Mac Mini?

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 8:55 pm

Just discovered this thing tonight when I was at work and a guy was checking out the new ipod thingy... *drool*http://www.apple.com/macmini/I must have one! Apple is finally speaking my language - $499 is a good price for me. And the size of the thing - we could probably stick it on top of the M&T amp under the seat with double-sided tape! Mac gurus, is this worth buying? Granted for that price, I could go down to Wal*Mart and grab a new HP PC with way more hard drive space, faster processor, monitor, blah blah blah. But then, I would be paying the M$ tax - what a ripoff for me, since the first thing I would do would be to whack Windows without ever booting into it, and put on a good OS that like works and stuff. Besides, for the coolness factor, it doesn't get any better than this. And as small as it is, I would be more than willing to lug it around with me - as long as I had a monitor and input devices at my destination, I'm set!Apple's kind of behind the times though, I remember seeing a PC of this form factor several years ago. But that thing was way more than $500 IIRC, and while it was pretty cool, nowhere near as cool as this thing.It probably won't be the swiftest machine out there, but that's not really a concern of mine. I've seen how you can do more with much less when you steer away from Windows - my home PC's with their several-years-behind hardware point that out pretty well, they run just fine under Linux but would probably be a complete turd running Xpee... And even more so with the way the Mac's hardware just runs different... I tried to explain that to a hardcore PC gamer type person, but he didn't get it... "Uh, that video card is old crap, processor isn't fast, blah blah blah..." Ok...Anyone knowledgable of networking OSX and Linux by any chance? The main thing I'm wondering is if I could import my NFS shares on the Mac that I have exported on both Linux boxes on my network... (similar to shared drives for the windows users.) I'm assuming I could since I'll just be adding another unix-like box to my network. But I doubt there will be a nifty wizard to help me do that. lol! Give me a shell and plenty of free time, I'm sure I can figure it out. If it's worth getting, I'm there! I'll probably go for the cheapie, although for not much money you get more stuff. But then again, I'm cheap and poor. Would this be a good point of entry into the Mac world? I don't know what the hell I would do with it, probably just cruise the net and listen to tunes like I do on my Linux boxes, and maybe some minor graphics stuff. So I don't need much!

millster · Post by **millster** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:42 pm

An excellent choice!It's certainly an adequate little Mac. The only complaint I have about it is the lack of a keyboard and mouse (those are purchased serperately) but at the price, I guess it's not much of a gripe.Honestly, it's not even all that slow. For a G4 powered Mac, it's actually pretty quick. Can't wait until they can shove the G5 into that form-factor though. As for networking between Unix and Mac, it's possible, yes. To be honest, I haven't done it yet myself but OS X is based on Free BSD so that gives it a large advantage. Actually, after some quick research, it's extremely easy.http://astcomm.net/mac/tech/nfs_howto/client/In short, I say go for it. Heck, if you decide you don't like OS X after you use it for a while, load up Debian and you're set.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:58 pm

I'm with Millster...it would definitely be adequate. It's faster than my iBook, actually. And that slot loading CD drive is extremely cool; my iBook has it. I don't think you'd regret buying it over the cheapie PC at Wal-mart, and I think you'll enjoy using it more because you won't have to worry about viruses and security holes and spyware, because they just won't run on your system. And the tech support is excellent...and American. What more could you ask for? Once you go Mac, you'll never go back...

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:43 am

In a couple months I plan on purchasing a min-mac for the living room. I will also take full advantage with a bluetooth wireless keyboard & mouse. I have a Samsung 47" (DLP) monitor/TV with DVI inputs and also would like to use it as a DVR with a external USB 2 hard drive. That's if the mini can handle it.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 5:50 am

Methinks I'm gonna get it! We'll see how the tax refund is this year. lol!

millster · Post by **millster** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:05 am

Great news! Another Machead around the site.

Geo · Post by **Geo** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:08 am

can you say CARPUTER?!:D

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:12 am

Quote, originally posted by Geo Â»can you say CARPUTER?!That's what I'm thinking! Mount that sucker under the seat or in the glove box, and slap a screen on the dash... Of course that would involve spending even more money. lol!

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:13 am

Quote, originally posted by Geo Â»can you say CARPUTER?!:DTwo words my friend."DRIVE SOFT."http://www.drivesoft.netThis is my big wish list mod...

