The computer and electronics super geek thread

[azrael]

I assume you mean with wired USB, since the KVM I have is a USB model. The manual says that it works with Macs, and if I plug it into just the Mac, the Mac is picking up the signal. The problem might be, as you suggest, that the KVM isn't getting along with the wireless nature of my keyboard and mouse, specifically the keyboard.

It's probably the wireless input devices.

The KVM I have is an IOGear that's supposed to switch by either double tapping Scroll Lock or double tapping Ctrl. I'd be open to trying a Belkin; we used to use a Belkin one at work with a wired button remote that toggled between the computers. That one was for PS/2 mice and keyboards, but if they have a USB equivalent, and if I knew for certain it'd work without being connected to any monitors or any display outputs from either computer, that'd work better than using separate mice and keyboards and would be less hassle than manually disconnecting and reconnecting the receiver.

I know Belkin makes KVMs with USB, but whether they support wireless devices is something I'm not sure of. I do know that they will work with/without video input from the KVM. But my experience is with the server-rack models, not the consumer/home models.

[mikeszekely]

It's probably the wireless input devices.

I know Belkin makes KVMs with USB, but whether they support wireless devices is something I'm not sure of. I do know that they will work with/without video input from the KVM. But my experience is with the server-rack models, not the consumer/home models.

I did a little more screwing around with it, the issue is definitely the KVM. I'm using one of Logitech's Unifying Receivers for both the mouse and the keyboard. The KVM, naturally, has a USB port for a mouse and a USB port for a keyboard. If I plug the receiver into the one marked for the mouse, both the mouse and the keyboard will work on Windows, but it won't switch the the Mac. If I plug the receiver into the keyboard port, I can control the Mac and switch back and forth, but the Windows computer acts like there's no mouse or keyboard. I tried using separate receivers for the mouse and the keyboard (they weren't actually sold as a set, so they each came with one), and then the mouse would work but the keyboard wouldn't. I tried a different keyboard in the keyboard port, and Windows wouldn't detect it and it couldn't toggle the hot key (but the keyboard works when plugged into the computer directly.

Bizarre, huh?

[azrael]

Bizarre, huh?

Not that bizarre. The KVM is interpreting the signal as if it were coming from a PS/2 port. If you have 2 USB input plugs leading to an single USB output plug, then it's probably treating the connection like it would if you has a PS/2 keyboard and mouse conected. A PS/2 keyboard and mouse can use a single USB connector.

[BeyondTheGrave]

Who makes a better HDD Seagate or Western Digital?

[azrael]

Who makes a better HDD Seagate or Western Digital?

Business-wise, WD is edging out Seagate. Personal preference...either. You could probably put a bunch of techs in the room and you'll probably get a 50/50 split over the question. I've had both WD and Seagates and I've had at least 1 of each fail on me within the past 5 years.

[BeyondTheGrave]

ok. Just wondering b/c i picked up two seagate 7200rpm 1tb drives for $70 each. But I'm kind of having second thoughts on them.

Edited July 29, 2011 by BeyondTheGrave

[frothymug]

I've been using WD on my personal computers for years and I've never had one fail on me.

[mikeszekely]

Who makes a better HDD Seagate or Western Digital?

All other factors being equal, I usually go with Western Digital. I've had a lot of WD drives over the years and I've never really had a problem with them.

Which isn't to say anything bad about Seagate. I've had one or two of them, and no problems there either. If I'm in the market for a new drive, and I can get a Seagate drive cheaper than a WD at the capacity I want, I'll go with the Seagate. But if they're the same price (or close to it) I like WD.

Regarding the drives you bought, you didn't really give enough info for me to say if you got a bargain or not. Are they internal or external? Laptop or desktop? What's their speed? Are they SATA II or SATA III? What size is the cache? Are they retail box or are they bare drives?

[Beltane70]

Yeah, every computer that I've built has had WD drives in them as well. In the 12 years that I've been building my own machines, I haven't had a HDD fail yet, either.

[BeyondTheGrave]

All other factors being equal, I usually go with Western Digital. I've had a lot of WD drives over the years and I've never really had a problem with them.

Which isn't to say anything bad about Seagate. I've had one or two of them, and no problems there either. If I'm in the market for a new drive, and I can get a Seagate drive cheaper than a WD at the capacity I want, I'll go with the Seagate. But if they're the same price (or close to it) I like WD.

Regarding the drives you bought, you didn't really give enough info for me to say if you got a bargain or not. Are they internal or external? Laptop or desktop? What's their speed? Are they SATA II or SATA III? What size is the cache? Are they retail box or are they bare drives?

