Re: Another mini-Mac owner ;-)

[Don McAllister <donmc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 25 Feb 2005, at 19:04, Tony Butler wrote:

>
> Would like to join the ranks soon....
> Is it worth the extra for the higher spec machine?
>

:-)

I went for the higher processor coz I could. I've read that the=20
processor speed doesn't make that much difference for the price but=20
extra memory makes all the difference.

> What about hard drive - do you "need" the 80gb or is 40
enough and
> everything else is on your network?

Again, I went for the 80GB disk. All in a single partition, installed=20
all the apps that came with it, half a dozen shareware apps,=20
transferred all my mail (several archives), transferred my photo=20
collection (3000 pics), installed Office 2004 for mac. Left me with=20
about 51GB free.

>
> What about memory - std 256 and upgrade elsewhere, or just go with
the=20
> apple
> upgrade?
> The apple 1gb upgrade seems a bit steep but the 512mb not so bad -
is=20
> 512
> enough or do you really need to go the whole hog?

I went with the 256MB RAM and to be honest, it still felt pretty=20
snappy. I did upgrade to 1GB to get the most out of it - Multi tasks a=20
dream and still feels pretty solid even with tons of stuff open. I=20
upgraded myself - the RAM upgrade is a doddle - 10 minutes tops!

>
> Just adding it all up, if I go the faster model, bluetooth and
airport,
> wireless keyboard, memory etc, then it ends up frikkin expensive :/
>

Agreed, but I didn't bother with wireless - it's going to stay on my=20
desktop - Went with a PC keyboard and KVM switch but eventually went=20
for a wired Apple keyboard (=A319). Just nicer to use and it's got a 2=20
port USB hub built in so you can plug your mouse in. Standard 2 button=20
PC mouse with wheel works fine. Didn't consider Bluetooth but did buy a=20
BT dongle for my laptop and tried that - it worked fine (=A315).

Although there is a line out theres no mic input so I picked up an iMic=20
- basically a USB dvice with a line out and mic in. - =A330

> What are other ppl going for?
> What are you actually using it for???

Decided to use it as my primary machine at home - web, email, itunes,=20
eventually all the digital media stuff - iDVD, iMovie, etc. Use MS=20
Remote Desktop connection to access my other windows PCs. All MP3s,=20
Videos, DVDs etc  on Windows shares.

Just makes a refreshing change from windows. No spyware, no viruses,=20
installs apps just by dragging an icon into a folder, uninstall by=20
dragging to trash, no registry to screw up, access to UNIX shell and=20
full suite of unix utilities, applescript for scripting, beautiful=20
interface. Expose for windows management. Some really good quality=20
shareware and freeware stuff around - Launchbar is particularly=20
impressive.  Didn't take long to find my way around. Really fast multi=20
user switching with a cool rotating screen thingymagig. Lots to explore=20
and check out. Helpful user community.

Downsides - still don't really like the finder (file manager) but it=20
might grow on me. Despite all the hype I still have had some programs=20
screw up but they tend to do it in isolation and not bring the whole=20
machine down. Few and far between mind you. Graphics performance is=20
great for desktop but not a gaming machine.

On the whole, great value for money and I'm happy to stick with the=20
platform. Might get an iPod to complete the set! Would really like a=20
Powerbook for mobile work.

Also, there's an update to the OS (Tiger) due out in the summer which=20
even more impressive features.

Don

>
> Cheers,
>
> Tony
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Don McAllister [mailto:donmc@xxxxxxx]
>> Sent: 25 February 2005 18:20
>> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Another mini-Mac owner ;-)
>>
>>
>> Welcome to the club :-)
>>
>> Don
>>
>>
>> On 25 Feb 2005, at 17:54, White, Peter wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> My Boss just picked me one up from the Apple store in
>> Dallas, so I'll
>>> be a proud owner by Monday.  I've got until then to work it
into
>>> conversation with SWMBO :-/
>>>
>>>
>>> Pete
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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