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JohnnyBoy
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Joined: 13 Jul 2007
Posts: 3954
Location: West Sussex, South-East England
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 Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 6:20 am Post subject: |
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MacWorld disagrees with us all! 
| MacWorld wrote: | | On that note, Apple’s policy on upgrading the Mac mini yourself has always been that as long as you don’t break anything in the process, your warranty is still valid. I confirmed with Apple that this is, indeed, still the case with the newest Mac mini. However, the company contends that because the new mini includes at least 320GB of hard-drive space—and you can upgrade at the time of purchase to 500GB for $100—there’s less of a need to upgrade the hard drive than when the mini shipped with only 160GB. |
http://www.macworld.com/article/152061/2010/06/macmini2010handson.html
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Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen) |
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philiparcario
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Joined: 19 Jun 2006
Posts: 4566
Location: Howell NJ USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 10:15 am Post subject: |
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the problem is the heat sensor for the hdd. As far as I can tell without springing for a new mini it is the same set up as the 2009 iMacs.
you will need a special hdd with the sensor built in or the fan will run constantly. I have an imac and did a lot of research for the iMac.
New imacs cannot be used with ssd's no ssd will work with the heat sensing system.
I have been on a lot of sites the only way to get around this on an iMac is tear it down fully and pull the dvd then get a hdd caddy and mount a ssd on it. the iMac would have no dvd player but it would allow the ssd to work.
If the same is true for the new mini. you need to buy the low end version tear it down and pull the dvd player then put in a ssd on a caddy. this should trick the mini and not have constant fan.
Mind you this is all guessing based on my iMac research..
Homer Simpson says it all " if It is too hard quit "
For now I am going to play with 2009 2.66GHz machines and 2.53GHz machines..
I use one mini as a Htpc and I don't mod it., it Works great as is.
That is the 2009 2.66ghz 6gb ram oem 320gb hdd and a pair of owc elite-al 4tb raids. The 2.53ghz with the 2 esata cables and 8port fw800 verge hub is my attempt to build a "mac midi" Steve I said it first so if you use it i want a free one!
How about it a mac midi.
6 by 6 by 4
or 7 by 7 by 4
5usb2's
2fw800 ports
dvi not mini
mini display
an expressCard/34 or 54 slot
a 3.06GHz with a 3.33GHz option
super drive no blu-ray
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd
promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station |
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Yvan256
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Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Quebec, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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Completely off-topic, but I received my new Mac mini around noon, and I'm now setting it up.
I discovered something really cool: on my old Mac mini (Core 2 Duo 1.83 GHz, GMA950), connecting my Lexar 16GB USB drive into one of the USB port of my aluminium Apple keyboard would bring the "A USB device needs more power" warning.
But it works fine when the keyboard is connected to the new Mac mini!
_________________
Mac mini 2010 (Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz/8 GiB)
12" PowerBook (G4 1.5 GHz/512 MiB)
1st gen. iPod touch (16 GiB)
2nd gen. iPod shuffle (1 GiB) |
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rtheil
New Member
Joined: 18 Jun 2010
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 4:55 pm Post subject: Not happy... |
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Just bought myself my first OSX Mac so that I can learn some Objective-C development. I bought a brand new 2010 Mac mini.
I get the mac mini home, and start looking around and checking specs. First thing I see is that the negotiated link speed of my hard drive in the system profiler, is 1.5 gigabit, but the controller is capable of 3 gigabit. I called Apple, and people were so confused by what I was talking about. Finally, I got the request sent to engineering. Engineering's response was "This is as designed, as we only install SATA I drives in all Mac mini computers." Wow, seriously? You put a drive with technology from 7 years ago in my 1 day old Mac? LAME!
Further research leads me to a section on the mac mini configuration in the apple store where you can choose a hard drive. It says “All Mac mini models include standard Serial ATA hard drives with data transfers up to 300 megabytes per second”. Now, if you know how to convert bytes to bits, you'd know that 300 megabytes is about 2.4 gigabits. This means to me that I will receive a SATA II hard drive in my computer, connected to a SATA II controller, as only SATA II and SATA III are capable of 300 megabytes per second.
