I assume that you would want better video performance than you would get in the mini. It is easy to add an external drive via firewire.

If you deal with large files, a desktop mac would be a better choice. It also seems that the ram upgrade is expensive enough to put you in the desktop range by the time you make that addition.

Shop the refurbs from the Apple site for nice deals.

I've run PS and the CS pkgs on a Cube (G4, 500Mhz.); a full install of apple software, Panther, full CS, 1000 fonts is only about 13 Gig storage. The key for me is RAM. On a G4, Panther and these apps work fine with at least 1Gig of memory, but will struggle at 512Meg. A separate Firewire backup drive is nice, also.

I feel the miniMac is more for web, email, wp, and PS Elements, not so much for serious work.

JMHO.

Regards

John

Well, either buy the mini for $500 and upgrade in 2 years for another $500, or by a $1800 tower now, and then uprgade it over the next 4 years piecemeal.

Also, I bet within a week or so you'll start seeing instructions on how to add RAM yourself to it.

Now, if you're doing super-high-res Photoshop work, well, then maybe you want to go with a tower and maxed out RAM...but that'll cost you much more than than the Mini.

What would be cool is if you could connect multiple MINIs together to increase processing and RAM...sort of a mini-supercomputer. ;o)

Finally, I'm running a bunch of design software on an old Powerbook 665mhz machine. The minis are what? 3 times faster than that?

The mini is almost as powerful as my TiBook, which runs most apps (such as CS) just fine. The mini is very attractive for a lot of reasons. It just doesn't seem robust, which is something people like us seem to need/like. Not expansion-friendly, etc.

That being said, having to move two full-size towers makes me year for a computer that I could cradle in one hand, along with my limited desk space...perhaps I'll just get Apple's stamp-sized G7 in 2010.

"What would be cool is if you could connect multiple MINIs together to increase processing and RAM...sort of a mini-supercomputer. ;o) "

Well, you can make a Beowulf cluster with G5s, so you could probably do it with Minis.

Depending on what sort of work you do, James, you'll probably find the mini doesn't have enough power for you.

Isn't it cute though?! (You could download all your music onto it, as well as video and/or photos and attach it to your telelvision and have an all night entertainment area!)

I couldn't download all of my music to it. ;-)

neither could I. :^>

Well, this isn't going to be my primary PC, it's going to be for mac stuff that I want to bring home once in a while, which while most design file formats are cross platform, I still run into a bit of trouble especially with converting mac postscript fonts on the PC (which is a nightmare due to the resource forks). I'm thinking of ordering the $599 one and boosting the ram up to 512MB. With the upgrades and tax, it's not exactly a budget PC anymore but with OS X and its cute form factor, a mac at home would be welcome indeed.

James...don't buy the RAM from Apple. Get it 3rd party. ALWAYS cheaper.

Yeah, James. Check out Crucial.com for quality stuff at good prices. It's where I've bought RAM several years in a row.

Apparently though, you can't upgrade the memory yourself though this is still a bit unclear at this stage. As Darrel mentioned earlier, though, I expect to see some way around any possible restriction. It also only has one DIMM slot. If it's clear that you can do it yourself with breaking the little case and voiding the warranty, I will undoubtedly go third party, but if not, I may consider Apple's inflated prices. Third party prices for a 1GB single DIMM of DDR333 RAM is around $180, Apples price is $425(!!). The uprade to 512MB isn't that bad. (70 (3rd party) vs. 75 (Apple).

Love the avatar, Dylan

Wait a second... wait a second... you people have more that 80Gbs of music???

Great discussion. I've been wonering what other creatives thought if the mini. Considering I'm currently on a G3 Blue Tower this would be considerably faster than what I have now and at a fraction of the price of a G5 Tower. My biggest complaint is that you can't upgrade it yourself. Now if only I could install an external video card

James...I think memory has to 'officially' be put in via an Apple certified person. I have a hunch, though, that you could buy the mini, buy some RAM on your own, then walk into the Apple store and have them do it for you.

I use a PowerBook, 1.6Ghz / 1GB RAM for all my work and have
found it to be very capable. But you're going to want at least 1GB
of RAM. Also, Apple is picky about what RAM they will say is
compatible so I'd just have Apple install it.

On the other hand, if you're used to a G5 I could see how going
home to a slower machine would disappoint.

You'll probably regret buying a Mac mini. Get an older dual G4 or save up for a dual G5.

Ah, the cat is out of the bag, memory is installable by the user, and doesn't void the warranty, see here. Now, adding in bluetooth and airport does bump the price up a lot ($129), something not many people are talking about. Also, it seems that upgrading the internal drive isn't possible, but external drives are fairly cheap. I would say that if this is a backup or work-at-home machine, it would be fine. If it was a daily use machine, i'd be hesitant. It sounds like you just want a work-at-home machine, so I would go for it and install more ram yourself. I second Joe's suggestion of 1 gig of ram: that seems to be the point where OSX is happiest.

You know, the more I look at the mini, the more I think it would be perfect for home use. Unless you're doing video editing, it's great

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4170591.stm

A 1.4 Ghz G4 processor with 512 will certainly do professional graphics. I have several G4 1Ghz at work that are running Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Indesign CS and Quark Xpress 6 doing heavy duty pdf workflow with PDF-X-Robot. Now, they are not as fast as the new G5 boxes that I have but they are very solid machines. PDF-X-Robot will run automated all day long on them every day of the week. I agree with another poster that it won't be good for video editing but for page layout and production it will do the job for sure.

Wait a second... wait a second... you people have more that 80Gbs of music???

I'd also like to know! Are they lossless files, or just a whole bunch of MP3s and AACs?

Re the Mac Mini:

This product is really aimed at - Windows users who already have a PC at home and want to replace it with a Mac. Until now, switching to a home Mac meant getting an iMac or an eMac, where you're essentially having to buy a keyboard, mouse and screen instead of just upgrading the CPU.

This is a smart move since it gets Apple on the sub-$1000 home market. But it's aimed at people who already have a monitor and other peripherals and just want to get a swanky new OS.

Not saying you won't be able to use this as a capable, home workstation... it's just that it wasn't designed for that.

(My brother works at Apple, so I'll pretend to be an expert with his semi-insider info. =)

Joe ... I think you might have mentioned it in an older thread,
but what does your brother do at Apple again?
(besides leak you all the insider info) ;)

"I'd also like to know! Are they lossless files, or just a whole bunch of MP3s and AACs?"

Speaking for myself, My collection is all either mp3 or AAC at 192kbps (some older 128kpbs files too). While I'm not up to 80 gigs yet, a Mac Mini with OS and software on it will take up quite a bit of space and won't fit my collection.

My bro is a training and support consultant (IT, server admin,
software training, etc.). His company is in Phoenix:
http://www.L3training.com/

So, he's my own personal insider, but it's funny how he gets his
insider news from the rumor sites just like the rest of us.

ahhh, nice.

and three cheers for him from this UA alum!

It's already happenning. There's already a video showing how to open the Mini! Huzzah!

Click here

Your link is broken James:
http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/01/taking-apart-mac-mini-how-to.php

Here's a good read, also at Smashworld.com - Mac Mini vs. Airport Express:
http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/01/mac-mini-vs-airport-extremeexpress.php

Thanks for the help Joe. I just wanted you all to know that I pulled the trigger on this and will let you know how it works out. Sadly, I'll only get it around the middle of February. Damn Apple's new-product supply problems Thanks for all the help.