Considering buying a 2nd hand Mac Mini - what to look out for?

LukeS_

Title says it all really. I'm interested in buying a second hand Mac Mini. It'll be my first Mac so I don't really know anything about the OS. Just wondering what I should look out for to make sure it's all working correct etc.?

Thanks in advance, Luke.

DubDJ

LukeS_ wrote: »

Title says it all really. I'm interested in buying a second hand Mac Mini. It'll be my first Mac so I don't really know anything about the OS. Just wondering what I should look out for to make sure it's all working correct etc.?

Thanks in advance, Luke.

Look out for tech specs mostly. OS isn't too important as you can upgrade to OSX Lion for €24. Go for Processor, RAM, Graphics, + having Warranty remaining is always good. Make sure theres no past faults or issues with it before you buy.

Check out adverts.ie for a few second hand ones. Lots of Mac Mini's appearing for sale there. I have one listed for sale too if your interested.

Dardania

LukeS_ wrote: »

Title says it all really. I'm interested in buying a second hand Mac Mini. It'll be my first Mac so I don't really know anything about the OS. Just wondering what I should look out for to make sure it's all working correct etc.?

Thanks in advance, Luke.

Make sure it has an Intel processor and check the specs against Apple history.com so that you know what you'll be getting

Talisman

At a minimum get a Core2Duo processor if you want to use the latest version of OS X.

condra

Minis are hard to upgrade, so make sure to get a decent amount of RAM.
The current generation start at only 599, so don't pay over the odds.

Finally.... consider getting an iMac instead if at all possible. (IMO)

LukeS_

condra wrote: »

Minis are hard to upgrade, so make sure to get a decent amount of RAM.
The current generation start at only 599, so don't pay over the odds.

Finally.... consider getting an iMac instead if at all possible. (IMO)

Thanks for your replies guys. I was looking at buying a 80GB HDD, 1.6ghz c2d, 2.5GB RAM and Intel 950M GPU Mac Mini with Lion already on it.
I think I'm going to get a 2008 24" iMac with C2D 2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD2600 PRO GPU and 320GB HDD with lion too. The mac mini was going to be 300 whereas the iMac is around 380-390. Is it worth it?

Say whenever I go out to inspect the machine, is there anything specific I should be looking for?

waynegalway

Given the choice between those 2 machines, and the asking prices, you'd be mad not to go for the iMac (IMO).

I have a MacMini, and it's great, I love it. The reason I went for it over the iMac was cost. I bought the MM new for about €600, whereas at the time a new iMac was about €1100. And from my pc days I already had a decent flat screen monitor, so the MM made more sense for me.

The specs on the machines you're looking at are very different. The MM you are looking at is a few years old now, and you will find the processor might struggle with Lion. As well as that, an 80GB hard drive is quite small by modern standards.

The iMac for €80-90 more would definitely be a better computer to live with, and should do you without any upgrades (you'd probably spend €60-70 upgrading the RAM in the MM as soon as you buy it).

Unless the portability of the MM is a factor for you, go for the iMac.

condra

I've had a Mac Mini, a handful of Macbooks, a Power Mac, and 2 iMacs over the years.

The mini was cool, but there were wires everywhere, and I never took advantage of its portability. As far as I know, iMacs tend to have faster hard drives, and better graphics.

iMac has been the most satisfactory Apple computer for me by far, and the "old" Core2Duo iMacs can be had for half nothing. 20 inch is a solid machine, but you can get more impressive 24 inch iMacs second-hand for just a bit extra. (The 24 inch screen is not only bigger, but far higher quality)

I saw a 24 inch 2.8ghz go for 550 recently on adverts. A lot of Mac for the money.

I sold a 20 inch 2.4ghz iMac for 450 about a month ago, and that price is still dropping.

Keep an eye out on adverts.ie. Don't bother with anything less than 2.4ghz Core2Duo IMO.

condra

LukeS_ wrote: »

Say whenever I go out to inspect the machine, is there anything specific I should be looking for?

Look for dead/stuck pixels on an iMac. Best way to see is to change the desktop background from bright to dark, or visa versa.

iMac - Run your fingers around the rim of plastic behind the aluminium frame. If the plastic doesn't meet the frame in a uniform way all around, the iMac has probably been opened up, and badly reassembled.

Don't be surprised if there are some tonal differences on parts of iMac screens. Some *subtle* "curtaining" or fat "shadow bands" are to be expected with older models. These can best be seen during boot up.

On the subject of boot up, 25-30 seconds is about right on most Mac installations.

Make sure the OS has been freshly installed (There should be about 14 application icons in the dock)

I've bought loads of second-hand Apple stuff over the years, without any problems. Apple stuff tends to last well.

Sad Professor

Just make sure it comes with an install disc. You'll need it to do a clean install and diagnose any problems you may encounter.

Also, sellers sometimes load second hand machines with pirated software and try to use it as selling point. Don't let them. Unless they've got discs, licenses, etc, ignore any installed software and focus on the hardware and what condition it is in.

LukeS_

I'll just show you the ad itself: http://www.adverts.ie/732126. I know about the screen issue, which I don't think will trouble me too much. Is this worth 380E?

LukeS_

Right so he says he has no installation disks but they aren't needed in lion. Is this true or not? I thought that restore utility option was only available for machines that came Pre-installed with lion?

Sad Professor

Lion creates a hidden recovery partition on your hard drive when installing, but that's not much use in the case of hard drive failure. Also bear in mind that if the seller has already purchased and installed Lion it will be tied to his iTunes account, which means you won't be able to do a reinstall. The Lion installer deletes itself after installation and the recovery partition works by downloading Lion again from the Mac App Store. So you would have to purchase Lion yourself to do a reinstall.

