Hi there. My name is Jason, and I just bought my first Mac: a Mac Mini. Here's a couple of videos about my first 18 minutes spent with it.
This is an unboxing and first impressions video of the new Mac Mini (2010 model). This Mac Mini [affiliate] has an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU running at 2.4 Ghz, 2 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 320 GB hard drive (likely 5400 RPM, though Apple won't say), an 8x slot-loading SuperDrive (DVD and CD burner), AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi (which is compatible with 802.11a/b/g), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, gigabit Ethernet, an SD card slot, four USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire 800 port, and an NVIDIA GeForce 320M GPU. Part two after the break.
One of the things I didn't mention in the video is how power efficient the 2010 Mac Mini is: it only uses an 85 watt power supply, and that PSU is 90% efficient. Impressively, it only uses 10 watts of power at idle, and is Energy Star 5.0 compliant. I'll be testing some of these claims with a Kill-A-Watt, but I don't doubt that they're accurate.
I'll have a quick video coming up of how easy it is to upgrade the RAM in the new Mac Mini, and in a few weeks I'll have my review video of the Mac Mini. Knowing as little about OS X as I do, I'll probably end up asking more questions than answering them, but I'll do my best!
Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, his wonderful son, and his sometimes obedient dog. He still feels a little queasy about buying a Mac.
Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the Thoughts Media Review Team! We're looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It's a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? Then click here for more information.
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Glad the Mini fascinated you enough to buy it and I hope you really enjoy it. I'm a die-hard MacHead even though I run Win7 via Boot Camp and also on a netbook. And as much as I really enjoy Win7 (according to me, the best OS Microsoft has ever produced) I find Mac OS X to be more pleasing _to me_. Us Apple Heads will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. And since we all know you to be a fair and reasonable person (seriously) I'm pretty confident you'll give a fair and honest review. Have fun!
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
Oh, and by the way, I started down the slippery slope of Appledom when I bought the very first Mini in 2005. At the time I was still working as a network engineer and PC Tech and bought the Mini mainly because my son had been raving about his PowerBook and I always wanted a Mac to play with but they were always too expensive. The 1st PPC Mini was cheap enough that it was almost an impulse purchase. I never expected I'd become a full on convert to OS X and Macs back then. Not that I think that will happen to you but fair warning!
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
Us Apple Heads will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
Yeah, honestly, OS X makes no sense to me every time I've used it - so I'm hoping that, starting from scratch, I'll be able to grasp it better. Are you on Twitter? Follow me on Twitter and help me.
__________________ Want to contact me personally? Use this. Want to read my personal blog? Check it out. Want to follow me on Twitter? Here you go.
When you are finished running Mac apps, Cmd-Q is your friend. Closing the window does not (usually) close the app. If there is anything that gets a heavy Windows user trying out Mac, it's that.
(Closing the window does close System Preferences, however.)
And if I was using a PC keyboard...would that be Control+Q?
Windows-Q. You can remap it to the ALT key in System Preferences. Moving and renaming files will trip you up too. Rename a file by pressing the return key on the file name (yeah, weird). Move files from one volume to another by holding the CMD key (or Windows Key or ALT key). If you see a green plus sign while moving a file, you're copying it and not moving it. But you ordered a Mac keyboard, so just use the CMD key.
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
I sprung for a new MacBook Pro when they were refreshed a few months ago. The one thing that still catches me (and bugs the heck out of me) is that you can't do CMD+key shortcuts like you can in windows, such as Win+E, Win+F, Win+M. The fact that I was just getting used to Windows 7's Superbar shortcuts (Win+1, Win+2, etc.) only aggravates that more.
Thankfully there are third-party programs to bring some Windows functionality to OS X, such as MagicPrefs, Growl, and QuickSilver. And Address Book and Calendar play nicely with Exchange 2007 servers, albeit without categories.
I'm a mouse man myself and hardly use keyboard shortcuts & don't even know what those Windows shortcuts you listed do for the most part. But I'd be surprised if there aren't MacOS equivalents to those keys. There are literally hundreds of keyboard shortcuts in OS X.
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display