Should I return my MAC MINI 2.0 refurbushed? last year model vs this year?

in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
My intentions are to have a small intel MAC MINI to use with iLife 09 and do some non-professional video edits, dvd etc. I had discussed with someone at the MAC store and said

it would be be sufficent. I was amazed at how zippy the MAC MINI 2.0 was.

A friend told me to check the refurbished area on the Apple site, that on rare occasions

they popup and are 100 less with same warranty. After a week or so there it was. MAC MINI 2.0 for 467.00. I didn't even blink, I purchased it from the Apple site. In anticipation of recieving it

I bought a 500GB 7200HD drive on ebay and held off on the RAM till I recieved it in hand.

It arrived with Snow Leopard and iLife 09. I upgraded the drive that made a huge difference and when I started shopping for RAM is when I made the discovery that I had an older version with a slower bus speed, ram limit, 32bit vs 64bit CPU and inferior video adapter.

I held off on the RAM right now and am wondering if I should go any further with this model or return it to Apple (without a restocking fee).

All together with tax it was $500. To upgrade to the new version MAC MINI 2.0 (1066 bus) is going to cost me around 250.00 more, since chances are I will have to buy new instead of refurbished. Any thoughts, What would you do?

Has anyone had the old version MAC MINI 2.0 (667 bus) who has upgraded to the MAC MINI 2.0 (1066 bus)?


  • Reply 1 of 2
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 14,217moderator
    I would return it, the old ones are way slower than the new ones in almost every way. The graphics chip is 5-10 times slower and has far less features (no OpenCL, no hardware T&L, poor support in 3D software). The hard drive is half the speed of the new one and about 1/3 the speed of the one you put in and the Ram is slower, which affects the graphics as it's shared memory. Being 32-bit also means it won't run 64-bit software so if someone builds a 64-bit only Snow Leopard app, you won't be able to run it.

    I would definitely get the new one - with the 7200 rpm drive and 4GB Ram, it's a very good machine. I have one myself with that spec and I used to have the old one. No way do I ever want to own a machine with Intel graphics again. The graphics chip alone is worth the upgrade and you will at least be able to use it when OpenCL apps arrive.
  • Reply 2 of 2
    Is it good enough for what you want to do with it? If it is, why spend more money?
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