Mac Mini

[GoldenMerc]

Ok so i've just bought myself a mac mini here is the specs;


Description
The Apple Mac Mini G4 desktop (M9971B/B) offers simplicity and power for movies, music and photos without overloading the user with a lot of things not needed. The Mac Mini G4 desktop comes equipped with a PowerPC G4 1.42 GHz processor, 512 MB DDR SD RAM (1 GB max supported RAM at 333 MHz), an 80 GB hard drive and the Mac OSX 10.4 operating system. Technical features of the Apple Mac Mini G4 desktop (M9971B/B) include several integrated input/output ports including two 2.0 USB ports, one RJ45 lan port, one IEEE1394a FireWire port, one RJ11 phone input jack, and 4 AGP expansion slots. For entertainment purposes the M9971B/B is equipped with a CD/DVD+RW with optical drive speeds of 24x for CDs and 8x for DVDs; optical drive write speeds of 16x for CD, 4x for DVD+R and 4x for DVD-R; and optical drive Rewrite speeds of 8x CD-RW, 2.4x DVD+RW and 2.4 DVD-RW. The Apple Mac Mini G4 desktop (M9971B/B) is equipped with one DVI port and one 15 pin D-Sub VGA port, sound card, analog audio and speaker/headphone output jack. Max resolution available on the Mac Mini G4 Desktop is 1920x1200. Additional features of the M9971B/B include fax/modem, integrated Bluetooth capabilities, and integrated wireless, Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and AirPort Extreme. The Mac Mini G4 desktop weighs 1.4 kg and measures 16.51 x 16.51 x 5.08 cm.

I was hoping to use it as a additional PC, incase i ever needed it, i was wondering a few things.
Can i put a GFX card in this?
How easy is it to get to tips with Apple's software?
Ross

[lawrawrrr]

i'm no expert, might not even be right BUT

as far as i'm aware macs are notoriously difficult to crack open and change, as that would mean customers might upgrade components rather than buying a whole new machine! If it's just a backup does it need top-grade specs?

I think they only way you can upgrade is to buy them as the laptop's being built, not sure if you can do that with minis too though...

[hamheyelliot]

Edit: Looks like there are 4 AGP slots, so you should be able to hack it open and install a graphics solution. That model is from quite a while ago though, so you'll probably be throttled by the CPU and RAM if you want anything more than a bit of intensive media playback.

As for OS X, I found it pretty simple to get to grips with, especially as a long term Windows user. If you're a bit savvy, you'll have no problem with it! :)

[GoldenMerc]

Edit: Looks like there are 4 AGP slots, so you should be able to hack it open and install a graphics solution. Hard Drive and memory shouldn't be a problem for the future too. As for OS X, I found it pretty simple to get to grips with, especially as a long term Windows user. If you're a bit savvy, you'll have no problem with it! :)
Would i be able to install something alike to this?;

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&biw=1360&bih=664&q=sapphire+hd6750&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=93910050575900963&sa=X&ei=zztKUN2xHqiw0QWe8YDoBQ&ved=0CDAQ8wIwAg

Where i could have trio monitor solution?

[xxMATTGxx]

Do Mac Mini's even have expansion slots? The only thing I remember you can change on them is probably: Ram, hard drive and then the slot loading drive. In terms of the card you linked - That is probably bigger than the device itself.

[Tomm]

I would of not bought it to be honest. It is a power PC mac so you have to use a outdated version of Mac OS X (10.5 max) and it is likely that you'll also have to use outdated versions of any software you run on it. Additionally the single core 1.42ghz processor and 512mb of ram is going to be very slow.

Why do you want a graphics card in it?

[GoldenMerc]

I would of not bought it to be honest. It is a power PC mac so you have to use a outdated version of Mac OS X (10.5 max) and it is likely that you'll also have to use outdated versions of any software you run on it. Additionally the single core 1.42ghz processor and 512mb of ram is going to be very slow.

Why do you want a graphics card in it?

Don't know it'd like to have a trio monitor for mac :(

[hamheyelliot]

Don't know it'd like to have a trio monitor for mac :(

I don't think the Mac Mini is up for that kind of task, if you got a low-level GFX card that would fit in there I don't think the case would let you get to the HDMI/vga outputs on the card. I don't think it's the Mac for the job unfortunately :(

[Recursion]

I would of not bought it to be honest. It is a power PC mac so you have to use a outdated version of Mac OS X (10.5 max) and it is likely that you'll also have to use outdated versions of any software you run on it. Additionally the single core 1.42ghz processor and 512mb of ram is going to be very slow.

Why do you want a graphics card in it?

This. You can't run any Intel based software on it, you'll be stuck on Leopard forever.

Also, no, you can't install a graphics card.

[Jack!]

Also that card you linked is PCI-E Not AGP anyhow.

Should of got one of the new mini's if you wanted one that bad, how much did you pay?

[GoldenMerc]

Also that card you linked is PCI-E Not AGP anyhow.

Should of got one of the new mini's if you wanted one that bad, how much did you pay?
£50, but if i can do the gfx thing i may consider instantly selling

[Jack!]

£50, but if i can do the gfx thing i may consider instantly selling

Well, You could probably get £60-£70.

[GoldenMerc]

What age minimac should i get plus how much would they cost?

[Jack!]

What age minimac should i get plus how much would they cost?

Well, They get half decent from around the mid 07' specs, the unibody ones run from early 2010, but have no disk drive.