Thinking about getting one. Not a real big fan of mac but never really had one to sit down and really dig into. They say there the best for video editing, which is all I really use my destop machine for anyway as my laptop I use for everything else. Hmmm ...just not sure :smt009
I've worked video editing on both macs and PCs, and while macs have very high quality, you can get very good results with a PC that has lots of ram and a good video card. It pretty much depends on how you capture video and what system you are more used to. If you've always been a PC kind of dude, get a 3 button, scroll, optical USB mouse with your Mac, or you'll be VERY confused the first days. Also, lightwave works pretty nice on a mac that's not falling apart (like the ones in the lab back in college) so if you're into 3D modeling and stuff... Though I've seen the deadly colour spiral of Mac-crashing many a time with that...
Mac crashes usually happen in colleges where they are abused and not properly maintained. I dunno about a mini for video editing... its kinda like saying - my friend has a Pentium 4 PC and says its great for editing!! So I'm getting a PC - I'm getting a celeron! I mean I'm not a HUGE mac expert, but it seems kinda a cut down mac to me - the celeron of macs! Not that celerons don't work.
I have an ibook which would perform similarly to a Mini. I needed a laptop; it was a good choice for me, it's nice and light and gets 4+ hours to a charge with the screen fully bright. I pretty much only do stuff that normal people use a computer for, plus JSP/SQL coding. I use iPhoto and make porno-like music in GarageBand alot (you can use this to make goofy soundtracks for the video you're editing). iMovie and the higher level Final Cut Express and Pro seem to be laid out very well but to be honest I haven't done much with them. Having said that, the Mini would be a good thing to screw around with OS X on. I'd suggest upgrading the memory to 512MB or a full gig since you plan on doing video editing, and maybe also an external hard drive. It's also good for learning *nix stuff since it's based on BSD; there's a fully integrated CLI and X11 system for GUI *nix apps too (you can actually run Debian and KDE from within OS X if you'd care to). It's a *nix that doesn't require you to sprout a propellor from your head to use it.
Good thing my university has a good Apple sysadmin. You at least need someone who knows what cron job and "reparing permissions" mean to maintain heavily used systems I'm told that if you're basically editing your vacation videos and adding soundtracks to them or making short films, maybe even with a few special fx, it'll be more than adequate. As with doing anything beyond browsing the interweb on any computer, having more ram than stock makes the experience more pleasant.
I am planning on buying a mac this year, but I fear I'll just end up buying all new next-generation consoles... I hate myself as an early adopter. :-D
I'm planning on buying one as soon as my pay comes through, mainly to bugger about in OS X on, a\nd with a view to replacing the big beige box with a powermac/powerbook
It's not a Celeron at all. It's a G4, as opposed to a G5 (the latest model). There's a big difference.
so is this thing ideal for a starter mac then? all id be using it for is a media centre under my tv nothing too heavy and some light net use
I'd definately look into one, it would be a nice starter machine for the type of graphics work I do. Unfortunately, a $500 Mac Mini is about as feasable right now for me as the ideal dual-G5 with Apple Studio Display. :smt022
I picked up a Mac Mini - reasonably impressed and it does what I want it to do well, it's a shame it doesn't run Battlefield 1942 so well otherwise I'd be on it all the time, on the other hand if it was good enough for Battlefield 1942 I'd never get any work done, so I guess it's a catch 22 situation :-(
I already have an emac with a similar spec set, but perhaps I'll pick one up later on to use as a cheap file server or spare Mac.