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 6:17 am

Quote, originally posted by rasermon Â»In a couple months I plan on purchasing a min-mac for the living room. I will also take full advantage with a bluetooth wireless keyboard & mouse. I have a Samsung 47" (DLP) monitor/TV with DVI inputs and also would like to use it as a DVR with a external USB 2 hard drive. That's if the mini can handle it. I'm sure it will be able to handle it beautifully.

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 7:31 am

Quote, originally posted by Kari Â»I'm sure it will be able to handle it beautifully. Lol, I did a google search and a lot of talk about this.http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/200....html

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 1:41 pm

That may give me the desire to turn on the TV.... Ahh, can't wait to get my hands on one of these things....

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 2:57 pm

A buddy of mine checked with the Apple store in Indy about the ipod shuffle availability, so I had him check on the Mini for me...On the first day they went on sale, they were completely sold out of the Mini within an hour!

Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:58 pm

See, I understand that people are sick and tired of PCs, but unless you are doing graphic intensive programs or animation, a MAC is just going to frustrate you. Now, I know there are personal preferences, but I just do not like MACs.

millster · Post by **millster** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:41 pm

Can I ask how you figure that that's all they're good for? I've been using my Mac on the internet for quite a while now and have had no such frustration. There are a few things that don't work (voice chat on some IM clients for one) but I wouldn't consider that a deal breaker. I understand that you may not like them and that's your right, but a blanket statement that it's only going to frustrate anyone that uses it is a little harsh.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:42 pm

First, Mac is not an acronym. Second, why is it going to frustrate people? Have to back that claim up man... I don't use my Mac for graphics intensive programs or animation. I use Photoshop for basic things, but that's it. Otherwise, I use it for word processing, 'net surfing, etc. I switched from PC, and I couldn't be happier and less frustrated.

Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:24 pm

OK already. my god! I am partial to PCs, I am a computer nerd by trade. I have always considered the cost - benefit trade off to be way out of my realm of rational thought. Not to mention the fact that if I would call any of my vendors and asked them for their software for a Mac platform I would get laughed at. This is why I am saying that as far as my use, business tech, restaurant computer systems, and remote administration PC is the way to go. Also everyone that I know who own Macs use them for animation, graphics, and sound editing. And they work excellent for that purpose, but IN MY OPINION, I don't see them being useful for me in my line of work. Keep in mind that I did say that this was my personal opinion. Linux is more adaptable to my line of work than Mac OS. NOW GET OFF MY FRIGGIN BACK!!! LOL

millster · Post by **millster** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:35 pm

Hey man, no need to get defensive. I was just asking what you based your opinion on. I'm in the IT industry as well, I work in education so I'm supporting Mac, Windows and Linux as well as a few others here and there. Oh yeah, if you're talking about business PC use, yes PC's (Linux or Windows) are the way to go. Macs don't have a great amount of business software support.I was under the impression you were speaking in terms of home use in which case I was inclined to disagree. That's all.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:50 pm

Not trying to start an argument...just curious as to why it's considered costly to maintain a Mac in the IT industry. In my experience and the experience of others, Macs require less repairs than PCs, and upgrades like RAM, etc., really aren't significantly more expensive, if at all. I know people who have been using the same Mac for about 10 years and refuse to give it up, and it's still running as strong as it did the day it was purchased.Third-party business software is diffcult to get for the Mac platform, yes, but Microsoft Office is actually a version ahead on the Mac, and I have features you all don't have yet. All of the Quicken software is available for Mac as well, I believe. I don't know crap about business and I won't pretend to though. As far as home use, I think a Mac is every bit as capable as a PC. I, too, was thinking the "frustration" comment was related to the average home user. Now, to a person who needs to use third-party business software, yes, it would be frustrating, but to the average net surfer/word processor/amateur digital photographer, the Mac would be great.

Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:56 pm

I wasn't getting defensive (look to my post for the "LOL ")I think if you combine my post and desertdweller's posts, you get the idea. I prefer PC's for both home and office, I need that crossover ability, so if I have to work from home, I don't have to worry about compatable software.

millster · Post by **millster** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:57 pm

Honestly, I do have to agree with the costly to maintain part as well. Macs don't necessarily have frequent problems with the proprietary parts, but no-less, those proprietary parts are the problem. Apple's closed architecture has left them as the only supplier of their logic boards (motherboards), analog cards for their displays, cases, etc. If any of those parts fail, you have to order them from Apple which is expensive and difficult for an end user. Not to mention that the beautiful casework that has made Apple so loved also makes them a disaster to repair. It takes me considerably longer to replace a hard disk on an iMac than it would to replace the same disk on the average PC.So I guess you could say that some of the expense also comes from labor costs. Alright, I suppose I should really let this thread return to its original topic. If anyone has a desire to continue this discussion, how about starting a new thread?Also, PoopyPants, sorry. Missed the LOL. You know what they say about humor and the Internet. My mistake.

