Which refurb'd Mac Mini for DP?

[cbergm7210]

Ok Mike H, David P, and all you other intelligent folks out there that know way more than yours truly about this, I need your opinion on which Mac Mini would do the best job running DP.

This would be for a remote recording setup to do simple to moderate recording and editing, running Kontact, Omnisphere, etc. After working for a few days I'd then take it back to the studio to complete and mix the work, so I do not need a monster machine to do all the heavy lifting at the end of the project. Just something slick enough not to slow me down while composing and working with VI's and a few audio tracks.

If you would give your two cents regarding OWC's selection of refurbished Mac Mini's, which one would you lean toward?

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/Apple-Sy ... 1457731558

As usual, thanks for the help, brothers.

[HCMarkus]

Chris, if space is not an issue and you don't need Thunderbolt, consider a 4,1 Mac Pro for $500, leaving you an upgrade path to hex CPU and easy memory/storage expansion.

http://www.macofalltrades.com/Mac-Pro-1 ... c-e09a.htm

[cbergm7210]

Chris, if space is not an issue and you don't need Thunderbolt, consider a 4,1 Mac Pro for $500, leaving you an upgrade path to hex CPU and easy memory/storage expansion.

http://www.macofalltrades.com/Mac-Pro-1 ... c-e09a.htm

As usual, HC, very helpful, thank you!

I am, however, contemplating a rig that I can drag around to several different locations. Kind of a "go to the mountain cabin to write your book" kind of thing to get me out of the same space I am in day in and day out. I thought I could possibly keep good sized monitors / mouse / keyboard where I need them and tote a mini around...

Although your suggestion is a good one if I wanted to keep a machine at a certain location and not worry about dragging anything there. Can't beat the price.

But just for sport Mr. HC, got any preferences on those OWC mini's that you would lean towards?

[mikehalloran]

2012 was the last year of the Mini with the i7 Quad Core. Put a couple of SSDs into it and that's as powerful a Mini as you can buy. The only version with FW, TB and USB 3. This was made through mid-2014.

Late 2014 Minis were limited to a twin core processor. DP benefits from the i7 chip. This is the current model unless they introduce a new one at the Apple event in ten days.

The Server version came with two drives. The 5400 HHDs are slow but they're easy to replace with SSDs—no adapters to buy. Max RAM is 16G which should be plenty.

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... specs.html

You can compare all the Minis here.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... cmini.html

The problem with these is that these are more expensive than you would normally expect for a nearly 4 year old Mac. Had Apple not diminished the specs in 2014...

[HCMarkus]

Mr. Halloran has you covered Chris. I can certainly understand not wanting to lug a cheese grater around! Could a laptop be even better than a Mini?

[mikehalloran]

Mr. Halloran has you covered Chris. I can certainly understand not wanting to lug a cheese grater around! Could a laptop be even better than a Mini?

Here are today's Apple refurbs. There are a few 15.4" MBPs with i7 Quad processors, 16G RAM and various onboard SSD blades from $1,999–$2.589 with 1T onboard. It will outperform the most tricked out Mini. I bought my daughter one for Christmas.

http://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

In the used market, the only thing that typically wears out on a Mini is the $3.30 CR2032 NV RAM memory battery and the OE HHDs. The non-server version may need an adapter bracket and cable to accept a second SSD—it depends on the year and OWC would know.

[cbergm7210]

Guys, thanks for the input!

I picked up the last refurbished Apple Mac mini (2012) 2.3GHz Quad Core i7: Thunderbolt, 4GB RAM, 1.0TB HDD OWC has right now, so I can rig it with 16G RAM and add an SSD drive to boot from. Should work great for my remote setup.

[mikehalloran]

There you go.

[HCMarkus]