Comments on David Alison's Blog: A new Mac Mini rounds out the house

I've used the mac mini as a media center for over ...

2009-11-17T10:05:15.901-05:00

I've used the mac mini as a media center for over a year now. Its a fantastic little machine.

I also believe the device makes an great server. All too often people over-power their servers and frankly waste electricity. The mini has everything you need and nothing you don't.

The new mini has a server version which is capable of running RAID mirroring! For details how to setup RAID mirror check out Mac Mini World Hosting - RAID 1 Setup

The newest version of the mac mini also uses far less power, only 11W while ideal!

The Mac Mini is the perfect form factor for a kitc...

2009-04-10T20:39:14.047-04:00

The Mac Mini is the perfect form factor for a kitchen cubby workstation... which is exactly where mine is located. It's my favorite computer in the house (and believe me, I've got a small fleet of 'em).

A Mac Mini is also a perfect machine for a server....

2009-03-23T13:14:38.869-04:00

A Mac Mini is also a perfect machine for a server. Quiet and tiny, it's even better with a couple of 1GB external hard drives. It even works great as a Time Machine server. It saves electricity too.

Besides for my use, I've also setup a number of clients this way. No need for a Mac Pro for home/small business needs.

The normal version of Mac OS X is fine too. The server version with a Mac Pro is not necessary for such modest needs.

Believe it or not, the normal version of Mac OS X is a **much** better Time Machine server than the server version of Mac OS X. The reason is that the normal version of Mac OS X allows multiple hard drives to be shared as Time Machine backups. The server version of Mac OS X only allows only *one* hard drive to backup everything. Strange.

Yes MiniMe is the perfect name. I used that name too.

Another option for your son is the M-Audio FireWir...

2009-03-21T00:09:51.116-04:00

Another option for your son is the M-Audio FireWire Solo. The nice thing about this unit is that you can plug in both a guitar and a mic. I have one and use it both for music and just for voiceovers on movies, etc. It plays nicely with Garageband.

The Line6 POD products work great through the MacP...

2009-03-18T20:57:19.904-04:00

The Line6 POD products work great through the MacPro, 3.5mm Jack to Jack cable from the POD Output to the Mac Input. http://uk.line6.com/

Works great with Garageband. I use the POD Express which is around $60US I believe.

Cheers

-Steve

When your son is ready to add vocals with an exter...

2009-03-18T19:26:05.072-04:00

When your son is ready to add vocals with an external mic, check out the Snowball.

@Rick Allen: Thanks for the link, I appreciate it....

2009-03-17T16:02:40.210-04:00

@Rick Allen: Thanks for the link, I appreciate it. I'm probably going to go with a simple cable directly into the line in port to see how that goes. If he wants to spend HIS money then I'll make sure he checks out the E-MU 0404.

I forgot to include a link -- this is one place to...

2009-03-17T15:50:31.375-04:00

I forgot to include a link -- this is one place to buy

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/EMu-0404-USB-2.0-Recording-Interface?sku=242516

Thanks David

Hi DavidI use an EMU 0404 USB Audio interface box....

2009-03-17T15:46:37.191-04:00

Hi David

I use an EMU 0404 USB Audio interface box. Cheep, and has good converters and can get guitar in and out. I also have rerouted my audio ins and outs through the adapter from my MacBook Pro and things sound great.

It was the cheepest/best unit I could find after much research.

--Rick--

@Jinjir: There are two elements that seem to impac...

2009-03-17T11:52:42.607-04:00

@Jinjir: There are two elements that seem to impact iMovie performance the most: video and memory. Since your MacBook can likely support 3GB (they have only been able to support 4GB for a little over a year from what I understand) you may want to go down that path first to see if it helps from a performance standpoint.

If you do decide to go the Mini path then getting as much memory as you can (4GB) will surely be helpful. The video in the Mac Mini—which has the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M—should give you much better performance than you have now.

Make sure you look at the total cost though - add in the monitor, keyboard, etc. unless you already have them to make sure you are comparing it fairly to an iMac, which may end up being a better solution for you.

Hope this helps...

Hi David,I have an almost two year old macbook and...

2009-03-17T11:11:32.399-04:00

Hi David,

I have an almost two year old macbook and am currently getting several years worth of mini-DV movies into iMovie '08 (macbook is still running Tiger). The macbook really struggles when iMovie is running - no other apps can be open at the same time. I want to get a more powerful second system but don't want to go to the expense or size of an iMac. Do you know how well the new mini runs when iMovie is open, or even better, when movies are being uploaded/edited?

I'm heading into the Apple store tomorrow (special expedition) to get some advice...

Cheers!
Jinjir

@Kermit: It's a bit embarrassing actually; my wife...

2009-03-17T09:43:58.185-04:00

@Kermit: It's a bit embarrassing actually; my wife and daughters each have white MacBooks, I have a Mac Pro and a MacBook Pro for travel and my son now has the Mini. We've also got a 500GB Time Capsule and an AirPort Express powering our stereo. Needless to say I'm very happy with what we've got.

@David Scheidt: Thanks David; I'm going to hold off on the upgrades for the Mini as long as I can, see how he uses the machine first. I am disappointed that Apple didn't make it as easy to upgrade the HD and memory as they do in the MacBooks though; if they did I likely would have already upgraded it.

Very cool about completeling the switch to Apple i...

