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Price Drops For Mac mini Upgrades
RustNeverSleeps writes "Apple has just lowered prices on certain build-to-order options on the Mac mini. The combination Bluetooth and AirPort Express option has gone down to $99 from $129, 1 GB RAM upgrades have been reduced to $325 from $475 and the price of an upgrade from a 40 GB hard drive to an 80 GB hard drive has been reduced to $50 from $90. Also, the original 4x SuperDrive has been upgraded to an 8x drive for the same price. Interesting that they dropped prices so soon after release. Perhaps Apple actually listened to people complaining about overpriced upgrades."
Or perhaps they read Anandtechs's review saying it was positively scandelous to sell the unit with 256MB RAM with such expensive upgrades.
Good review for those who care.
Any USB mouse or keyboard will work.
The hard drop upgrade was $50 before, and it's still $50 now. The article (and the MacNN story the submitter cribbed it from ) are both wrong.
Bullshit it voids your warranty, unless your upgrade caused the problem. Remember to use Mac approved memory and things will be okay. Use a putty knife to open the case, it isn't that hard.
I'd rather get a 512MB DIMM for the extra $75 initially however. That's because it is basically a requirement for the system.
If you check out this forum thread you can see thatr ead.php?Cat=&Board=UBB37&main=290448&type=thread
http://www.macworld.com/forums/ubbthreads/printth
Crucial already offers a 1 GB Ram upgrade for $227. Much cheaper than the Apple upgrade and you can put it in yourself.
Hmmm...
For 700 bucks I get a DVD burner, 80 Gig HD and the best OS on the planet.
I would never buy the RAM upgrades form Apple, nor would I do the same from any maker. I buy my RAM from the cheapest source possible, which usually ISN'T the maker. So what are we talking about here, another $125 for a full Gig of RAM now.
$825 for a killer system. That's only 125 to "bring the Mac Mini up to a reasonable configuration".
Now, you may think me a Mac zealot, but in fact, I build and maintain computers from scratch running Linux. I haven't owned an Apple product in about 8 years. I've used them quite a bit in my old job, but they were always "overpriced" for me. That's really no longer an excuse.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
The Apple Store offers price protection for products ub to ten day AFTER SHIPMENT, not ordering. The policy and the phone number to call can be found here. I called last night and they've credited my card.
As far as the superdrive goes, I ordered mine the day it was announced, and it arrived two days before the official release date. It came with an 8X Superdrive.
I received my 1.42/80GB Mac Mini yesterday along with a 1GB Dimm from a 3rd party vendor. Even with the 1GB RAM the performance is still sluggish, kind of reminds me of using a Knoppix Live CD. Firefox is kind of quirky with dragging bookmarks sometimes it hangs when trying to open another instance. Open Office performed better than I had expected after all the X11 bashing.
On the plus side it runs very cool and is very quiet
The 8X drive is only for reading DVD, the write speed for DVD is still 4X.
#!/
Also due to the clever way in which OS X is designed, you can set up a high speed network utilising your firewire, bluetooth, wifi and ethernet ports all simultaneously, with the file being threaded across the available connections.
Apple has a policy about this, it's in one of the emails you'll receive after buying anything from the store. If the price falls within 10 days of shipping, they'll refund you the difference.
What can you actually do with the Mini Bluetooth connection?
I suspect this is pretty much intended for keyboards, mice, cell phones, PDAs, and headphones. I know the OS supports file transfer via bluetooth for both LDAP info and general files, and has some nice security options. Theoretically, it could be used for all sorts of low-bandwidth wireless applications.
where's the truly hifi Bluetooth stereo headset?
Did you just say, "hi-fi???" Can you even buy low tolerance components these days? I mean what is the worst tolerance on a commodity resistor these days?
According to this (second paragraph), nothing's supposed to be placed on top of the box. Pressure on the top may prevent a CD or DVD from being ejected.
You can, however, use the Mac mini on its side.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, write technology blogs.
I called yesterday after work and they handled it very professionally...I didn't even have to get upset. They credited me the $31.20 difference for the Airport/BT combo and said that no mini's actually shipped with the 4x Superdrives...they just corrected the description on the webpage. I'm not able to verify this since I'm away on business for the week, but I'll take his word for it for the time being. Can anyone with a mini verify the speed of the Superdrive?
