Monday, July 5, 2010

#181 The new Mac mini!

The new mac mini has arrived at PCSS. We got our first mac mini in 2006. We have used it as our Internet device (browsing all over without fear) and as the home of our music and movie collections. Four years later and we were ready for a bigger hard drive, fast processor and the new Apple operating system Snow Leopard. There was nothing really wrong with the old one. So we have re-purposed it by reformatting the hard drive and installing just the essential programs. In fact we are typing this update on the old mini.

After healing a computer for the 3rd time this year, a customer asked if I ever get malware infections. The simple answer was no. I do the vast majority of my Internet work on the Mac Mini. I do email on my PCs (laptops and desktop) when I am home but that is about it. No Mac has ever been infected as of today.

So what else is new about the mini? Its shorter, a bit wider and has several new ports on the back side. Here is the rear and from left to right we have power, Ethernet, firewire, HDMI, mini display adapter, 4 USB ports, SDXC memory card reader, microphone & speaker ports. The top, 2 sides and front are brushed aluminum. The bottom actually opens up so you can easly upgrade the memory (yeah). Unfortunately Apple has filled all the memory slots so you have to remove memory to upgrade (boo).

We purchased the basic model. Intel 2.4GHz Intel Duo Core processor with 2GB of memory, 320GB hard disk drive, NVIDIA GeForce 320m graphics (Hi Def!), DVD burner (no blue-ray), Built in wireless & Bluetooth. Minis don't come with keyboards, mice or displays, so you can use any USB keyboard or mouse. It comes with a DVI adapter for display, but if you are like me and don't have a DVI display, you have to purchase the VGA adapter. Cost was $699 for the Mini and $29 for the display adapter.

We moved all our music and movies without much trouble. We are waiting for an HDMI cable to attach it to our flat panel TV. Plans are to get the AVATAR DVD to watch and see how we like that aspect of the Mini.

Let me know if you have comments or questions about this remarkable little PC!

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