I had converted my 12-inch Powerbook into a desktop machine but keeping it on my desk and adding the 20-inch Viewsonic VX2025 monitor, iPod docks, Logitech Z-2300 speakers, IOGear GUH284R USB hub, and the Logitech LX501 wireless desktop. For what it was worth, the machine still has a lot of life and for the work that I do it still functions pretty well. However, since I got the MacBook, it seemed so much more sluggish which is expected. When the 24-inch iMac was released I decided it was time to upgrade to a true desktop.

I was lucky enough to pick up one of the new Mac Mini Intel Core Solo machines to replace my G4 Mac Mini. It ships with a 1.5 GHz Intel Core Solo CPU, 512MB PC2-5300 SODIMMs, Seagate 60GB SATA drive, Combo Drive, Wireless, Bluetooth, Digital Audio and the Integrated Intel Graphics that everyone loves. The About This Mac dialog box displayed a 1.5 GHz Intel Core Duo. After looking into the Apple System Profiler, it does say Intel Core Solo. It comes with almost the same software the previous generation Mac Mini shipped with, but just more up-to-date versions: iLife ‘06, Quicken 2006, Office Trial, and a few games. I have it connected to my Samsung DLP TV in my living room.

I was looking for a backup solution for my Mac Mini and my G4 Powerbook. Initially I was looking for a dedicated machine to do backups but I didn’t have any old machines around to put a RAID setup in. I really don’t keep computers for that long, but this would have been a good use for it. Instead I looked into external hard drives that I could use to rsync data from my computers using cron. I searched Google for RAID enclosures and most of them uses RAID 0 stripping. I wasn’t looking for speed because I was using it as a backup unit so I searched some more for RAID 1 mirroring enclosures. Most of the time the drives were way too expensive or were so huge. It really wasn’t what I was looking for. I found one enclosure the OWC Mercury Elite enclosure that had the capability to perform RAID 1 with a firmware update. I ordered the unit for $130, and received it in a few days.

When iChat AV was released with Mac OS X Tiger, I was assumed by the demos of Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, but didn’t really see how this would become mainstream. Sure a few of my friends have web cams, but the majority of people in my opinion still use standard instant messaging over video messaging. Recently video messaging has become more popular with supporters such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AOL instant messenger, Apple, etc. I knew a few people that had Creative and Logitech cameras and a friend of mine purchased an iSight. She really liked it and encouraged me to purchase a camera of my own. I went to the Apple store and noticed it was a tad more expensive than some of the other branded cameras and I had debating using a standard MiniDV camera or purchase the iSight. Since my usual chat client of choice is iChat AV I went ahead and purchased the iSight.

It’s been a year since I purchased my Mac Mini. It was announced at the 2005 Macworld Expo and it was the first Mac targeted at entry-level consumers. At the time I was using a Powerbook G4 and I was looking for a machine to use as a desktop computer. The specs of the Mac Mini are pretty similar to those of my Powerbook so for the kind of work I do I figured this would be adequate. I used it as a desktop machine then it was transitioned to a web server, which hosts this site as well as a couple others and then was transitioned into my living room as a media PC. Overall after using the machine for a year I am very happy with it and it does a decent job on most of my tasks.