This is part of the reason people love Apple so much, they really do take care of their customers.
I am getting the 1.42Ghz with 80GB HD. It'll have the bare minimum 256MB of RAM and the regular combo drive but if push comes to shove I'll get an external Firewire DVD writer and might even open the case myself and add some RAM. Who knows. It'll all depend on how well it performs for me.
Unless you're planning on running one application at a time, you will want to get at least 512 MB. MacOS X is slow as molasses with 256 MB, and it's a shame that Apple still sells computers with that little memory. As Anandtech points out the machine swaps quite a bit with 256 MB, and the 2.5" HD is rather slow.
READY.
#
For tboth configs of the mac mini in the US apple store, the prices of the airport card and BT card are: BT $50, Airport $79, combo $99.
On the UK store for the 1.2ghz the prices are: BT 35.00 UKP, AP 49.00 UKP, and combo 152.88 UKP.
However, the prices for the upgrades on the 1.4 ghz are: BT 35.00 UKP, AP 49.00 UKP, and combo 69.99 UKP.
I think there is a possible typo on the store or something. the 152 UKP price would seem reasonable for the combo BT/APExtreme and an AP Express bundled in, but not for the combo card itself.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
IMO, the built-in Bluetooth ain't worth it. I've got a usb bt dongle from Linksys which is truly class 1 (100m) for $50 and the built-in bluetooth is only class 3 (10m). I can now surf the internet from anywhere in the house on my Palm Tungsten T3, but I wouldn't be able to with the built-in Mac adapter, and they cost the same.
If you're just looking for wireless mice, printers, and keyboards it might be worth it, but if you have a PDA, skip it.
Do you not read well, or are you a troll?
Go read that first link you supplied us. They are *targetted* by the bastards at Gator, who add their own ads to apple.com pages. It is the reverse which is scorn-worthy.
Now go read your second link, which gives no real information at all. Go to ThinkSecret, read the full blurbs elsewhere on powerpage.org.
Now what do you think Apple is trying to accomplish?
Jobs is sick and tired of leaking assholes in R&D stealing all his fire every year by providing specifications to "journalists". He's finally gotten pissed off enough about it that Apple is now going to make damn sure they find who did it, and then fire their asses. If the press and your competitors were getting advance warning of your unreleased products, complete with specs and price, you'd be pissed too.
.sig: Now legally binding!
On the Apple forums, several people have described random kernel panics and general operating unpleasantness after going with cheap RAM.
The only place I would get Mac RAM from would be Crucial.com, and they're more or less the price of the Apple RAM, though the 1GB is a hundred less. Crucial is a division of Micron and thoroughly tests their RAM.
The problem is that some people report issues with using PC2700 RAM in the mini, some report overheating (you need quality RAM because of that cramped airflow in the casing), and so on.
Make sure you people manually upgrading your minis get high-quality RAM that is up to spec!
Did you read the page? Do you understand what the hell is going on there?
Scroll down to the targeted host apple.com and click on it (link provided for you).
Now read the WHOLE PAGE. Those are advertisers that Gator pops up WHEN YOU ARE BROWSING APPLE.COM.
Key distinction there. It's not that APPLE is advertising. It's that gator is DISPLAYING OTHER ADS when you are on Apple.com.
Living proof that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
As for the suing thing, Apple is actually suing to find out who the employees are that are leaking details. I'm not that happy about them suing they guy but I have to say that whoever leaked these details has probably crossed the line because they have seriously broken a contract a NDA they signed. Previous rumors have been close but this last wave was just too exacting in detail.
If you want to be angry at someone how about wondering why these employees do not come forward and give themselves up instead of letting this kid twist in the wind.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Yeah, but Apple installs for you. That's probably worth the extra $100 to many people. For me I'll install my own when my mini arrives.
Oh, and don't buy registered ECC, Mac mini won't support it. It needs to be unbuffered and unregistered memory for the Mac mini. You can use PC 3200 (DDR 400) but it runs at the slower speed.
Sorry, with the 10-day after ship price protection, and automatic price changes on not-yet-shipped orders, your conspiracy falls apart. None of the 'early adopters' got screwed on this one, despite your suggestions. Anyone smart enough to call Apple got refunds. Story over.