I called Hitachi to confirm with them that in fact the drive in my Mac is a SATA I drive. And even though it's a desktop computer, this drive has the free-fall sensor in it. So, here I am with a BRAND NEW Mac, and its hard drive is technology from 7 years ago.
I'm awaiting another response from Apple engineering as to why the web site says one thing, but they are doing another. More importantly though, I am trying to get the word out to everyone so that people will stop buying Mac mini computers. Why would anyone buy a machine that knowingly has technology in it from 7 years ago? This is without mentioning that the optical drive is only 8x vs. the standard 16x-22x drives in PCs today. Unfortunately, I'm not interested in dropping $800 in something that contains technology from many years ago. Especially since it's only been 3 days since it was announced by Apple.
Returning the Mac within a couple days.
The whole story is on my blog: www.rickystechblog.com |
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quaternio
Junior Member
Joined: 14 Apr 2010
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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| philiparcario wrote: | the problem is the heat sensor for the hdd. As far as I can tell without springing for a new mini it is the same set up as the 2009 iMacs.
you will need a special hdd with the sensor built in or the fan will run constantly. I have an imac and did a lot of research for the iMac.
New imacs cannot be used with ssd's no ssd will work with the heat sensing system.
I have been on a lot of sites the only way to get around this on an iMac is tear it down fully and pull the dvd then get a hdd caddy and mount a ssd on it. the iMac would have no dvd player but it would allow the ssd to work.
If the same is true for the new mini. you need to buy the low end version tear it down and pull the dvd player then put in a ssd on a caddy. this should trick the mini and not have constant fan.
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I'm not very knowledgeable about this sort of thing, but aren't there programs that modify the kexts for internal fans, so that you can manually control the fan speed? I have a program like this for my old Powerbook G4 (a program called InsomniaX), and I've seen versions compiled for Leopard and Snow Leopard (InsomniaN, I think it's called). Modifying kexts is serious business, but it seems no more serious than taking the new Mini apart to install a new hard drive, as long as you know what you're doing.
| rtheil wrote: | Just bought myself my first OSX Mac so that I can learn some Objective-C development. I bought a brand new 2010 Mac mini.
I get the mac mini home, and start looking around and checking specs. First thing I see is that the negotiated link speed of my hard drive in the system profiler, is 1.5 gigabit, but the controller is capable of 3 gigabit. I called Apple, and people were so confused by what I was talking about. Finally, I got the request sent to engineering. Engineering's response was "This is as designed, as we only install SATA I drives in all Mac mini computers." Wow, seriously? You put a drive with technology from 7 years ago in my 1 day old Mac? LAME!
Further research leads me to a section on the mac mini configuration in the apple store where you can choose a hard drive. It says “All Mac mini models include standard Serial ATA hard drives with data transfers up to 300 megabytes per second”. Now, if you know how to convert bytes to bits, you'd know that 300 megabytes is about 2.4 gigabits. This means to me that I will receive a SATA II hard drive in my computer, connected to a SATA II controller, as only SATA II and SATA III are capable of 300 megabytes per second.
I called Hitachi to confirm with them that in fact the drive in my Mac is a SATA I drive. And even though it's a desktop computer, this drive has the free-fall sensor in it. So, here I am with a BRAND NEW Mac, and its hard drive is technology from 7 years ago.
I'm awaiting another response from Apple engineering as to why the web site says one thing, but they are doing another. More importantly though, I am trying to get the word out to everyone so that people will stop buying Mac mini computers. Why would anyone buy a machine that knowingly has technology in it from 7 years ago? This is without mentioning that the optical drive is only 8x vs. the standard 16x-22x drives in PCs today. Unfortunately, I'm not interested in dropping $800 in something that contains technology from many years ago. Especially since it's only been 3 days since it was announced by Apple.
Returning the Mac within a couple days.
The whole story is on my blog: www.rickystechblog.com |
Frankly, indignantly asking why we are using technology from 7 years ago is a little ridiculous. DVDs are older than 7 years, as are many things in your computer. The question that I'm sure the engineers at Apple are asking is, "do the drives we put in our machines need the data throughput that SATA II provides?" I'm not up to date on this stuff, but I'm pretty sure that only SSDs would benefit from SATA II over SATA I; correct me if I'm wrong. Having SATA II in a machine that was intended to swap HDDs is perfectly reasonable for future-proofing purposes, but in the Mini it would just mean a higher price tag for very little benefit (if any benefit, the base model carries a 5400 rpm drive, after all).
