The nice thing about the newer ones, is HDMI output for vdieo. But, I hear ya. It's a hesitation for me too. Why did they get rid of the optical? It's a great media center computer, except it doesn't have an optical drive. And no bluray either.
When you look back at this, in the three seconds it'll take you to turn to dust, I think you'll find the mistake was touching my stuff.
Buffy ,'Lessons'
Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."
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omnis_audis - Aug 18, 2012 11:36:21 am PDT #20734 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir
beekaytee - Aug 18, 2012 11:54:31 am PDT #20735 of 25501
Compassionately intolerant
I have to confess that, having been an Apple user since the II, I'm totally bewildered by the choices the company is making now.
I understand upgrading but this is getting ridiculous.
Their opticals have always been reliable, as far as I have experienced. It just doesn't make sense.
Are the gazillions of dvds and cds in the world _that_ passe?
Mercy. I must be getting old.
§ ita § - Aug 18, 2012 12:02:40 pm PDT #20736 of 25501
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Are the gazillions of dvds and cds in the world _that_ passe?
They're not selling their OS that way anymore. At least they're being consistent.
beekaytee - Aug 18, 2012 12:14:36 pm PDT #20737 of 25501
Compassionately intolerant
I've had too many system meltdowns over the years to not prefer having the physical operating discs on hand. Again, I'm old.
beekaytee - Aug 18, 2012 12:15:53 pm PDT #20738 of 25501
Compassionately intolerant
The more I shop around, the more and MORE I am kicking myself for not buying a mini last year.
Stuff and bother!!
NoiseDesign - Aug 18, 2012 3:08:51 pm PDT #20739 of 25501
Our wings are not tired
The speed difference between the old Minis with the optical and the new ones is pretty striking.
To be honest I'm fine with the lack of optical drives. In my experience it has been the part most likely to fail in machines, and they just aren't needed us much. If you want something on physical media, then you can use a flash drive. There are even ways to make a flash drive that can do a full system install for Mac OS. The new macs all have a safety partition on them that you can do a clean install from, and if that fails, then they just need a broadband connection and the pertinent clean install will download. I've used all of these methods for various machines, and they all work pretty well.
As for media delivery, I do think that the DVDs, CD, and such are going away, all you have to do is look at something like a local Best Buy. In the case of CDs the one nearest to us has one short aisle of CDs at this point, and it is smaller almost every time I'm in there. Even the DVD section is only three aisles at this point. It's a long way from the days when 1/3 to 1/2 of their retail space was dedicated to selling things on optical media.
beekaytee - Aug 18, 2012 3:19:32 pm PDT #20740 of 25501
Compassionately intolerant
Of course, that is right. I just look at my extensive collections and want to weep at the idea of replacing them, or even taking the time to transfer them to new media.
This comes from a woman who still has 200 cassettes...and nothing to play them on, so don't mind me.
I still need a strategy for putting together a video blogging set up though.
If I fork out for the new mini...and the dvd drive, the overall cost will be roughly 2 bills more than if I'd just ponied up last years. My regret, let me show you it.
The fact that I'm working from a 7 year old tower right now that works beautifully, thanks very much...but can't be upgraded...burns even more.
It works! Except when I can't find anything to work ON it. In fact, I have two of these towers, plus a 1999 iMac that also works like a charm.
Technological paperweights. Argh.
NoiseDesign - Aug 18, 2012 3:27:42 pm PDT #20741 of 25501
Our wings are not tired
Sadly that is the way of technology. It's part of the reason that I tend to cycle through most of my hardware on a three year plan, that way I'm selling it while there is still a reasonable amount of value left in the hardware.
I've been going through the process of putting all my DVD and BluRay media onto a server. It's sitting at about 4 TB right now. It's a bit daunting getting there, but once it is done it is so nice to be able to grab anything in the collection from anywhere in the house on any of our devices.
omnis_audis - Aug 18, 2012 3:34:25 pm PDT #20742 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir
It's a bit daunting getting there, but once it is done it is so nice to be able to grab anything in the collection from anywhere in the house on any of our devices.Mine is 2 TB, and yeah, it's great. I can sit on my porch with my iPad and stream media. I can be in my recliner, and turn on the AppleTV, and stream media. Just last night, I was wanting to watch something, but all my stuff is packed in boxes. Then I remembered, duh, that's why I ripped it to the hard drive! Much easier.
beekaytee - Aug 18, 2012 4:41:36 pm PDT #20743 of 25501
Compassionately intolerant
once it is done it is so nice to be able to grab anything in the collection from anywhere in the house on any of our devices.
This sounds like heaven.
that way I'm selling it while there is still a reasonable amount of value left in the hardware.
When is the next sale?