Apple Mac Mini MD388LL/A Desktop (OLD VERSION)

So the mac mini is basically laptop technology without a screen attached. Being Apple is a total joke when looking for deals, a Apple customer like me looks for the best bang for the buck according to needs via the model/type. I bought this mid level mac mini to replace my 2006 Intel Solo one. I debated on getting the dual core vs quad core and almost got the dual core as I don't think I will use any apps that require quad core. I bought the quad for the slight bump in speed when it uses Turbo Boost which it will do all the time using typical apps like web browsing, youtube, office and iTunes. Turbo Boost kicks in automatically, the user has no control over this feature Intel implemented in these CPU's. The quad core also has 6MB L3 cache which I absolutely don't know if that makes any difference in everyday usage that I intend to utilize.The entry level 2012 $600 (Amazon priced) version has a 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB L3 cache.The mid level 2012 $800 (Amazon priced) version has a 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz) with 6MB L3 cache.The high end level 2012 $970 (Apple Direct priced w/tax) version has a 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) with 6MB L3 cache.Thus the max CPU Turbo Boost thresh hold choices being 3.1GHz, 3.3GHz or 3.6HZ when it uses a single core (which is most of the time)For the extra $200, I decided on the quad core mid level. I then decide to upgrade 16gb Corsair Ram and 256GB Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD. As a newbie to the process on this new model mac mini, I did rip the CPU fan's four dinky wires out of their sockets (as I pulled them straight out instead of straight up) and had to buy a new CPU fan which was easily purchased for $60 shipped USA. BTW, yes, I was depressed and anxiety ridden with emotions by this newbie flub-up, but all worked itself out by just telling myself to move forward. I hear you can actually just crease the CPU Fan wire back and install the SSD which I would surely try knowing that now as re-installing that small CPU fan connector was the hardest part of the upgrade process.My total cost came to $1200. But I plan on keeping this model for at least another 6 years and wanted everything good from the get go.I used Carbon Copy app to clone the original 1TB HDD to the 256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD without issue by using an external SATA enclosure plugged in via USB3 port before physically installing the SSD to the mac mini. I did initialize the SSD first before cloning. There are great YouTube installation guides from the 2011 model presently that I followed.I will just keep the 1TB HDD like a Apple OS Lion DVD installation disk in storage in case something goes awry or I want to upgrade the SSD to something else. I cloned the original factory installation albeit after I registered it to make sure everything was operational in the first place. I don't plan on adding a 'second' SSD or HDD via a kit one can purchase as they are not required for my needs. If they were, I would save myself the headache and buy it that way direct from Apple.Tested Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD with Black Magic Disk Speed Test (free app) with this mid level mac miniWrite - 490Read - 515I did not test the original 1GB 5200rpm HDD with that app, sorry as that would have been better for this review.Transfer of iTunes from the iPod Classic was pretty straight forward. There was a OS Lion patch bug that prompted the user to buy the upgrade patch but that went away after about a month and OS Lion updates the latest OS patches without extra funds being prompted now.So why only 4 stars. The registration process would not keep my original Apple ID in tact. I had to create a new one. Boo!Anyway, for those wondering what the Intel HD4000 gaming benchmark comparison might be to a nVidia 660m dedicated. I have a MSI G Series GE60 0ND-042US Laptop with W7 & W8 dual boot which I upgraded with the same Corsair 16GB Ram, Mushkin 240GB mSATA and same 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz) with 6MB L3 cache. I was able to disable the dedicated nVidia 660m in Device Manager using W7 to compare what the Intel HD4000 onboard to the nVidia 660m 2GB dedicated GPU on the laptop. Ya, it is W7 and not OS Lion, but you at least get a picture with the same amount of Ram, same 2.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 (Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz) with 6MB L3 cache and Intel HD4000 GPU.In case you're wondering 24 FPS is normal DVD or Theater Frames Per Second. The Hobbit is shown in 3D iMax @ 48FPS thus double normal video.My MSI Laptop comes with a 2GB Dedicated card and when disabled or not in use, the Intel HD4000 will use 1.7GB of graphic memory. The Apple Mac Mini maxes graphic memory to only 768MB (with an 8GB or 16GB system memory upgrade). The Heaven 3.0 Benchmarks could show this limit Apple put on the Intel HD4000 @ only 768MB as being a hindrance to performance especially with graphic settings and resolutions lowered.Standard Heaven 3.0 Benchmark SettingsRender: direct3d11Mode: 1920x1080 fullscreenShaders: highTextures: highFilter: trilinearAnisotropy: 4xOcclusion: enabledRefraction: enabledVolumetric: enabledTessellation: disabledMSI W7 PC nVidia 2GB 660mFPS: 31.5Scores: 793Min FPS: 17.0Max FPS: 69.4MSI W7 PC 1.7GB HD4000FPS: 10.5Scores: 265Min FPS: 7.3Max FPS: 19.6Apple Mac Mini 768MB HD4000FPS: 10.9Scores: 274Min FPS: 7.6Max FPS: 19.3Slightly Lowered 1080p Heaven 3.0 Benchmark SettingsRender: direct3d11Mode: 1920x1080 fullscreenShaders: low Textures: highFilter: trilinearAnisotropy: disabled Occlusion: enabledRefraction: enabledVolumetric: enabledTessellation: disabledMSI W7 PC nVidia 2GB 660mFPS: 37.2Scores: 937Min FPS: 19.1Max FPS: 75.5MSI W7 PC 1.7GB HD4000FPS: 12.3Scores: 309Min FPS: 8.2Max FPS: 21.2Apple Mac Mini 768MB HD4000FPS: 12.2Scores: 307Min FPS: 8.4Max FPS: 20.6Heaven 3.0 Benchmark Settings @ 1366X768 which is the low ball max resolution of various Laptops of late including Apple's 2012 lineup.Render: direct3d11Mode: 1366x768 fullscreenShaders: low Textures: highFilter: trilinearAnisotropy: disabled Occlusion: enabledRefraction: enabledVolumetric: enabledTessellation: disabledMSI W7 PC nVidia 2GB 660mFPS: 62.4Scores: 1571Min FPS: 32.0Max FPS: 114.4MSI W7 PC 1.7GB HD4000FPS: 18.9Scores: 477Min FPS: 13.0Max FPS: 35.9Apple Mac Mini 768MB HD4000FPS: 14.7Scores: 370Min FPS: 7.2Max FPS: 27.4