Last edited by quaternio on Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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JohnnyBoy
Veteran Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2007
Posts: 3954
Location: West Sussex, South-East England
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:42 pm Post subject: Re: Not happy... |
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| rtheil wrote: | | More importantly though, I am trying to get the word out to everyone so that people will stop buying Mac mini computers. |
Something tells me that this might not work on a forum called "123MacMini.com".
_________________
Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen) |
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quaternio
Junior Member
Joined: 14 Apr 2010
Posts: 46
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 5:53 pm Post subject: Re: Not happy... |
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| JohnnyBoy wrote: | | rtheil wrote: | | More importantly though, I am trying to get the word out to everyone so that people will stop buying Mac mini computers. |
Something tells me that this might not work on a forum called "123MacMini.com". |
I did laugh out loud. |
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philiparcario
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Joined: 19 Jun 2006
Posts: 4566
Location: Howell NJ USA
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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well not to defend him,but this mini is not going in the right direction for this forum. last years mini ended cpu upgrades this years mini may end hdd upgrades jury is out. this forum is a lot about mods and upgrades.
so this mini is not so good(?)
jury's out for now.
I do not like the idea of handling naked switching power supplies.. I have run high voltage to my heart once. A very painful experience. I was lucky the amps were low.
This mini will call for that to do some of the mods.
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd
promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station |
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Chris..S
Veteran Member
Joined: 25 Feb 2007
Posts: 704
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| Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2010 7:57 pm Post subject: Re: Not happy... |
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| rtheil wrote: | | Why would anyone buy a machine that knowingly has technology in it from 7 years ago? This is without mentioning that the optical drive is only 8x vs. the standard 16x-22x drives in PCs today. Unfortunately, I'm not interested in dropping $800 in something that contains technology from many years ago. Especially since it's only been 3 days since it was announced by Apple. |
Silly rant. The disk isn't fast enough to saturate a Sata I, so what does it matter. The controller supports Sata II so you can put in something faster if you want. |
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dag777
Junior Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 40
Location: CE
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| Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 4:12 am Post subject: |
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| philiparcario wrote: | well not to defend him,but this mini is not going in the right direction for this forum. last years mini ended cpu upgrades this years mini may end hdd upgrades jury is out. this forum is a lot about mods and upgrades.
so this mini is not so good(?)
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Spot on Phil.
After the first day buzz about the new MacMini, I gave up, and look for a good deal for the 2,53 GHz MacMini which I will buy and wait, how this new MM will go, but all in all I have a bad feeling about the future of the MM.
I really don't like a situation, where I could just change the RAM and that's all.
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Mac Mini 2,53 GHz, 8GB RAM, 80GB X-25 M SSD+1TB HDD
Mac Mini 2.53 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB XT 7200 RPM HDD
iPhone 3GS 32GB
G4 1,25 DP PowerMac |
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philiparcario
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Joined: 19 Jun 2006
Posts: 4566
Location: Howell NJ USA
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| Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| dag777 wrote: | | philiparcario wrote: | well not to defend him,but this mini is not going in the right direction for this forum. last years mini ended cpu upgrades this years mini may end hdd upgrades jury is out. this forum is a lot about mods and upgrades.
so this mini is not so good(?)
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Spot on Phil.
After the first day buzz about the new MacMini, I gave up, and look for a good deal for the 2,53 GHz MacMini which I will buy and wait, how this new MM will go, but all in all I have a bad feeling about the future of the MM.
I really don't like a situation, where I could just change the RAM and that's all. |
dag777 says you are in CE ? www.jr.com has 699usd 2.53ghz mac mini's bing.com gives a 5 percent discount so 665 net for new.
