My mid 2007 iMac’s HD is starting to get a bit noisey.

I’ve seen that a solid state HD upgrade is an option but the temp sensor bit and lack of trusting myself limits the likelyhood of it happening.

An option I’m considering is a Mac Mini.

I fool myself that I need a computer for anything more than web browsing, photo storage and music storage but really I don’t.

Keen to stay with Apple.

Do you run a Mac Mini either as your only computer or a secondary one.

How have you got yours set up?

What monitor etc did you go for?

working on one this morning.

it’s quite a nifty little thing, once you get used to its lack of SSD drive (got just the standard 1TB spinner, non-fusion jobby).

I got the middle range one – the cheap one does look a bit underpowered unfortunately. Only other thing to consider is if and when the range will be refreshed – this model is now nearly 18 months old so i don’t know whether it offers amazing bang for buck any more (i got this one last summer). But there’s no guarantee that Apple will do that much more with the product range – like with the Mac Pro they’ve been very very quiet lately! http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac_Mini

Then again, if you want a cheapish thing to run OSX on, I’m not sure what else would be a better option…

I use an Acer 24″ monitor which was about £100. does the job…

Still using my 2009 Mini as my main computer, I put a new harddrive and 8gb ram in it a few years ago. Its either connected to a 24 monitor (if i need to work on a lot of documents and like prior poster cost about £100) or large tv (streaming movies etc). Wirless keyboard, magic mouse. It works brilliantly.

New Mini’s like Apples laptops now have soldered ram so if you are buying new you need to keep that in mind. For what you do 4gb is fine especially if paired with an ssd. New usb3 is super fast so external disks can very fast if younwant mkre storage. Used Mini’s sell for high prices as they are still expandable and 2012 vintage have faster processors available for those that want them for graphics.

On another note I just put SSD’s into three mac books two from 2012 and one from 2008. A little bit fiddly but with a small phillips and a torx t6 (cost £2.50) this was pretty straightforward with software transfer/re-install the hardest/most frustrating bit.

Let me google a video of your model and I will comment on how easy/hard it should be. A 500gb ssd was about £100, 250 one was £50 from memory

If your disk is making noises make sure you have a backup (needed for upgrade anyway) and/or put photos on a cloud service

Definitely go for the middle Mac Mini, the cheapest one is fairly low powered whereas the middle spec one will last many years. Upgrade the RAM as much as you can.

Any cheap Dell/Acer/Samsung monitor will be fine, as long as it has the right inputs. The Minis have Mini DisplayPort so if you get a monitor with DisplayPort you’ll just need a cheap miniDP to DP cable.

Also check the refurb section on the Apple site every morning for a few days , there’s some good bargains in there. You can often get 15% off retail.

You could try an SSHD hybrid drive in your iMac. I did this with our mid-2007 iMac as an alternative to making an SSD fit. It really wasn’t hard (see iFixit guides), exactly the same form factor as the disk that came out and the temp sensor bit is a non-issue. They start at about £60 for 1TB.

Just to follow up from above posts

Newer minis have hdmi out as do many monitors these days so thats easy. I have spare dvi adapter too if you want – half price – still in packaging bought and never needed

Mid model is right choice, decent processor and 8gb ram stock 5400rpm spinners are a bit ancient (my replacement hdd spins at 7200) so fusion if you can

Will google upgade but I see poster above did the upgrade/switch easily

Read macrumors buyers guide

Got an i7 with a fusion drive and about as much memory as I could fit in there (shame you can’t upgrade the new ones yourself.) Use as my main computer with a big monitor. Interested to see what they come out with next as I’d like an ultra HD monitor which the new chipset should support.

If you are thinking of getting a Mac mini then be aware that a new one should be along soon.

If you are thinking of getting a Mac mini then be aware that a new one should be along soon.

😀

There is a very long thread with this title on MacRumors !! I am one of the many waiting in hope that they will upgrade it sensibly and not discontinue it. I put more ram and 7200rpm disk in mine as I got tired of waiting 😉

OP I wathed this video, definitely more fiddly than my Mini or Mac Book switch overs I have done. Definitely make sure you are well backed up. You can sell your iMac for quite good money and a “hobbyist” will love to upgrade it. If its a 20/24 you will easily get a new machine with same bigger screen for an attractive all-in price (still touching £1000+ mind for 1tb fusion or £850-ish for mid range hdd only). You may want to price up a new mid range Mini with 24/bigger monitor, keyboard and mouse and compare that with upgrading yours and with a (say) new retina iMac which will be more money but may be “worth it”

[video]http://youtu.be/Ff5TZzS6ZFo[/video]

I run a 27″ Apple Cinema display from a 2012 Mac Mini I bought of ebay.

