Took the plunge and got intel Mac

Kyomii · Apr 25, 2006

I took the plunge and got an Intel Mac Mini. I did not have all the money so I went to the Manchester store and my son used his student card and I got 6 per cent discoount (I do not know why it is not 10 per cent like it is online).

We were allowed credit over a two year period but I was concerned about the interest. However, the deal has worked out very well, because with the student discount, the interest on a £699 Mac Mini (they have a £699 one in store) is just £31!!!!

Meaning that the total cost with interest has come to £730

I can certainly live with £31 interest for two years credit ! It is going to cost us 24 payments of £25, (we paid £130 deposit) which works out at just £6 per week

I went for the high spec mini because my daughter sold her computer and has my old mini, I already have a RevA 1.6 iMac G5 and a 1.33 power book (sold my two computers for that).

I haven't tested it fully yet, but Safari seems slower than usual, and I wondered if this is running under Rosetta? Flash plug in is a little unstable too - but altogether it is a little faster.

I am going to do some video editing on it over the weekend though, so I will let you know how it goes.

Cory Cooper · Apr 25, 2006

Go

I'd be interested to hear how you get on...

Yes, Safari Version 2.0.3 (417.9.2) is a PowerPC binary, not Universal in the latest Tiger revision, 10.4.6.

What version of OS X came on the mini...10.4.6? Did you use Software Update yet?

C

Ric · Apr 25, 2006

Kyomii said:
I took the plunge and got an Intel Mac Mini...

Good for you ! You'll have to let us know how you get on. I 'really' can't justify getting one myself yet ! (Oh how I've tried !)

Next purchase is for Wifey, so she'll probably want a new iBook...if they come out soon ! Her G3 is starting to show it's age a bit, and she'd like an internal CD burner !

I'm amazed that Safari is 'not' a Universal Binary ? ! I would of thought that Apple would have made that native, by now !

Personnaly, I will probably will wait till Adobe get their CS2 packages to be Universal...so that won't be till the end of the year at the earliest...I won't get any improvement in speed till then !

regards

Ric

Kyomii · Apr 25, 2006

I would have thought Safari would have been universal by now too.

I did use software update - I am not sure if it came with 10.4.6 or not, I just did the general OS update which was almost 200 Meg

There are updates for the other apps too such as iLife etc, but I haven't installed those yet.

On another note, I recieved an email informing me that THIS PLACE are selling the intel Macs with Windows pre-installed .

A bit pre-emptive perhaps since bootcamp is beta and has known issues don't you think?

Ric · Apr 25, 2006

Hi there,

from what I can see, it is !

I shall check further, maybe the Flash plugin is 'not' and that is creating the slowdown ?

From what I've read, most BootCamp users have had to format their drives whilst installing XP...then reinstalling OSX on another partition. Once thats done it's meant to be quite stable...

regards

Ric

Kyomii · Apr 26, 2006

Hi Ric

Thanks for your reply.

I don't think it is the flash plug in because the whole reason for me updating the flash was to speed things up because it was slow LOL

I am going to purchase a windows xp in the near future and have a go at putting it on the Mac Mini.

I would have thought a format would be necessary since it is a different file system - hence why I am not going to install anything else on the machine because I would have to do it all again.

I am a littlle apprehensive because I have also read about some people who used boot camp who are now unable to boot their machines into OSX.

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,125393,00.asp

Ric · Apr 26, 2006

Hi there,

I wasn't very clear before...

Bootcamp allows you to 'partion' your drive so that part of it is ready to take XP...leaving your Mac with a smaller partion keeping all your files intact. When it does this it doesn't 'reformat' the whole drive...it just gets a free chunk...formats that for XP.

The idea is that you can (will be able to) install XP whilst keeping all your data.

From what I have read, in the beta this is the bit that is causing the problem.

If you don't install the Bootcamp way and you reformat your drive and create the two partions (one for OSX and one for XP) then install XP...then install OSX this has a higher success rate !

From what I can see the Flash plugin on your install Disks 'is' Universal see below...

Unless you're prepared for a lot of installing/reinstalling and would like to use the Mac Mini then you may be better waiting till the next version. If you do install it just make sure that any 'data' you have on there that you want to keep is backed up just in case !!!

regards

Ric

Kyomii · Apr 26, 2006

Thanks Ric.

I am thinking that maybe installing XP on an external drive connected to the mini may be a better option.

This should not affect any OSX files, I would not need to use bootcamp either, and have the portability of moving the XP installation between intel Macs (if I get any more LOL)

What do you think?

Ric · Apr 26, 2006

Hi there,

I'm afraid it doesn't work like that at the minute !

You have to use BootCamp ! ;-(

The BootCamp bit 'is' the important bit...

This allows the Mac to recognize the 'boot partition' for Windows...

To quote Apple

EFI and BIOS
Macs use an ultra-modern industry standard technology called EFI to handle booting. Sadly, Windows XP, and even the upcoming Vista, are stuck in the 1980s with old-fashioned BIOS. But with Boot Camp, the Mac can operate smoothly in both centuries.

Maybe when it officially comes out in 10.5 you may be able to run it from an External drive ?

regards

Ric

Kyomii · Apr 26, 2006

Oh bollards!

Oh well, I think I will wait for the next revision of bootcamp before I take the plung. Thanks for the information

Ric · Apr 26, 2006

Sorry !

I think it will probably be a little 'buggy' for a while !

Anything that 'messes' (reconfigures) with the 'boot' process can always cause problems.

regards

Ric

Kyomii · Apr 26, 2006

Hi Ric,

There is an "unknown" time limit on the beta of bootcamp, this puts me off using it even more at the moment.

I think I will wait for leapord to come out as I would be upgrading to leapord anyway

Kyomii · Apr 29, 2006

My friend has took my two youngest (10 and 12) over to Lancaster to stay with her for the weekend to give me and hubby a break.

I can't get out since I am in a flare of pain with my condition, and oldest two are self-sufficinet now, so may use my free time to put windows on the new Mac after I have had a rest.

I will let you know how it goes ***fingers crossed it will not mess up

***

Ric · May 1, 2006

Hmmm all gone quiet,

are you in the process of tearing your hair out ?

;-)

regards

Ric

Kyomii · May 1, 2006

Hi Ric,

Still got my hair, just didnm't get round to installing windows as the flare of pain became worse and I could not concentrate. I am definately going to do it though and will test anything you want

Ric · May 2, 2006

Hi there,

hope you are felling a bit better ! ;-)

Thanks, you'll have to let us know how it goes...

regards

Ric