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd
promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station |
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dag777
Junior Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 40
Location: CE
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| Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 10:07 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | dag777 says you are in CE ? www.jr.com has 699usd 2.53ghz mac mini's bing.com gives a 5 percent discount so 665 net for new. |
Thanks for that link Phil, it would be great deal for that price, but unfortunately abbreviation CE in my case means, I'm from Central Europe, so I have to deal with EURo prices, which are much higher 
_________________
Mac Mini 2,53 GHz, 8GB RAM, 80GB X-25 M SSD+1TB HDD
Mac Mini 2.53 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB XT 7200 RPM HDD
iPhone 3GS 32GB
G4 1,25 DP PowerMac |
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Harryc56
Junior Member
Joined: 31 May 2009
Posts: 42
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| Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 3:38 pm Post subject: Re: Not happy... |
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| rtheil wrote: | | First thing I see is that the negotiated link speed of my hard drive in the system profiler, is 1.5 gigabit, but the controller is capable of 3 gigabit. |
This is S.O.P for Apple these days. The 2010 Macbook Pros are the same way. The main difference is that you can install an aftermarket hard drive that is SATA 3.0 and System Profiler will indicate it's capability correctly as 3 GB. SSD's in MBPs indicate 3GB out of the box. The fact that you can't upgrade the new Mini's to an SSD or larger conventional hard drive from say Newegg is disturbing.
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2010 Mac Mini, 2.66Ghz C2D, 320GB SG HD, 8GB RAM
2010 Macbook Pro, 2.4Ghz i5, 320GB Hitachi HD, 4GB RAM |
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dag777
Junior Member
Joined: 17 Aug 2007
Posts: 40
Location: CE
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| Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 2:31 pm Post subject: |
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My "new old" MM 2,53 is on the way to me, so now I have time to see how it goes with the new MM
_________________
Mac Mini 2,53 GHz, 8GB RAM, 80GB X-25 M SSD+1TB HDD
Mac Mini 2.53 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB XT 7200 RPM HDD
iPhone 3GS 32GB
G4 1,25 DP PowerMac |
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pokeeto2
New Member
Joined: 13 Jun 2010
Posts: 6
Location: Haines City, FL
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| Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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I really don't find the 1.5GB SATA speed to be a deal breaker.
My 17" Late 2006 2Gh iMac C2D With 3GB Ram & It reports that SATA speed & I thought it was a wicked fast computer when I first got it. And I still don't feel bogged down. I ordered it with the 160GB HDD back in 2006 along with Apple Care. As soon as Applecare ended last Fall, I ordered a 500GB WD Caviar Blue HDD & it's worked fine ever since. I will now give my Parents this iMac to rid them of a Custom PC I made them 5 years ago so I can get them hooked to the Mac Platform. My Mother uses it everyday Which is something she never did on The PC.
I ordered myself a 2.66 Mac Mini with the 500GB HD, 4GB Ram. I already have a keyboard, Mouse, Webcam, and a 21.5" Acer Display. Later I may order the Apple Wireless Keyboard & ket a Knock Off HDMI Cable so I can run it from my Desk to my TV 6FT away so I can view HULU from Bed. 1.5GB SATA Speed? No Big Deal For me. Maybe after Apple Care Runs out, I'll put in a 7200RPM Drive. BlueRay is No deal-breaker for me Either. I don't have Anything in blue-ray as I download my content. And since the Mini is So Small, I can stack another 500GB External HD via Firewire which I have. I can save excess content there.
Who Really needs BlueRay? I Don't.
The only way I replace this Mac Mini within a year or 2 is if Apple Brings in core i5 or i7 Processors which will really blow away the C2D. But for now, C2D will more suffice for me & I'm sure I'll be happy with it.
Before I ordered the Mini, I had a 21.5" iMac 3.06Ghz, ATI 4670 GPU & 1TB Drive. It was fine but honestly, I didn't feel a Huge difference in Overall speed compared to me Old 2Ghz iMac. The speedBump was there but nothing big. I later returned it because it had this terrible Dog Whistle Noise ( Faulty Backlight Power Inverter ) which was so annoying. Plus I hated the Screen Glare. The only way I couldn't see my Big Face in the screen was if I turned the Brightness up all the way. I'd rather sacrifice 400Mhz & a little HD speed which will not be that noticeable. Plus I won't be locked to the Built in Display. Plus I can soon take my Mini to the Living-room & view content on my Parents 50" LCD. Something I can never do with the iMac. |
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