Mr. Poopypants · Post by **Mr. Poopypants** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:07 am

Quote, originally posted by desert_dweller Â»Beside I really need a 3.5 in floppy drive and at least 2 mouse buttons to function. I hear ya! I have a Logitech MX700 mouse. The thing has 7 buttons and a scroll wheel on it. I have noticed, in my opinion again, that the USB flash drives are more convienient than floppies (smaller, tons of storage space) but this is while working with the systems I work with, older computers or computers running certain operating systems will have trouble with them.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:11 am

I have a 6 button mouse with a scroll wheel hooked up to my Mac. What really fits on a floppy anymore? Documents and files are getting so big, that I find many of mine won't fit on a floppy, or else only one or two will. I got a USB flash drive, and it works great on both platforms.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:13 am

Now now, let's not have a war over a little computer I'm thinking about buying to cruise dirty web sites on. Like Poopy, I'm in the restaurant biz, supporting point of sale systems. And for us as well, x86 hardware is what we need to get that particular job done and get it done for cheap. We've got a mix of Linux boxes and Sco boxes (which we are phasing out) for our POS systems. Now at the HQ where I work, of course everyone has PC's. Exception being the graphics folks who design all the marketing stuff, they're all running Macs, obviously. Before I had the job I'm currently in with the company, I did desktop support for both the PC's and what few Macs were around. Didn't get to do too much to the Macs, those folks kept them running fine without my help for the most part. So, depending on what you need or want to do with the computer, some are better suited for certain tasks than others.As far as me away from work, I've always been an all-PC guy. I like being able to build cheapo crappy PC's for a couple hundred bucks. I don't see my PC's going anywhere anytime soon. I really wasn't interested in a Mac until the graphics folks at work started getting machines with OSX. That was the coolest thing, a snazzy interface built upon a rock solid Unix platform. Plus the hardware is just so cute. Cost has been a factor that kept a Mac off my desk, now that there's a reasonably priced one, I figured I'd give it a try.As long as my computers are not running Windows, I'm happy. As far as frustrations go, I'm farily well accustomed to that kind of thing, sadly. Back in '99, I started dorking around in Linux, after being fed up with knowing I was under M$'s control. That was one hell of a rough ride to say the least. It wasn't so easy back then - stupid things like getting the video cards, sound cards, CD burners, etc. were a royal pain. Once all that hardware worked fine, I found myself having a horrid experience on the ol' interweb, found a lack of apps that did what I needed, and when I did find apps, I had to figure out how to compile from source. Pretty overwhelming, but I kept plugging along and was able to ditch Windows competely. While Linux has improved thousands of times over since '99, I still get a bit frustrated at times. Things just don't work right sometimes when you're not running Windows. But I just take it in stride, find other ways to do what I need to do, or forget about it if I have no other options. In the end though, I wouldn't give up Linux for anything - it's still so worth it, despite the rough times I've had with it in the past.So in the big scheme of things, Windows is most compatible, Mac is way far behind, and Linux is at the friggin' bottom. In a way, I'd probably be less frustrated with the Mac, since I'm sure I could do a couple of things that I can't with Linux. Especially in the multimedia realm, dorking around with videos and such in Linux kinda sucks. So I think it'll be a nice break for me. lol! I'm not sure what exactly I plan on doing with the Mac, but I do know it's going to work with me. It's small enough to carry with me so I can get a break from having to sit behind a Windows box all friggin' night. lol! Other than that, I'm just going to use it for tunes, movies, internet, maybe some graphics, whatever... And I'll be keeping my Linux PC's running too.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:18 am

OS X is really sweet. Ask one of the Mac people to show you a feature called Expose in X.3/Panther. And if they don't know what it is, just press F9, F10, or F11 while there are at least two windows open in the topmost program and several windows open in the background. My ex-bf has been trying to write a program like this for his PC ever since Panther came out...LOL.Edit: Why would one need Dell diagnostic software on a Mac? Macs can boot from the CD-ROM drive and that's how our system recovery is done, in the rare event that it is necessary. Didn't Dell start phasing out the floppy drive too?

