[yustr]

Am thinking about getting mrs yustr a new computer and am looking at the mac mini. Mostly because its the cheapest Mac and seems to have everything she needs. All she does is surf, email, play a few internet games (nothing complex), basic photo manipulation, and word processing. (BTW: I'd guess that covers 99% of computer users but that's a topic for another discussion in another place.)

My questions:

Is the mini worth the $600?

That comp has to serve as the hub of our network. I have a wireless router but there has to one main comp controlling it. Can the mini do that? With other windows based computers?

Can she watch TV on it? (I have a Hauppaugh USB TV tuner - will that work?)

Anything else you can think of I should know?

thanks, yustr

 

[Purkinje]

yustr,

The Mac Mini is a great choice for what she wants to do, especially if your budget is on the low side. Mac OS X is, in my opinion, the best choice for home users.

Basic image processing doesn't need that much power. Flickr has a great online photo editor.

As for the wireless router question, I'm fairly sure that your router doesn't need a computer to "control" it. A router can function by itself.

Now, to your Windows question. Yes, Macs and PCs now co-exist peacefully on a network (now that Apple moved away from AppleTalk to TCP/IP, two different networking protocol suites).

Other comments: Apple made the Mac Mini so the memory (SO-DIMM RAM) cannot be upgraded easily by the consumer. The only way to do it, according to Apple, is to send it into an Apple store and have them upgrade it for you. However, there are methods for doing it yourself, but you might void the warranty if you use these methods.

I hope this advice helps! And if any of my advice above is incorrect, please do not hesitate to correct me.

Purkinje

 

[shuuhen]

A Mac Mini should work quite well. For photo editing there is Seashore and The GIMP. Of course if you want Photoshop, it's available for Mac. iPhoto has some basic editing capabilities and can manage photos, although I haven't had much of a reason to use it yet so I don't know its limits (no digital camera).

Mac and Windows machines can coexist fine on the same network. If you need to share files between the machines, it is relatively simple to use Samba (built-in to Mac OS X). Mac OS X can use many different protocols, so it can work with any other OS I can think of over a network.

Apple has actually always been using TCP/IP (pretty much every OS does). The big reason there were problems with Mac and Windows machines on the same network is Macs had one system for sharing files while Windows machines had another. Apple still has AppleTalk, but I doubt you'll need to mess with it ever.

Not sure about the RAM thing since I don't have a Mac Mini or know someone who does. It does appear they prefer it be sent to an Apple-authorized technician.

It looks like your TV tuner may be work on a Mac - http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/23/hauppauge-usb-tv-tuners-now-eyetv-compatible/

 

[yustr]

Thanks for the input. Went out today and the OWMBO liked the iMac. So that's what's sitting on her desk right now.

Everything went together fine. Instant internet access through the router. Haven't tried accessing it from other comps yet but I will tomorrow.

One comment to Apple: why be so cheap with the keyboard cord? It's all of 18 inches. Fine if the comp and board are on the same surface but we have a desk with a keyboard tray. To use it I route the cable under the desk surface and up through a hole then to the comp. Every keyboard I've ever bought had a cable plenty long enough to reach. But not the Mac...

And yes there is a usb TV device I can buy but the store was out of them. Tomorrow...

 

[sinclair_tm]

If you are getting a USB TV device for the Mac, I highly recommend, in fact say don't get anything but this as it is so worth every dime, Elgato's eyetv 250 plus. I have the old non-plus version, and love it so much that I'll be getting the plus version next year because of the HDTV switch. As for file sharing, make sure that you turn file sharing on in the Sharing system preference pane.