Apple Mac mini (MC438LL/A) Desktop
Out of stock |
Similar in Mac Desktops
- Operating System: Apple MacOS X
- HDD Size: 500 GB
- Installed Memory: 4 GB (DDR3 SDRAM)
- Processor: Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz
- Overview
-
Reviews
-
Compare Prices
User ReviewRead All Reviews »
Mac Mini: not up to snuff for professional use
Pros
The least expensive Macintosh, small compact size
Cons
Hard drive went bad, superdrive went bad, RAM related problems
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
The Mac Mini is the most unreliable Macintosh computer I have ever used. Many hardware failures and RAM related problems, just in the first year of use.
I do graphic design at a book publishing company in a Macintosh environment. Over the past ten years on the job I've used Mac G3s, G4s, G5s, and our newest Macintosh addition was the Mac Mini, which was purchased in June of 2010 after our former IT guy recommended it to the bosses as a decent and affordable computer. Our Mac Mini came with a 500 gig hard drive, 4 gigs of RAM, a 2.66 HHz duo processor, and the Mac 10.6 (Snow Leopard) operating system, for a price of $799.
After installing all the programs that we use on the job (the main one being the Adobe CS5 graphics suite) I was dissapointed to find that the Mac Mini was no faster than the six-year-old Mac G5 that had been my main computer at that point. That turned out to be the least of the problems with the Mac Mini.
First of all -- after just six months -- the 500 gig hard drive failed and the unit had to be returned and have a new hard drive installed. Fortunately it was still under warantee, but comon... a hard drive should last more than six months, especially on a Mac!
Secondly, there were several instances when the Mac Mini would suddenly slow down considerably, display the spinning beach ball when trying to perform simple commands, stall out, and finally become unresponsive. Each of these times, once the computer was shut down and restarted, it would refuse to start back up. Each time this happened I was only able to get the Mac Mini to start by starting it up with the installation disc and running "Disk Utilility" from the disc. And each time Disc Utility found many errors on the hard drive and in Disc Permissions which it was able to repair. This happened at least three times, and I believe it was because the programs we were running required more memory than the 4 gigs of RAM supplied, thus resulting in "page outs" which resulted in disc errors. Finally, we installed 8 gigs of RAM into the Mac Mini (8 gigs is the maximum it can take) and that seems to have fixed the problem. That being said, in my opinion 4 gigs of RAM is just not enough for the Mac Mini if you want to run high end graphics programs.
Thirdly, after 15 months of use, the "Superdrive" (or CD/DVD reader/writer) has gone bad and cannot read or write discs anymore. It simply spits all discs back out now. Even from the get go -- when brand new -- the Superdrive would occasionally buzz loudly, as if it was about to explode, when reading certain brands of discs. I have read on forums that the Superdrive failure is common on the Mac Mini.
And finally, due to the small size of the Mac Mini, you will probably have to send it to a professional to replace any hardware in it. Replacing the RAM is a breeze, but other than that, forget about replacing parts in the Mac Mini unless you have the proper tools, the tech skills, and tiny hands.
On the plus side, the Mac Mini is very small in size and takes up little room... but that's about all I can give it credit for. The Mac Mini is the cheapest Macintosh made (at a base price of $599) and is considered the "low end" Macintosh, but with all the problems I have had with it I would call it an overpriced piece of junk -- an embarrasment to Macintosh. For Pete's sake, while our Mac Mini (just a year old) has been having all sorts of problems and hardware failures, our ten-year-old G4 and our six-year-old G5 are still running strong (knock on wood).
Seriously, if you are looking for a Macintosh computer for professional use, or even just for use at home, I would recommend a higher end Macintosh such as the iMac, or better yet -- the Mac Pro. In fact, I plan on convincing the bosses to replace our Mac Mini with a Mac Pro.
With all the problems I've had with the Mac Mini -- the bad hard drive, the RAM-related problems, and finally the bad Superdrive -- I cannot recommend the Mac Mini to anyone, for any type of use.
After installing all the programs that we use on the job (the main one being the Adobe CS5 graphics suite) I was dissapointed to find that the Mac Mini was no faster than the six-year-old Mac G5 that had been my main computer at that point. That turned out to be the least of the problems with the Mac Mini.
First of all -- after just six months -- the 500 gig hard drive failed and the unit had to be returned and have a new hard drive installed. Fortunately it was still under warantee, but comon... a hard drive should last more than six months, especially on a Mac!
Secondly, there were several instances when the Mac Mini would suddenly slow down considerably, display the spinning beach ball when trying to perform simple commands, stall out, and finally become unresponsive. Each of these times, once the computer was shut down and restarted, it would refuse to start back up. Each time this happened I was only able to get the Mac Mini to start by starting it up with the installation disc and running "Disk Utilility" from the disc. And each time Disc Utility found many errors on the hard drive and in Disc Permissions which it was able to repair. This happened at least three times, and I believe it was because the programs we were running required more memory than the 4 gigs of RAM supplied, thus resulting in "page outs" which resulted in disc errors. Finally, we installed 8 gigs of RAM into the Mac Mini (8 gigs is the maximum it can take) and that seems to have fixed the problem. That being said, in my opinion 4 gigs of RAM is just not enough for the Mac Mini if you want to run high end graphics programs.
Thirdly, after 15 months of use, the "Superdrive" (or CD/DVD reader/writer) has gone bad and cannot read or write discs anymore. It simply spits all discs back out now. Even from the get go -- when brand new -- the Superdrive would occasionally buzz loudly, as if it was about to explode, when reading certain brands of discs. I have read on forums that the Superdrive failure is common on the Mac Mini.
And finally, due to the small size of the Mac Mini, you will probably have to send it to a professional to replace any hardware in it. Replacing the RAM is a breeze, but other than that, forget about replacing parts in the Mac Mini unless you have the proper tools, the tech skills, and tiny hands.
On the plus side, the Mac Mini is very small in size and takes up little room... but that's about all I can give it credit for. The Mac Mini is the cheapest Macintosh made (at a base price of $599) and is considered the "low end" Macintosh, but with all the problems I have had with it I would call it an overpriced piece of junk -- an embarrasment to Macintosh. For Pete's sake, while our Mac Mini (just a year old) has been having all sorts of problems and hardware failures, our ten-year-old G4 and our six-year-old G5 are still running strong (knock on wood).
Seriously, if you are looking for a Macintosh computer for professional use, or even just for use at home, I would recommend a higher end Macintosh such as the iMac, or better yet -- the Mac Pro. In fact, I plan on convincing the bosses to replace our Mac Mini with a Mac Pro.
With all the problems I've had with the Mac Mini -- the bad hard drive, the RAM-related problems, and finally the bad Superdrive -- I cannot recommend the Mac Mini to anyone, for any type of use.
