Update:
I intended to get a Mac mini for my birthday but I decided to carpe diem...so I'm getting one TOMORROW
The spec for this particular Mac mini is 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo with 1 GB RAM (2x512 MB, expandable to 2 GB RAM), 80GB HDD, DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, Airport, Bluetooth, Remote and running Apple MacOS X 10.5. Installed software: Apple QuickTime, Apple Hardware Test, Apple Mac OS X Mail, Apple iCal, Apple DVD Player, Apple Address Book, Apple Safari, Apple iChat AV, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive, Apple Dashboard, Apple Spotlight, Apple XCode Developer Tools, iWork (30 days trial), Apple iLife '08, Apple Spaces, Apple Quick Look, Apple Time Machine. All for around $450 (it's a closeout model). I'm getting it, as I've said before, mainly for iPhone development purposes (and to finally get myself familiar with the Way of Mac). I already have a monitor laying around but I'm going to pick up a Mac keyboard and mouse, and I'm trying to spend as little money as I can while doing so.
I'm ashamed to say that, for various reasons, the last time I even touched this machine was when I picked it up from the store -- I never even got a chance to crack it open! It's still in the box, gathering dust, and getting more and more obsolete! Shame shame shame
My iPhone development efforts never got off the ground either. I was seduced by the siren call of Android instead and thus neglected my iOS brethren.
But that was then, and this is now. I have been thrown into a maelstrom at work which requires me to learn and implement a project for iOS in a hurry. They issued me a
pretty good Mac mini machine (ironic, no?) but I needed to speed up my learning curve. Thus, I took my own advice...
BTW, two places to get cheapish used Macs (iMacs, MacBooks, etc.) are Apple Palace and Mac of All Trades.
...and I ordered for a refurbished
17-inch MacBook Pro. I was going to get a
15-inch refurb MBP from the Apple Store, until I realized I could get one from MOAT with a bigger (anti-glare) screen, more RAM and a bigger HDD, that cost less than the one from Apple! Plus, it has AppleCare until mid-2013! w00t!
Can't wait until it gets into my grubby little hands...maybe
she and I can celebrate together...