Anyone using an Apple Mini Mac and what do you think of it?

I was considering an iMac 27" system but for my needs I believe a Mini Mac (plus my Samsung 37" 1080P TV) should be more than I need as I only would need it for web browsing, email, digital pics storage and processing and no video games as I can use a PS3 or Xbox 360 for that.

How much can they be expanded in terms of memory etc and how good are the Apple keyboards and mice?

Please don't turn this into another anti Apple thread.

 

Keyboard and mouse are outstanding, but trackpad is even better.

 

A friend had a mini mac linked up to his home cinema that he used as a media player, it was that good I was tempted to buy one myself.

 

Depending on the model, memory should be easy to upgrade, have a look here. Looks like HD upgrades are somewhat more tricky, requiring disassembly which would void the warranty, unless you get Apple to do the upgrade.

 

That is exactly what I have and it works a treat.


Mac mini attached via HDMI to big TV for sound and video.
Running 10.7 so handles all the swipe gestures with a trackpad



Wireless connection to home broadband for internet and LAN access

Lan connection to Drobo Pro with 16TB of storage



That stores all my data, videos, TV shows etc. It also acts as my Time Machine backup as it is RAID

Using Plex as the skin/media player

http://www.plexapp.com/

Can control it via the ipad/iphone etc but I tend to use the Magic wand from 12 South with wireless keyboard and trackpad



And that completes the lineup.

Oh and its a laugh doing your email or browsing the web on a large TV

 

Thanks for the responses, I think I'm definitely going for one of latest models probably i5 based as that should be enough power for my needs. Hard drive space shouldn't be an issue as all my pics, documents etc will be on a 1TB backup drive so I only need space for the OS and installed program's.

Just one thing how memory hungry are the i5/7 based models? Do they struggle with the factory installed 2GB meaning more memory is essential?

I know more is always better I'm just curious, as I would upgrade it to 8GB as a matter of course.

 

Not memory hungry at all. 2GB will be more than enough unless you want to do some high end stuff. 1GB is what the OS base likes, the rest is a bonus. If you have the budget then get 4GB but it is not needed and you can always upgrade in a year or two if you like.

Oh and budget for a couple of these.

http://www.apple.com/uk/battery-charger/

Get two and stash them around the house. Believe me, the keyboard/mouse/trackpad chew batteries like they are going out of fashion

 

opposing comments about trackpad though - I've got two at work, and find them RUBBISH.

Definitely a case of try before you buy.
Wireless keyboard is good, but limiting due to know numerical keypad.
Wireless mouse is great, but can be a bit heavy on battery-usage.

caveat - trackpad would be good for media-player though.
but get a mouse as well.

 

Trackpad comes into it's own with Lion, basically you need one for the full feature set. I use both as I find a mouse easier for some tasks.

 

Trackpad isn't much good for accurate usage, e.g. photo editing etc. but otherwise it's a nice-to-have. Have the mouse first. Wireless keyboard is OK and battery life is good, but the wired keyboard is better and comes with the numeric keypad if that is your thing.

Bear in mind that the Mac Mini doesn't come with a Superdrive anymore, so you'll need an external CD/DVD reader if you want to say rip DVDs, CDs etc.

I've got a three year old 2GHz mac mini with 2Gb ram and works fine for most of my needs. Lion upgrade slowed it a little but not enough to annoy me. Been totally trouble free the whole time I've had it and a joy to use.

Cheers

Ian

 

I have a drobo with 8tb in and 3 x apple tv's , all hard wired. Its all you'll need. the iMac 27 is the nuts in the flesh

 

I also have an Apple TV (black) and using Firecore and jailbroken, I can also connect to the Drobo (or any NAS for that) and just stream all the movies to the TV. We also use our Apple TV for streaming videos/photos from the iphones as it is much better with the upscaling

Netflix on the Apple TV is quite good as well

 

yeah netflix is good, jail broke one of mine but put it back.

 

I'm trying to find a refurbed i5 based 2.5GHZ Mac Mini so that it has the better Radeon GPU plus 4GB memory as standard, they seem to be like rocking horse poo.

Does anyone know of a reputable seller?