Now about that "8x" Superdrive...
Probably -1 Redundant by now, but here:
Orders that haven't shipped yet automatically get the current price.echo 33676832766569823265328479713269.8639857989Pq | dc
Um, hate to break it to you, but you'd be paying that same $80 from Crucial. You can't just add another 256MB DIMM; there's only one slot. You'll have to buy a 512MB and take out the DIMM that's already there.
So to recap, what apple is installing is "better" in terms of stability, and if they use faster-rated RAM (say, PC3000) to build it, the speed lost to ECC and buffering will be negligible compared to normal PC2700.
It doesn't work that way. SDRAM is synchronous memory and the chipset will attempt to run the memory at the speed of the bus. Faster memory will not make the bus go any faster than the chipset's rated speed.
For example, I had a KT333 chipset which had a 333 mhz bus speed. It used PC2700 memory, which is 333 mhz memory. I had a power surge and my MB died. So I replaced it with a KT266 motherboard, which only has a 266 mhz bus speed (PC2100 speed). I still used my old PC2700 memory, but the memory now operates at the bus speed, which is 266 mhz. It is not any faster than if I just had PC2100 memory in it, since it can only run as fast as the chipset can drive it.
The Mac mini's chipset works at 333 mhz, which is PC2700 speed. Putting in PC3000 or faster won't make the memory speed be any faster- it'll always run at 333 mhz.
Ok, so I too was curious about the mac mini and I would love to have one at home to play with. So I priced one out. Below is the one I priced out and a comparable Dell system. Now the Dell does have a keyboard and mouse, but I tried to get them as close as possible. They also both have 1 year warranties and free shipping. It should also be said that dell is currently running a 15% off special that ends today.
Mac mini
512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 DIMM
80GB Ultra ATA drive
4x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
56K v.92 Modem
Mac OS X - U.S. English
1.42GHz PowerPC G4
Subtotal $774.00
Dell Dimension 4700
* Pentium® 4 Processor 520 with HT Technology (2.80GHz, 800 FSB)
* 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (2x256M)
* 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
* Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive
* Windows XP Home
* 56k Modem
Subtotal $685.00
So my big question, besides the obvious price drop from normal Apple systems and putting aside the whole Mac vs. x86 platform, is where is the real price savings for a new user buying a new home computer? Granted the 15% off is a big factor, but Dell runs similar specials all the time.
since last Thursday and it has so far exceeeded my expectations in every way. I contacted Apple last night and they are refunding the price difference to reflect the price drops, I cannot complain. Of course if those prices would have been lower initially I might have ordered more upgrades, but overall I can say this has been an excellent experience with Apple again.
Ha ha, I'm making a stupid pun!
I know these comments contain the inevitable PC-to-Mac price comparisons, but are they equivalent? One fellow found out that the RAM price difference is only about $29 (installed) if the identical type of memory is selected.
So my question is this: How about if we compare a Mac Mini to a mini-ITX system? Now we're in about the same price range, with similar limitations on upgrades. Plus it's harder (impossible?) to get a suitably powerful processor in a mITX PC.
Anandtech compared the Mini with a full-size Dell - they'd have to, there's no mini-ITX Dell systems that I'm aware of. I hope there's someone else here who thinks that's just stupid: "Hey guys, guess what? I just did a price comparison between a dual-Opteron system and a high-end laptop. The Opteron box is so much better for the price. Now excuse me while I place it in my laptop bag and take it on a business trip!"
Fred
"A fool and his freedom are soon parted"
-RMS
Apple says the warranty is only void if you damage any parts of the mini in the upgrade process. It would be illegal for them to void your warranty just because you upgraded your system. Think of installing a new oil filter in a car.
The Bluetooth support on the Mac mini is completely programmable. As such, you can do anything with it that Bluetooth supports.