SATA 3.0Gb/s

Internal 3.5" desktop

32Mb Cache

7200 rpm

Retail

[mikeszekely]

SATA 3.0Gb/s

Internal 3.5" desktop

32Mb Cache

7200 rpm

Retail

$79.99 is a fair price, then. If you have extra SATA cables, you can save maybe $20 by going ordering a bare drive.

On an unrelated note, I'd ordered an 8GB RAM kit for the Mac mini I'd bought. I thought the Mac ran ok with 2GB (my previous gaming desktop only had 3 since it was running Windows 7 32-bit), but the difference in performance with 8GB installed is HUGE.

I also took a little time to correct some of Apple's design... quirks. Form definitely triumphs over function at Cupertino. They have this unblemished aluminum unibody brick showing, and they put all four of the computer's USB ports and the SD card reader in the back with the video and power ports. Well, I have the Mac itself sitting by the monitor, which is sort of on a raised shelf. I ran a USB extension cable from one port under the shelf, and I use that for the mouse and keyboard receiver. Ports 2 and 3 are occupied by cables that go to a slim DVD burner, which I put on a white box under the shelf, high enough that the tray is unobscured, but still tucked away. The fourth USB port goes to a powered USB 2.0 hub in front of the monitor, so I have easy access for flash drives and what not.

Edited July 30, 2011 by mikeszekely

[Lynx7725]

Maybe you guys can help me out a bit.

Been looking over Macs a bit. Specifically, the Mac Mini server with Lion Server.

I only have experience with iPad and iPhone, so this is the first Mac I'm considering. The major reasons I'm looking at it is to:

1. get some experience with server software, and the Lion Server's LDAP and Mail services are particularly of interest. The iCal, Wiki 3 and Apache servers are of additional interest too.

2. get some experience with development on the iOS platform. Nothing serious, it's just that from time to time I get a bit irritated with apps that are not quite there.

3. and not to mention that my fingers are getting itchy....

I like the Lion's UNIX base, which helps make it Tomcat and MySQL friendly.. which means I can run app servers off the Lion Server. Having an Apache already on the server means I got a web front end too, essentially almost an entire package. Again, I don't have any particular practical need for it, just a way to fool around with things to get an idea of how things work.

Given the above, is the Mac Mini server a good buy? I understand that any Mac OSX Lion platform (that physically can support the server) can actually be upgraded to a Server version, so I can go with a Mac lappy, which has some advantages (like a keyboard and screen for one...).

Also, I'm thinking of building a sort of PoC portable server out of this, using SSD drives (which are expensive) and an ISP USB dongle. Basically just run and plug with this -- where there's power, you can plug in and serve as a personal server/ wifi spot for your iOS devices. What are the pros and cons? Can a Lion Server set up this way serve as an wifi hotspot for my other iOS devices to connect to the Internet? What's a good setup given Apple's online options? Or is some other setup more efficient?

[mikeszekely]

Maybe you guys can help me out a bit.

Been looking over Macs a bit. Specifically, the Mac Mini server with Lion Server.

I only have experience with iPad and iPhone, so this is the first Mac I'm considering. The major reasons I'm looking at it is to:

1. get some experience with server software, and the Lion Server's LDAP and Mail services are particularly of interest. The iCal, Wiki 3 and Apache servers are of additional interest too.

2. get some experience with development on the iOS platform. Nothing serious, it's just that from time to time I get a bit irritated with apps that are not quite there.

3. and not to mention that my fingers are getting itchy....

I like the Lion's UNIX base, which helps make it Tomcat and MySQL friendly.. which means I can run app servers off the Lion Server. Having an Apache already on the server means I got a web front end too, essentially almost an entire package. Again, I don't have any particular practical need for it, just a way to fool around with things to get an idea of how things work.

Given the above, is the Mac Mini server a good buy? I understand that any Mac OSX Lion platform (that physically can support the server) can actually be upgraded to a Server version, so I can go with a Mac lappy, which has some advantages (like a keyboard and screen for one...).

Also, I'm thinking of building a sort of PoC portable server out of this, using SSD drives (which are expensive) and an ISP USB dongle. Basically just run and plug with this -- where there's power, you can plug in and serve as a personal server/ wifi spot for your iOS devices. What are the pros and cons? Can a Lion Server set up this way serve as an wifi hotspot for my other iOS devices to connect to the Internet? What's a good setup given Apple's online options? Or is some other setup more efficient?

