[geeks] Advice on buying a new Mac

[Dr. Robert Pasken]

On Mon, 2006-11-13 at 11:08 -0500, Dave K wrote:
> I'm thinking it's time to buy a Mac.  As I know a few of you here are
> Mac fans, I'm hoping you can give me a little advice.
> 
> I don't need or want another laptop, so the MacBooks are out, the Mac
> Pro is just too expensive at the moment, and I don't have the desk
> space for another monitor, so that rules out the IMac.
> 
> Therefore, I'm looking at the "bigger" Mac Mini:
>     * 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo
>     * 512MB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x256
>     * 80GB Serial ATA drive
>     * SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD1RW/CD-RW)
>     * Mac OS X - U.S. English
>     * Intel GMA 950 graphics
>     * Accessory kit
> 
> I'm assuming I'll be able to use one of my Samsung 204B monitors, right?
> 
> What options should I go for:
> Is 1 meg of RAM enough, or should I go for 2?
> Is there any special benefit to adding a bigger disk internally,
> versus using external/network storage?
> Should I go with the Apple keyboard/mouse, or 3rd party?
> What actually is iWork, and is it worth $79?
> And what about AppleCare?
> 
> Thanks.
> --
> Dave K
> Unix Systems & Network Administrator
> Mount Laurel NJ
> _______________________________________________
> GEEKS:  http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/geeks

Granted most of my work is heavy scientific computations but I would
think that 1gb per core would be a bare minimum. I have a aluminum G4
and the stock 512 was no where near enough for simple things. Going to
1gb made things work much better
-- 
Dr. Robert Pasken <rpasken at eas.slu.edu>
Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Saint Louis University