Some of the Bluetooth support that is built into OS X includes:
I have Bluetooth enabled on my PowerBook, and use it with a Bluetooth mouse and my Sony Ericsson T610 cell phone. The mouse works like any other wirelsss mouse (but doesn't need a dongle), and I have the phone set-up for file transfer with the PowerBook, GPRS internet connectivity for instant, on-the-road Internet connectivity, sending and receiving SMS messages from the PowerBook, dialling phone numbers, and synchronization of my address book and calendar between the phone and the PowerBook/.Mac. I haven't installed Sailing Clicker just yet (which allows you to use your bluetooth-enabled cell phone as a remote control for the Mac), but have it sitting in my Downloads directory waiting for some free time to play with it.
In short, there is a lot of cool stuff you can do with Bluetooth -- if you have suitable Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Yaz.
And how much is VAT in Belgium? Try comparing the price without VAT to the USA price which is without their sales tax...
And according to Anand's article, buying a 512mb stick is actually cheaper through Apple... though you don't get to keep the 256mb stick afterwards... If you sold the 256mb stick, then yes, it's cheaper to buy your own.
GPL Deconstructed
For me, this is a killer system. It's not weak, and I know what I mean by a killer system.
Yes, this is a killer system.
It's not a quad processor 4 GIGA-PLEX-ZOWIE-BAM with optional tinted windows and a 1GIG 32x AGP-ultra mega 6D graphics card...but show me a $825 system that is.
Being $825 and having the features that it does in itself makes it a "killer system". SO STFU.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
For completeness, you need to add iLife '05 for the Mac. That retails around $79, but I bet you'd be hard pressed to find a suite for a similar price in the PC world.
You also forgot to configure the DVD/CD drive option the same on the Dell. When you do, it adds $35.
What's still different in the technical details? The mini includes Firewire and a real video card. You need to add $110 to the Dell to get those. Now you're up to $685 + $35 + $110 = $830.
The only technical details the Dell has now over the mini is that the (minimum optional) video card is better (I think) than the 9200 in the mini and that the 4700 has 6 USB ports on it instead of 2, if you care to have that many.
Is the mini a good buy? Uh, well, technically, yes. Unless you're going to quibble about raw processor performance.
Look. At this level of machine, it's a new game. Make your choice based on what you want. Price is not an issue anymore. Instead, sit down and ask yourself whether you want to try:
* A new user experience. Yes, there will be a learning curve if you've never used one. There's no Start button. There's one menu bar. It will take you a few days. Big deal, likely.
* A new level of security--whether through design or obscurity, your choice. This will save you a few days. Each month. No joke.
* Lower number, but higher average quality (typically) app selection. What do you use? What can't you live without? A lot of good stuff is ported. Some good stuff is not. There are sometimes great alternatives, sometimes not.
Apple's giving those at this price point the chance to make a personal selection that has very little to do with financials. Enjoy making it.
A posting on MacWorld's forum on the Mini has an entry from someone who took their's apart and discovered a 5400 rpm drive instead of the 4200 rpm part. (not to say all of them come this way)
I declare shenanigans.
I ran my PB17 for about 4 months (512mb, 4200? rpm HD, 1.33 ghz cpu) and it was plenty fast doing real world work (daily on-site video production for a public school system).
Is this the new angle of attack for the Mac-haters?
it's a 2.5" hard drive asswipe. capacities larger than 80gb are only just now appearing, and are still quite rare in this form factor.
Kensington has a nice deal on a keyboard and mouse for the new Mac mini. The mouse is a two-button scroll-wheel deal.
Mike van Lammeren
It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.
The machine didn't even swap. Impressive.
See, this MAC is being marketed to people who already have those things. I assume you have a computer? If your monitor is DVI or VGA compatible, it will work! Hell, you can even hook it up to a TV with the optional S video adapter! Your keyboard and mouse must be of the USB variety, but most are these days, and if you can't find them for cheap, you're not trying very hard. Try a swap meet or a flea market (or Ebay) If you don't mind second hand. Or just get an Emac or an Imac. As the Pretenders sang, Stop your sobbin'
Does the Mac Mini really come with a slow 2.5" laptop hard drive?
Yes, although some buyers are reporting that their drives are 5400rpm (compared to the 4200rpm of most laptop drives).
f it does come with a slow hard drive, could someone stick there own 3.5" 7,200RPM hard drive in place of it?
Almost certainly not due to space limitations. There are 7200rpm 2.5" drives which you could probably use, but in most cases it will be more convenient to use Firewire external drives.