Sorry, I have zero server experience, so I can't say if OS X Server is a good choice. All I can say is that, from experience, Apple's laptops aren't worth the money. You can actually get an Alienware 14X for $200 less than the 13" Macbook Pro. Same processor, same amount of RAM, same amount of storage. Bigger screen, faster hard drive (7200rpm vs 5400rpm), and much better video card (GeForce GT 555M with 1.5GB of VRAM vs. Intel HD 3000 with shared RAM).

It's a little tougher to compare the Mac mini, because there's not a lot of desktop computers around with that sort of size/form factor that aren't underpowered nettops. The computer that gets compared to it the most is the Dell Inspiron Zino HD, but without an Intel option it's still not as direct as the my previous example with laptops. Ultimately, I'd say that the mini is still overpriced, but not as drastically so, especially if you have your own keyboard/mouse/monitor/external optical drive. IMHO, the mini is the best option if you're Mac-curious. Unless you really want that i7, though, I'd skip the Mac mini server and buy one of the other Mac minis. You can save money by upgrading it yourself.

[kensei]

Sigh. Finally finished upgrading my new rig. It's mainly a cosmetic change, but I've done a few things to make it faster too. It's also more quiet, thank the lord. This was a big hassle, and during the process my BluRay Recorder and DVD Writer caught fire. They still seem to be working now luckily. Phew!

Here are the list of changes:

Motherboard - Rampage II Extreme to P6X58D-E. I just didn't do any overclocking, so getting a high end board was a waste. I needed the same chipset for my Core i7 975 which I am keeping as it is still a good CPU. But I needed to future proof a bit, so I got one with USB 3.0 and also SATA 3 for. . .

OCZ Agility 3 SSD 120 GB - Needed SATA 3 to maximise this, and the Rampage had none. Win7 loads so much faster with this. Programs are so responsive. This is going to be the server for the LANs that I host here in my house so this will help a bit i think.

Seagate Momentus XT 500GB SSD Hybrid Drive - For the apps and games that need to be a tiny bit faster than coming from a HDD. Great value.

Noctua DH-14 CPU Heatsink - My old Coolermaster V10 was a piece of crap, I was running the last few months without a proper CPU cooler. This is an awesome fan, it is so quiet! The tan coloured fans left much to be desired though, they look kinda ugly through the window of my new case. . . .

Thermaltake Level 10 GT - I was glad that a new one of these came out a cheaper price point. This looks better I think, with USB 3.0 ports and also quick HDD removal trays. These are so cool, and also I can control the fan speed. But its always cold thanks to my new cooler. Also has a hanger for my Logitech G930 Wireless headset.

XFX HD6990 Video Card - Man, finally I can link my 40" Sony Bravia TV to the card as well as all three of my Samsung SyncMaster BX2440s on there. Also finally getting eyefinity was sweet. The card is only loud when you start up the computer, then the fans calm down. Chops Crysis 2 in full details.

The only I hate at the moment was my new wireless card. Thought I would stick with the ASUS theme and get a PCE-N13 Wireless network card. It's been giving me so many headaches so far, no stable connections at all. All my other devices (Samsung Galaxy SII, ASUS Transformer, ASUS G73 Notebook etc) can work with it except this. Are there any settings that I should check to make this work better?

Also I still use the Corsair Dominator GT DD3 RAM that I got ages ago. It says on the side of the RAM that it is 1866 MHz speed, but at startup it only shows speeds of 1333 MHz. Any way to fix this?

[Lynx7725]

It's a little tougher to compare the Mac mini, because there's not a lot of desktop computers around with that sort of size/form factor that aren't underpowered nettops. The computer that gets compared to it the most is the Dell Inspiron Zino HD, but without an Intel option it's still not as direct as the my previous example with laptops. Ultimately, I'd say that the mini is still overpriced, but not as drastically so, especially if you have your own keyboard/mouse/monitor/external optical drive. IMHO, the mini is the best option if you're Mac-curious. Unless you really want that i7, though, I'd skip the Mac mini server and buy one of the other Mac minis. You can save money by upgrading it yourself.

Thanks for the reply, it helps.

I'm not too keen on laptops myself (having a few fail on me... It's just not something that I like going through regularly). Mac Air's SSD approach is more to my liking but for what I want it to do, the laptops generally don't cut it -- but is a possibility.

As for Mac Mini Server, it's not so much the i7 Quad that I'm looking at but the 6mb L3 Cache. Server work to my understanding is much better with a bigger cache and the quad core should help. As it is, the baseline model for the Mini server is quite reasonable (IMO, of course). Even an 8Gb RAM upgrade is within reasonable boundaries, and which I consider necessary for a server setup.