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:31 am

Quote, originally posted by Kari Â»OS X is really sweet. Ask one of the Mac people to show you a feature called Expose in X.3/Panther.Cool! I'll have to check it out! Can't wait to get my hands on this little Mac, I hope that it won't be too hard to find. Would I be better off ordering one online, or going to the Apple store? From what I gather, there's going to be a long wait either way. I think owning one will be a refreshing change. Love my PC's but wouldn't mind trying something new.

millster · Post by **millster** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:33 am

Probably easiest to order online. That way when it's in stock, you get it. No need to keep going back to the Apple Store to check.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:39 am

That's a good idea, considering the Apple store is around 2 hours away.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:27 am

Sometimes colleges sell them as well, though I'm not sure how that would work with the general public.Your best bet would be to go ahead and place the order, and then when they have them available, you'll get one. And I've seen people get them much quicker that way.On occasion, I've had high-demand items end up being shipped to me directly from one of the stores, so it works out either way.

millster · Post by **millster** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:54 am

http://www.macrumors.com/pages...shtmlJust FYI before you place your order. It's unusual to see the price drop this early in the game but hey, good news!

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:11 pm

Quote, originally posted by millster Â»Just FYI before you place your order. It's unusual to see the price drop this early in the game but hey, good news!Thats something I dont understand about the memory. To buy a Toshiba 80GB drive you'll spend $130... Apple wants $50. To buy the Panasonic 8X dvd burner you'll spend $124-175. They want $100. All very fair asking prices ... until you clicked to memory...lol.

millster · Post by **millster** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:26 pm

I know it. I've never understood that. I had the same problem with my Gateway and my iMac when I bought them. The RAM from the manufacturer was quite a bit more pricey.The one thing that does bother me is that you can't upgrade the RAM yourself without voiding the warranty. It takes a putty knife and a steady hand to even get to the internals.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:29 pm

I have very small hands, and that has come in handy. I was able to add a stick of RAM to my iMac with no problem, and I was actually even able to replace the battery that keeps the clock time and all of that through the RAM door with just my hands and a screwdriver. No voided warranty, no broken parts...having small hands sucks most of the time, but not in this instance!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:47 pm

Yeah, the upgrades are pretty reasonable except memory!Trying to figure out if I should bother adding anything to the mini, or if I should just stick with the $499 model. To me, that's plenty of hardware to do the things I'll need.Memory is out of the question, that's just too expensive! I may consider throwing them an extra $50 and go for the 80 GB hd, but I don't know... Not that big of a jump in price to get double the storage, but I've got plenty of hard drive space on my desktops, and if I set up NFS on the mini, I won't have to worry about keeping music/etc on that thing.How much does the OS consume on these things? If it's anything like Linux, I may be better off with the larger drive - a typical Linux install for me is around 5GB!

millster · Post by **millster** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:47 pm

No doubt. I have to replace those blasted batteries about 1 every month. I've cut my hands hundreds of times just to avoid having to remove the bottom of the case. That said, I wonder if the mini will be equipped with one of those batteries or not? I would imagine it will and I can only hope it's as indestructable as the Powerbooks. The CUDA power management unit in the iMacs sucks the batteries dry in record time. The mini is supposedly based on the eMac and so far they seem to be behaving themselves.

millster · Post by **millster** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 12:54 pm

I hadn't paid attention to the OS disk usage. My PowerBook shows about 1.17GB for the base OS (That's OS X and OS 9 for Classic support).Add in the support library and the preloaded applications and you're looking at about 5 to 6GB, give or take a few GB.The main thing I would recommend would be at least 512MB of RAM. Whether you decide to go the factory route or undertake it yourself, you'll be much happier with the added RAM. OS X will run with 256 but it can be a bit trying at times.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 1:33 pm

Many of the extra programs that take up a lot of space can be easily deleted if you don't want them, too. Tony Hawk 4 took up more than a gig, if I remember correctly.I'd go for the bigger hard drive, and add a RAM upgrade later yourself. It's very easy. I haven't seen that setup for the mini, but it was really easy on the iMac, and it's easy on the iBook too.

millster · Post by **millster** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:50 pm

Quote, originally posted by Kari Â»I haven't seen that setup for the mini, but it was really easy on the iMac, and it's easy on the iBook too.http://www.macworld.com/weblog...nside/Now you can say you have seen the setup. It's not as easy on the Mini, but certainly possible if you're so inclined.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:54 pm

Oh man...I'm not into prying...I'm all about opening the little door or lifting up the keyboard to perform my upgrades. LOL I think now we know why they're charging so much for the RAM upgrades...

