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I recently got a Mac from a friend. All it has is a power cable and a cable to connect it to the monitor. On the back, it says Mac mini 2.0/2x512/120 so I'm guessing that's 1 GB RAM, and 120 GB hard drive.

I was wondering what all I can upgrade in this Mac mini. All I've heard about this model is that it is the older mini version and replacing the RAM will be tough. Any suggestions? I'm looking for RAM+HDD+Keyboard and a Mouse in the most economical margins.

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2 Answers

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Firstly, WELCOME to Apple world :)

Now, this is not that hard, and you should think it's quite easy.

if you never worked on a Mac before, you should invest some minutes to see some basic stuff, how it used to work on Windows and how it does now on Mac, for example, take some nice video tutorials from Apple website

go to Apple.com -> click on Mac -> down there there is several video tutorials, see some.

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Regarding UPGRADING your Mac Mini, you should check what model you have and have a look on MacSales Videos on how to replace the hardware

you will find all models in the Mac Sales Tech Support page

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About what hardware you should fit into your new Mac Mini, using Mac Sales you can order the memory, harddrive (or SSD) and any Optical drive as well, if you outside US, (though I'm in Denmark, I buy stuff from them time to time) you grab the model number of what you wanted, and "fly" to a near store and buy it :)

I hope it helps.

Warning

You are trying to buy 8Gb of Ram, and your mac only support up to 4Gb, in witch 3Gb is addressable.

Please read the specifications of your model before you buy anything!

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Thank you for your detailed answer. I checked my MAC Mini model and it is MacMini 2,1. In my Mac Mini Memory information, it says my RAM is 512 MB, DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz. I found this 8GB RAM: amazon.com/Crucial-CT2KIT51264BC1067-204-PIN-PC3-8500-SODIMM/dp/… Do you have any idea if this would work? Another one is: google.com/products/… But I still don't get why the 8GB model is more than double the price of a 4GB model... – Legend Sep 26 '10 at 20:18
Did you check MacSales page for upgrade your mini at: eshop.macsales.com/shop/mac-mini ? 2x2Gb = $89.99, witch is the max you can put in your model. – balexandre Sep 27 '10 at 7:50
Thank you for your help. – Legend Sep 27 '10 at 16:18
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For discs I would not install inside but add a firewire external disk (your mini has FW 400). It might even run faster than the internal.

For memory I would get third party but see video tutorials on how to do it

To find the memory you need to know which mini you have info See on Apple's site support.apple.com/specs/#macmini enter the mini's serial number to get the correct one. I think from your comments(the disc size) it is 2007 or early 2009 - that does not take the memory you are looking at

For memory from crucial use their Crucial Memory Advisor tool and choose the correct version of the hardware

For mice, keyboards etc any USB one will do

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Thanks for your time. I'm currently in the process of picking the right ram module. I replied to balexandre's post with another question. Would you have an answer for that by any chance? – Legend Sep 26 '10 at 20:19
Wish I could accept both as answers. Thanks for the help... – Legend Sep 27 '10 at 16:18

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