If you can put your own standard hard drive in, does the Mac Mini come with install disks or would you have to go out and buy a new copy of Mac OS X?
They have real OS X install CDs.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
After seeing this I called the 1800 number and got a rebate. It was the easiest thing I have ever done with a computer company. The Apple Store offers price protection for products ub to ten day AFTER SHIPMENT, not ordering. The policy and the phone number to call can be found here [apple.com]. I called last night and they've credited my card. PRICES The Apple Store endeavors to offer you competitive prices on current Apple products and selected Sale and Apple Certified Reconditioned products. Your total order price will include the price of the product (on the day of shipping) plus any applicable sales tax and shipping charges. Apple reserves the right to change prices for products displayed at the Apple Store at any time. Should Apple reduce its price on any shipped product within 10 calendar days of shipment, you may contact Apple Sales Support at 1-800-676-2775 to request a refund or credit of the difference between the price you were charged and the current selling price. To receive the refund or credit you must contact Apple within 14 business days of shipment. http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespoli cies.html#Apple%20Prices
Stranded.org
Okay, so the prices before tax aren't that different ($499 us, $550 eu), it's still worth the trip if you buy say a cinema display. (Which of course I will not.)
I still think it's illogical to overcharge us "just in case the dollar should become more expensive". Firstly, I don't think that's going to happen in the next 4 years, and secondly I wouldn't mind if they'd adjust their prices. That's why currencies fluctuate in the first place.
But indeed, point taken.. the prices before tax aren't that different anymore.
> Apple doesn't even allow clones any more.
No, there just haven't been any for several years.
Apple did *not* refuse to renew the cloning licenses. They *did* insist on larger fees on upper end machines, and the cloners refused.
The more expensive machines with fatter margins for apple had always paid the bulk of the R&D costs. The cloners weren't paying any of that under the old deal.
hawk
IIRC from the disections I have seen, the mini only has 1 slot for ram, so you'll need to snag an 1G stick and then you'll need to remove the 256M stick thats already in there. That is a good deal thought.
-kaplanfx
Visualize Whirled Peas
While I generally do agree with your comment, you should note that OSX can be very comparable to Linux if you set it up that way, seeing as how the OS has a Unix core, has a terminal app, an X11 server, a BASH shell, and a number of other open-source tools and apps that are very common to the your average *nix user. But, as you stated, OSX can be damned pretty OS that doesn't require a lot of mucking around by the end user, but the options are there.
"Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."
i priced a Mac Mini with all the upgrades, it came out to $1222.
i priced this at logic Supply:
Morex 3677 mini-ITX case Silver $85.00
VIA EPIA MII12000 Mini-ITX Motherboard $214.00
Notebook 2.5" Hard Drive 80GB $175.00
Panasonic Slot Loading CD-RW / DVD $99.00
PC2100 / DDR266 memory 1024MB $290.00
Microsoft Windows XP Pro with SP2 $175.00
Netgear WG511 54 Mbps Wireless PCMCIA Card $49.00
Combo Keyboard, Mouse and Speakers $21.00
Sub-Total: $1,108.00
note that the Mac mini has a slightly faster CPU (and i'm willing to bet the G4 will out-perform the Via Eden in most cases). the Mini has a DVD burner as opposed to a DVD-ROM/CD-RW. the Mini has Apple's wireless keyboard.
so, the Mac Mini price is at least competitive with other small form factor computers, if not regular full size computers.
I bought mini w/512 and wifi, $653. Got it last Friday and love it.
Went to the apple site and went thru the order process again out of curiosity. Same price.
I feel better.
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
(the Mac mini is sweet and cheap cheap for what you get, but I want to run Linux -- I'm a fan now!
:-p).
There are PowerPC ports of Gentoo, Debian, and a few other Linuxes (Linuxen?
Feel free to purchase that Mini!!!
Sure, if you're talking full size HDsm but the Mini uses notebook sized drives. Let me know how many 160 GB notebook drives you've come across.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
See this. It appears that DDR performance is not affected by CAS. I do remember the PC133 days, though, and CAS did make a difference back then.
Also, running RAM at lower than its rated speed doesn't necessarily ensure stable operation at a lower CAS latency.