Re: RAM module into Intel mini

MNP <sdfkj@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <1iayc7e.3iuxfw1l70evgN%paulfuchs@porkain'tkosher.oink>,
paulfuchs@porkain'tkosher.oink (Paul Fuchs) wrote:

The New guy <noemailhere@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

As to all the upgrades that the New Guy suggested, I already
owned them as FW peripherals so why go out and buy them again
just so I could put them in the box?

Because Sata at 7200 rpm speed is far faster than even Firewire
800 let alone Firewire 400. The 5400 rpm hard drive is not only
very expensive for its storage capacity, but it also generates
unwanted heat in that tiny enclosure. All in all getting the hard
drive and optical drive out of the enclosure is a great step
forward. Replacing that horrendous toy fan with its irritating
whine when ramped up with a 120mm (dirt cheap these days) is just
a natural evolution of the design. Yes it looks awful of course.
But all one needs is a box of some sort to hide everything that is
open at the bottom and top for ventilation and things would be
more cosmetically acceptable.

I am sure what you are saying is accurate, but total cost was a
major consideration and I already owned all this stuff. I just want
sufficient performance, and the mini is giving that to me for a
total cost of under $1100 including the 24 inch monitor. Of course,
surviving for 2.5 months with a Pismo while my G5 imac was sitting
uselessly in a local perfidious authorised Apple dealer, makes the
mini all more wondrous. And its 3 lb weight allows me to mail it,
if necessary, to responsible Apple repair centers.

I can't hear the fan because I am somewhat hearing impaired and
because I live in the tropics and have much larger fans going
constantly within a few feet of me

So is the daytime ambient temperature around 30C? I'm curious what
your temperatures would be if your ambient temperature is
significantly higher then average. Temperature Monitor and
Temperature Monitor Lite are great programs for reading the 4 heat
sensors in the Intel Mini. Also iStat.

Even though it is not tidy, that is one reason that I like the
peripheral route rather than the internal upgrade. It is a main
reason that I bought the mini.

Hot swap is nice I admit. But anyone can get an FW DVD or hard
drive for doing what you need to do on the fly. I just got a
couple of FW things and its great. Way better than USB.

Having two optical drives has its advantages even if one is a bit of
a bottom feeder.

Absolutely. I'm sure most of us have run across a disc that doesn't
play in one DVD burner and works fine in another.

And BTW, I am quite satisfied with the new 24" Acer that it is
driving at 1920 X 1200.

Yes - that is the limit with the Mini's built on video. I'm using
a 22" at 1680 x 1050 and couldn't play a 1080p trailer without
serious pausing and hickups. I hadn't tried that before - but the
HD difference is so tremendous I really want to pursue it. Am I
being a little ambitious? What's the limit to your HD playback I
wonder and I also was curious if I was using a lower resolution
monitor would it have played better? Less taxing on the system?

I've only had the thing up and going a a few days, but I haven't
noticed any pauses on any video that wasn't streaming since I upped
the RAM to 2.5 GB. Could you suggest a specific test for this?

Any torrent site has lots of HD trailers. They seem to be a good
test. At least that is where my system failed miserably! :) I tried
1080p though. The stills were spectacular. I'm really looking
forward to seeing that as it should be viewed. That will be a real
treat.

Can I ask where you are in the world? And how the internet service is
there? Often its a challenge getting developed world bandwith in less
developed areas.

I am in St. John, US Virgin Islands. We are 18 degrees N latitude so
the temperature varies a bit with the seasons. In the winter a typical
high would be about 30, but the trades keep it bearable.

I will check out the temp sensors and the bit map downlaod when I have a
chance and post them on a new thread. Probably won't happen for several
days. I have dsl braodband but it is overpriced and sucks. On a Safari
download from the Apple server, the best speed we can expect (on a
really good day) is 50 KBps.

Looking forward to that. Many thanks. Its always interesting when Macs are
used in unusual places though for much of the US I guess those
temperatures could be normal for at least part of the year if you've opted
out of the aircon option. 50 kbps sure is disappointing - doubly so when
they aren't so competitive with their pricing. Such a shame 2 way
satellite can't get the speed up more. Imagine the market - so many
people with disposable money living overseas in tropical locations that
would gladly pay if only the speed was snappier.

Well, it's not "that" bad. Safari gives download speeds in KBytes and
the rule of thumb regarding downloading is a Byte equals about 10 bits,
so the max speed would be about 500 kbps which still sucks for $50/mo
DSL. 50 kbps is what I got on dial-up before we got DSL.

-- Never believe anything until it's officially denied.
.

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