Faizal from Malaysia writes:

I’m very excited that Apple has introduced a new Mac Mini which I consider very good in terms of specification and price. So, I decided to buy this new Mac Mini as my first Mac PC. The main reason I like Mac Mini because of its form factor. I’m a Windows PC user and with this new Mac Mini, I hope I can experience myself with Mac computers and Mac OS X.

The only problem I have for now is the monitor. I found that Mac LCD monitors are too expensive if compared to other brands. I can’t afford to buy an Apple LCD monitor since it is out of my budget. So, my questions: (1) Can I use an LCD monitor from another brand, and (2) What are the main advantages to using Apple-brand monitors for Mac systems.

I saw today’s Mac Mini update, too!

Indeed, for the quality hardware combined with a tiny physical footprint, the Mac Mini is a great first Mac for anybody. My only wish is that they’d soon migrate to the iX series of Intel processors (dropping the Core 2 Duos altogether).

If you’re a new Mac user (or someone switching from Windows), I have my 100 Mac Tips eBook available to help give you a leg up on what you’ll soon discover in Mac OS X. I’d suggest it not just because I wrote it, but because I’ve been there myself. I live in between Windows and Mac OS X (and definitely a better geek for that).

Apple has done an absolutely wonderful job at causing people to believe that their products are only compatible with their other products. This, my friend, is NOT the case. You can connect any monitor to the Mac Mini that your little Malaysian heart desires (although, you may need to get an adapter – depending on which ports you’re connecting). That’s good news – reuse what you’ve already got!

Moreover, the only reason you’d want to get an Apple LCD monitor at this point is… if you like looking at the Apple logo. That’s about it.

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Getting a New Mac Mini

Desktop fans received a bit of love today from Apple: the new Mac Mini has been unveiled. It is certainly a gorgeous little piece of equipment, and it appears to have been hitting the company gym during redesign. The system is much beefier than previous versions, packing a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. The machine also includes an SD card reader and “doubled” graphics performance due to the NVIDIA GeForce 320M chip.

You’ll be happy to note that the new Mac Mini also finally includes HDMI-out capability. You’ll be able to use the device as your media center at long last. The power supply is completely inside of the machine meaning no more cumbersome power brick. The bottom slides off of the slick aluminum unibody design so that you can easily upgrade your RAM at any point.

Pricing starts at just $699, and the new lineup even includes a new Mac mini Snow Leopard server that you can grab (beginning at $999). Best of all, Apple claims that with “twice the graphics performance, the new Mac mini is still the world’s most energy efficient desktop. The new Mac mini reduces power consumption by an incredible 25 percent to less than 10W at idle, less than half the power required by competing systems. Mac mini meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status.”

I’ve been fairly happy with my little Mac Mini for quite some time now. It powers the live stream from its place on a shelf beneath my desk. However, there have been issues at times in the past. When pushing out so much on a continual basis it tends to get tired once in a while. Perhaps it is time to upgrade in the near future.

What are your thoughts about the new Mac Mini? Is this the latest “must-have” on your list, or are you going to bypass the urge to buy?

New Apple Mac Mini Beefed up Under the Hood

Sometimes, focusing our brain can be a difficult task. Things happen on a daily basis in our lives that end up muddling our minds. It becomes difficult to shut off the noise and truly focus on whatever it is we’re supposed to be doing. Even though the thoughts running rampant may be serious or life-changing, we still have to find a way to push them aside for a bit of time so that we can finish our work. Life goes on, even when we may not want it to.

My question is… how do you accomplish this? How do you manage to stop thinking about everything else and get the things done that you have to? What do you do to clear your head and distract yourself when you need to? I happen to know someone who is going through a very difficult and painful time right now. However, she still has to work in order to take care of her family. She’s having a lot of trouble concentrating. Instead of thinking through what she’s trying to write, she ends up having her thoughts consumed by what is going on in her life. I am hoping that our community may have some advice and tips for her to help her get through this period. I’m sure that she’s not the only one having this problem, either. I’m willing to bet all of you have had to deal with this at some point or another.

How do YOU turn off the noise and just focus?

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One caller the other night had some questions about whether or not he should purchase a Mac Mini. He wondered if it’s comparable to a Windows PC running a quad-core system. The answer to that is… uh… NO! You can’t even begin to compare those two systems. The Mac Mini would be more like a Windows machine with a Core 2 Duo.

If space is an issue and you don’t need a powerful machine, then a Mac Mini will work well. It runs nicely when not trying to do too much at once. I use one of them to run my live stream, and it handles those tasks beautifully most of the time. However, if you have to do a lot of system-intensive things, then I can pretty much guarantee you won’t be happy with the Mac Mini.

The caller watches videos and surfs the web. He also does a lot of selling on eBay, so he prints shipping labels quite often. In that case, the Mac Mini may be perfect for him.

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Mac Mini Questions

If you’re a music fanatic, I bet you’ve griped many times about the lack of space for tunes on your Apple device. With the release of the new version of iTunes today, those rants will hopefully be relegated to the past. Apple has added a feature to reduce the size of the music files on your iPod or iPhone by converting the bit rate to 128 kbps. Most of you will never notice a difference in the quality of what you’re hearing when playing back your selections.

Install the update and begin your sync. Make sure to check “Convert higher bit rate songs to 128 kbps AAC” when you plug in your device. The sync will take longer than usual, because the application will need to convert all of the media to the new specification. You will be rewarded for the wait, though. Your iPhone or iPod will now be able to hold up to twice as many individual tracks as before.

This feature has been available on the iPod Shuffle for a while now, and many of us are happy to see that it has been extended to other popular Apple gadgets. Keep in mind that your original files in iTunes will not change. They will still have the same high quality as they had prior to the changes on the device.

What tech developments have come to your attention today? If you have anything to pass on that we may have missed on this blog, feel free to drop us a line.

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This computer is tiny, because it’s a Mac Mini. It can run either Windows full-on, or Mac OS X. This is the latest revision of the series, and I’m glad there’s finally an updated one! I’ve been using my old Mac Mini to run the live stream with. Obviously, it worked ok since the stream was going out 24 hours a day.

The processor is a few GHz faster. There’s a big difference in going from 1GB or RAM to 4GB, though. I’m also gaining a much better video card with this new one. It has a 320GB hard drive, at 5400RPM. 5400 is more than enough – do you know why? That’s right – it won’t put out as much heat.

If you want your own Mac Mini, you can use our link. Using it will blast you directly to where you need to be to get one for yourself at the best price possible.

Mac mini is the world’s most energy-efficient desktop computer. When it’s idle, Mac Mini uses less than 13 watts — that’s 45 percent less energy than ever before. Also, the brilliant thing about Mac mini. You can use the display, keyboard, and mouse you already own. Plug them in. Turn it on. And there you have it: your instant desktop.

There’s nothing as cool as seeing your pictures on a huge display. Unless, of course, you add another! Mac Mini comes with both mini-DVI and Mini DisplayPort outport ports, so you can connect up to two monitors!

It pretty much looks like the Mac Mini I’ve been using for awhile, but with some nice upgrades on the inside. I’m going to keep the old one, and incorporate it with this one in some way, in order to bring more power to the stream. More power is always a good thing, right?

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Mac Mini Unboxing

ustreamer-79507: where is the best place to buy mac minis at low prices?

If you’re looking for a new Mac mini with an Intel Processor I would go with MacMall. They’re consistently the cheapest of the merchants that I buy from. If you’re looking for a deal on a used one (especially the older G4s) I’d try eBay.

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