Well, the main computer finally kicked the bucket. It had a good run (about five years!) but unfortunately, all good things in this world eventually come to an end and I was forced to replace it. I have been planning to buy a Mac Pro but since the new models still are not out yet (Thanks, Intel, for the E5 chip delays), decided to try and wait. I ended up nabbing a refurbished 2011 Mac Mini Server for $850 from Apple. While it’s certainly not a Mac Pro in terms of options or even speed, in basic tasks, the 2.0GHz i7 processor does do very well (and much better than my previous 1.83 Core 2 Duo chip). I also ordered 8GB of RAM, an external DVD drive, an external HDD enclosure, and a Samsung 830 SSD. My goal was to put the SSD inside as the main drive and then use the external enclosure for backups (primary data would be on the second internal 500GB drive). All was well and good and I set about installing software and updates and everything until after a day or two I noticed the fan was running very high. I thought maybe it was Spotlight indexing (common on new Macs for the processor to run very high for the first few days) but I soon got to worrying when it continued. Unfortunately, I was also extremely busy for the next few weeks and so I had literally no time to address the problem.
After three weeks or so I was able to look into it again and decided that a firmware update must have hosed the logic board on the Mini, thus causing the fan to run on high. I did try several apps for measuring/controlling fan speed but all of them reported either no fan installed or the fan running at 0 RPM — not good! I also tried resetting the EFI but that didn’t fix it either. Long story short (actually this is getting pretty long), I set up appointment at the local Genius Bar. Unfortunately for me, I got tied up at work that day and was unable to make the appointment. Thankfully for me though, a good friend of mine works at Apple and happened to see my name on the appointment list that day. He called me and asked me about the problems and I explained all of them. The following Sunday I saw him at church and he told me he’d gladly take the machine in for me. Then he said, he had one discount left for the year (Apple employees get a number of various discounts on purchases) and he would be glad to let me use it – in fact, he was upset that I hadn’t asked him in the first place! Furthermore, he offered to get the Mini returned (this was about 33 days after I’d purchased it)! I spent the service debating the matter and finally decided I couldn’t wait any longer or get by with another Mini. The discount opportunity (and stress I’d been through until now) were too much to ignore and I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger. A few days later, my friend called me and was able to get it all finalized — now I’m waiting for a brand new, 2010 Mac Pro to arrive at my door! I’m all set to load it up with RAM and the SSD I already had purchased last month. I did get the 2.8GHz model but as these chips are dropping in price (and about to be replaced by the E5s), I hope to at some point upgrade to a 3.33 6-core model for several hundred dollars (the 3.33 GHz version from Apple would have added $1200 to my price).
I’m excited! While this won’t be a 2012 Machine like I’d been waiting so long for, it should easily last me (with the kind of work I’ll be doing on it) 4-5 years and possibly even longer than that, and for that, I’m grateful!
