| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
admin
Site Admin
Joined: 21 Jan 2005
Posts: 2047
Location: U.S.A
|
 Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:30 pm Post subject: AMUG reviews 1.66GHz Mac mini |
 |
|
AMUG reviews 1.66GHz Mac mini
Friday, February 9, 2007
Posted by: Charles
The folks over at AMUG (Arizona Macintosh Users Group) have posted an excellent review of the 1.66GHz Mac mini. This review includes a lot of benchmarks, upgrading tips and insight. "The Apple Intel Mac mini 1.66 GHz provides a quiet computer with a small foot print and plenty of processor power. Upgrading the memory, hard drive, optical drive or adding external storage options can significantly increase the capability of this wonderful little computer. Hopefully, this Intel Mac mini article will help users discover some of the many upgrade options that are available for this awesome little computer," writes Michael Bean of the AMUG. The 1.66GHz Mac mini received a score of 4 AMUGs out of 5.
http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/603.html |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
scooper
Veteran Member
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 988
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 1:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Nice review! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
GCG
Member
Joined: 22 Jan 2007
Posts: 102
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 3:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
One of the best reviews on the Mac Mini to date! Well written and very complete.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yvan256
Veteran Member
Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Quebec, Canada
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 3:56 pm Post subject: H.264 vs AVI? |
|
|
I'm guessing they meant "MPEG-4/mp3 .avi" vs "H.264/AAC .mp4" in their tests, since H.264 is a video CODEC and .avi is a wrapper format.
Still, very impressive numbers. I can't wait for Apple to upgrade the Mac mini so I can upgrade mine (currently G4/1.42GHz, 1GB RAM). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
James T Kirk
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2005
Posts: 757
Location: The Netherlands, Europe
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
This is one of the best reviews of the 1.66 MacMini I've read sofar and don't feel to much bothered if I have to abstain from a Core2Duo if there is no MacMini with Core2Duo coming soon! There were a couple of links about upgrading suggestions, even with the idea of inserting one 1GB with 256 which is better than 2 sticks of 512! So one can save up for a second bar of 1 GB later... The links about the notebook drives were also very enlightening!
I'll wait until the rumoured 20th of this month and if there is no new mini's coming, I'll probably opt for a 1.66 CoreDuo.
_________________
___________________Jim©
Now on Hackintosh in G5 case! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yvan256
Veteran Member
Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Quebec, Canada
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:16 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| James T Kirk wrote: | | I'll wait until the rumoured 20th of this month and if there is no new mini's coming, I'll probably opt for a 1.66 CoreDuo. |
Given the price of OS X and iLife, I'll wait until the Mac mini update. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
devo
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Jan 2005
Posts: 5273
Location: Dunwoody, GA
|
| Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Apple computer sales have to be taking a hit right now. Everyone and their uncle is waiting for Leopard and iLife '07.
Oh yeah, nice review!  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
James T Kirk
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2005
Posts: 757
Location: The Netherlands, Europe
|
| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 2:50 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Yvan256 wrote: | | James T Kirk wrote: | | I'll wait until the rumoured 20th of this month and if there is no new mini's coming, I'll probably opt for a 1.66 CoreDuo. |
Given the price of OS X and iLife, I'll wait until the Mac mini update. |
Did I mention "second hand"? 
_________________
___________________Jim©
Now on Hackintosh in G5 case! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Fox
Veteran Member
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 2629
Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
|
| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 7:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
Very nice review. It has me really anxious to buy one of these. But I'm still holding out for the upgrade. If it doesn't come on Feb. 20, I don't know if I'll hold out much longer.
_________________
Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
James T Kirk
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2005
Posts: 757
Location: The Netherlands, Europe
|
| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 7:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Fox wrote: | | Very nice review. It has me really anxious to buy one of these. But I'm still holding out for the upgrade. If it doesn't come on Feb. 20, I don't know if I'll hold out much longer. |
Your feelings are soooo familiar! On top of that I already sold my G4 and working with the little PB connected to al my stuff...
_________________
___________________Jim©
Now on Hackintosh in G5 case! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Yvan256
Veteran Member
Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Quebec, Canada
|
| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
| James T Kirk wrote: | | Yvan256 wrote: | | Given the price of OS X and iLife, I'll wait until the Mac mini update. |
Did I mention "second hand"? |
Even with second-hand prices, I'd rather pay 680$CAD and get the upgraded Mac mini model, which will include Leopard and iLife '07.
Tiger is 150$CAD and iLife'06 is 90$CAD. That means I would pay the same price as a brand new Mac mini (probably upgraded too) unless it was under 440$CAD. The only thing I could find at that price would probably be the Mac mini G4/1.42GHz, which is the one I already have.
Also, that review not only makes it clear you can run the Mac mini without paired RAM (which I thought we couldn't do), it also shows the slowdown is marginal (and 1.25GB of 4% slower RAM is probably better than 512MB of RAM anyway). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
James T Kirk
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Aug 2005
Posts: 757
Location: The Netherlands, Europe
|
| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 11:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Yvan256 wrote: |
Even with second-hand prices, I'd rather pay 680$CAD and get the upgraded Mac mini model, which will include Leopard and iLife '07.
Tiger is 150$CAD and iLife'06 is 90$CAD. That means I would pay the same price as a brand new Mac mini (probably upgraded too) unless it was under 440$CAD. The only thing I could find at that price would probably be the Mac mini G4/1.42GHz, which is the one I already have.
Also, that review not only makes it clear you can run the Mac mini without paired RAM (which I thought we couldn't do), it also shows the slowdown is marginal (and 1.25GB of 4% slower RAM is probably better than 512MB of RAM anyway). |
Yeah, I'd rather have a Core2Duo with faster ethernet, Leopard and iLife 07 too. The only thing is: Will it come indeed? I can buy a 7 month old 1.66 IntelMini, totally standard for € 475, while a new one will cost me € 617. Leopard will cost me € 129, don't know if I really need iLife 07. There is a pricedifference of € 144 and for that price I can buy me 2 GB of RAM. O.T.O.H it will not buy me Leopard+Ilive 07. When I have to wait until end of June however.... 
_________________
___________________Jim©
Now on Hackintosh in G5 case! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
diulei
Member
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Posts: 213
|
| Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 9:39 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Good review...their web design could use a bit of work though. I made pages that looked like that around 98. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
scooper
Veteran Member
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 988
|
| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| diulei wrote: | | Good review...their web design could use a bit of work though. I made pages that looked like that around 98. |
Their site might be bland, but the content is awesome. At least they don't use WordPress. I'm so sick of looking at cookie cutter WordPress sites.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Pleiades
Veteran Member
Joined: 14 Oct 2006
Posts: 3237
Location: California
|
| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:08 pm Post subject: |
|
|
WordPress is great, provided you use a decent theme. I view it more as a framework, not as a finished product. The problem is, the majority of the population sticks with the defaults. You see it all the time, default ringtones on phones, default settings on their computers, tec.
AMUG may be ugly, but they produce some of the best, well written reviews. I always enjoy them.
_________________
MacBook Pro 1.83GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM, 250GB HD, Dell 802.11n card, 1.4TB external
MacBook 1.83GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM, 60GB HD
iMac 1.83GHz Core Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB HD, 1TB external, EyeTV Hybrid |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ 
Search 
Memberlist 
Photo Gallery
Register
Profile 
Log in to check your private messages 
Log in 
