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Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum?

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In article <l7ecla$hmh$1@news.albasani.net>, User Bp <bp@www.zefox.net>
wrote:

> The screws are slowly tightening on my old G4 mini. It still works,
> but essentially no current software exists for it. The obvious choice
> is to buy an Intel mini, but Apple sells a lot of other Intel machines 
> and I wondered if there might be an under-appreciated machine that
> offers more bang for the buck. iMacs are nice, but I've got plenty
> of screens and it seems folly to buy the two locked together, so if
> one fails the other is scrap.
> 
> Doesn't have to be new, but I'd like to get something with at least
> a couple more OS generations in it. Performance requirements are modest,
> mostly Web surfing and running a little 2d CAD. From recent experience
> the hardware isn't an issue but software lifetime is very much so.
> 
> It appears that video subsystem limits were a big issue in recent
> Mac OS X upgrades, if anybody's got a crystal ball please speak up.

depends what you want need it to do and how much you want to spend. i
can't imagine you are doing much 2d cad on a powerpc mini still.

a used core duo mini will be cheap but it stops at snow leopard. that's
still very useful and a significant step forward over what you have now
but it's already on borrowed time. it will be more than adequate for
web surfing and probably cad though.

a core 2 duo mini will run mavericks so it will have a longer lifespan,
and for not that much more money either. probably worth making this the
absolute minimum. 

ideally, look for a refurbished i5 or i7 mini with thunderbolt. that's
the most future-proof, and the most money too, outside of new.

keep in mind that apple didn't update the mac mini last month, which
means something new could be coming in the next few months, replacing
the existing models which will then be discounted to clear old stock.

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Thread

Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? User Bp <bp@www.zefox.net> - 2013-12-01 04:07 +0000
  Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-11-30 23:20 -0500
    Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2013-12-01 21:06 +1300
      Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2013-12-01 18:42 +0000
        Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-01 15:05 -0500
        Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Craig Harrison <email@domain.com> - 2013-12-01 20:49 +0000
        Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) - 2013-12-02 12:29 +1300
    Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? "M. John Matlaw" <nouser@invalid.com> - 2013-12-01 15:22 -0500
  Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2013-12-01 04:23 +0000
    Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-11-30 23:34 -0500
      Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Michael Vilain <vilain@NOspamcop.net> - 2013-11-30 21:30 -0800
        Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-01 00:37 -0500
        Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Jim Gibson <jimsgibson@gmail.com> - 2013-12-02 15:56 -0800
          Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2013-12-03 13:19 +1300
          Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2013-12-02 19:35 -0500
    Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Suze <replytome@thenewsgroup.com> - 2013-12-01 18:28 -0500
  Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? nmassello@yahoo.com (Neill Massello) - 2013-12-01 12:17 -0700
  Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2013-12-02 09:11 +1300
    Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2013-12-01 23:04 -0500
      Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2013-12-02 18:11 +1300
      Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2013-12-02 18:27 +0000
      Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? cosme.marley@gmail.com - 2013-12-02 23:25 -0800
        Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> - 2013-12-03 04:39 -0500
          Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2013-12-04 09:05 +1300
          Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? rcp27g@gmail.com - 2013-12-04 05:55 -0800
            Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2013-12-04 18:06 +0000
            Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2013-12-05 09:01 +1300
              Re: Any "sweet spots" in the used Mac spectrum? rcp27g@gmail.com - 2013-12-06 02:27 -0800

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