The killer is really that SSD that I feel as ideal for my "server on the run" idea -- just adding one is already considerable, and 256Gb is not exactly a lot at the cost point. I'll need to think through this to see if it's really critical, considering that the darn thing can't run without a power cord anyway (and hence unlikely to be powered and mobile).

One thing that eludes me, and maybe you can help me with, is whether Lion itself can be utilized as a wireless hotspot for iOS devices. My idea is to attach a ISP dongle to the Mini, so that it has telephony access to the Internet without going through a network cable to a modem/ router. This part shouldn't be a problem as my ISP dongles are stated to work with at least Snow Leopard OS.

I do know that the Lion Server do support iOS devices over wireless -- it is advertised after all to support iOS devices with WEBDAV so that iPads can use the storage space. What I don't know is whether the Lion or Server OS can allow the internet connectivity to be utilized by other devices in the network. My suspicion at the moment is no, because Apple most likely would prefer me to buy another product to do so, but I can be wrong.

And yes, that form factor is a major plus point for me. Something that compact running that much processing power and capability? Hubba hubba.

[azrael]

Maybe you guys can help me out a bit.

Been looking over Macs a bit. Specifically, the Mac Mini server with Lion Server.

I only have experience with iPad and iPhone, so this is the first Mac I'm considering. The major reasons I'm looking at it is to:

1. get some experience with server software, and the Lion Server's LDAP and Mail services are particularly of interest. The iCal, Wiki 3 and Apache servers are of additional interest too.

2. get some experience with development on the iOS platform. Nothing serious, it's just that from time to time I get a bit irritated with apps that are not quite there.

3. and not to mention that my fingers are getting itchy....

I like the Lion's UNIX base, which helps make it Tomcat and MySQL friendly.. which means I can run app servers off the Lion Server. Having an Apache already on the server means I got a web front end too, essentially almost an entire package. Again, I don't have any particular practical need for it, just a way to fool around with things to get an idea of how things work.

...

Unfortunately, I don't have experience with OS X Server either so you'll be entering unfamiliar territory.

If you're looking for a UNIX server experience, I would say, building your own Linux or BSD server might be better choice. Unless you plan on running OS X specific apps I'd be inclined to avoid going that route. Also similar with the Mac Mini Server. Unless there is a need to go that route, I would probably avoid going that route. A regular Mac Mini would probably be a better choice if you want to dip your hand into Mac OS. Unlike mikeszekely, I have no qualms about a Mac laptop. Are they overpriced? Of course...but what isn't with any Apple product. When I was making my testing/HTPC box, I could have gone with a Mac Mini, but that would have been a waste of money to me. If you really don't want to waste money, I'd stick with the Mac Mini. If you want to splurge, I'd probably look at the 11" Macbook Air or 13" Macbook Pro.

[Oihan]

I'm looking to backup/sync my data (about 1TB) to an external HDD. It'd be nice, after doing a full backup/sync, to be able to incrementally/differentially backup/sync my data as well. What programs would you guys recommend on using to do this? Thanks!

[azrael]

I'm looking to backup/sync my data (about 1TB) to an external HDD. It'd be nice, after doing a full backup/sync, to be able to incrementally/differentially backup/sync my data as well. What programs would you guys recommend on using to do this? Thanks!

If you want to pay, I'd recommend Acronis True Image. For free software (and your mileage may vary), I ended up using Cobian Backup.

[mikeszekely]

Also I still use the Corsair Dominator GT DD3 RAM that I got ages ago. It says on the side of the RAM that it is 1866 MHz speed, but at startup it only shows speeds of 1333 MHz. Any way to fix this?

Check your motherboard and BIOS settings. A computer is only as fast as its slowest parts. If the frontside bus speed on the motherboard is 1333, then that's the speed limit for the RAM. Your BIOS may have settings to change it, or you may have to overclock it.

I have no qualms about a Mac laptop. Are they overpriced? Of course...but what isn't with any Apple product.

No doubt. But to me, it's a matter of degrees. The Mac mini is a little overpriced, but there's just too much disparity on the laptop price. But to each his own, right?

I'm looking to backup/sync my data (about 1TB) to an external HDD. It'd be nice, after doing a full backup/sync, to be able to incrementally/differentially backup/sync my data as well. What programs would you guys recommend on using to do this? Thanks!

I'm going to second Acronis.

s for Mac Mini Server, it's not so much the i7 Quad that I'm looking at but the 6mb L3 Cache. Server work to my understanding is much better with a bigger cache and the quad core should help. As it is, the baseline model for the Mini server is quite reasonable (IMO, of course). Even an 8Gb RAM upgrade is within reasonable boundaries, and which I consider necessary for a server setup.

