The Mini I’m running on my TV is getting along OK with 1G. But 2G would help, especially if you’re going to mess around with video.
The official word is that no, you can’t crack it open and add memory yourself. That said, I’ve known at least one person that’s done it, and Sean’s had some experience cracking one open before to install a power switch mod.
And THAT said, here’s the cost breakdown:
The extra gig from Apple is $50.
From Crucial it’s something like $28-$38 (depends on exact Mini).
…so I’d probably just let Apple stick the memory in for you. It’s not a significant savings, unless you’re doing the 4G upgrade, then go for it. And there’s pretty much nothing else in there that you could replace yourself or would have any desire to mess with.
I absolutely love my MacBook. It never crashes like my PC at work does. More expsensive yes - but overall i’ve had a much better exprience with it than any PC i’ve ever used.
I’ve just bought one to replace my beloved, but fried, iBook. I love it. I’ve been with Macs forever. You can always run Windows on them if ya want.
Macs aren’t virus free, but it is less of a problem. That said, I’ve lost all my data twice to viruses and been zombified once since 1984 when I started using them.
Yeah, you want at least 2Gigs these days. Mini’s an odd one to start with, but whatever it takes…
Double-check that. Apple dropped the prices on its preinstalled memory recently. I’ve had some bad luck with third party vendors, too (I can’t remember if it was Crucial offhand.)
The $50 is the current upgrade cost from the Apple configurator. Re: third party member, yes, be afraid. It’s a crap shoot, especially when you’re voiding the warranty to install it.
I have Crucial in my Pro with no problems, but that’s not uncommon.
Ditto, Ditto, Ditto.
Love my PowerMac. Never, never crashes.
Welcome to the club, even if you are kicking and screaming.
Will send you some incense and patchouli. How about some sitar music to go along with it?
I think you’ll soon find out that once you go Mac, you won’t go back
So I got my first Mac (a Power PC mini) a few years ago and later (after the warranty ran out) upgraded the memory from 512 MB to 1 GB. Getting the case open is a little bit tricky unless you have the right type of tool, but once you get it open you shouldn’t have too hard of a time installing additional RAM. If you’re buying it new, I’d say to just pop the extra $10-20 to have the extra gig of memory pre-installed just to have the peace of mind that you won’t break the case by accident or risk voiding your warranty.
I definitely love my PC… but I’m in lust with my Mac… never considered converting, until I was forced to when my job issued us all Macbooks when they sent a bunch of us to work from home… after about 6 months, I’m definitely sold. The thing never crashes, and is much more reliable and intuitive than the Linux workstations that I worked on in the office. If it wasn’t for the price, I’d consider buying one for me personally. I would start at 2 gigs of RAM for it.
My wife made this transition a few years ago. Her last computer was a lemon. As in something would die every 6 months or so. It was bad by cheap PC standards.
We weren’t married yet, but when the motherboard went for the second time, I got her a mini and it’s been great. There were some getting used to the new OS issues, but beyond that the only problem we had was traced to a dying monitor cable.
I’ve got a 4 year old powerbook. It’s got 2 gig, but it’s still showing its age. I do server-side development, so I need me some horsepower. I’m eyeing the new Mac Pros, though it’ll probably be a while before I can actually get one
The frak? You can get a MacBook for a grand. I don’t think I’ve spent more than $1,100 for any of my Macs (though I do tend to haunt the refurbs when I’m getting ready to update.)
Just a bit of a thwo away. I would never, ever, ever compare home use computers with crashing work computers. Corpotate tries to get by with the bareminimum & it’s rarely what it should be. They crash all the damn time because it doesn’t have the ram or processor it should.
So true. I just had to roll out Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 and Office 2007 on a dozen 7-year-old computers running Windows XP, most of them with 512MB RAM.
I love my 3-year-old MacBook Pro, but I just ordered a new laptop last week and it’s not a Mac. I ordered it from a company called System76, that builds laptops which are geared towards running Ubuntu Linux.
I got the following:
Display: 15.4" WSXGA+ Super Clear Glossy LCD (1680 x 1050) Graphics: nVidia GeForce GTX 260M with 1GB DDR3 Hard Drive: 320 GB 7200 RPM SATA II Hardware Warranty: 1 Yr. Ltd. Warranty and Technical Support Memory: 4 GB - DDR3 1066 MHZ - 2 DIMMs Operating System: Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) 64 Bit Linux Optical Drive: CD-RW / DVD-RW (Dual-Layer) Processor: Core 2 Quad Q9000 2.00 GHz 1066 MHz FSB 6 MB L2 (45 Watt) Wireless: Intel Wi-Fi Link 5300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Up to 450 Mbps
Quad Core processor, 4GB of top-of-the-line RAM, and a damn good video card, all for under $1700. I’d be lucky to get something like this from Apple for less than $3000.
I love my Mac, but I’m not interested in paying a premium for an OS that I don’t have complete control of.
Actually no, Apple doesn’t appear to be putting quad core CPUs in anything but their Mac Pro desktop computers.
Also, a 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive will tack on an extra $125 to the 15" MacBook Pro (the one listed for $1999, which I’m assuming is the one you’re referencing).
Additionally, the LCD screen on the 15" MacBook Pro tops out at 1440x900, while the System76 laptop that I ordered tops out at 1680x1050.
I can’t be bothered to look up the differences between the video cards, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the MacBook had a comparable or better video card. Apple usually puts pretty powerful video cards in them.
I am by no means a Microsoft fan, but there was certainly a kernel of truth to Steve Ballmer’s recent comments about an “Apple tax”. Again, I love my Mac, but the money I saved and the control I will have over the computer with Linux instead of Mac OS make it a no-brainer for me. Of course, my wants/needs when it comes to computers are probably different than your average consumer.
I never used anything but Mac until I was forced to by my work.
I started with an Apple + and stayed to my new MacBook Pro. I just got it and I am still in heaven. It replaced my 8 year old 17 inch laptop that is just had its second fall to the floor or it would still be working. (Dang dogs) Now that the power plug is magnetic that power cord drag is eliminated. Apple is very tight with the software that can be taken as a negative but it means very little crashing. Now if a program crashes only that program goes down and nothing else. Apple is very backward compatible. My 8 year old computer was just getting to the point it could not handle the new software since it had an old computer chip. It comes with a great deal of software and the updates are free except for the major changes.
So many people pay for a less expensive computer and buy many of them and need more tech support. I buy top of the line and keep them till they drop. Macs are also make photography and video so easy.
Go to a friend who has a Mac or to the Apple store and play with them. See if it is your thing. Then make your choice.
I have an 80 gig ipod, Hubby has first iphone, we have one old tower Mac, and an old iMac. Macs do last a long time. Well unless you have dogs and husbands that knock them off tables.