LukeS_

Are iMacs prone to hard drive failure? I've had an old Phillips iQon PC here for the past 5 years and nothing has ever went wrong on the hard drive. This is sounding really complicated now, if it's tied to his iTunes, if he sells it with Lion already on it then can't I just log him out of his iTunes and use my sign-in? How is he meant to restore to Snow Leopard for a clean re-install of Lion (by me) if he hasn't got the disks. :eek:

Liameter

condra wrote: »

Best way to see is to change the desktop background from bright to dark, or vice versa.

To invert screen colours press [control][alt][apple][8].
Press them again to switch back!

Sad Professor

LukeS_ wrote: »

Are iMacs prone to hard drive failure? I've had an old Phillips iQon PC here for the past 5 years and nothing has ever went wrong on the hard drive.

it's nothing specific to the iMac, hard drives just aren't reliable. It's luck of the draw with them.

This is sounding really complicated now, if it's tied to his iTunes, if he sells it with Lion already on it then can't I just log him out of his iTunes and use my sign-in? How is he meant to restore to Snow Leopard for a clean re-install of Lion (by me) if he hasn't got the disks. :eek:

When you get the machine, buy Lion and burn the disk image inside the installer to a DVD by following the instructions here

http://lifehacker.com/5823096/how-to-burn-your-own-lion-install-dvd-or-flash-drive

LukeS_

Sad Professor wrote: »

LukeS_ wrote: »

Are iMacs prone to hard drive failure? I've had an old Phillips iQon PC here for the past 5 years and nothing has ever went wrong on the hard drive.

it's nothing specific to the iMac, hard drives just aren't reliable. It's luck of the draw with them.

This is sounding really complicated now, if it's tied to his iTunes, if he sells it with Lion already on it then can't I just log him out of his iTunes and use my sign-in? How is he meant to restore to Snow Leopard for a clean re-install of Lion (by me) if he hasn't got the disks. :eek:

When you get the machine, buy Lion and burn the disk image inside the installer to a DVD by following the instructions here

http://lifehacker.com/5823096/how-to-burn-your-own-lion-install-dvd-or-flash-drive

So even if Lion is already installed on the machine I'll just have to basically by a key for it?

Sad Professor

Well, you don't have to. But if you encounter an issue down the road you are going to have a problem with no install disc and the fact that you don't own the copy of Lion that is installed. It's not a big deal, it just goes back to what I said earlier that preinstalled software should not be a selling point of a second hand machine.

Send the lifehacker link I posted above to the seller and ask them to burn a DVD of Lion for you.

condra

LukeS_ wrote: »

Are iMacs prone to hard drive failure?

Apple used Western Digital hard drives, which tend to be reliable. Replacing a hard drive in an iMac is easier than doing it with a Mac Mini.

This is sounding really complicated now

Lion doesn't have a unique serial number for each copy. It would simply be a good idea to burn a copy of Lion on to disk, should you need it at a later date.

DubDJ

I've been wondering the same thing since Lion was announced.

If you download Lion onto your Mac and install it, then you want to sell your mac. Would that not mean you would have to leave your Apple ID signed in for the buyer to be able to use it? I thought the Lion install was linked to your Apple ID and it let's you install it on up to 5 Macs???

Maybe i'm wrong but thats the way I imagined it worked.

So the new owner of the mac would still have to purchase Lion using their Apple ID so it's registered that they've paid for it?

Sad Professor

DubDJ wrote: »

If you download Lion onto your Mac and install it, then you want to sell your mac. Would that not mean you would have to leave your Apple ID signed in for the buyer to be able to use it? I thought the Lion install was linked to your Apple ID and it let's you install it on up to 5 Macs???

I'm open to correction, but afaik that's just for downloading the installer from the Mac App Store. Once it's installed or burned to a disc there's no problem.

DubDJ

Sad Professor wrote: »

I'm open to correction, but afaik that's just for downloading the installer from the Mac App Store. Once it's installed or burned to a disc there's no problem.

Oh i'm not saying it's fact either i'm curious to how it works just wondering this anyone actually know for sure. A lot of people selling off their Mac's with Lion preinstalled and I was thinking whats the point if it's no use to the buyer.

LukeS_

Sad Professor wrote: »

DubDJ wrote: »

If you download Lion onto your Mac and install it, then you want to sell your mac. Would that not mean you would have to leave your Apple ID signed in for the buyer to be able to use it? I thought the Lion install was linked to your Apple ID and it let's you install it on up to 5 Macs???

I'm open to correction, but afaik that's just for downloading the installer from the Mac App Store. Once it's installed or burned to a disc there's no problem.

Wouldn't that lead to a lot of piracy though? You could burn a few copies, sell them for about €10 and you make some money. Torrents also ofcourse. Anyway, think I'm going to buy it, while ye' are here, anywhere I can get a wireless keyboard and magic mouse cheaper than that of the Apple Store's price? Even anywhere in Dublin where I can go in to a shop and just buy them. Don't like waiting for the post to arrive. :pac:

DubDJ

LukeS_ wrote: »

Wouldn't that lead to a lot of piracy though? You could burn a few copies, sell them for about €10 and you make some money. Torrents also ofcourse. Anyway, think I'm going to buy it, while ye' are here, anywhere I can get a wireless keyboard and magic mouse cheaper than that of the Apple Store's price? Even anywhere in Dublin where I can go in to a shop and just buy them. Don't like waiting for the post to arrive. :pac:

Not that I can think of unless of course you buy them second hand.