If you go with the Mac mini server, I'd strongly recommend buying it in the basic configuration. Apple's prices on upgrades are ridiculous. To upgrade to 8GB of RAM, they want $200 more. You can buy an 8GB kit from Newegg for $55 shipped (which is exactly what I did). Putting RAM into the mini is a breeze, too, so the only reason to let Apple do it is if you're so lazy that $145 seems like a fair trade for not having to flip the mini over, open the panel (doesn't even require tools), and swapping the modules out yourself. As for the hard drives, Apple wants $400 for a 256GB SSD. That seems almost reasonable... until you consider that you're only getting the SSD. The basic configuration is a pair of 500GB 7200rpm laptop drives. If you buy it that way, you can, with a few torx screwdrivers, replace one of the drives with an SSD. A 256GB SSD runs around $415.

[myk]

Question guys: I've been borrowing a friend's laptop and I noticed that from time to time the system doesn't show or recognize the CD/DVD drive-is the drive on its way out? I can't imagine that things can get "loose" inside of a laptop. Thanks in advance...

[Lynx7725]

If you're looking for a UNIX server experience, I would say, building your own Linux or BSD server might be better choice. Unless you plan on running OS X specific apps I'd be inclined to avoid going that route. Also similar with the Mac Mini Server. Unless there is a need to go that route, I would probably avoid going that route. A regular Mac Mini would probably be a better choice if you want to dip your hand into Mac OS. Unlike mikeszekely, I have no qualms about a Mac laptop. Are they overpriced? Of course...but what isn't with any Apple product. When I was making my testing/HTPC box, I could have gone with a Mac Mini, but that would have been a waste of money to me. If you really don't want to waste money, I'd stick with the Mac Mini. If you want to splurge, I'd probably look at the 11" Macbook Air or 13" Macbook Pro.

If you go with the Mac mini server, I'd strongly recommend buying it in the basic configuration. Apple's prices on upgrades are ridiculous. To upgrade to 8GB of RAM, they want $200 more. You can buy an 8GB kit from Newegg for $55 shipped (which is exactly what I did). Putting RAM into the mini is a breeze, too, so the only reason to let Apple do it is if you're so lazy that $145 seems like a fair trade for not having to flip the mini over, open the panel (doesn't even require tools), and swapping the modules out yourself. As for the hard drives, Apple wants $400 for a 256GB SSD. That seems almost reasonable... until you consider that you're only getting the SSD. The basic configuration is a pair of 500GB 7200rpm laptop drives. If you buy it that way, you can, with a few torx screwdrivers, replace one of the drives with an SSD. A 256GB SSD runs around $415.

Hi guys, thanks for the inputs. Please keep them coming, as they are good points that helps in my decision making.

azrael: I'm not trying to go into UNIX per se -- my work place, we use LINUX/ UNIX for servers. I'm not that keen on it but do know some of my way around it. I'm more interested in the upper tier server apps, like LDAP, mail servers etc. One reason to step away from Windows- and UNIX-based systems is to have a better idea/ concept of "common standards", to compare and contrast implementations across OS... or so that theory goes.

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to go by my local mall, which has a Mac section. While it doesn't have the Mac Mini on display, it does have the Mac laptops and iMac on "show and tell". So I played around a bit..

... Colour me unimpressed.

Maybe I've been spoilt by the iOS products, but the Macs present seems to be slow and sluggish. They are rock bottom options, of course, so it's expected they aren't powerhouses. 2GB Leopard models feel slow to respond with HDD versions and maybe even on an SSD version (I took a peek, there was one (Mac Air IIRC) with a 128GB drive... odd config). 4GB Mac Pro versions also seems sub-par, in fact I don't even perceive much of a difference in casual operations amongst the lot. Needless to say I'm now very wary of getting them for my pet project. I'm not sure whether the problem is with the hardware or the OS, and that's of concern... Maybe, as stated, I'm too used to the iOS' quick response.

At the moment, I honestly feel I should stick with a Mac Mini (server/ otherwise) instead. I've looked over the tech spec, seems like Lion needs 2GB RAM on its own, then the server recommends 512mb per core for one of the app.. for a Mac Mini, that's another 1GB, for the Server, that's 2GB more; so basic RAM requirements for the Server is a whopping 4GB if you want to do podcasting (which I don't... but y'know, experimenting?). Eh meh. Think I might be able to live with 4GB RAM.

