Keep or return my Mac Mini? Help, please

[richorlin]

Right after the announcement of new Minis the prices dropped on refurbs. On impulse, I got the low-end 2.0ghz model for $429 (down from $499) but I think I made a mistake. I already have an Apple TV and a TiVO HD. Even if I buy an EyeTV, I won't get the all the stations I get now, because I'm using cablecards in the TiVO. I can't cancel the order, but I guess I can refuse the Fedex delivery and have it returned. At least I can save on return shipping and not pay a restocking fee.
How much better would the Mini be over the Apple TV? I would be keeping the TiVO even if I went with the Mini. Doesn't seem to get any easier than the ATV and TiVO combination. Help...

[Go To Top]

Get the latest Mini. Tons mo bettah.

[M>B>]

I assume this is a Apple Store order.

If possible refuse delivery of the order in person and follow the tracking of the package back to the source.

Phone or reply mail to them to let them know what you are doing. Have all your information in hand if you phone them.

[richorlin]

Go To Top wrote:
Get the latest Mini. Tons mo bettah.

I don't see much of a difference. Slightly faster, more memory and bigger drive, but the video is the same\ and so are the outputs.

[Black]

Go To Top wrote:
Get the latest Mini. Tons mo bettah.

??
Rich is right-- there's not much difference-- a slightly better graphics chip, a tiny bit more clock speed, and a tiny bit more hard drive space for the same $$-- and you won't see it in the refurb store for weeks.

[gabester]

I'd say the mini is much better than an AppleTV. You can view DVD directly on it; unless you've hacked your AppleTV you can get lots more media types on the mini and with a lot less effort; you can literally couchsurf; you can edit your photos with it as opposed to just looking.

I'd suggest keeping the mini and selling the AppleTV. For $430 - $150 you can get for the AppleTV it's really a pretty nice upgrade to a fully functional PC.

I suppose it ultimately depends on what other computing resources you have around the house and how much computing you're likely to do on the TV.
g=

[richorlin]

I've got a Macbook that I keep in the same room as the TV so I'm not going to surf the web on my TV. I've run ATVFlash on the AppleTV so I can use external storage & Hulu etc. I've got an upscaling DVD player hooked up. I just don't see the benefits of the Mini over the ATV. Does anyone see something I'm missing?

[Article Accelerator]

Black wrote:
[quote=Go To Top]
Get the latest Mini. Tons mo bettah.

??
Rich is right-- there's not much difference-- a slightly better graphics chip, a tiny bit more clock speed, and a tiny bit more hard drive space for the same $$-- and you won't see it in the refurb store for weeks.
The just-released Mac mini provides the following compared to the March 2009 version...

- faster clock rate (2.26 GHz vs. 2.0)
- twice the RAM (2 GB vs. 1 GB)
- larger HD (160 GB vs. 120 GB)
- more video RAM (256 MB vs. 128 MB)

...all for the same price.

There is no difference in the GPU (still the Nvidia 9400M).

[richorlin]

The just-released Mac mini provides the following compared to the March 2009 version...

- faster clock rate (2.26 GHz vs. 2.0)
- twice the RAM (2 GB vs. 1 GB)
- larger HD (160 GB vs. 120 GB)
- more video RAM (256 MB vs. 128 MB)

...all for the same price.

There is no difference in the GPU (still the Nvidia 9400M).

All true, but there is really not much difference between 2.0 & 2.26
Very easy to add an additional 1gb RAM and by doing so, you get 256MB of video memory. Besides, the price difference between $429 for refurb and $599 for new makes the refurb a much better deal.

However good it is, I can't justify it. I think I will return it to Apple unopened.