On Jan 13, 2005, at 8:19 AM, Tim Sherburne wrote:
My only concern about the Mini is the memory situation: Apparently, the RAM
is not user upgradeable, which means you'll need to pay an outrageous $425
to Apple for 1GB of RAM. Also, there's only one slot, so the box maxes out
at 1GB. Not a lot of room for expansion, which really relegates this unit to
more mundane tasks.
Apple are a real pain with their default memory configuration. My G5 came with 256Mb - I added 1Gb as soon as I got it and have subsequently upgraded it to 3Gb.
For my latest upgrade my local Apple reseller sold me a pair of 1Gb sticks for not much more than the stuff that the PC shops sell. It wasn't Apple-branded but I assume that it's been tested/certified for use on Apple machines.
But at least I can open a G5 tower to install the memory myself. From what I've seen of new Mini it's probably going to need special tooling just to get the box open. I wonder if Apple's margins are so thin that they are keen to make a little extra by requiring the Apple-branded memory and service technicians to install it?
Having said all that, I'm really not the intended market for the new Mini. The memory thing is all that bothers me about this machine. The 2.5" hard drive will only make things worse when the RAM starts getting tight. But overall I am very impressed.
For a primary workstation, I think their other computers offer a better value.
For a real workstation (eg heavy Photoshop use) I would strongly recommend a G5 with LOTS of memory.
- Dave
http://www.digistar.com/~dmann/
