> completely trustworthy. Mac stuff, however, is usually grossly
> overpriced but there is lots of it on there. Search under electronics
> too as some folks don't seem to know where to post items. If you are
> selling stuff you WILL get letters from the overseas complete with
> offers of money transfers etc. Beware!
<chuckle> Obviously there are suckers, <excuse me> sellers who fall
for the "I have money but cannot move it, so, if you provide me with
your banking info I'll send it to you and let you keep a %" or "I'll
pay you with a $4000 international money order, but, because your item
is only $500 can you please send me $3000 back. I'll let you keep $500
as a handling fee."
If people weren't biting at these "too good to be true" offers these
scam artists wouldn't continue to send out the e-mails.
> Glad to hear you got a mini for a good deal, I haven't seen any decent
> pricing on them yet.
Depends on your definition of good deal! (I figured 25% discount on
refurb price as a good deal). You've got to figure that _all_ Mac
minis are under warrantee which means they fetch a bit of a premium
(unless there's physical damage the warrantee ought to be honoured).
Depending on configuration, I've seen them for $100-200 less than new
price on refurbs or edu channel. A $900 after tax (edu channel pricing
new) machine (1.42 GHz 512 MB AE/BT) went for $700 or a $570 refurb
after tax (1.25 GHz, 256 MB RAM, regular channel) for $450 (these
prices valid as of end of September/beginning of October).
I doubt you'll find a _real_ deal because the market's there for them
_and_, like I said, they all come with warrantee.
When you compare even the lowest Man mini to a used <1 GHz tower
they're a _really_ good deal (considering what people are asking for
the used towers). The only expensive thing about them is upgrading RAM
since you've got to do it in one shot. Compare $450 for 1.25 GHz G4 to
what you'd pay for a 1 CPU 700 MHz - 1000 MHz G4 tower ($800+).
Mac mini: Same GPU (32 MB), faster CPU (1.25, 1.42 or 1.5 GHz),
USB2.0, _slower_ HD (and you notice it when you hit virtual memory)!!!
Plus, the mini is TINY!!! It still blows my mind that my MOUSE (a
TurboMouse Pro) is nearly the same size as the whole computer
I guess I shouldn't be so surprised because most of the space and
weight in my PowerBook G3 (2000) is taken up by battery, keyboard and
screen. That whole package could easily have been fit into a device as
small as, if not SMALLER than the Mac mini FIVE YEARS AGO!!!!
The only real difference between my Pismo and the Mac mini is that the
Mac mini is a little faster (400 MHz vs 1.25 GHz), has more powerful
GPU (8 MB vs 32 MB) and a slightly more advanced USB controller chip
in order to handle USB2.0 (vs. 1.1). R&D costs for Apple ought to have
been minimal since they've been recycling the same design since the
B&W tower and Lombard G3 in 1999 (good planning on their part :-).
For $65 you have 512 MB of RAM or $130 and you've got 1 GB. Memory for
the "older" towers (especially the PC133 ones) is becoming quite
expensive vs. the newer chips.
PS I'm very happy with this little toy. The only thing I want is more
memory (and, I knew that when I bought it), but, otherwise it flies
compared to my G3/400 and my brother's G4/500 (except when it hits
virtual... those two machines have 512 MB of RAM).
Anyway, this ramble is evidence that I'm procrastinating. Time to
finish my work.
Eric.
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