2009-03-17T09:02:27.016-04:00

Very cool about completeling the switch to Apple in your house!

For your son, DEFINITELY upgrade the mini all the way on the memory and hard drive! Did you get one of the new Mini's? I think the old ones can only go to 2 gigs, but the new ones can be pushed to 4 gigs. Also, for recording, the more memory and hard drive space the better!

Garageband is an EXCELLENT recording program. And for a basic recording interface, check out M-Audio. I've heard good things about the FastTrack Pro

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackPro.html

There are a lot of options out there, including the Line 6 Pods and Studios.

Good luck!

Wow David. In just over a year you've gone from a...

2009-03-17T08:54:36.724-04:00

Wow David. In just over a year you've gone from a Mac trier to converting the whole house. So how many Apple products do you now have in the house-hold?

Not counting my early '90s LCII, I've got a late '06 5th gen. iPod (80GB), an early '07 2nd gen. Shuffle (1GB), a late '07 1st gen. iPhone (8GB), an early '08 4th gen. 17" MBP (250GB), and final an early '08 1st gen. Time Capsule (1TB). Next will probably be an Apple TV.

I just upgraded the memory in my old mac mini from...

2009-03-16T20:57:56.152-04:00

I just upgraded the memory in my old mac mini from 1gig to 2 and a half. It took ages to get the case off. They don't make it easy. It is my understanding that the warranty remains in place but not for any damage you do to the machine while you're messing around in there.

I'd also heard that you need to run your memory in parallel but this site indicated otherwise. A half gig and a 2gig stick run faster than two 1 gigs.

There are a LOT of options for recording. The que...

2009-03-16T17:46:55.202-04:00

There are a LOT of options for recording. The question becomes whether you want to start off with something cheap or buy something decent and more expandable into more of a real home-studio kind of device. I do NOT recommend just plugging the guitar right into the computer. Sound quality will be bad and then you're stuck if you ever want to add vocals or do live micing of other instruments or from a real guitar amp.

There are a lot of good firewire possibilities from brands like Presonus, Alesis and MOTU (more expensive, but my recommendation) that could be the basis for a fun home recording studio. Add a usb midi controller and he's set to go for a while.

Garageband is fun. If he starts to outgrow it, though, I really recommend Logic Express. It is a fantastic deal for what it gives you.

LOL. The ol' name your computers after your favour...

2009-03-16T17:35:54.644-04:00

LOL. The ol' name your computers after your favourite movie.

In my last job, since I was the boss, I got to choose. So all our new servers were named after characters from Zoolander. Derek, Hansel, Mugatu, Matilda etc.

I love hearing people's naming conventions for their computers.

David,The Mini isn't that hard to crack for drive,...

2009-03-16T15:48:13.045-04:00

David,

The Mini isn't that hard to crack for drive, RAM etc. if you are used to taking stuff apart.
you do have to take a fair amount of it apart, but once the cover is off the case it's pretty straightforward.

But there is still the warranty issue.

My understanding, though no personal experience here, is that Garageband can be a real memory hog.

Steve

@Mike: It wasn't really clear to me whether the Mi...

2009-03-16T15:03:42.552-04:00

@Mike: It wasn't really clear to me whether the Mini is user upgradeable from a memory or hard drive standpoint. The Apple store folks told me it voids the warranty so I decided to let them bump it from 1GB to 2GB. This should be fine for my son since his only memory intensive application appears to be GarageBand.

If you want to run a lot of applications like that...

2009-03-16T14:42:54.445-04:00

If you want to run a lot of applications like that, you really need 4GB of RAM. It made a huge difference when I upgraded my MacBook from 2GB to 4GB. Unfortunately, the Mac Mini isn't easy to upgrade.

I've got some experience with guitar/Mac interface...

2009-03-16T11:47:48.699-04:00

I've got some experience with guitar/Mac interfaces, DA. Plugging directly into the Mac works, but is probably not the best sound available, although it has been updated since I tried it. Several outboard devices specifically for guitar can be found. I owned for a while a DigitechRP500, which is outstanding and very versatile and includes software for Mac. It works through USB. Excellent live as well. Line 6 (the company) also makes outboard USB interfaces and I've used one of them, too. These all have extensive amp-modeling capabilities and tonal variation.

@Mark, Oliver: Excellent - thanks guys!@Fabrizio: ...

2009-03-16T10:54:09.916-04:00

@Mark, Oliver: Excellent - thanks guys!

@Fabrizio: I don't keep iTunes running all the time (though I do most of the time) which is why I prefer to have the music files in a shareable area on the network. The same applies with iPhoto, which is one of my complaints with it's sharing model.

Sorry, didn't see oliver's post in time. :-)You ju...

2009-03-16T10:50:28.777-04:00

Sorry, didn't see oliver's post in time. :-)

You just plug straight in to the Mac. GarageBand can even simulate different amps. Very cool!

I believe it goes straight in - I've never tried i...

2009-03-16T10:48:54.289-04:00

I believe it goes straight in - I've never tried it personally, but my father is looking to connect his guitar as well and I was doing a bit of research.

Cheers
oo

www.noun.ca

Hi David, why don't you activate iTunes library sh...

2009-03-16T10:47:30.124-04:00

Hi David, why don't you activate iTunes library sharing on your Mac Pro? This way your son will be able to access your library from his Mac Mini, without having to add the songs to his library. And he can even let the option "Copy files to iTunes..." on.