WRT after-market upgrade, one thing is that I'm not in the US; so some options not applicable (for example, NewEgg is not an option). I definitely like the idea that I can upgrade the stuff later, it's just that the local electronics "flea market" is a pain to attend. (yes, yes, I'm lazy... )

Just a question -- that's odd, web pages put the memory Mac Mini is using as DDR3 1333 SDRAM, but the manual says DDR3 1066 SO-DIMM; which is correct? Either way, Apple does charge a bomb for memory.. Other than that, SSD is now a more serious consideration with the response issue I see in the mall displays. Considering that the local Apple price on SSD seems to be charging a 10% labour fee above the parts price, it's really quite tempting just to tell Apple to go sort it out for me.

[azrael]

azrael: I'm not trying to go into UNIX per se -- my work place, we use LINUX/ UNIX for servers. I'm not that keen on it but do know some of my way around it. I'm more interested in the upper tier server apps, like LDAP, mail servers etc. One reason to step away from Windows- and UNIX-based systems is to have a better idea/ concept of "common standards", to compare and contrast implementations across OS... or so that theory goes.

I would actually look at LDAP, mail, and that stuff on a Linux/BSD/UNIX-based system as opposed to running it on the Mac OS-flavor of BSD...

Needless to say I'm now very wary of getting them for my pet project. I'm not sure whether the problem is with the hardware or the OS, and that's of concern... Maybe, as stated, I'm too used to the iOS' quick response.

You probably are too use to the response time of iOS....Although, many apps haven't been updated just yet for Lion (minus the Apple ones), so it might just feel slow for the moment.

At the moment, I honestly feel I should stick with a Mac Mini (server/ otherwise) instead. I've looked over the tech spec, seems like Lion needs 2GB RAM on its own,...

As I mentioned, the Mac Mini is fine if you want to play with Mac OS. I would recommend upgrading the RAM to at least 4GB. Either through Apple or on your own (I'd recommend on your own if you can).

Just a question -- that's odd, web pages put the memory Mac Mini is using as DDR3 1333 SDRAM, but the manual says DDR3 1066 SO-DIMM; which is correct?

Depends on which version you're looking at. The Mac Minis that just got updated use DDR3 1333 SO-DIMMs. The previous generation of Mac Minis used DDR3 1066 SO-DIMMs. The new models that just came out use Intel Core i5/i7. The previous models used Intel Core 2 Duos.

[azrael]

Question guys: I've been borrowing a friend's laptop and I noticed that from time to time the system doesn't show or recognize the CD/DVD drive-is the drive on its way out? I can't imagine that things can get "loose" inside of a laptop. Thanks in advance...

It could be "loose". The drive could be failing. Or the OS is having problems.

[mikeszekely]

WRT after-market upgrade, one thing is that I'm not in the US; so some options not applicable (for example, NewEgg is not an option). I definitely like the idea that I can upgrade the stuff later, it's just that the local electronics "flea market" is a pain to attend. (yes, yes, I'm lazy... )

Where are you at, and what stores can you shop at? I'm guessing by your spelling of "labour" that you might be in the UK, Australia, or New Zealand? Is Amazon an option (or better yet, do they have a regional version)? I was able to find the exact kit I bought at Newegg for my mini on Amazon at the same price.

Just a question -- that's odd, web pages put the memory Mac Mini is using as DDR3 1333 SDRAM, but the manual says DDR3 1066 SO-DIMM; which is correct? Either way, Apple does charge a bomb for memory..

Az is correct, the previous Core 2 Duo models used 1066 (they're easy to spot because they have a slot-loading DVD drive on the front). The new i5 models definitely use 1333... I'd be happy to post my "About This Mac" screen later when I'm using it (I'm tying on my Windows box... half day at work, so I'm hoping to get some gaming on Steam in today).

Other than that, SSD is now a more serious consideration with the response issue I see in the mall displays. Considering that the local Apple price on SSD seems to be charging a 10% labour fee above the parts price, it's really quite tempting just to tell Apple to go sort it out for me.

I don't want dissuade you too much, but I still don't see a 256GB drive being worth $400 when you can buy a 750GB 7200RPM traditional laptop drive for under $100. It's also important to remember that the computer will cold boot and load and launch an app faster, but once the OS and the apps are running RAM will be a bigger factor on speed than an SSD (especially since Lion handles apps in memory the same way iOS does).

[myk]

It could be "loose". The drive could be failing. Or the OS is having problems.

Thanks, 'AZ, I'll go with the easy stuff and see if it's loose; I'm glad a replacement is relatively cheap in case I need to go there...

[Lynx7725]

You probably are too use to the response time of iOS....Although, many apps haven't been updated just yet for Lion (minus the Apple ones), so it might just feel slow for the moment.

