doorstop within three years and she now uses a 2006 Macbook Pro I gave her. 

A couple of weeks ago my other daughter needed her black 2006 Macbook repaired after her dog jumped on the keyboard and busted some keys. I took it to the genius bar at the local Apple store and they fixed it in 5 minutes at no cost.

Anyway, Windows 7, 8 or what ever, I will do without. I don't anticipate getting back into the Windows world anytime soon. Apple stuff just works for what I need it to do, and I will continue to put my money into the technology that works well for me.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Good for you Phil. I bought my daughter a MacMini last year and she loves it. Nice little computer with a small footprint.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

I can attest that the Mac Mini is a good solution for those trying to wet their feet in the Mac world. It's fairly powerful (not top of the line of course) and relatively inexpensive. I've got one myself


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## matt (Jan 12, 2010)

I've got an old Macbook pro that's still chugging along as my main computer. I'd rather have an old mac laptop with no battery than a brand new PC any day!


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## redfiver (Nov 18, 2006)

Phil T said:


> I am using the Mini and an Epson V500 photo scanner to convert over thousands of 35 slides to digital. So far all is working great. I also dump the digital pics into Iphoto and can show them on my Apple TV and Ipad.


If you start to get a VERY large photo database, consider moving to aperture. While there is nothing wrong with iPhoto, Aperture is just better. For example, every time you make a change to a photo in iPhoto, it creates a copy of the file and saves changes to that copy. That way you can always go back to the original. If you have lots of edits on lots of photos, that will start to really tax the iphoto database. Aperture still stores all copies, but in a much different way that doesn't take up as much hard drive space. Even if the library gets huge, Aperture allows you to store your library across multiple drives.

There are other advantages to Aperture.. but it's also pricey, so that puts it out of reach for some.

And welcome to full-time mac world!!


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## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

It looks like Apeture is $80.00 on the App Store. I have been debating about getting it but I don't edit a whole lot. My Epson has ICE (dust removal) and also came with Adobe Elements 6. I usually make any edits before I transfer photos to Iphoto. I am still thinking about Apeture though. Right now my 8000+photos run about 10GB. I actually still keep the photos in separate file folders and then import them into events in Iphoto. I know it takes up more space but I can get to the files easier. I also keep the same copy of Iphoto library on my mini, MacBook pro and Imac. I just drag it over to the other machines a couple of times a year to keep them in sync. I also back up to Time Capsule and a separate hard drive. I am probably making this a lot harder then it has to be, but I want to make sure I have backups of my photos. BTW. I just upgraded my Time Capsule to 2TB with a very easy hard drive swap.


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## 1980ws (Mar 18, 2008)

I have 5 PC's and 1 Mac. When I buy my next computer, I will have 4 PC's and 2 Macs. I will replace the Compaq Desktop with a Mini. Had enough of Windows.


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## klang (Oct 14, 2003)

Switched to iMacs a little over a year ago. I do keep a Windows VM for Quicken and a few other things without good Mac equivalents.


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## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

The MacMini 2.4 is currently $599.00 refurbished in the Apple Online store. That is the one I ordered and received it in 4 days with free shipping.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I've had several mini's... great unless you want to get in them to upgrade them.


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## Rob77 (Sep 24, 2007)

Have had a an HP Media Center computerfor 3 years and never had one problem. YA think some of this might be "operator error" :lol:

This site is filled with Apple Fan Boys....and it sure gets old. Guess if you want Steve and company to make all your decisions so you don't have to think for youself.....apple is a good product. Have at it !


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

can't stand using a desktop machine anymore.. I'm spoiled to laptops 
2 year old asus 18.4 works great


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I've had several mini's... great unless you want to get in them to upgrade them.


LOL, it's not so bad. A puddy knife and some YouTube videos is all you need.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

Rob77 said:


> This site is filled with Apple Fan Boys....and it sure gets old. Guess if you want Steve and company to make all your decisions so you don't have to think for youself.....apple is a good product. Have at it !


I was like you once. Just be careful because you could be eating crow someday. I sure did.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

Rob77 said:


> Have had a an HP Media Center computerfor 3 years and never had one problem. YA think some of this might be "operator error" :lol:
> 
> This site is filled with Apple Fan Boys....and it sure gets old. Guess if you want Steve and company to make all your decisions so you don't have to think for youself.....apple is a good product. Have at it !


I have a Windows 7 system, a Windows XP system, a Linux Fedora Core system and a Mac Mini all connected via a single KVM .. What does that make me? :grin:


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

Doug Brott said:


> I have a Windows 7 system, a Windows XP system, a Linux Fedora Core system and a Mac Mini all connected via a single KVM .. What does that make me? :grin:


 a nutjob? :grin:


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

Rob77 said:


> Have had a an HP Media Center computerfor 3 years and never had one problem. YA think some of this might be "operator error" :lol:
> 
> This site is filled with Apple Fan Boys....and it sure gets old. Guess if you want Steve and company to make all your decisions so you don't have to think for youself.....apple is a good product. Have at it !


I suggest not clicking on threads with "Mac" in the title.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> I have a Windows 7 system, a Windows XP system, a Linux Fedora Core system and a Mac Mini all connected via a single KVM .. What does that make me? :grin:


An equal opportunity geek.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

I use a mini just to synch ipod's in the house and use as a music server. $600 for an ipod synch machine was the best money spent compared to itunes on windows.


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

I'll stick with the Mac Mini as a HTPC in the living room and save my real work for my Win7 machines and WHS.


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## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

It is only online now. I did get a Macbook Pro several years ago at a store, but they quit selling them that way. I was told when new models come out you can buy the store demos if you catch them before they are sent back to Apple.

I think their inventory system makes them sign in and order through the computer and probably only certain employees have access to that. Sometimes things go smooth but I have also been in the stores when there is no way to get anyones attention.


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