Hi,

I'm looking at purchasing a Mac Mini (Used) in the next couple of months, What I want to know is will a Mac Mini Core Solo be faster than the 1.42Ghz G4, Its going to be used with a 19" LCD & Eye TV what Mac Mini would be better for the purpose.

Also I have been look at prices in the COMP NOW clearance list, do they ship to Tassie also what other Apple Centres have regular clearance lists? (LInks would be great)

Thanks in Advance.

William

Apple claim that the Solo was faster than the previous top of the line mac mini G4 - I've used both and personally I can't see a difference. However, I do see a noticeable difference with a dual core, so I'd be looking for one of those - also they handle HDTV much better!

EDIT: Dam enter key - and also the bus speed in the Solo is faster - however, when I first read that Apple were putting a Solo into a mac mini I was disappointed, they promised power, and I didn't see that in the Solo - many will probably disagree with me!

My budget won't stretch to a core duo mini, and I seem to get a bit more for my Money with the G4:

1.42Ghz, 512Mb Ram, 80GB HD, SuperDrive, Airport, Bluetooth,

Also would the Mac Mini G4 run photoshop CS2 better than my Current Macbook (see sig)

Thanks

re. photoshop - yes and no - as you know it's not native to Intel yet, but you have a fair whack of ram in there - the intel is the better investment. What are the full specs of the solo mini?

Solo Mini:

1.5GHz, 512Mb Ram, 60GB HD, Combo, Airport, Bluetooth

$599

Without a doubt.

I'd be getting the Core Solo and as much ram as you can afford though. Rosetta isn't as bad as some might have you believe, and 10.4.8 saw some good speed enhancements to it. Plus, CS3 isn't that far off...

So the Core Solo is a lot better? Does anyone know of any bench mark test that have been done comparing the two.

I think I'm still leaning towards the G4 as it has the extra hard drive space and the dvd burner which are benefits for a Media Centre Computer.

William

Personally I'd go for a Core Duo especially for HDTV and for Photoshop use.

Don't get a G4 if you are going to use it for media center purposes!

The intel has frontrow + remote, and you can upgrade it with either a Yonah or Merom CPU, making it as powerful as the top of the line iMac or MBP (in CPU terms, anyway). The G4 is EOLed, there's not really any upgrade potential, and you don't get the frontrow+remote combo.

Remember: the intel mini can have it's CPU upgraded with anything from a 1.66Ghz Core Duo (Yonah) to a 2.33Ghz Core 2 Duo (Merom).

Ohhh, well then I'll wait and save up the bit extra to get the Core Duo then, I completely forgot about the remote and front row. How much are the upgrades?

William

PS: Anyone got a Core Duo they want to sell

http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=merom

If you get the Core Solo, you will be able to upgrade to a Core 2 Duo later on starting at $319 (see link above). Swapping out the CPU is not easy if you aren't good with taking apart computers, but if you have any experience with such things it's not very hard either. Look on the net to found out what needs to be done.

You only save around $10-20 by getting a Core Duo instead of a Core 2 Duo as an upgrade, so don't bother with the (older) Core Duo.

After using both it's the intel all the way. I can't believe how slow Macs were before Intel. But realistically, if your working in a creative field.. no mac mini will cut the mustard.. unless you have the patience of a saint. Beachball anyone?

The core solo would be better as it is newer and intel and will be supported in the future and i do believe it is faster than the 1.42Ghz Mac Mini (remember faster bus and ram)

And don't forget a Solo can take 2gb ram max, and a G4 only 1gb ram max. This is important down the track too.

I found my G4 1.42 with 1gb to be a bit limited (and still managed to make it swap). My duo with 2gb ram now sits at about 1.4gb usage constantly.

NOTE: ignore the edit on the post above, I hit the wrong button (grrr)

If you're looking at the CompNow clearance list, they have some bargains on iMacs - much better value than the Mac Mini in my opinion. There are Intel iMacs listed for $999!