Mac mini or desktop equivalent
25 July 2012, 05:40 PM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Cas Vegas
Posts: 7,833
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Mac mini or desktop equivalent
My current desktop has packed up so im looking for a replacement. Ive been looking at the basic Mac Mini as it looks nice and compact and can be upgraded quite easliy. It must be under Under £500 have a decent graphics card(HDMI out) not bothered about gaming but play hd films, so i can plug it into my Plasma TV and use in the living room as a media centre, come with an operating program, and be quiet whist in use.
Thanks in advance
Thanks in advance
26 July 2012, 07:59 AM
#4
Scooby Regular
just be mindful that the new mac minis dont have superdrives (dvd)
You'll need to either get a USB drive and/or rip your movies to a HD somehow.
BUT, as both the obvious style and tech choice, thumbs up for the Mac Mini.
Great bit of kit.
You'll need to either get a USB drive and/or rip your movies to a HD somehow.
BUT, as both the obvious style and tech choice, thumbs up for the Mac Mini.
Great bit of kit.
26 July 2012, 10:17 AM
#6
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,227
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Off the top of my head:
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=85
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/~D2700ITXS-A-E
Give them a call, let em know what you're after and I'm sure they can sort you out with a great machine for under £500.
J
Trending Topics
26 July 2012, 12:33 PM
#8
The Mac Mini does look good, but I am a great believer of building your own PC. There are many mini ITX cases, though admittedly they won't look as sexy as the Mac Mini, that are small and sleek. If you're looking at i5 the graphics will be pretty good, definitely up to the task you require. For £500 you can build yourself a mini itx htpc with a superior spec to the Mac Mini. I believe the only thing you can upgrade on the Mac Mini without taking it back to the store is just the RAM and get charged over the odds for doing so. If expansion/upgradabilty is not a factor and you just want to "plug in and go", then the Mac Mini is hard to beat.
26 July 2012, 05:33 PM
#10
Scooby Regular
Apple openly say its easy to upgrade and ram is no more expensive than any other if you use crucial.
I've yet to see a Itx computer look as good and small as a mac mini
I've yet to see a Itx computer look as good and small as a mac mini
31 July 2012, 09:25 PM
#11
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Cas Vegas
Posts: 7,833
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well I've bit the bullet and bought a base model Mac Mini i5 2.3ghz. I'll probably up the ram as its quite cheap.
As I'm new to Macs is it still the case that anti virus is not required?
As I'm new to Macs is it still the case that anti virus is not required?
31 July 2012, 10:27 PM
#12
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (3)
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: 1600cc's of twin scroll fun :)
Posts: 25,565
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes
on
2 Posts
Tony
01 August 2012, 07:07 AM
#15
Scooby Senior
My copy of Mountain Lion is set to only run apps from the App Store using Gatekeeper. This has reduced my risk to a far more manageable level, I don't run Antivirus.
However, as mentioned I would never recommend this, Sophos is free and I doubt you'll notice it running.
However, as mentioned I would never recommend this, Sophos is free and I doubt you'll notice it running.
I may be back with more questions
01 August 2012, 11:28 AM
#17
I've been looking into this recently as a solution to enabling my TV with a bit more network useability.
Mac mini ticks alot of boxes, except the price. As I don't think I'd really use it enough to warrant it - it'd be mainly for streaming, odd bit of browsing and email. Anything else more in depth would be tackled by the desktop, so its alot of money for something thats not really going to be used to its full capeability.
That was when I tried looking for a PC equivelent. Not much about. Well, not any cheaper than a mac mini.
For example a AsRock Vision 3D barebones is about £540 for an i3 plus RAM, HDD and OS. Ouch.
However drop your CPU specs to a Atom dual core and options open massively as you cen get a nettop for a much more nicer price. For example AsRock Ion, or even cheap a Lenovo Q180 (which look pretty cool for the price).
The big question is....will a dual core intel atom CPU be up to the jobs you want it to do?
Mac mini ticks alot of boxes, except the price. As I don't think I'd really use it enough to warrant it - it'd be mainly for streaming, odd bit of browsing and email. Anything else more in depth would be tackled by the desktop, so its alot of money for something thats not really going to be used to its full capeability.
That was when I tried looking for a PC equivelent. Not much about. Well, not any cheaper than a mac mini.
For example a AsRock Vision 3D barebones is about £540 for an i3 plus RAM, HDD and OS. Ouch.
