So, as you may or may not know, the mac mini was updated about a month ago and comes in a 2.0 or 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. You can choose 120GB or 320GB hard drive and up to 4GB of RAM.
Today I stopped by the new Apple store in Greensboro, NC (finally open) (which is really nice, and I've heard the largest in NC) and purchased the 2.0 with 120 GB hard drive an added 1GB of RAM (for a total of 2GB RAM) for $50 and left it with them to install. The MacCast actually just had a bit about installing RAM into the mac mini on your own and the general consensus seems to be that you run a high risk of voiding your apple care if you do this. Bottom line, for $50, I just can't see saving any significant money by doing it myself, and I've got better things to do than pry open a new mac mini with a putty knife lol. It should be ready in a couple of days.
So why add the extra RAM and not upgrade the hard drive and the processor? Well, on the RAM - (and I'm not an expert and please feel free to correct me if I speak out of turn here) - from what I've read, it seems that with the new setup with the Nvidia graphics, the RAM gets split between the processor and the graphics card and with the 2GB of RAM the video will jump from 128MB to 256MB. (Also, people report the most you can get to the graphics is 256MB, so there doesn't seem to be a need to go above 2GB for this purpose, at least. Of course, if I'm wrong on this, just let me know.
The processor and the HD: Again, just based on other people's reports, some people claimed to have good luck with 1.8GHz and 1080p and others said that it was a little studdery (is that a word?) but that 2.0 GHz was definitely working well especially with the new Nvidia graphics card.
As for the hard drive space of 120GB versus 320GB, for me, at least, I have a TON of hard drive space , both internal and external, on the Mac Pro. What I am doing now is pointing the external drives which house the movies and TV shows to the public shared folder so the mac mini (and laptop) can access files from the Mac Pro desktop (which I'll talk about in a future post). A big part is to keep the cost down. I only really plan on using the mac mini as a video hub. Maybe some light internet surfing, but that would be about it. So really, there is no need for excessive hard drive space on the mini.
So lets take a look at some pics of the new model, and if you want to see and read more, click here for all the official specs and pics.
So that kinda covers the mac mini and what I'm getting and why. I think next is going to be all about the software. After that hooking up the mac mini to the Samsung TV and Onkyo.
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