[geeks] Advice on buying a new Mac

[Mark Benson]

On 13 Nov 2006, at 16:08, 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'm also looking to get a Core Duo mini in Q1 of next year and I've  
done a lot of research, including using one at the Apple Store for  
about an hour and running some crude speed tests on based on my  
(extensive) knowledge of the platform.

> What options should I go for:
> Is 1 meg of RAM enough, or should I go for 2?

Definitely get 1GB, it uses Intel shared memory graphics which eats  
system RAM (up to 64MB), so in order to no lose out I'd recomend  
buyingit with 1GB off the bat. The one I used at the store had 512MB  
and although the speed was impressive evn on the 26" dsiplay, it was  
swapping a good bit when I loaded stuff.

2GB would be nice, but the BTO option is very expensive for the  
relative return in performance gain. Upgrading them is a bit of a  
pain and requires nifty wok with a putty knife (ask Bill - he's done  
it).

> Is there any special benefit to adding a bigger disk internally,
> versus using external/network storage?

I plan to hook a 200GB external disk to it and use that full time.  
Firewire is plenty fast enough, and also it's cheaper (or at least as  
expensive without the extra work) to add than a larger/faster internal.

> Should I go with the Apple keyboard/mouse, or 3rd party?

Find one you like and use it. Don't just go for the Apple one  
'because'. I use a compact Windows keyboard on my iMac and a KVM on  
my other two. Apple's current keyboard don't feel nice. Their older  
Pro Keyboards, especially the first generation one, are much nicer.

> What actually is iWork, and is it worth $79?

Not currently no. Pages is a really nice general document package,  
which is easily worth $50 on it's own, but unless you do  
presentations, Keynote is in no way worth the extra $29.

> And what about AppleCare?

Unless you buy big bucks desktops or laptops from Apple don't bother.  
I had 3-year AppleCare on my iMac G4 and never once used it. My  
principle is if it's gonna go wrong it'll go wrong inside the first  
year, and most of the Mini's perishable components are standard (RAM,  
HDD and Optical Drive at least). You also don't have an expensive LCD  
panel built into the machine to worry about.

In my rudimentary tests, on a 1.66GHz Core Duo with 512MB RAM and  
hooked to a 26" display, I found it copes fine with 720p HD Video in  
H.264 format (which takes a LOT of decompressing). I was able to use  
several iLife Apps at once with a little swapping, again that would  
go away with more RAM. I also found the Core Graphics and Quartz  
rendering to be smooth and snappy enough for everyday use, even with  
multiple Apps running.

Hope that Helps!

-- 
Mark Benson

My Blog:
<http://mdblog.68kmac.org>
68kMac.org:
<http://www.68kmac.org>

"Introducing Macintosh Classic II - pick one out on your way past the  
trash!"