However drop your CPU specs to a Atom dual core and options open massively as you cen get a nettop for a much more nicer price. For example AsRock Ion, or even cheap a Lenovo Q180 (which look pretty cool for the price).
The big question is....will a dual core intel atom CPU be up to the jobs you want it to do?
Last edited by ALi-B; 01 August 2012 at 11:33 AM.
01 August 2012, 12:13 PM
#18
09 August 2012, 12:02 PM
#20
< thread hijack>
Well, i went and bought a Lenovo q180 -fastest Atom dual core cpu you can get. 4gb ram 500gig hd full win7 os (home premium), Toslink output, SD card slot and USB3.0 connectors (front only - the 4 on the rear are USB2
). About the size of a A5 piece of paper and an inch thick. The important thing for me is a VGA output as the old Plasma in my bedroom has no HDMi or DVi connections (it uses a MDR-26 DFP connector- predates DVi,and carries the same video signal protocol as DVi...except it also has audio and standby/remote control signals which aren't HDMi/CEC compatible ).
Got to admit its a nice bit of kit. WiFi range suffers (which can kill the streaming..works better stood up on the stand) but my wifi network is a mess at the moment after having a Superhub, so thats a work in progress. The VESA monitor/tv mount bracket is a super idea to hide it away.
Bought a Xenta mini remote keypad to use with which does the job barring the rubber keys are a bit hard to press (bit like a sinclair spectrum
), the lenovo remote keypad probably would have been the better choice, but its alot more money,
I think it may struggle on streaming 1080, but thats more network limitations more than anything IMO (even a 300mbps link can only throughput 80mbps - typically 40mbps once you move away from the router which is roughly what I'm getting).
Cooling fan is rather loud in a quiet room, but not too intrusive, and inaudible once playing music/Tv etc, as a reference its about as loud as a Nitendo Wii. HD is quiet though which is good as clunky HDs drive me nuts. PSU gives a faint squeel when the pc is turned off, which could be annoying in a bedroom depending on how sensitive your hearing is ( I have very sensitive hearing ), also makes a pulsing squeel in standby due to power light flashing.
The final compliment is no ultra bright LEDs just soft white ones for power and HD
I have a pure hatred for ultra bright LEDs especially blue, needlessly blinking away in the corner of my eye (refer to me calling the super hub a illuminated christmas tree 
).
All in all - 7.5/10. Sure its no mini mac, but blows away any 'smart-tv' or media box - so long as the local network is up to scratch. And don't use it for ripping DVDs (or mp3s).
< /hijack >
Well, i went and bought a Lenovo q180 -fastest Atom dual core cpu you can get. 4gb ram 500gig hd full win7 os (home premium), Toslink output, SD card slot and USB3.0 connectors (front only - the 4 on the rear are USB2
). About the size of a A5 piece of paper and an inch thick. The important thing for me is a VGA output as the old Plasma in my bedroom has no HDMi or DVi connections (it uses a MDR-26 DFP connector- predates DVi,and carries the same video signal protocol as DVi...except it also has audio and standby/remote control signals which aren't HDMi/CEC compatible ).Got to admit its a nice bit of kit. WiFi range suffers (which can kill the streaming..works better stood up on the stand) but my wifi network is a mess at the moment after having a Superhub, so thats a work in progress. The VESA monitor/tv mount bracket is a super idea to hide it away.
Bought a Xenta mini remote keypad to use with which does the job barring the rubber keys are a bit hard to press (bit like a sinclair spectrum
), the lenovo remote keypad probably would have been the better choice, but its alot more money, I think it may struggle on streaming 1080, but thats more network limitations more than anything IMO (even a 300mbps link can only throughput 80mbps - typically 40mbps once you move away from the router which is roughly what I'm getting).
Cooling fan is rather loud in a quiet room, but not too intrusive, and inaudible once playing music/Tv etc, as a reference its about as loud as a Nitendo Wii. HD is quiet though which is good as clunky HDs drive me nuts. PSU gives a faint squeel when the pc is turned off, which could be annoying in a bedroom depending on how sensitive your hearing is ( I have very sensitive hearing
), also makes a pulsing squeel in standby due to power light flashing.The final compliment is no ultra bright LEDs just soft white ones for power and HD
I have a pure hatred for ultra bright LEDs especially blue, needlessly blinking away in the corner of my eye (refer to me calling the super hub a illuminated christmas tree ).All in all - 7.5/10. Sure its no mini mac, but blows away any 'smart-tv' or media box - so long as the local network is up to scratch. And don't use it for ripping DVDs (or mp3s).
< /hijack >
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