Upgraded it myself to have an SSD as the main drive (you can fit two in the chassis) and added as much RAM as it would take. Processor was already the quad-core i7.

All in, it was about £550 (already had the monitor), but I think I got a bargain.

It will last a long time before I upgrade it again.

iFixit have all the tear downs on the iMac you could need (24″ here and 21″ here). The HD is one of the easier repairs to do. Couple of suction cups from eBay to remove the screen and you are away. took me about 30 minutes to replace the disk in the work machine here. Pics of the HD as you take it out will allow you to get the temperature sensor in the right place on the new one. (PS don’t buy a WD Black disk, the one I used makes the fan run almost constantly, also don’t drop the HD on the floor).
The latest Mac minis will take a second drive if you search on line for the directions when you fill it up, applies to the SSD versions. SSD in a mini is a quick starting machine, the 2009 server here has just had one installed and it flies. Max out the RAM as El Capitan is a slow starting behemoth of an OS.

Max out the RAM as El Capitan is a slow starting behemoth of an OS.

IMO 4gb and an ssd is just fine. I put 10gb in wife’s 2012 MBP and it made zero difference until I added the SSD.

Interesting comment on wd black which is what I have and runs fine in my mini but more air/space in that than the iMac

OP sorry I am not closer as I’d come over and help as I quite enjoy these upgrades and it fits with my mantra of not throwing away stuff which is perfectly “repairable”. Perhaps there is a mate nearby who could help, if you do upgrade it try and have another computer/ipad/phone handy so you can rewatch the video as you go

what monitor etc did you go for?

Why not use the one in front of you? Most of the older imacs (prior to the 5ks) can be used as a monitor.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204592

Not sure if a 2007 can be though

EDIT: looks like 2009 on.

Or…

Looking at: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP16?locale=en_US

You could install and run the OS off a FW800 enclosure. That’ll work fine and have more bandwidth than the HDD you’re used to so not hurt performance. Stick a HDD or SSD in it, should get you going under £100.

OTOH if you want an excuse for a new machine…crack on. FWIW I think the cheaper macbook airs + a monitor are much better value than a mini. But then I also think using a computer with a spinning HD is barbaric so… ¯\_(?)_/¯

My wife’s been using a Mac Mini as her main computer for a few years – replaced a plastic Macbook that was almost always hooked up to a monitor and keyboard. Was when they went to the alu body without an optical drive, she bought the higher end model – I opened it up and added an SSD in the spare space (special cable needed, but fairly straightforward to do) and set up as a Fusion drive.

It’s worked flawlessly since, no issues at all.

The current one with the 1.4GHz CPU might feel a bit underpowered for photo/video tasks but should cope with everything else fine.

Else I have a 27″ mid-2011 iMac (which has a 256GB SSD added plus the standard 1TB drive) going spare which I’ve not got round to advertising – get in touch if you’d be interested.

Thanks all.

Found a place locally that will swap out the HD for a 500gb SSD including transfer of data for £170+VAT.

The bits would cost circa £120 so it seems a reasonable amount. Good user reviews too and just around the corner from work.

Would much rather use what I have and I was only really contemplating a Mac Mini as I don’t have the funds for a new iMac!

Hmm.

Why not use the one in front of you? Most of the older imacs (prior to the 5ks) can be used as a monitor.

Doesn’t that still require the iMac to be working and booted?

“Any apps that are open on your iMac remain open and active while your iMac is in Target Display Mode. For example, if you begin playing music in iTunes on your iMac and then activate Target Display Mode, iTunes doesn’t pause on your iMac.”

I have one, using the my old monitor from my old pc , I hardly use it and when I do I forget how to do things, as have used windows pcs for years

Anything pre-Thunderbolt (so mid-2011) can be used as a display. But, as said, it does need to boot up to get into that mode.

My Mini is one of the last 2010 models with the optical drive, which I had taken out and a second HDD put in, giving me 1.2Tb, and the RAM was doubled up for free.
I’m looking at shoving 16Gb of RAM into it, and replacing both HDD’s with 1Tb drives, to give me 2Tb in total.
Great little computer, sits under one corner of my 40″ Bravia which is the monitor.
I usually just use the Mini to play music via my Yamaha A/AV amp, which is connected to the headphone socket with an optical TOSLink, and I control it with Remote on my pad or phone. Works really well, I’ve got the BT keyboard and Trackpad as well.

OP thats a pretty reasonable deal. I would just check what ssd they are going to use as they are not all equally good but otherwise that is I think the best option.