As I mentioned, the Mac Mini is fine if you want to play with Mac OS. I would recommend upgrading the RAM to at least 4GB. Either through Apple or on your own (I'd recommend on your own if you can).

Depends on which version you're looking at. The Mac Minis that just got updated use DDR3 1333 SO-DIMMs. The previous generation of Mac Minis used DDR3 1066 SO-DIMMs. The new models that just came out use Intel Core i5/i7. The previous models used Intel Core 2 Duos.

Versions I looked at had Snow Leopard, not Lion, on them, so I think it's just that I'm too pampered by iOS responses. Thanks for the info on the RAM!

Az is correct, the previous Core 2 Duo models used 1066 (they're easy to spot because they have a slot-loading DVD drive on the front). The new i5 models definitely use 1333... I'd be happy to post my "About This Mac" screen later when I'm using it (I'm tying on my Windows box... half day at work, so I'm hoping to get some gaming on Steam in today).

I don't want dissuade you too much, but I still don't see a 256GB drive being worth $400 when you can buy a 750GB 7200RPM traditional laptop drive for under $100. It's also important to remember that the computer will cold boot and load and launch an app faster, but once the OS and the apps are running RAM will be a bigger factor on speed than an SSD (especially since Lion handles apps in memory the same way iOS does).

Would appreciate the screenshot. I'm in Singapore (ex-Brit colony and all... ). Talking to a more Mac-savvy colleague pointed me to a particular shop at our local "flea market", so I think I can sort that out.

After considering the points here and discussing with said colleague, I'll probably go for a Mac Mini server with 4GB ram and 2 500GB, 7200 HDD. That's pretty much out of box. Don't think I really need the oomph right now and I can probably upgrade it later. I'll need to pick up a few cables, but those are easy. Won't do it this month, but probably end of next month. Thanks for all the help, folks!

[mikeszekely]

After considering the points here and discussing with said colleague, I'll probably go for a Mac Mini server with 4GB ram and 2 500GB, 7200 HDD. That's pretty much out of box. Don't think I really need the oomph right now and I can probably upgrade it later. I'll need to pick up a few cables, but those are easy. Won't do it this month, but probably end of next month. Thanks for all the help, folks!

If you want the i7 and the dual hard drives, plus Lion Server out of the box, that's probably the way to go.

Would appreciate the screenshot. I'm in Singapore (ex-Brit colony and all... ). Talking to a more Mac-savvy colleague pointed me to a particular shop at our local "flea market", so I think I can sort that out.

OK, this technically isn't one screenshot, it's a composite of four.

[kensei]

Check your motherboard and BIOS settings. A computer is only as fast as its slowest parts. If the frontside bus speed on the motherboard is 1333, then that's the speed limit for the RAM. Your BIOS may have settings to change it, or you may have to overclock it.

Hmnmm. Thanks. According to the specs, it should run at that speed. I'll try it tonight when I get home.

Just wondering though, with the current SSD I am starting to have some problems with the speed of the drive.

CPU: Intel CPU Core i7 975 Extreme Edition

Cooler: Noctua DH-14

RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR3 Triple Channel 6GB 1866 MHz

Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D-E

Graphics Card: XFX HD6990

Network Adapter: ASUS PCE-N13

Hard Drive: OCZ Agility 3 120 GB

Hard Drive: Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB

Hard Drive: Seagate 1000 GB 7200 RPM x 2

Optical Drive/s: LG BluRay Writer, Pioneer DVD Writer

Power Supply: Silverstone 1000W

Software: Microsoft Windows 7 pro 64bit

I setup and installed the OCZ Agility as my boot up drive and it still seems to be sluggish. I timed the whole startup process and it took the computer 1 min and 12 secs to bootup completely. I would have thought it would have done much better than that. In fact, the OCZ Vertex 2 on my ASUS G73 boots up faster in 23 secs flat, and the Vertex 2 is a SATA 3.0 Gps connection. I thought that with the Agility and SATA 6.0 Gps would have been way faster. I've made sure that in the BIOS that ACHI is on and also went into the registry to make sure that it is also enabled by setting the particular values to 0. Also I went into msconfig and took delay down to 3 secs. Is there anything else I should do?

[Lynx7725]

If you want the i7 and the dual hard drives, plus Lion Server out of the box, that's probably the way to go.

Yeah, I think as a server (and I would use it as such), the Quad-Core and the increased cache is useful. The 2x Hard Drive is really just nice additionals.

Thanks for the screenshot!

