Hi folks, This looks good. I am also planning to buy an mac mini to use with vo and my handytech braille star. about speakers: can I use my speakers for teh pc that I have now or is this anoterh connector on the mac mini? best regards, Willima Windels On Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 11:44:21PM -0500, Cheryl Homiak wrote: > Hi. > > I actually have three mac minis at the moment: two ppc ones (one of them > is actually my daughter's) and an intel core duo. > > 1. As far as switching, I used linux befor Macosx and now have added > Windows to my repertoire as well. I think the reason the mini is > advertised for switchers is that you can share your keyboard and monitor > and thus the mini doesn't automatically come with these. But it works > fine whether you are a switcher or not. > > 2. My intel is a 1.83ghz with 1gb raqm because that's what i could > afford; if you can afford higher, of course that's great but mine > functions fine. Definitely you want at least 1gb memory. Also, I don't > think they offer it with as big a hard drive as you now have. > 3. the mac mini is fine for a vo user, but then I don't think any Mac > running vo is a bad choice for a vo user. > > 4. I'm running windows xp with windoweyes and also System Access. I'm > using vmware fusion rather than bootcamp which means the system is right > alongside my Macosx and I don't have to reboot to use it. Just remember > that vmware fusion only allows a 20gb windows installation, so if you > need more space you might want to use bootcamp. One thing I like about > using vmware fusion is that I can install without sighted help (something > you can't easily do with Windows on a pc) and I can easily just delete > the virtual machine if I need to reinstall. The Windows installation > works fine; I have had some issues and reinstalled once but I don't know > the cause; I don't think it had to do with the mini. > > 5. If you go to the Apple store online, you can choose your options and > be shown the cost; you can make different choices and see the results. > > There are two things that make me think you might want to have an imac > instead of a mini. First, I don't think you can get as big a hard drive > with the mini. > Second, flat pannel displays are avery expensive and with an iMac you > don't have to buy a display. I think your $1500 will be ample for a > high-end mac mini but adding the display could strain that significantly. > But on the other hand, an higher-end imac will also cost you more than > your $1500. I'd go and play around with the cost of different > configurations at the Apple store website. > > Bluetooth is standard with a mac mini though of course you'll have to > purchase keyboard and mouse separately whether bluetooth or wired. The > mouse eats batteries so I don't use it' the keyboard batteries last > several months. > > Hth. > > > > > > -- > > Cheryl > > "Where your treasure is, > there will your heart be also." > >> >> Click on the link below to go to our homepage. >> http://www.icanworkthisthing.com >> >> Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. >> //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover >> >> Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to >> macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web >> interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover >> ---end quoted text--- > > Click on the link below to go to our homepage. > http://www.icanworkthisthing.com > > Manage your subscription by using the web interface on the link below. > //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover > > Users can subscribe to this list by sending email to > macvoiceover-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'subscribe' in the Subject field OR by logging into the Web > interface at //www.freelists.org/list/macvoiceover >