Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
My primary desktop, iMac, was a few months over four years old. It began to feel a bit slow with the latest operating system, programs, etc. Therefore, I decided it was time for a new Mac. Despite great notebooks, iPhones, and iPads that we all have today, my desktop computer is still what feels most "right," to me. It's my favorite place to discover music, work on photographs, maybe do a little video work, write, email, browse the web, etc. A comfortable chair, large screen, and fast desktop just feels "right."How did my search for a new Mac lead to mini Server and what makes it a good choice?Naturally, coming from an iMac, I considered a new iMac. However, having purchased the newer iMacs for other uses and family members in the past two years, I regularly saw issues with their displays. Yellow tint to certain parts of the display. Furthermore, besides RAM, iMacs are extremely hard to upgrade. The hard drive is very difficult to get to, which makes upgrade and even repair, once out of warranty difficult. Furthermore, it is hard to take an iMac to an Apple Store, even while under warranty, due to their large size. A mini can easily be taken to an Apple store, or better yet, Apple I believe (if I am not mistaken) offers mail-in service for the mini, if you're in the middle of nowhere. I would still purchase an iMac in the future, but it just felt like a lot of things were adding up against it this time. I might want a SSD at some point too, and it would be "risky," to do that myself on a still warrantied iMac. iMacs don't come stock with two hard drives for RAID options either. Therefore, I knew the Mac mini might be a good choice and the Server model was especially inviting! Why? For one thing, the mini Server Mid-2011 has a faster processor than the lower entry-level iMacs. Yes, it an i7 Quad Core 2.0 GHZ. While all iMacs are now quad-core, the lower end models have i5s, which get Geekbench scores somewhat lower than this mini Server. The mini-Server had the same CPU as the seventeen-hundred dollar 15-inch MacBook pro from early 2011, though the MacBook Pro did get a slight processor bump in late 2011. Nevertheless, you can see, the mini Server, for its size, gets an extremely impressive processor. Geekbench scores put it right at, or even slightly faster than the entry level mid-2010 Mac Pro desktop, now that is saying something! The speed of a machine which costs 2.5x more money! Second, two hard drives. 1TB of storage in a mini is nothing to laugh about (2 500 GB drives are included). Furthermore, the key here is that the mini Server gets 7200 RPM hard drives, the same speed found in full-sized desktop computers. The two lower end mini models have only 5400 RPM drives, significantly slower and makes them feel more like "notebooks." Furthermore, by having two hard drives, you have many options. You can use one for time machine, just use both drives for storage, or even put them in RAID 0 or RAID 1 with disk utility when booted into a recovery disk. There are some risks in using RAID, but if you're a pro user, you will know the risks (higher possibility of losing your data in RAID 0), and you lose Apple's new Recovery HD which isn't compatible with RAID. I went ahead and used RAID 0 because this gives me much faster disk reading and writing. More performance, more reason to choose mini Server. The lack of Apple including any restore disks or USB stick on new Macs is frustrating. I recommend reading some online tutorials on backing up your system, backing up your recovery HD, or even backing up an entire recovery install for easy reinstallation should you ever need it.Next, memory. The mini Server has 4GB of RAM which is fine for many home users. However, those who do a lot of photography and video work, may want to upgrade it to 8GB. These minis make RAM upgrades simple. A panel rotates on the bottom and allows easy access to the memory, if not access to much else. I upgraded to 8GB, and it is a noticeable improvement. This was less than a fifty dollar upgrade to do myself, and again, offers me more performance and multitasking. Software: The mini Server has Mac OS X Lion Server included, which is essentially the same consumer version of OS X Lion with the extra "Server," application included. This application can allow you to use the mini Server as a more professional "server." You could serve up iCal calendars to people in your home or office, serve local email, etc. However, unless you know you need these features, you'll likely leave the server functions turned off, or just not open that application. It is there though, should you ever need it, or if you do need it now. You can read more about server at Apple's website. Of course, every copy of Lion allows you to share files with other Macs as well as use iTunes to serve music and videos around your home, this is unrelated to the "server," application which has much more professional and specific uses. Connectivity: HDMI, Thunderbolt, Firewire 800, 4 USB 2.0 Ports, Ethernet, Audio in, Audio out. Plus Wireless N Networking and Bluetooth! I connect two displays, using both the HDMI and Thunderbolt outputs. Apple includes a HDMI to DVI adapter. You might also pick up a mini display port to DVI adapter, if you have an older display and want to use the thunderbolt port to connect to the mini, as the thunderbolt port supports higher resolution displays than the HDMI port.Of course, Apple includes the iLIfe Applications, which nearly everyone enjoys for photo editing, video editing, music making, etc. with the applications iPhoto, iMovie, and Garageband. iCal, iTunes, Mail App, DVD player, etc. are always found on a Mac too. However, if you want to use the DVD player you will need to purchase either a third-party USB DVD drive (these can be found cheap on Amazon including Amazon's own branded model), or for the sleekest look, get Apple's Superdrive for MacBook Air USB product. Again, don't forget, no minis have a DVD drive built in now, so this is no longer a server model only drawback. mini Server uses intel integrated graphics which is a drawback over the mid-range mini which has a discreet Graphics Processing Unit. Apple likely feels a "server" model doesn't need a discreet GPU if it was truly being used as a server. Furthermore, if you do not play games on your computer, like myself and many others, the integrated graphics are fine and offer similar performance to last year's NVIDIA integrated graphics. Some use mini Server as a home theatre PC, but it is probably overkill for that and you might be better off with the low end or mid range model for such a use. I use a mid-2009 mini as my home theatre PC, and it still works great. I did receive a couple machines with issues at first, one was completely cosmetic though. Amazon put it right fast! Overall, the mini Server mid-2011 is truly my best Mac ever and certainly the fastest. I have two displays, Firewire hard drives, USB devices, speakers, etc. all plugged into the mini. It feels like a powerful setup with the oh so fast processor, memory, huge hard drives, etc. mini Server serves an unique niche of the Mac market, and it's a favorite among many Mac enthusiasts. This machine would no doubt last me a long time, but I like it so much, I might upgrade the next time an updated version comes out. There are some great Macs I would only give four stars. However, mini Server is so special and unique that I cannot help but give it five stars. It might not be right for everyone, but if it fits your needs, it is truly five stars! It is that cool! Recommended.

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