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Thread: Mini - some questions

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    Goat Boy
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    Mini - some questions

    Right - my mates bought me a mini for my birthday . I have a couple of questions.

    - I've just ordered some more RAM from crucail. What's the easiest way of getting into the blighter?
    - If I use a PC keyboard, do I lose any "special" keys?

    Ta

    Ben
    "All our beliefs are being challenged now, and rightfully so, they're stupid." - Bill Hicks

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    Gordy Gordy's Avatar
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    You need a palet knife (Big broad blade knife ) to get into it, you push the knife in the gap from the bottom. There is a vid of how to open them on the web Try a quick google and it should turn up

    I would expect you will loose the eject power and some other special keys using a pc keyboard. You can get the apple keyboard for under 20 now if you have the dosh

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    Goat Boy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gordy
    You need a palet knife (Big broad blade knife ) to get into it, you push the knife in the gap from the bottom. There is a vid of how to open them on the web Try a quick google and it should turn up

    I would expect you will loose the eject power and some other special keys using a pc keyboard. You can get the apple keyboard for under 20 now if you have the dosh
    Cheers for the info. Does the windows key turn into an apple key, or do I lose that too?

    Might buy an apple keyboard tbh...
    "All our beliefs are being challenged now, and rightfully so, they're stupid." - Bill Hicks

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    Quote Originally Posted by DaBeeeenster
    Right - my mates bought me a mini for my birthday . I have a couple of questions.

    Wish I had freinds like that :cry:

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    Goat Boy
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    Ah well was my 30th so fair play really
    "All our beliefs are being challenged now, and rightfully so, they're stupid." - Bill Hicks

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    Gordy Gordy's Avatar
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    If you use a mac keyboard on a pc the apple key turns into a windows key, I dont know what happens when you do the opposite

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    Ok,if your wanting to open the mini, have a look at this PDF..

    http://www.kevinrose.com/mini/mac_mini.pdf

    Its an official mac service guide. As for the keyboard, if you use a windows keyboard on the mac, the windows logo key becomes the command (four leaf clover)key and the Alt key now becomes the Option Key. As pc keyboards dont (usually) have an eject key, F12 serves as this, although I don't know how it will work in Tiger (as F12 is mapped to widgets). You can even have a play with the Expose controls (F9, F10, F11). Im not sure about "special keys" such as open media player, or open browser, but you might be able to get around using a program for the mac called USB overdrive

    www.usboverdrive.com

    It allows you to map the special functions to programs or functions you would normally find in Windows
    Last edited by tommylittleboy@; 18-04-2005 at 05:54 PM.

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    happy birthday ben mate!

    is it a lot cheaper to buy ram not from apple?
    also does anyone know if you can add bluetooth and apple extreme after you have bought a box?

    ally

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    Quote Originally Posted by ally
    happy birthday ben mate!

    is it a lot cheaper to buy ram not from apple?
    also does anyone know if you can add bluetooth and apple extreme after you have bought a box?

    ally
    If your looking for memory...I'd suggest this 1GB module directly from crucial...
    http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/list...z%29&submit=Go
    Its been tried and tested on the mac mini. As for bluetooth/airport, you could either buy them as separate exterior peripherals such as a belkin bluetooth dongle (it works perfect on mine), and obviously you can purchase the external airport.....however you will definitely need to purchase a USB hub to do this. I'd suggest, if you havent already done so, get it fitted internally when you purchase the machine, else I pretty sure you will have to pay apple for an internal upgrade at a later time
    Last edited by tommylittleboy@; 19-04-2005 at 09:27 PM.

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    Goat Boy
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    Much cheaper to do the ram yourself mate - but you do need a VERY thin palette knife to prize the little bugger open.
    "All our beliefs are being challenged now, and rightfully so, they're stupid." - Bill Hicks

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    Mac's Just Work BroadbandPlacey's Avatar
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    thats cheap as, i take it the mini will support a gig stick then? its worth buying it standard and fitting the ram yourself.... hmmmm must resist

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    Yikes, the ram prices at Crucial have dropped quite a bit in the last 2 months - when I first priced it up, the 1Gb stick for the mini was £140.

    So, total purchase cost of my mini would be just under £600, now... Tempting, though I'm still, probably, better off just sticking with my PMG5... Decisions, decisions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug
    Yikes, the ram prices at Crucial have dropped quite a bit in the last 2 months - when I first priced it up, the 1Gb stick for the mini was £140.

    So, total purchase cost of my mini would be just under £600, now... Tempting, though I'm still, probably, better off just sticking with my PMG5... Decisions, decisions.
    Yup! I placed my order yesterday for 1GB, I have seen pc2700 modules for £60 however they look like a piece of s*#t, and most reviews report that theyre DOA. I'd rather go the tried and tested option, so I can be reassured that itll work and wont mess up my mini

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