Mac Mini

[Will]

Should I? I've got some spare cash, I only own half a PC at the moment, and it looks like a cheap and easy option. The only downside that I can see is that I'll have to give up my BF2 addiction.

 

[SheepCow]

They don't really do much though do they ...

Quite slow too. My friend has an iBook and it gets really slow when 3 or 4 programs are open.

 

[Will]

All I really do on the internet is IM, email, and web browsing. They are quite slow though, that is true. 1.42GHZ, with 512MB RAM shouldn't be too shonky for what I want it to do. Maybe.

I'm trying to talk myself into it really. Airport Express looks pretty cool.

 

[Embattle]

While it's speed is 1.42Ghz you can't compare it directly to x86 processors, they are plenty fast enough for the things you mention. I do feel you would be making a bad investment as should you want to play some games you've locked yourself into a platform that is essentially non upgradeable.

I did consider getting one to use as some sort of server....but then I sort of realised that I didn't need one

 

[Ch3tan]

FFS Will, Nintendogs and a Mac Mini? Did someone castrate you when you weren't looking?

 

[Will]

I've bought a house, and I seem to be turning all dull and old. Or sensible maybe.

 

[old.user4556]

I've bought a house, and I seem to be turning all dull and old. Or sensible maybe.

No Will, I think you're doing the right thing (depending on if you want to play games).

For me, PC gaming has died - HL2 was an anti climax, as was CS:S, so I don't game. I need web, email, porn, occasionally Word and Photoshop. I'm also getting sick of ~£300-£400 for a new gfx card every year or so, so fuck it, may as well spend that on a Mac. I'm also fed up of XP's constant exploits and virii vulnerabilities.

If you're still going to want to play games, imo the Mac is not the correct route.

 

[Will]

I've got an XBox and a DS for games, and I'm spending more and more time playing them. I'll wait till payday (Monday) and see if I'm still really keen.

 

[Shovel]

Definately recommend a Mac. I have a 12" iBook and it's glorious for non-gaming things.

I mean hell, for the three things you want to do I don't think I've ever seen software better than that on the Mac. It makes switching back to the PC for uni work a bit frustrating, actually.

The mini is a great way to get into it - what with the reuse of screens and mice etc. it's a snip. You may still want to get a 'real' Mac keyboard though, as there are some variations in the layout and some special keys that using a PC keyboard can get a bit confusing. I think the standard USB apple keyboard will put £20 on the price.

In the event that you find it sluggish, just pick up a gig of RAM from Cruicial (don't buy RAM upgrades direct from Apple, they're overpriced).

Do keep using your existing PC mouse though. I haven't really gotten happy with the single button on the iBook, so I have a 3 button mouse plugged in most of the time.

To further talk you into it: The WiFi on the Mac (Airport) has proved to be more reliable than any other Wireless equipment I've used. Seriously - in a house where a PC drops a wireless connection to a router in the SAME ROOM, the Mac will have a strong signal anywhere in the house. The WiFi software in OSX is ace too. Dead simple.

I'll stop now. But did I mention get one?

 

[Will]

That's me pretty much sold. The Wifi isn't a big deal at the moment, since I'm installing the cable modem myself on Tuesday right where I want it, but an Airport Express to my Hifi at a later point would be nice.

I was going to use my Logitech mouse, and slap a USB Happy Hacker keyboard onto it. Will I have any problems with that?

 

[SheepCow]

Read this first, it's from a friend of mine who's just got an iBook and comments it:
http://www.benhumphreys.co.uk/?page_id=18

 

[Shovel]

I think the review is fair, although I will add a few points of response for you Will (I know, I should really slap these of the original site, perhaps I'll copy them over later).

* It's true there is no 'maximise' in OSX (which is why it's called 'Zoom'). It's supposed to make it so that you can use multiple windows together more easily. It's a good idea, but sometimes flawed (especially if you get a CSS layout on a website which overlaps on a site that's too small. Safari doesn't have a horizontal scrollbar so it doesn't widen the window). I rather like the behaviour generally, but it takes some getting used to. You can obviously resize the windows to your preference with the doohicky in the bottom right corner (you can't drag the window borders on the Mac, mostly because there aren't any).

* Web Browsers
I can't say I've too many problems with Apple's Safari browser (a few crashes), and there are a number of splendid add-ins (see http://pimpmysafari.com) that expand the functionality.

Mozilla's Camino is heading for better things. The current betas (0.9) have brand new tabs, which seems to fix his main concern and it fills the same niche as Safari really. I don't know what kind of addons it's capable of.

Firefox on the Mac is turd, I'll agree. They've hired a guy who was working on Camino to work soley on getting Firefox:Mac sorted out and I think it will improve over the next 6 months or so.

Personally I hop between Safari and Camino.

One thing that does go in favour of Safari (and will also work in Camino 'at some point') is the integrated spell checking. OSX has a spell checker build into the core, thus you can enable little red underlines for misspelled words in any text box or text area, in most programs in the OS. So Safari has spell checking in forms, the instant message client has spell checking in your messages and it's all powered from the same central dictionary.

I can't remember where you live Will, but if you can get to one of the Apple stores (either Regent Street, London or Bluewater) and have a play. They have loads of test machines out for you to experiment with and that might help a bit.

 

[old.user4556]

Will, PC World in Costorphine if you want to test drive OS X.

 

[Will]

I've played with OSX on my Dads eMac, and quite liked it, though I had a tendancy to drag up a terminal window, log into my shell account, and not do much else with it. Edinburgh is a bit far away from any of the Mac stores, though I was in one in Holland.

 

[SheepCow]

Another thing about macs:
http://www.russellbeattie.com/notebook/1008631.html

I quite like the look, but there are some major issues that keep me away from Macs. If Apple released Mac OS X (which wasn't made by Apple to start with ) as an OS it'd be much more interesting.

 

[Will]

I just bought it.

 

[TdC]

woot! you really have to let me know what it's like! that's for Max mostly. he consumes Mac stull by the barrow load

 

[Will]

I'm still waiting for a confirmation email for my order. Not the best start ever.

 

[Will]

I should have checked my email, eh?

 

[Will]

Up to 10 days for delivery? Cocks.

 

[SheepCow]

Let us know what you think

 

[old.user4556]

\o/

Get some screenies up.

 

[Shovel]

10 days.. hmmm, did you customise it? European delivery is a bit pap with Apple, since they all come from the far east. I believe that American orders all come from within the US though, so they get blindingly good service. Basts.

I had a mte back down south who ordered a standard iBook G4 (without modding it) and it arrived within 2 days. So 10 might just be a 'play it safe' figure.

 

[Will]

Nope, no customisation, 24 hours to box the order, 3-9 days to ship it. I'm still waiting at the moment.

 

[Will]

They tried to deliver it yesterday and today...but funnily enough, I was at work. I'll call them after I finish.

And TdC, bizarrely, it was shipped from Arnhem.

 

[TdC]

lol better make sure it actually is a Mac then, not some brown crumbly stuff

 

[Will]

I have it. Its very pretty. I don't have a monitor in my new flat yet, so its sitting on the floor, looking pretty.

 

[TdC]

you haven't touched it have you?

 

[Will]

It depends what you are insinuating.