My first MAC? (mini mac)

In article
<c6cje.793832$w62.753671@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
"JohnR66" <nospam.TakeThisOut@att.net> wrote:

 > Hi, I have a Athlon XP 3000, an old 400Mhz box and a older HP laptop (AMD K6
 > 475). Now I want a Mini mac. One can never have to many computers! : )
 >
 > I'd like to get rid of the old 400mhz box and use the mac to surf the Web,
 > run the mac build of Open Office.org and edit and save/store digital
 > pictures from my 6 megapixel digital camera. I'd also like to use it as a
 > juke box for my mp3 collection. I think the 1.25 Ghz cpu model would be
 > sufficient. How does the photo editing speed compare to 3 GHz Windows boxes?
 >
 > Is is easy to get a mac to talk to the XP box?

It's as easu to get a Mac to connect to a networked XP system as it is
to get another Windows system...
 >
 > I see the Mini has two usb ports. Does the keyboard have extra ports or do I
 > need a hub?
 >
2 USB (unpowered) ports on the standard Mac keyboard-- however, the
Mini doesn't ship w. a keyboard... you can use a standard USB PC
keyboard if you don't want to buy one.

 > Any good crash course sites to familiarize myself with mac os?
 >
David Pogue (NY Times computer columnist) has a good book on switching
from Win to Mac...

 > Do they include a 15 pin Dsub to DVI adaptor for my old monitor?
 >

Yes.

===============================================
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 >> Stay informed about: My first MAC? (mini mac) 

"JohnR66" <nospam.DeleteThis@att.net> wrote in message
news:c6cje.793832$w62.753671@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...

 >. I think the 1.25 Ghz cpu model would be sufficient. How does the photo
 >editing speed compare to 3 GHz Windows boxes?

I'm running an Intel Pentium 4 at 2.8gHz with 1.5GB RAM and my Mac Mini
(1.25 gHz 512 MB RAM ). I had the Windows version of Photoshop Elements
before and put the Mac version of PSE on my Mini when I got that machine.
The Mini is hands down faster and photo editing then my Windows box. On
most of my pics it feels 1.5x to 2x as faster as the Windows box. With the
stock 256MB RAM I don't think I'd see anywhere close to that difference.
Most experts are recommending 512MB as a minimum for the Mini.

By the way, I have both the Windows box and Mini using the same monitor,
keyboard and mouse using a KVM switch. So give that way a thought.

 > Is it easy to get a mac to talk to the XP box?

  >>It's as easu to get a Mac to connect to a networked XP system as it is to
  >>get another Windows system...

Easier. I have my mac mini 1.25 gHz 512 MB RAM hooked up to my XP network
and I merely plugged an ethernet cable into the Mini, turned it on, and I
was on the network. Really that easy.

The only gotcha is that in a mixed platform network OS X tends to dominate
the network browsing function no matter what you tell Windows. If the IPv6
protocol is active on the Mini and not installed on Windows then you're
network browsing won't see all the machines on the network probably. That
is the only gotcha I've found in the implementation of windows networking
with OS X. BTW, that may be fixed in the Tiger version of the OS that would
come already installed on a new Mini you ordered.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: My first MAC? (mini mac) 

"LaManchaDQ" <LaManchaDQ DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:EbydnU0GfJIS4xLfRVn-rQ@comcast.com...
 >
 > "JohnR66" <nospam DeleteThis @att.net> wrote in message
 > news:c6cje.793832$w62.753671@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
 >
  >>. I think the 1.25 Ghz cpu model would be sufficient. How does the photo
  >>editing speed compare to 3 GHz Windows boxes?
 >
 > I'm running an Intel Pentium 4 at 2.8gHz with 1.5GB RAM and my Mac Mini
 > (1.25 gHz 512 MB RAM ). I had the Windows version of Photoshop Elements
 > before and put the Mac version of PSE on my Mini when I got that machine.
 > The Mini is hands down faster and photo editing then my Windows box. On
 > most of my pics it feels 1.5x to 2x as faster as the Windows box. With the
 > stock 256MB RAM I don't think I'd see anywhere close to that difference.
 > Most experts are recommending 512MB as a minimum for the Mini.
 >
 > By the way, I have both the Windows box and Mini using the same monitor,
 > keyboard and mouse using a KVM switch. So give that way a thought.
 >
  >> Is it easy to get a mac to talk to the XP box?
 >
   >>>It's as easu to get a Mac to connect to a networked XP system as it is to
   >>>get another Windows system...
 >
 > Easier. I have my mac mini 1.25 gHz 512 MB RAM hooked up to my XP network
 > and I merely plugged an ethernet cable into the Mini, turned it on, and I
 > was on the network. Really that easy.
 >
 > The only gotcha is that in a mixed platform network OS X tends to dominate
 > the network browsing function no matter what you tell Windows. If the
 > IPv6 protocol is active on the Mini and not installed on Windows then
 > you're network browsing won't see all the machines on the network
 > probably. That is the only gotcha I've found in the implementation of
 > windows networking with OS X. BTW, that may be fixed in the Tiger version
 > of the OS that would come already installed on a new Mini you ordered.
 >
Great information. Thanks!<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: My first MAC? (mini mac) 

"JohnR66" <nospam.DeleteThis@att.net> wrote in message
news:BG%je.808747$w62.284546@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
 > "LaManchaDQ" <LaManchaDQ.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
 > news:EbydnU0GfJIS4xLfRVn-rQ@comcast.com...
  >>
  >> "JohnR66" <nospam.DeleteThis@att.net> wrote in message
  >> news:c6cje.793832$w62.753671@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
  >>
   >>>. I think the 1.25 Ghz cpu model would be sufficient. How does the photo
   >>>editing speed compare to 3 GHz Windows boxes?
  >>
  >> I'm running an Intel Pentium 4 at 2.8gHz with 1.5GB RAM and my Mac Mini
  >> (1.25 gHz 512 MB RAM ). I had the Windows version of Photoshop Elements
  >> before and put the Mac version of PSE on my Mini when I got that machine.
  >> The Mini is hands down faster and photo editing then my Windows box. On
  >> most of my pics it feels 1.5x to 2x as faster as the Windows box. With
  >> the stock 256MB RAM I don't think I'd see anywhere close to that
  >> difference. Most experts are recommending 512MB as a minimum for the
  >> Mini.
  >>
  >> By the way, I have both the Windows box and Mini using the same monitor,
  >> keyboard and mouse using a KVM switch. So give that way a thought.
  >>
   >>> Is it easy to get a mac to talk to the XP box?
  >>
   >>>>It's as easu to get a Mac to connect to a networked XP system as it is
   >>>>to get another Windows system...
  >>
  >> Easier. I have my mac mini 1.25 gHz 512 MB RAM hooked up to my XP
  >> network and I merely plugged an ethernet cable into the Mini, turned it
  >> on, and I was on the network. Really that easy.
  >>
  >> The only gotcha is that in a mixed platform network OS X tends to
  >> dominate the network browsing function no matter what you tell Windows.
  >> If the IPv6 protocol is active on the Mini and not installed on Windows
  >> then you're network browsing won't see all the machines on the network
  >> probably. That is the only gotcha I've found in the implementation of
  >> windows networking with OS X. BTW, that may be fixed in the Tiger
  >> version of the OS that would come already installed on a new Mini you
  >> ordered.
  >>
 > Great information. Thanks!
 >
Thanks for the feedback John. Now go get that mini ;)<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: My first MAC? (mini mac)