(no subject)

[nolly]

Anyone have any tips or ideas on making the step from G5 mac to Intel-running-OS X less fiscally painful? I have a perfectly good monitor, so I'm not especially interested in all-in-ones like the iMac, and I've had very bad experiences with external drives, so I'd like something a little more tweakable than a Mac Mini, though I might think about it if the price were right. Hackintosh is a possibility, but the HW guides I've found seem less than helpful; one reason I like using Macs is that I don't have to dedicate a lot of time and energy to making things work. Unfortunately, it's getting to the point where an annoying amount of saftware requires the Intel architechture, which means I need ot think about an upgrade.

Comments

[gvdub.livejournal.com]

The Mini is a pretty solid choice. We've been switching the graphic artists at work from Dual G5 towers to the upper end Mini with maxed out RAM and they're loving it. I had no problem opening my personal Mini (not the latest generation, but the first gen of Core2Duo machine) to max the RAM, and swapping in a new HD wouldn't be any more of a hassle. If you're comfortable replacing RAM or a hard drive in a laptop or a tower, the Mini's no challenge. My solution to the external drive issue has been to buy external cases and put 'enterprise-quality' drives in them rather than the cheaper drives pre-assembled systems come with. It's been a pretty stable system thus far.

[xthread.livejournal.com]

I recently upgraded the house server to a Mini (from an eight year old 2u rackmount).
I still need to install the memory, so I may be swearing about it soon, but in the meantime the 1 TB of external mirrored firewire storage is awfully crunchy.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Really? The pictures I've seen and tales I've read imply the Mini's case is a royal pain to open.

My last external drive/enclosure had a habit of locking up and taking the whole system if I didn't powercycle it as soon as it started...which was the equivalent of unplugging it without dismounting it, also a bad idea, but sometimes better than a forced reboot. I assume it was the enclosure, since the drive had worked flawlessly in the past, as an internal drive, but can't say for sure.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

My last external drive/enclosure had a habit of locking up and taking the whole system if I didn't powercycle it as soon as it started...which was the equivalent of unplugging it without dismounting it, also a bad idea, but sometimes better than a forced reboot. I assume it was the enclosure, since the drive had worked flawlessly in the past, as an internal drive, but can't say for sure.

Given that, I'd feel more comfortable with at least two internal drives, easily upgradeable.

[gvdub.livejournal.com]

It probably depends on the enclosure. I tend to stick with the ones from Weibe Tech. I've got several and never had a problem with any of them.

The Mini case is not that hard to open and work with, provided you get a thin, flexible putty knife. There's a useful video on this upgrade page at macsales.com.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

"I'd feel more comfortable with at least two internal drives"

MacMini server might be overkill then, but:

http://www.apple.com/macmini/server/

[patgund.livejournal.com]

I've had no problems with using externals with my Core2Duo mini really. As for upgrades, well, opening the case is a bit of a PITA (I call it a 2 sushi dinner), but I've replaced the memory and hard drive on mine before.

Go for an iMac and use your current monitor as a second screen on the device? That's what I do with the iMac on my desk at work.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

It was something inexpensive but with a decent rating from newegg. I don't recall the brand, and it's probably nothing anyone's heard of anyway. There were quite a few with about the same price, features, and rating, so I chose the one with penguins.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Given that my computer is also my DVD player...though I suppose those come in external, too.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I'd have to buy a new desk and rearrange my living room. Again. I still haven't finished cleaning up the last reshuffle.

More Recommendations

[jwoliver.livejournal.com]

I would definitely recommend taking a look at the Mini. You can bump up the hard drive capacity if you want as well as the processor speed on the $799 model. If your concerned about parts of the hardware seizing up, the extended Apple Care would cover you for three years, not to mention extending the phone support to the same length of time.

If you want something with multiple internal hard drives, the only thing in Apple's stock that accommodates this is the MacPro, and that's definitely overkill. Of course, you already knew that. If you want space, the 21.5" iMac goes up to 1 TB. The 27" up to 2 TB.

[dancingguy.livejournal.com]

I've replaced RAM, HD, or both 3 different times on 2 different Minis. So long as you have the putty knife, it's pretty easy to open. Doing the replacement is pretty straightforward, although when putting it back together it's nice to have either a magnetic screwdriver, or something sticky that will keep the screw attached to the screwdriver.

the amusing thing is that it doesn't even violate the warantee. :-)

mac upgrade

[(Anonymous)]

consider the new mac mini... and since you have had external drive issues < believe you me I KNOW your pain> consider then taking you old G5 and turning it into a hard disk. You get mac compatibility and reliability without a lot of fuss you can set it up for raid/mirroring and take your old settings with you. you also get the G5 processing power in retrieving/running things from your hard disk. I am using an older mac mini and my old G4 n this configuration and after a little tweaking it works flawlessly. I'm told the newer mini and G5 combo works even better. Also you can just take the new intel based min stripped if you want to use the G% for external burning/media storage. good luck

ummm

[(Anonymous)]

that's so long as you don't have idiots at the apple store in a different region. I moved to Atlanta , they told me it voided it so i had to ship it back to Ca to get it fixed.

ummm

[(Anonymous)]

As too voiding the warrantee by popping the caseing that's so long as you don't have idiots at the Apple store in a different region. I moved to Atlanta , they told me my self installed upgrade had voided it said warrantee < at 2 different stores no less> so I had to ship it back to Ca < original purchase point> to get it fixed.