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Tormentius
The voices in your head
The voices in your head
Joined: 14 Dec 2002
Posts: 10054
PostPosted: 02-23-2005 05:01 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Hello folks,

I've been thinking of picking up a Mac Mini just for the hell of it. Does anyone own one? Opinions?
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4g3nt_Smith
Mr. Anderson!
Mr. Anderson!
Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 1615
PostPosted: 02-23-2005 05:08 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I have to say you'd be massively disappointed fi you bought one, as there are no BSOD's, no shitty, built-in to the shell browsers, and no generic and unexplainable times when the OS just hoses itself. Aside from that, I hear its a great little system, but if you do buy one, I'd recommend at least 512 megs of RAM, and not buying said RAM from Apple since they like to charge too much ala PC OEMS.
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4g3nt_Smith
Mr. Anderson!
Mr. Anderson!
Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 1615
PostPosted: 02-23-2005 05:12 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Also, wait until Tiger is released, unless you like paying for something you could've had for free had you waited 3 months.
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Canis
canis
canis
Joined: 14 Jan 2001
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PostPosted: 02-23-2005 09:52 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


The Mac Mini is great. I dont know WTF smith is referring to. It's limited on upgrades, but the software is just the same as what's available on other macs. Waiting for Tiger wont do anything, since the hardware wont change at that time.
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Tormentius
The voices in your head
The voices in your head
Joined: 14 Dec 2002
Posts: 10054
PostPosted: 02-23-2005 11:58 PM           Profile   Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Canis wrote:
The Mac Mini is great. I dont know WTF smith is referring to. It's limited on upgrades, but the software is just the same as what's available on other macs. Waiting for Tiger wont do anything, since the hardware wont change at that time.


Thanks man :icon14:
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4g3nt_Smith
Mr. Anderson!
Mr. Anderson!
Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 1615
PostPosted: 02-24-2005 01:09 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


But waiting for Tiger will save him the money required to purchase the upgrade that would come standard on every Mac.
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Canis
canis
canis
Joined: 14 Jan 2001
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PostPosted: 02-24-2005 01:53 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Ah yes. I thought you were referring to some advantage that Tiger would offer in terms of performance and efficiency over the latest OS.
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4g3nt_Smith
Mr. Anderson!
Mr. Anderson!
Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 1615
PostPosted: 02-24-2005 02:28 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Well, if the trend continues, Tiger will run better on existing hardware then previous versions did (so I hear from people who have used OS X since 10.0)
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Canis
canis
canis
Joined: 14 Jan 2001
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PostPosted: 02-25-2005 01:18 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Of course the latest OS will manage current hardware more efficiently, but I meant in terms of support for newer hardware, which is what I thought you were referring to earlier on.
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4g3nt_Smith
Mr. Anderson!
Mr. Anderson!
Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 1615
PostPosted: 02-25-2005 05:17 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Well, there also some rumors of Apple boostig all the product lines whose graphics cards currently capable of Core Image, replacing them with ones that can.
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saturn
oldskool
oldskool
Joined: 06 Mar 2000
Posts: 40788
PostPosted: 02-28-2005 02:44 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


4g3nt_Smith wrote:
Also, wait until Tiger is released, unless you like paying for something you could've had for free had you waited 3 months.


so it's coming out in 3 months?
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4g3nt_Smith
Mr. Anderson!
Mr. Anderson!
Joined: 15 Feb 2004
Posts: 1615
PostPosted: 02-28-2005 06:05 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


First half of '05. Three month from now is almost June, so it's not unlkely.
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saturn
oldskool
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Joined: 06 Mar 2000
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PostPosted: 03-04-2005 10:20 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I've seen some of the new features, looks great. Shame it will take another 3 months, I want to buy that Powerbook now :mad:
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NCG_Mike[temp]
Gibblet
Gibblet
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: 03-06-2005 03:00 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


10.4 will be released at WWDC, I'm pretty confident of that.

Build numbers have slowed down but I do know there's a big gap in build numbers between what the Premier ADC members are seeing and what the elite members are seeing. Can't say more there.

As for what it's like, it's noticeably faster on a dual G5. It also has a lot of features which are good for a developer like myself... GCC 4.0 with *auto vectorization* of code and a load of Obj-C work has been done. XCode 2.0 looks more like Project Builder, which is a relief.

FYI, auto vectorization is automatic Velocity (Altivec) codegen by the compiler. If you're still using a G3 system, sell it now as you will see a lot of requirements need a G4 as a minimum.
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Canis
canis
canis
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PostPosted: 03-06-2005 06:52 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


I thought vectorized code could run on a G3, only a shitload slower than a G4 or G5. FFS they only stopped selling G3-based comps a year or so ago, which they should keep in mind for a few more years at least.
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Psyche911
True Nightmare
True Nightmare
Joined: 02 Jan 2002
Posts: 3560
PostPosted: 03-06-2005 10:05 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


My mom is considering buying a Mac. I'm not sure if I should convince her to get one of these or an iMac G5. The iMac would only be a couple hundred more after buying a decent monitor for the Mini....

P.S. Hi all. :)
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Canis
canis
canis
Joined: 14 Jan 2001
Posts: 17305
PostPosted: 03-07-2005 12:18 AM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


It wont matter. The iMac G5 will give her a better processor and GPU, but with those two options it will be more of what appeals to her rather than performance.
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NCG_Mike[temp]
Gibblet
Gibblet
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 16
PostPosted: 03-08-2005 02:20 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


No, from the docs of GCC 4, auto vectorized code need a GPU (Altivec/Velocity). It's not so say that GCC will do a good job at it *but* it's the first GCC that does it. FYI, .Net has such a feature.
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NCG_Mike[temp]
Gibblet
Gibblet
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 16
PostPosted: 03-08-2005 02:20 PM           Profile Send private message  E-mail  Edit post Reply with quote


Psyche911 wrote:
My mom is considering buying a Mac. I'm not sure if I should convince her to get one of these or an iMac G5. The iMac would only be a couple hundred more after buying a decent monitor for the Mini....

P.S. Hi all. :)

Get the iMac.
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