I don’t know to whom or what or why, but thank you for this Mac Mini. It came better than brand new, Amazon warehouse FTW!

I'm happy that I bought it now, but I want to share some issues that I experienced that might help you. I'm assuming that you're already familiar with Mac OS X versus Windows, so I'll focus on my personal experience with this.I tend to use Macs for laptops (my latest is a mid-2011 MB Air that I really like) and Windows for desktops, but I decided to purchase this after my older brother (who is very experienced with Macs) bought one and told me how dead silent it is. He's used several Minis over the years, and has always praised them for being so quiet. I knew that for the money, I could get a better performing (for my purposes) Windows machine - but I craved a silent computer. The HP that I use for gaming is kind of loud, and I have a Dell with worse specs than this Mini that is pretty quiet but not silent. So...the promise of silence is what ultimately got me to spend $800 on this. After turning it on, though, it was anything but silent. I thought that my brother must be deaf, because I could easily hear the hard drive running and (I thought) the fan blowing. It was louder than my Dell. My regret level was at Expert. I couldn't believe that I spent this much for something that was louder than what I already owned. I'll cut to the chase - it was all the hard drive. It must be defective or was damaged in shipping, because yesterday I swapped it out for an SSD, and now it is SILENT. What I thought was the fan was actually the drive, too. Ahhhh. :D This is what I had wanted all along. I had planned to add an SSD and create a Fusion drive, but not any more. At least, not with the drive that came with mine.I wanted to relay that because I figure that my drive might not be an isolated case. So, if you get one that is loud (even if you actually think it's the fan blowing like I did), you might also have a bad drive.Also, I had planned on connecting this to my new BenQ monitor using an HDMI connection. However, the HDMI connection to my monitor yields sub-par performance, with fonts looking "blocky." I've manually set font smoothing using a command line, but it didn't help. From my research, it isn't uncommon for Macs to recognize some monitors as televisions when connected using HDMI, which I believe results in the wrong color calibration being applied. I still haven't found any way to adjust it on the Mini. Using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter did the trick, but I was disappointed because I wanted to use the DVI input on my monitor for a different computer. My mentality is that, for something that "just works," the HDMI connection should have worked.With the SSD installed and the DVI connection in place, I'm past those issues. The performance is good, and it plays nice with my Windows keyboard and mouse. The integrated graphics won't touch a discrete graphics card for gaming, but this isn't a gaming machine. It actually does decent on StarCraft II, well enough for me to use it instead of my HP desktop because...at least now...it's almost silent even after playing for a while. Losing the drone of computer fans is worth it to me. :)As a note, Other World Computing has some very helpful videos on their site for either replacing the hard drive or adding one for a Fusion drive. Replacing the drive is less involved, and I did it in about an hour. It looked daunting at first, but it really wasn't too difficult once I started into it. I bought their Data Doubler kit, and while I decided not to use my stock drive for a Fusion drive, it did come with all the tools that I needed to replace the drive.Pros-----(*) Relatively tiny. Enormously smaller than my other desktop computers.(*) Nearly silent with an SSD.(*) Good performance. Wicked fast with an SSD.(*) Incredibly easy to swap out the RAM.(*) USB 3Cons-----(*) Integrated graphics. This isn't a gaming machine, I know, but I think it's worth noting.(*) Stock 5400 RPM hard drive is a bit slowHiccups---------These issues are why I "like" it and don't "love" it.(*) The stock hard drive that came in mine was loud. Abnormally loud. I believe it to be defective because my brother didn't have this issue.(*) The HDMI connection to my monitor yields sub-par performance, with fonts looking "blocky," because the Mac shows the monitor as being a television. My brother saw this on one of his monitors, too, but not on another one. So, not all monitors will have this issue.Recommendations---------------------Like others have said, add in more RAM (it's incredibly easy to do) and get an SSD. I almost bought the SSD upgrade from the beginning, but I wanted to try out the 5400 RPM drive and see if I could save some money. Performance wasn't horrible, but even ignoring the defectively loud noise on mine, I do recommend going with an SSD if you can afford it - it's much, much faster.