my new computer

[nat]

I finally replaced my aging G4 today with a brand new 2.0GHz Macintosh mini from my local Apple store. I was bored, and I thought it'd make a nice project for Sunday afternoon (setting up and copying everything over).

Let me tell you, if you've already got a nice monitor/LCD the mini is the way to go. The mini f*cking rocks! You get a nice little (literally) computer for under $1000. My computer desk is so.... empty now.

Beyond the obvious additional space, the one thing that keeps striking me is how quiet it is. The mini emits virtually no sound at all. The G4 had industrial-strength fans that were clearly designed to cool entire factories operating in Death Valley. I'm not sure the mini even has a fan in it at all. And don't even get me started on the hard drive. The G4 had a hard drive that sounded like a wood chipper. I'm pretty sure the mini simply has a brain inside that remembers all my information.

[Joe Redifer]

Which G4 did you have?  I had a dual 1Ghz G4 and damn that thing was LOUD and the fans would oscillate instead of staying at a steady pace.  You could hear it very clearly from the other side of the house.  My new Mac Pro (2.66Ghz dual core x2, 4GB RAM, etc) is basically 100% silent.  You can hear the fans if you put your ear right up to it, and you can hear the hard drive(s) access every now and then, but it is amazing at how quiet it is.  I love it!

Is the Mini a G5 processor?  I am amazed they still sell those.  I hope you used Migration Assistant.  Boot your G4 up in Target Disc mode, connect a firewire cable between the two computers and the G4 will mount on the Mini as an external disc.  Then use the app called Migration Assistant (or something similar) in the utilities folder and once it's done your desktop and everything else will be almost exactly like the old computer, but just on new hardware.  It'll even copy over your wallpaper & stuff.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, I bought one of the original PPC Minis. Its f*cking rad. Very quite. I'll probably buy another one next year since they are so much more powerful now.

It will get loud when you are doing any hardcore stuff like hour long video transcoding, playing Warcraft III, or...running Windows Media Player. For some reason WMP sets my fan on full blast almost instantly.

[nat]

Which G4 did you have?  I had a dual 1Ghz G4 and damn that thing was LOUD and the fans would oscillate instead of staying at a steady pace. 

Mine was 667Mhz but I'm pretty sure I had the same fan setup as you. What you describe sounds exactly like mine. It was the worst during the summer, at times it sounded like an extra fan kicked in if I was doing some CPU-intensive task.

You can hear the fans if you put your ear right up to it, and you can hear the hard drive(s) access every now and then, but it is amazing at how quiet it is.  I love it!

Yeah that's about right.

The Macintosh Pro looks badass but is a little too industrial for my needs. I don't play games or do any heavy video editing or anything on my computer.

Is the Mini a G5 processor?  I am amazed they still sell those.

Do they? I thought they stopped selling G5s. Actually, the mini I bought is the newest model. It's an Intel. Here's the stats out of the box, straight from the System Profiler:

Hardware Overview:

  Model Name:   Mac mini
  Model Identifier:   Macmini2,1
  Processor Name:   Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed:   2 GHz
  Number Of Processors:   1
  Total Number Of Cores:   2
  L2 Cache (per processor):   4 MB
  Memory:   1 GB
  Bus Speed:   667 MHz
  Boot ROM Version:   MM21.009A.B00
  SMC Version:   1.19f0

Of course, the RAM is expandable beyond 1GB but 1GB is plenty for me right now. It came with a 120 GB hard drive and one of those SuperDrives that burns DVDs as well as CDs. These 2.0GHz minis must be pretty new because I almost bought one a month or so ago and the fastest model they had was 1.8GHz. I'm glad I held off.

I hope you used Migration Assistant.  Boot your G4 up in Target Disc mode, connect a firewire cable between the two computers and the G4 will mount on the Mini as an external disc.  Then use the app called Migration Assistant (or something similar) in the utilities folder and once it's done your desktop and everything else will be almost exactly like the old computer, but just on new hardware.  It'll even copy over your wallpaper & stuff.

Ooops, didn't know about that. I went ahead and did it the old fashioned way. But there really wasn't a whole lot to transfer since I'm going to leave the G4 hooked up in the other room for the time being, anyway, since it operates the scanner which requires OS 9. I copied desktop stuff and whatever was in our "User" folders. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, maybe there is a way to get the scanner to work under OS 10.4. I never actually tried.