millster · Post by **millster** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:50 am

Here's something of interest for those looking to integrate the Mac Mini into an entertainment system.http://mrzippy.org.uk/macmediacenter/If this project comes to fruition, it might just make my decision to get a Mini even easier. After spending the whole weekend rewiring my entire home theater (switching from S-Video to component from DVD and PS2, running new wire to the in-ceiling speakers) I'm all fired up for new additions to it.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:05 pm

Well, I'm hoping the Mac fans here will be willing to welcome this crazy guy to your group. Just ordered a mini! The tax check came in today, but while it was more than sufficient to cover the new 'puter, I opted for the master card and the 90 days same as cash. I hate doing that crap, but I need as much cash as I can to go to NYC next month. So, as long as I can pay $176.67 a month for the next three months, it's mine. Oh yeah, and NOT charge anything else up on that card! I went cheap, ladies and gentlemen... Just bought the $499 version. Several reasons behind that decision. For instance, I'm kinda sick of comptuers. Working with them all day (er, night) kinda has me burned out. So, when I get home, I do very few things with my computers. Crusing the net, checking e-mail, listening to music, pulling pics off the cameras and doing some very lightweight image manipulation - crop, resize, blah blah. None of that really requires heavy duty hardware. A bit more pep would be nice when working with the images, but for what little I do with 'em it may be ok. If not, I can always grab my putty knife and slap more ram in the thing. The $599 model, or upgrading the RAM and stuff on the $499 model probably would have been better, but for what all I do with the machine, I think even the bare bones mini will do just fine for me. It's actually about the same clock speed as my AMD's, one box has 256 MB of RAM and the other has 512. The box with the more ram especially, seems to be more capable than I need it for. If I were running Windows, these machines probably would leave a lot to be desired. You can do so much more with less on Linux, so I'm thinking the Apple running a unix variant will do fine just the same. Hope so at least...40 GB hard drive on the mini is kinda small, but I've got 120 gigs spread over two Linux boxes, and if all goes well I won't need that much ont he Mac. I'll use NFS to the fullest, sharing out the drives on the other machines. As far as apps go, I have two "killer apps" that are going to be a must, and I'm curious if anyone has tried 'em on the Mac. One being The GIMP, since I'd rather not spend all that $$$ on Photoshop. I realy heavily on The GIMP for all my image hacking needs, and it's just great. Haven't used Photoshop in a long time, but the GIMP does everything that I would need, and at 100% less cost. Anybody tried the OSX version? Now onto browsers - how about Opera? That's such a sweet browser, I just can't live without it. Luckily there's an OSX version. I'm guessing the Mac version will be like the free version of the other platforms, ad supported (but not with spyware.) But it's a browser that I've paid for several times, and it's well worth every penny. I figure I'll be purchasing a Mac copy sometime in the near future.As far as playin' music, does itunes have the capability to open files over the network and play 'em? I'm hoping so, since I won't have any music on that box to amount to anything. I'll need to pull them all from the Linux boxes over NFS. And, how about ogg vorbis support? I switched from MP3 to the open source, patent free ogg format a long time ago. Does it play them, or will I have to find another media player? Any recommendations? I'd say 90% of my collection is still in MP3 format. I didn't convert them all to oggs, instead any new CD I rip is done in ogg.Anywho, can't wait to get my lil' baby! I need to buy a few things before this thing comes in. USB keyboard and mouse for sure, plus a KVM switch so I can flip between my Linux box and the Mac. Anyone have any suggestions on a good, cheap KVM switch? Obviously, I'm probably going to have to have two sets of keyboards and mice here, since I'm not sure if a USB KVM switch exists. But that won't be a problem, I'll just use the switch for the montior and keep my PS/2 keyboard and USB mouse for the PC somewhere close by, and do the same for the Mac's USB stuff. I'll just slap whichever one in the keyboard drawer when I need to use whatever.You bet I'll be posting pics, screenshots, and the like when I get this puppy in! I'm hoping it will be reliable - I'm sick of having to dork around with my homemade PC's. Plug it in, turn it on, and it works - I hope that's what owning a Mac will give me. This hardcore geek has been working with PC's for so long, he could use a vacation!

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 10:24 pm

You don't even have it yet, and I can already tell you that your new Mac will give you what you want -- you will plug it in, turn it on, and it will work. It's wonderful.Browsers...you'll want to give Safari a try, first. I really like it. It's very speedy, and best of all, FREE. I haven't used the Gimp, but I really like the $50 Photoshop Elements.Welcome to being a Mac person, and congratulations on your best personal computing purchase EVER!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 10:41 pm

I can't wait! I may give Photoshop Elements a try too - $50 I can do.

