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Mac mini Dissection

Posted by timothy on from the vicarious-fun dept.

xbasque writes "Smash has a video showing the technique for cracking open a Mac mini safely. Upgrade the RAM and hard drive yourself and save a bundle (ain't that the point of the mini?)" And if you don't plan to take one apart yourself, parvenu74 points out the pictures of exploratory Mac mini surgery on mini-itx.com, writing "From a post: 'The board itself is slightly smaller than Mini-ITX at about 160mm square by our estimations, and includes Ethernet, Modem, DVI/VGA, 2 x USB, Firewire and Audio connectors (sadly not optical).'"

21 of 920 comments (clear)

  1. A buttload of Money by Hermes02 · · Score: 0, Troll

    I'll just spring for the extra 500 bucks and have apple do it for me.....or just buy two whole stinkin' computers for the same price. Hmm....

    1. Re:A buttload of Money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Actully you can't buy a computer thats even remotely as slow as a mac mini so your point is moot. Did that sucker had exactly one ram slot. Thats a new one, you can't even upgrade your ram.

    2. Re:A buttload of Money by evilviper · · Score: -1, Troll
      The AGP slot is occupied by a video card, which I just recently replaced for the first time in 5 years.

      I've replaced my videocard about 3 times in 2 years. I'm not even a gamer.

      1 PCI slot is used by my Soudblaster card, which I just recently upgraded, again for the first time in 5 years, and that was because the card never worked right in the first place

      This is your pro-Mac mini post??? The fact that your PC's components don't last forever is a very good reason why PCs all have the capacity to be expanded. When the onboard fails, you're pretty-well screwed.

      No, you aren't going to find any videocards that plug-in through Firewire... You're just screwed, and have a Mac that won't work. I've seen on-board videocards fail quite often, but luckily, PCs always have the capability to use a PCI/AGP card rather than the onboard, so they aren't trash when that one component fails.

      1 PCI slot is occupied by an ethernet card, un upgraded in 5 years. Gigabit is built into the mac mini

      I've upgraded NICs in my systems many times. It wasn't that long ago that 10baseT was the norm, now 100baseTx is the minimum, with gigabit becomming popular.

      No, the Mac Mini does NOT have gigabit built-in, it has 100baseT, which is going to start feeling like a 14.4 modem in just a couple years.

      And what happens a few more years down the road? When we have FTTP/FIOS, you'll need a network card that can accept fibre-optic cables. Many people have a need for fibre-optic NICs in their PCs right now.

      1 slot contains a USB/Firewire card, again, un upgraded, and built into the mac mini.

      Probably Firewire400 and USB1.1 right? The march of progress continues, and USB1 is intolerably slow for the devices it's used for now, and it won't be much longer before firewire 400 starts looking slow... With things like transfering (long) digital videos, just doubling the speed is a MAJOR improvement. In addition, even FASTER firewire is comming soon, so you should expect to be seeing PC users spending $20, replacing their current firewire cards, and transfering their videos at least 4Xs faster than you are able to on your Mac mini.

      The other two slots remain unused, and for the forseeable future, I have no use for them.

      That's the whole point of PCI slots... You can't forsee what's going to happen in the future, making an open PCI slot necessary.

      It's one of those things you don't really appreciate until it's gone.

      If these mini macs just had even just 2 PCI slots, I'd be willing to buy one. Even if I knew I would need to put the system in a larger case to use those slots... The ability to change devices is the difference between a computer anyone can continue using for years, and a computer that becomes useless after 2 years because one minor component fails and there's no way to replace it.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    3. Re:A buttload of Money by xanadu-xtroot.com · · Score: 0, Troll
      A buttload of Money

      1. Speaking of which That link ought to prove it...
      --
      I'm not a prophet or a stone-age man,
      I'm just a mortal with potential of a super man.
  2. loljews by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    TIMOTHY IS A NIGGER

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  3. Re:I don't understand....... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    anally retentive humourless mods abound!

  4. Re:Teeter Totter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    Friends don't let friends buy Macs.

    Think mediocrity, Microsoft
    --Where do you sleep now!

  5. Re:Hosting a video? by Gob+Blesh+It · · Score: -1, Troll

    Help me out with my sig and I'll promise to take pictures. :)

  6. Re:Hosting a video? by tuxter · · Score: -1, Troll

    How about get rid of your sig you fucking Troll or we'll give your email address to Sanford Wallace.

  7. Ubuntu? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Ubuntu linux? Who the hell is going to want to use a distro that reminds one of smelly, uncivilized Africans every time he sits down? Only black people, or other races who feel guilty for being who they are. Or the totally objective ( == 0 )

  8. Re:Teeter Totter by FrYGuY101 · · Score: -1, Troll

    Check out my signature...

    You too can be involved in ponzi pyramid schemes for "free" Mac minis! Wee!

    (Or you can not be an ass to every person you meet and just pony up the $499... but then I don't get a refer! So go with the pestering!)

    --
    "If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living."

    - Seneca
  9. Other things that PCI is useful for by tepples · · Score: -1, Troll

    Sure, the Mac mini has integrated DVI/VGA output (VGA through an adapter on the DVI connector), sound, wired networking, USB 2, and IEEE 1394. But what if you want to get composite video in and out of the machine? Or what if you have a wireless home network? Or what if you live in a geographic area where anything faster than 33.6K dial-up is not affordable, and you need a traditional v.92 modem? Would it be wise to depend on USB 2 based adapters for those?

  10. Hey... by WSSA · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...that's my sister!

  11. $130 > $50 by tepples · · Score: 0, Troll

    In would require a $130 USB2.0 TV tuner

    My PC's entry-level PCI video input card (ATI TV Wonder VE) cost me $50 new in box at Best Buy. Apple has failed to disprove the conventional wisdom that Macs are more expensive.

  12. Mac-Mini Not Revolutionary At All by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Anyone who considers the mac mini to be a revolutionary concept is an idiot. It's simply a mini-itx PC with an Apple Designed case. Check out this case

    http://www.bigbruin.com/html/morex_3688.htm

    I've built a PC that's the same size as the mac mini with that case and much higher specs for $350 and the case has been around for over a year.

    The Mac Mini is to PC's what the iPod was to MP3 players. Nothing revolutionary just asthetically pleasing.

    1. Re:Mac-Mini Not Revolutionary At All by klaasvakie · · Score: 0, Troll

      While I agree that they are not the same size, I must observe that the power supply for the morex case is inside the case. I understand the one needs an external power brick for the Mac Mini.

      Could be wrong though, couldn't be bothered checking

      --
      # ssh -l neo the_matrix; killall -9 agent_smith
  13. Re:Hosting a video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Oh, look, it's that ozzie trailer trash again. Why don't you go race bash somebody, redneck?

  14. Re:Hosting a video? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    "I'd like to see how the parts fit in together..."

    Does anyone else see the humour of a statement like this coming from someone whose nick is phoenetically "a meagre lover"?

    *Removes mind from gutter*

  15. OS X is bloated by Sebhelyesfarku · · Score: 0, Troll

    especially for the underpowered mini

  16. Will be a failure by CrazyTalk · · Score: -1, Troll

    No bluetooth - smaller hard drive than my Dell - lame.

  17. Ca-ching by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Do they pay you Apple-mo's for each plug that you post? What is their method for accounting?

    For $500 you can get a propriatory system that is half the power of a system for half the money.

    Great deal.