For some reason WMP sets my fan on full blast almost instantly.

f*ck WMP. Have you tried VLC instead?

[SignOfZeta]

Yes, I use VLC. There is plenty of shit it won't play though. Believe me, I rarely use WMP, but occasionally there is no choice.

[Joe Redifer]

I play WMVs and WMAs in Quicktime via Flip4Mac.  I got it from work.  Also lets me encode in WMV.  I didn't know they made Intel Minis.  I thought they ditched the Mini along with the Cube.

Here's my info from About dis Mac:

  Model Name:   Mac Pro
  Model Identifier:   MacPro1,1
  Processor Name:   Dual-Core Intel Xeon
  Processor Speed:   2.66 GHz
  Number Of Processors:   2
  Total Number Of Cores:   4
  L2 Cache (per processor):   4 MB
  Memory:   4 GB
  Bus Speed:   1.33 GHz
  Boot ROM Version:   MP11.005C.B04
  SMC Version:   1.7f8  (f*ck yeah man this means it is HARDCORE!... I guess...)

[nat]

Yes, I use VLC. There is plenty of shit it won't play though. Believe me, I rarely use WMP, but occasionally there is no choice.

Yeah, I've noticed that. Although playback compatibility with WMV files has improved a lot over the last few versions.

I play WMVs and WMAs in Quicktime via Flip4Mac.  I got it from work.  Also lets me encode in WMV. 

I haven't tried Flip4Mac yet. Better compatibility than VLC? Does it cost money?

[Michael Helgeson]

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

[Turbo D]

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

  I like that. Its soo true. I bet Joe will appreciate the nuclear weapons part 

[Kitsunexus]

Maddox sucks.

[Joe Redifer]

The full version of FLIP4MAC is not free.  I think you can download a limited version that will play back WMVs and let you encode the first 10% of your file (so just make any file you want to encode 10x longer).  http://www.flip4mac.com/

But of course you can run Windows in its native environment on your Intel Mac with Boot Camp. www.apple.com/bootcamp
As intelligent and informed consumers all over the world have indicated, Windows is a fantastic operating system programmed by really smart people who left absolutely no stone unturned.  So if all else fails you can run your stuff over there in Windows.  Isn't the ability to boot into any operating system you want completely awesome?  Hell yeah it is.  Well, except Mac OS 9.  Won't boot into that.  It was OS 9 that made my fans the loudest.  But anyway, if you do get FLIP4MAC, you can tell it to open embedded web WMVs in Quicktime, and that means they open separate  from the web page itself.  What advantage is that?  The SAVE function works like a charm, that's what!  Plus you won't have the web page trying to screw with you as sites with embedded video sometimes like to do.

[SignOfZeta]

I didn't know they made Intel Minis. I thought they ditched the Mini along with the Cube.

The Mini is only a two year old design. The Cube was discontinued 6 years ago. The Cube cost $2000. The mini is $600. One is a huge failure, the other is the mini, a success. All Macs are now Intel.

BTW, why in God's name would someone want to encode in WMV, especially on a Mac? I truly loathe that format. Its less horrible than Real, but that's about it.

[Turbo D]

I'm not really happy with any of the video players out right now. I hate real player, windows media player is ok but pisses me off, Quicktime is pretty good, but the fullscreen sux. What am I to do?

[Necromancer]

But of course you can run Windows in its native environment on your Intel Mac with Boot Camp. www.apple.com/bootcamp
As intelligent and informed consumers all over the world have indicated, Windows is a fantastic operating system programmed by really smart people who left absolutely no stone unturned.  So if all else fails you can run your stuff over there in Windows.  Isn't the ability to boot into any operating system you want completely awesome?  Hell yeah it is.

Why piss away a few hundred bucks to install windows?  I thought the point of a Mac was to get the pure awesomeness of OSX.

[Joe Redifer]

Use your old Windows install discs.  Most people cannot imagine life without Windows.  They love it.  It makes them cum.

I'm not a huge fan of WMV, either.  But I have been able to achieve some nice results with it... nicer than Quicktime H.264 at a slightly smaller file size.  I'll do this when I want a wider audience to see my crap.  But Quicktime is far more versatile.  Turbo D, why are you displeased with Quicktime's full screen mode?  It works perfectly.  Quicktime 7.2 even allows full screen playback without purhase of the Pro version.  Personally I don't think there should even be a Pro version.