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Upgrading mac mini 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo hardrive

Avatar Howard Richings
Having upgraded the RAM on my trusty mac mini a couple of years ago I would now like to upgrade to an SSD hard drive. I have identified Crucial's 128GB drive as compatible but would like to go for something larger any suggestions please.

Re: Upgrading mac mini 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo hardrive

Avatar Mick Burrell
I put an SSD in my Mac Pro a year or so ago and at the time, although Crucial are spot on for Mac memory, their SSDs were not getting a good press for use in Macs. The only ones that were were from OWC (OWC SSD drives) and I can report that it's worked perfectly. Have a look at their site as you may find some helpful information on there.

One thing to watch out for, as they will come over from the USA, you will probably have to pay import duty. I chose a drive that was either just under the import duty limit or perhaps at the lowest level (can't remember) but I was actually charged not just on the price of the drive but on drive plus shipping. I'd still have gone for it had I known but it was a disappointment when I got the bill.

Re: Upgrading mac mini 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo hardrive

Avatar Eleanor Spenceley
The Mac Mini Core Duo (1.83 GHz) has a 1.5 Gbps Serial ATA (SATA) bus to connect to the hard drive. Since a SSD simply acts as a typical hard drive, I'm not aware of any capacity limitation on SSD versus traditional hard drive.

iFixIt is offering a 750 GB Hard drive option therefore I believe you could install a similar capacity SSD (if you could afford it). Crucial sell SSDs to 512GB. Mind you at that price you could probably sell your old Mini and buy a new Mac Mini!

Bare in mind the 1.5 Gbps bus will limit data transfer speed so don't purchase the fastest SSD device for your device.

If you wish to speed your Mac Mini even further, you could also replace the processor to a Core 2 Duo!

Re: Upgrading mac mini 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo hardrive

Avatar Eleanor Spenceley
No replies for days then 2 in under 2 minutes! Spooky!

I use Crucial SSD on my MacBook Pro and had no problems. They update the firmware on the SSD fairly frequently so they must be getting better.

Re: Upgrading mac mini 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo hardrive

Avatar Mick Burrell
That's good to know Martin (about Crucial working OK)
 
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