Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, MacBook Pros and more. Optical Drives for Apple iBooks, Powerbooks, MacBooks, MacBook Pros in Stock. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.

OWC: Big Drives, High Performance - Not High Prices! SATA 3.5" up to 1.5TB. Notebook up to 500GB. FW up to 6.0TB. 1.0TB Drive Models from as low as $97.99 www.MacSales.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Lab Report

First Mac minis in Classroom a Big Hit

- 2005.05.25

My new Mac minis for the classroom arrived. These are tiny little computers. They're so small, you really need to lock them down with Kensington cables or risk having one taken inside someone's pocket.

Okay, maybe they're not quite that small, but it's close.

Mine arrived in a cardboard box about the size of a toaster oven. The box was more than half filled (by volume) with Styrofoam packing material - this container could take a lot of punishment.

Inside the box was a small Apple-style box about the size of a toaster, complete with a plastic carry handle. The setup instructions are printed on the side of the box and consist of essentially the directive to "plug it in."

double boxed mini box

There are not many things inside the box, but everything that is necessary to get up and running is in there. I ordered mine sans modems, so no modem cables. The mini can be so small, in part, because it uses an external power supply provided as a brick. That's the thing that looks like a giant iPod shuffle in this photo.

Mac miniYou also get a removable power cord for the brick - why Apple does this I don't know, because it uses a proprietary connector. It's not like you can use the cord for anything else.

Thanks to everyone who wrote in and pointed out that moving to a country with different power plugs would make having a removable power cord very handy. Since the brick is autosensing, all you need is a new cord that fts the plug.

A video adapter goes from the DVI port on the mini to a VGA port. I wonder about the decision here; this is obviously a low end machine. Who will be plugging these into flat screen monitors worth more than the computer?

Anyway, I read sporadic reports of poor video port stability (flickering images, etc.) on various websites, and this made me apprehensive when I too saw a screen connected to the mini freak out and turn green. Then I discovered the port adapter doesn't just sit there through friction. You can tighten it via two thumb wheels on the side, which is not immediately obvious.

Aside from that, I plugged in a USB keyboard and mouse, attached a spare monitor, and the computer booted up nicely. I'll be writing more about the performance and behavior of the minis. Low End Mac's specs page can tell you about the ports and options available.

back of Mac mini

The computers the minis are replacing are so old that the 1.25 GHz mini's are a real treat. They're faster than any of the other computers - and you can tell, even with the OS X display overhead, that they boot faster and respond better to applications like Word. The students already prefer to use the two mini I've set up.

So far I have only one unsolved problem. Using the accounts pane to restrict student access, there is no way to eliminate access to the school network through the Go menu except to invoke the Simple Finder, which seems so far removed from the normal computing experience as to be counterproductive educationally. I wish I could turn off casual network access so I wouldn't have to worry about little hacker wannabes trying to see what they can on the campus network.

You can't boot a mini into OS 9 so I can't use the Foolproof software I normally use (see To Internet and Beyond). I wish they'd port that over to OS X.

I'll be working on solving this problem....

Stay iTuned.. LEM

Jeff Adkins is a science teacher who isn't afraid to state his preferences in computing platforms. In his classroom he has everything from a beige All-in-One to a a G4 XServe, and they all work together nicely. He calls himself the "poster child for technology integration" in the classroom. He was the 2006 Outstanding Educator of the Year for the California Computer Using Educators (CUE) organization. He also maintains a site for astronomy teachers at www.AstronomyTeacher.com.

Recent Mac Lab Reports

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Mac Lab Report copyright © 2000-08 by Jeff Adkins. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.


Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Have a question?
Ask an expert!

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.