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 11:14 pm

ColonelPanic thats great news. I'm going to order mine in a week or two. I'll have the same system as you, but I'm adding internal Bluetooth to use wireless keyboard and mouse and AirPort Extreme.

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 11:23 pm

Airport is great. That's what I have in my iBook, and even though I'm using it with a Netgear setup at home, it still works seamlessly. It's going to be my saving grace this May in NYC, because the hotel we're staying at charges $18/day for internet service. (Funny how you can't find a nice hotel with free internet, but I think the HoJo, which is a dump, had it.) Hopefully there are a few unprotected wireless networks in the vicinity. I haven't tried any of the Bluetooth stuff though. Are you getting the Apple Pro Bluetooth mouse and keyboard or something else? I have a wireless Kensington mouse, but I'm just using USB for it.

rasermon · Post by **rasermon** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:23 am

Quote, originally posted by Kari Â»I haven't tried any of the Bluetooth stuff though. Are you getting the Apple Pro Bluetooth mouse and keyboard or something else? I have a wireless Kensington mouse, but I'm just using USB for it.Yes. http://store.apple.com/1-800-M...3.3.0

millster · Post by **millster** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 12:40 am

Of course we'll welcome you to the Mac group. Why not? Linux and Mac people aren't that far apart (some of us are both anyway ).I'm sure you'll have no problem with the basic model. I used Photoshop 7.0 on my iMac with 256MB for a long time. It was pretty pokey sometimes but useable.Now then, onto the questions. GIMP on Mac is not a whole lot different than on other *nix platforms. You'll need to get X11 installed as GIMP doesn't run in Aqua natively (there is MacGIMP that is native is you want to pay $25). Here's a site that explains installing GIMP using apt-get via Fink that a friend sent to me (after I did things the hard way). http://helium3.blogdns.com/archive/2003/01/140As for Opera, I've never used it. I guess I got hooked on Safari since it's installed by default, is clean and fast. But Opera might not be too bad. iTunes does play files from network mounted volumes, just fine. It add a link to it's local library (the library is an XML file), but the music files will stay on the network volume unless you tell it otherwise. As for Ogg support, there are plugins out there. I've never tried it, so I can't say if they work or not. iTunes uses Quicktime to render audio so anything Quicktime will support, iTunes should as well. The one thing I'm not certain of is whether or not you'll be able to rip into Ogg with iTunes. Playback should be possible though.Other than that, Belkin KVM switches are nice. Use a lot of them at work and haven't had a lot of trouble with them. They're not THE cheapest around, but you get what you pay for with them.Enjoy your Mac! I'm sure you'll have many hours of pure enjoyment with it!

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 1:37 am

Quote, originally posted by rasermon Â»Yes. http://store.apple.com/1-800-M...3.3.0Cool. Let me know how that works out/what the range is/etc. I've never actually seen them in use in person with internal Bluetooth; only with the USB adapter.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:11 am

You guys gotta see this... I was looking for reviews on the Mini and stumbled upon this lil' gem... http://www.divisiontwo.com/articles/MacMini2.htmlOh my... I'm hoping that this was intended to be funny, but I'm not sure if that's the case. It's the end of the world! I can't run Windows Update on my Mac! I need Windows Update to make my life complete! I know this thing isn't running Windows, but please Apple, for the love of god, put Windows Update on it!

Kari · Post by **Kari** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 7:16 am

"No way to connect a printer"? Please. Have they ever heard of a thing called USB? LOL Guess not. I hope they have fun with their eMachines...for about 6 months before it tears up. And then you'll have your Mac several years from now and it will still be running fine. Edit: On a closer read...are they not aware that Apple tossed out the floppy drive back in like '97 when they came out with the first Bondi Blue iMac? And that Dell is starting to do the same thing, as are many other PC companies. And now quiet operation is a criticism? Geesh. It took their techs 15 minutes to figure out if it was running? Uh...check the monitor, boys! ROFL. And since when is OS X "stripped down" or anything close to Windows CE? They obviously need an education in how to properly explore something before posting a review. It's one thing to not like the mini, but it's entirely another to trash it on unfounded claims that make no sense.Antivirus? Don't need it, really. Registry cleaner? I don't think there is one to clean, actually. Defragmenting? It does that every time it does an OS update.No Mac version of spyware WeatherBug? Darn.