01-16-2006, 03:29 PM
Roger,
You should seriously keep your eyes open for a Mini.
I just went from a Smurf, which was upgraded to a G4/450 (with other items like an ATA card, etc.) and 1GB of RAM and a DVD-r, to a Mini.
The mini is a rev 1.
It is configured as follows:
1.42GHz
256MB RAM
32MB Radeon 9200
80GB 4200rpm drive
Combo DVD/CDRW
Modem
(no Blue/Wireless)
It was new, in box, for $323 plus tax.
It's a little screamer!
I ran my Smurf and Panther with just 256MB just to be sure Panther worked well before I made this jump. Was it a little slower? Yes. Did it run perfectly - and the virtual memory perform well? Absolutely.
So I bought it.
Right now, as I'm typing this, I've got Safari open and Mail.app.
AND... Folding@Home, the king of processor hogs.
Does it WANT more RAM? Sure. It could definitely use the extra $75 of 1GB RAM. Does it NEED it from the get-go? Hell no. Especially if you aren't trying to fold and do other things simultaneously.
My troubles with system aspects and Colonel Panic (now known as 5-Star General "Old Blood and Guts" Panic) have VANISHED.
It just doesn't get better than this for the money.
The bigger drives in the Blue and White - and the DVD-R, etc., they are all there, but the machine sits dorment for the moment. I've not had a single use for it since I did the 25 DVD back-up of critical data from 4 HDs.
Could you get a G4 tower for a bargain? Probably. Let's say a Sawtooth for ....$125.
You might want a burner in it if it didn't come with one, or a faster one. More RAM. Etc., etc. The list grows.
When you get to the point where it is where you want it, you'll certainly be as close to the price of the Mini I just got to make you question your sanity about getting an old Tower that requires $300 to get a 1.5GHz upgrade into it (granted you could get a dual upgrade, but those are $600) and the question worth asking is.... beyond Tiger, what else is there for such a machine?
Eventually I'm going to get the OWC matching FW/USB2 hub for the Mini.
And inside it will go my 7200/8MB Maxtor (120GB). Perhaps another FW box for the DVD-R I have, but in reality, there are other drives out there I like better, including the Lacie 16x Dual Layer with LightScribe (and Toast 7) that can be had, refurb, for $99!
(OWC has Pioneer OEM recognized Dual Layer SuperDrives to replace the Combo - but they aren't LightScribe).
The Mini was one of the best things Apple could have done. It certainly killed my desire to get a Cube. It's fast, it is capable, it is good for just about everything. You clearly aren't a Video Pro - otherwise you'd already have a G4 tower of some magnitude, if not a G5.
If you find a Mini at a good price, it is such a small purchase that you can't regret it.
Just keep in mind that you need a USB keyboard and mouse, and a standard VGA monitor of some kind (keeping costs low) if you only have a Macintosh/Trinitron monitor.
I know some people have used those converters, but I've never seen one work. And even GoodWill has bargains for $15 on 17" monitors.
j
ps... the older rev 1's like I have come with Panther, iLife '05, and runs smooth as silk
You should seriously keep your eyes open for a Mini.
I just went from a Smurf, which was upgraded to a G4/450 (with other items like an ATA card, etc.) and 1GB of RAM and a DVD-r, to a Mini.
The mini is a rev 1.
It is configured as follows:
1.42GHz
256MB RAM
32MB Radeon 9200
80GB 4200rpm drive
Combo DVD/CDRW
Modem
(no Blue/Wireless)
It was new, in box, for $323 plus tax.
It's a little screamer!
I ran my Smurf and Panther with just 256MB just to be sure Panther worked well before I made this jump. Was it a little slower? Yes. Did it run perfectly - and the virtual memory perform well? Absolutely.
So I bought it.
Right now, as I'm typing this, I've got Safari open and Mail.app.
AND... Folding@Home, the king of processor hogs.
Does it WANT more RAM? Sure. It could definitely use the extra $75 of 1GB RAM. Does it NEED it from the get-go? Hell no. Especially if you aren't trying to fold and do other things simultaneously.
My troubles with system aspects and Colonel Panic (now known as 5-Star General "Old Blood and Guts" Panic) have VANISHED.
It just doesn't get better than this for the money.
The bigger drives in the Blue and White - and the DVD-R, etc., they are all there, but the machine sits dorment for the moment. I've not had a single use for it since I did the 25 DVD back-up of critical data from 4 HDs.
Could you get a G4 tower for a bargain? Probably. Let's say a Sawtooth for ....$125.
You might want a burner in it if it didn't come with one, or a faster one. More RAM. Etc., etc. The list grows.
When you get to the point where it is where you want it, you'll certainly be as close to the price of the Mini I just got to make you question your sanity about getting an old Tower that requires $300 to get a 1.5GHz upgrade into it (granted you could get a dual upgrade, but those are $600) and the question worth asking is.... beyond Tiger, what else is there for such a machine?
Eventually I'm going to get the OWC matching FW/USB2 hub for the Mini.
And inside it will go my 7200/8MB Maxtor (120GB). Perhaps another FW box for the DVD-R I have, but in reality, there are other drives out there I like better, including the Lacie 16x Dual Layer with LightScribe (and Toast 7) that can be had, refurb, for $99!
(OWC has Pioneer OEM recognized Dual Layer SuperDrives to replace the Combo - but they aren't LightScribe).
The Mini was one of the best things Apple could have done. It certainly killed my desire to get a Cube. It's fast, it is capable, it is good for just about everything. You clearly aren't a Video Pro - otherwise you'd already have a G4 tower of some magnitude, if not a G5.
If you find a Mini at a good price, it is such a small purchase that you can't regret it.
Just keep in mind that you need a USB keyboard and mouse, and a standard VGA monitor of some kind (keeping costs low) if you only have a Macintosh/Trinitron monitor.
I know some people have used those converters, but I've never seen one work. And even GoodWill has bargains for $15 on 17" monitors.
j
ps... the older rev 1's like I have come with Panther, iLife '05, and runs smooth as silk