[nhyone]

After considering the points here and discussing with said colleague, I'll probably go for a Mac Mini server with 4GB ram and 2 500GB, 7200 HDD. That's pretty much out of box. Don't think I really need the oomph right now and I can probably upgrade it later.

I've read through the few posts, but I'm still wondering. What is the primary purpose - a file server, a media player, a portable WIFI hotspot, a portable PC or what?

If it's primarily a file server, you can build one cheaper and more power efficient -- ATOM. Yes, it is way underpowered, but you don't need much power to serve files or to host an ultra small website. And while the casing is bigger, you can use one 2-3 TB 3.5" HDD instead.

And of course, it'll run Ubuntu. It's quite easy to maintain.

(And IMO, a personal file server shouldn't need much RAM. 2 GB is more than enough.)

[azrael]

Yeah, I think as a server (and I would use it as such), the Quad-Core and the increased cache is useful. The 2x Hard Drive is really just nice additionals.

I've read through the few posts, but I'm still wondering. What is the primary purpose - a file server, a media player, a portable WIFI hotspot, a portable PC or what?

If it's primarily a file server, you can build one cheaper and more power efficient -- ATOM. Yes, it is way underpowered, but you don't need much power to serve files or to host an ultra small website. And while the casing is bigger, you can use one 2-3 TB 3.5" HDD instead.

...

nhyone does have a point. Having dual hard drives is great, but if you plan on testing server-side and other applications as you mentioned, the computing power is great but you don't necessarily need the dual hard drives, unless you plan on RAID 1. If you plan on eventually using it as a file server once your testing is done, the Core i7 is a fairly expensive file server.

[azrael]

RAM: Corsair Dominator DDR3 Triple Channel 6GB 1866 MHz

Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D-E

Checking your motherboard's specs indicate: DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066

You may want to check your BIOS settings again to be sure it is properly clocking the RAM if it's only running at 1333.

[Lynx7725]

nhyone does have a point. Having dual hard drives is great, but if you plan on testing server-side and other applications as you mentioned, the computing power is great but you don't necessarily need the dual hard drives, unless you plan on RAID 1. If you plan on eventually using it as a file server once your testing is done, the Core i7 is a fairly expensive file server.

Heh. Think of it this way -- combination "play with Mac OS", "play with upper tier server services", "wireless hotspot", "iPad wireless storage device", "potential future Tomcat/ Mysql app server"... it's not for one purpose, it is for a multitude of tasks, with some long term servicability. Form factor is also a big draw -- I prefer a small package, not a big clunker.

(It's also to cure itchy fingers, but that's another story. )

One of the main thing is just really exposure. Plenty of experience on Windows platform, some on UNIX-based, iOS too, now want to take a look at Apple-style OSes. I do think I'd want the i7s for longer term use and bigger horses when I eventually mess around on a lower level. The dual HDD is sort of incidental; there is no choice to downgrade further, the dual HDD is the cheapest option already.

Sure, I know I can build from scratch a good, even better box running solid LINUX servers, have seen that done before. One of the challenges I'm thinking of is to see if I can do it with a product essentially out-of-box from a bigger commercial company, tweaked with a ISP dongle (3G here), an app server, a cheap DB; whack the silly Apache to serve as a webfront, so as to act as a mobile server, point a DNS to the right IP... Essentially, a disposable server.

A bit lateral thinking is all.. a $1K server from a reputable (and frickin' rich) company like Apple, sufficiently powerful to handle Java apps.. so what if it fails? DB (maybe even the app server/ app) sits on remote storage, grab a fresh Mac Mini Server from cold storage and warm up. Hook up and reset. Toss the failed h/w back to Apple to recycle. Sod the big rack clustered servers and their reliability; just achieve the reliability with having "good enough" stuff and plenty of backstop. Sort of like Blade servers, except in white. If it can be done (and maintained!) with people with minimum training, then it becomes even more attractive, especially for SMEs.

[kensei]

Checking your motherboard's specs indicate: DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1600/1333/1066

You may want to check your BIOS settings again to be sure it is properly clocking the RAM if it's only running at 1333.

Thanks, I went into the BIOS and checked it out, and it is only running at 1333 MHz. What i did then was force it to work at 1866 MHz, but I kept the voltage the same. I may have to research to see if that has any long term ramifications. Seems fine, so far.

[David Hingtgen]

Weird Win7 annoyance:

If you click on a folder, it seems to always default to "latest modified first" for a split second, THEN re-arrange things and show you the files/folders in the order you actually picked/want. Doesn't matter what you have things set as nor when you did it. If you click on a folder---it'll open it immediately, but then spend 0.5secs re-arranging things. XP always actually just opened the folder and displayed things the way you left it.