I dream of Mini, fulfilled!

Today we went to MicroCenter and finally picked up the Mac Mini that I've been saving for almost since the day they were announced. As luck would have it, I got a better model than I was planning for. Turns out MC has had several open-box Minis on clearance from the holidays. They had a 1.25GHz base model for $425 and a 1.42GHz SuperDrive marked at $629 on Tues. when I went in to scout things out. That's only $30 more than I was planning to spend on a non-SD 1.42GHz Mini. But, we go in tonight and they have two more Minis behind the glass. One marked at $629 and another marked at $599. Yep, a full SD WiFi BlueTooth 512MB 80GB 1.42GHz Mini for just $599. I asked the saleman if there was any reason to not buy it over the $629 models. His reply? "I can sell you a more expensive one if you like, but I don't see why. They're the same thing, it's just that we've had this one in stock a bit longer." The ACW starts ging at the date of original purchase, thus the older a particular return is, the less warranty and the less worth it has. Oh well! I can save $100, so I get the SuperDrive for free? Heck yeah!

This Mini sure looks snazzy at 1280x1024 on a 19" LCD... Biggrin

Comments

tmtomh's picture

And a purchasing job well done, Jon. It's good to see you finally get this lovely machine after saving for it for so long!

Best,
Matt

Jon's picture

Now I've gotta get going on my plans for BYODKM - Applefritter style. I've got a most of the parts, now it's just planning. What to do, what to copy, what to make my own... Wink

Congratulations! And nice deal, too. If this were Dealmac, you'd get a LEADER!

I get the feeling you were the kind of kid who could save his nickels for five years to get a shiny new bike...

Jon's picture

I was the kind of kid who saved $500+ to buy a laptop while I was a freshman-sophomore in HS. It was the time when Win95 just came out, so all the old Win 3.11 stuff was on clearance. I got the Packard Bell Statesman wiht DOS 6.2 and WFW 3.11 and a whoppig 4mb RAM and a 200MB drive. This was the first machine I loaded Linux on. It was Slackware 3.2 or something, dual booted with DOS.

I also remember seeing something like a Performa 5200 on display when I went to pick it up. I drooled for mere moments then remembered that I only had enough cash for the lappy.

I carrie dthat thing in HS back before it was cool to do so. I lso used it for my Intro to Programming w/ C++ course when the lab machines were all in use. My instructor thought it was great that I had setup Turbo C++ on my own... 1995, those were days... Wink

Jon's picture

Turns out that I seem to have gotten one of the "quietly upgraded" Minis. I double checked the specs after I was browsing Wikipedia's claim that late 2005 models had an upgrade. ASp shows this as a 1.5GHz and 64MB VRAM model. I had thought the 1.5GHz rating was just a rounding error until I discovered teh 32mb vs 64mb VRAM issue. Sweet!

Jon's picture

Plus it's got the 5400 RPM Seagate Momentus ST9808211A 80GB drive! Wahoo, this this was made for being a speedy Mini!

Now to get speakers that don't tune Country 104.1 FM outta the wall-wart... grr!


1/25/06 12:19 AM

Hardware:

Hardware Overview:

Machine Name: Mac mini
Machine Model: PowerMac10,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (1.2)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 1.5 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 167 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.9.4f0

Network:

Bluetooth:

Type: PPP (PPPSerial)
Hardware: Modem
BSD Device Name: Bluetooth-Modem
Has IP Assigned: No

Built-in Ethernet:

Type: Ethernet
Hardware: Ethernet
BSD Device Name: en0
Has IP Assigned: No

Built-in FireWire:

Type: FireWire
Hardware: FireWire
BSD Device Name: fw0
Has IP Assigned: No

AirPort:

Type: AirPort
Hardware: AirPort
BSD Device Name: en1
Has IP Assigned: Yes

Software:

System Software Overview:

System Version: Mac OS X 10.4.4 (8G32)
Kernel Version: Darwin 8.4.0

ATA:

ATA Bus:

ST9808211A:

Capacity: 74.53 GB
Model: ST9808211A
Revision: 3.07
Serial Number: xxxxxxxx
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Protocol: ATA
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
OS9 Drivers: No
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
disk0s3:
Capacity: 74.41 GB
Available: 47.14 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+

MATSHITADVD-R UJ-845:

Model: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-845
Revision: D8PB
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 1
Socket Type: Internal

Audio (Built In):

Built In Sound Card:

Devices:
LoadToonie:
Inputs and Outputs:
Headphones:
Controls: Mute, Left, Right
PluginID: Toonie
Internal Speakers:
Controls: Mute, Master
PluginID: Toonie
Formats:
PCM 16:
Bit Depth: 16
Bit Width: 16
Channels: 2
Mixable: Yes
Sample Rates: 32 KHz, 44.1 KHz, 48 KHz, 88.2 KHz, 96 KHz
PCM 24:
Bit Depth: 24
Bit Width: 32
Channels: 2
Mixable: Yes
Sample Rates: 32 KHz, 44.1 KHz, 48 KHz, 88.2 KHz, 96 KHz

Bluetooth:

Apple Bluetooth Software Version: 1.7.0f18
Hardware Settings:
Jon Pruente’s Mac mini:
Address: 00-11-24-ae-8f-6b
Manufacturer: Cambridge Silicon Radio
Firmware Version: 3.1965 (3.1965)
Requires Authentication: No

Diagnostics:

Power On Self-Test:

Last Run: 1/24/06 10:03 PM
Result: Passed

Disc Burning:

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-845:

Firmware Revision: D8PB
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipped/Supported)
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO
Media: No

FireWire:

FireWire Bus:

Maximum Speed: Up to 400 Mb/sec

Graphics/Displays:

ATI Radeon 9200:

Chipset Model: ATY,RV280
Type: Display
Bus: AGP
VRAM (Total): 64 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x5962
Revision ID: 0x0001
ROM Revision: 113-xxxxx-133
Displays:
AL1916:
Resolution: 1280 x 1024 @ 75 Hz
Depth: 32-bit Color
Core Image: Not Supported
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Rotation: Supported

Memory:

DIMM0/J11:

Size: 512 MB
Type: DDR SDRAM
Speed: PC3200U-30330
Status: OK

PCI Cards:

pci106b,4318:

Type: Other Network Controller
Bus: PCI
Slot: SLOT-B
Vendor ID: 0x14e4
Device ID: 0x4318
Subsystem Vendor ID: 0x106b
Subsystem ID: 0x4318
Revision ID: 0x0002

USB:

USB High-Speed Bus:

Host Controller Location: Built In USB
Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBEHCI
PCI Device ID: 0x00e0
PCI Revision ID: 0x0004
PCI Vendor ID: 0x1033
Bus Number: 0x5b

USB Bus:

Host Controller Location: Built In USB
Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBOHCI
PCI Device ID: 0x003f
PCI Revision ID: 0x0000
PCI Vendor ID: 0x106b
Bus Number: 0x1a

Bluetooth HCI:

Version: 19.65
Bus Power (mA): 500
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Product ID: 0x8207
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Computer, Inc.)

USB Bus:

Host Controller Location: Built In USB
Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBOHCI
PCI Device ID: 0x0035
PCI Revision ID: 0x0043
PCI Vendor ID: 0x1033
Bus Number: 0x1b

Hub in Apple USB Keyboard:

Version: 2.10
Bus Power (mA): 500
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Alps Electric
Product ID: 0x1001
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Computer, Inc.)

Macally USB Mini Optical Mouse:

Version: 22.51
Bus Power (mA): 100
Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
Product ID: 0x2520
Vendor ID: 0x2222

Apple USB Keyboard:

Version: 1.02
Bus Power (mA): 250
Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Alps Electric
Product ID: 0x0201
Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Computer, Inc.)

USB Bus:

Host Controller Location: Built In USB
Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBOHCI
PCI Device ID: 0x0035
PCI Revision ID: 0x0043
PCI Vendor ID: 0x1033
Bus Number: 0x3b

AirPort Card:

AirPort Card Information:

Wireless Card Type: AirPort Extreme
Wireless Card Locale: USA
Wireless Card Firmware Version: 402.6 (3.90.34.0.p13)
Wireless Channel: 11

coius's picture

congrats on the score!

Jon's picture

What is also odd is that the DDR SDRAM is a PC3200. I'm not sure if it runs at 400MHz, or if it's just reporting the SPD ino and runs it at PC2700. And, the HDD runs with 8MB cache.

Jon's picture

Hardware Upgrade! We just came home with a new Apple USB keyboard. This'll replace the kruddy BlueBerry USB keyboard that I've been having trouble typing with. Maybe my posts will get a bit better. Now I just have to deal with large hands on a regular keyboard...