Simply put, don't buy RAM from Apple. I just ordered 8GB of RAM from Amazon for my newly purchased Mac Mini. Total cost? $54.99 no tax. The same 8GB from Apple via the Mac Mini config menu? $300 plus tax. Of course that price includes the installation but it should take even the most novice of people about 5 minutes to swap the RAM from their Mac. Do yourself a favor and buy a precision screwdriver set then do a Google search. Your bank account will thank you.
Posts for Tag: mac mini
"Leasing" Macs and the true cost of Macs versus Windows PCs
Of course, after speaking of the coolness of the new Mac Mini, I ordered one from Amazon - $595, no sales tax, $3.99 next day shipping. Just this morning, I sold my current Mac Mini on eBay for $644.98. I did upgrade the RAM to 8GB at one point which cost me about $100 so the total cost of my old Mac Mini was about $745. The price difference of about $100 could be viewed as a "lease" for the use of the old Mac Mini for about 13 months worth of use or about $8 a month. Not too shabby and I get the latest hardware for another XX months (I'm guessing about a year). I've been playing this game for about 2-3 years now with my Macs (Mini and laptops) and it's a very acceptable way to upgrade your machines at a very nominal cost. I think the one year churn is perfect since your outgoing hardware still has great value. As I've stated before, Macs hold their value pretty well compared to PCs. Add in the fact that Mac productivity software is cheaper than PCs ($79 versus $279) and you don't have to buy anti-virus software (yet), the value of buying that Dell laptop doesn't really look that great.
Hello New Mac Mini - Bye-bye Optical Drives
via apple.com
Along with today's Mac OS X Lion release, Apple refreshed the MacBook Air and Mac Mini with new chipsets and beefier configs while keeping prices the same or lowering them in some cases. While no major structural changes were made to the MacBook Air (Thunderbolt added and backlit keyboard brought back!) the Mac Mini lost its internal Superdrive completely. Last year's server version removed the optical drive and now the desktop version is DVD free, as well. Yet another sign of Apple's march towards zero internal optical drives for all its machines.
The move is hardly a surprise. Forget about Apple's desire to be cutting edge. CDs and DVDs as a technology are just outdated. People don't carry around CDs for listening to music any more. Virtually all movies released to date are on Blu-ray or are being streamed via Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, etc. CDs and DVDs to deliver software is dying a slow death (hastened by App Stores of all types) and optical discs never really caught on for on the go data storage. USB thumb drives are more practical and the combination of continuously falling prices and ever increasing sizes make it a no brainer. Would I want to carry around 4-8 DVDs or one 32GB USB flash drive (currently priced at about $40 and falling). Also, Apple just killed another reason for you to use an optical drive by letting all new Macs reinstall the operating system over the internet (very cool).
I'm not against optical drives in general. I do see the need for them when watching Blu-ray movies (though not available on a Mac) or when needing to store huge files cheaply (about $1 per 25GB blank disc or $7 for 50GB blank disc). I just don't need to use them ALL THE TIME. That's why a laptop (or Mac Mini) coupled with an external USB Blu-ray drive is a great solution. You shouldn't have to devote 25%-35% of your machine's internal real estate to a peripheral you only use 1% of the time, if that much.
Media storage options
A friend of mine recently was shopping for a media storage system to manage his library of movies, music, pictures, etc. I directed him to a previous post I did re: my home media server. Seeing as how it's almost a year old, I decided to do an update with new equipment and specs.
The first component I updated was with the media player itself, the recently released Mac Mini. Great elegantly designed device. Easier to upgrade the RAM on though I went from 4GB down to 2GB on this new model and haven't seen any drop off in performance. When RAM prices are a little more affordable, I'll probably spring for the 4GB. I'm running MakeMKV to do the video conversion/ripping and Plex to manage my media. MakeMKV is one of the simplest bluray/dvd ripping software I've used to date and Plex handles all video files like a champ. Boxee is a good alternative to Plex but I just don't like the interface. I still use the same external USB bluray drive I've had before. Saw no reason to upgrade it but may do so when faster drives become a little cheaper.
The other major component is the Drobo storage system. Since the Mac Mini currently has a 320GB drive, you won't be able to store much there. I have the original Drobo 4-Bay system
Other components are the Logitech diNovo Mini
It's definitely not a plug and play type of solution but with a little bit of do-it-yourself elbow grease, you'll have a home media manager that will grow with you for the foreseeable future. If you have any questions, please feel free to hit me up for advice.
The best PCs are Macs
I just setup my mom with a new PC. Ironically it was an old Mac Mini laying around the office. However, I wasn't going to go through the machinations of teaching her Mac OS so I just ran Bootcamp to boot into Windows XP.
Amazingly, this old Mac Mini is perfect for her small desk. She used to store her massive Dell tower below the desk but it still took up too much space. Also, it had a loud fan that accumulated and swirled a ton dust and lint. When I set it up for her, she thought it was a turbo boosting contraption to make her Dell faster. Imagine her surprise when I told her it REPLACES her Dell tower!
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