Woohoo, planning to buy my mac mini on Thursday after class from Bestbuy (I find that if you are buying a computer + accessories they will give you a good deal on the accessories, unlike the Apple store where their prices seem firm).
I'm planning to get the "standard" mac mini (320gb HDD, 2GB RAM, 2.4ghz core 2 duo), as well as the Magic Mouse, Wireless keyboard, Dynex 6 foot HDMI cable (to connect to my Acer H233H 23" LCD monitor), MS office home/student 3 license pack, and Mobileme. Also BB in Canada sells 2GB sticks of Kingston memory that are "Apple Compatible" for $80 a stick, but Tigerdirect has a pack of 2 of these 2GB sticks for $70.... so if BB will pricematch Tigerdirect, I'll also be picking up 4GB of RAM for it.
On the weekend I'll order a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB 7200RPM Hybrid drive and a cheap $10 external 2.5" HDD enclosure so I can swap the little 320GB HDD out.
This will be my first Mac (my main previous Mac experience is just using Logic at school for composition work), I'm pretty excited to make the switch.
You will love your new Mac mini. My first two macs were mini's.
I have just one very important suggestion for you though.
Purchase your Mac from an Apple store.
Here are the following reasons why:
a. No one knows Apple products better than Apple. The person who sells Apple products at Best Buy is not an Apple employee, no matter what they say.
b. All apple employees are commission-free. They will spend as much time with you as needed. Especially important if this is your first Mac purchase.
c. They have a Genius Bar. Sorry, but the Geek Squad doesn't even come close.
d. You will receive a
free 90 minute "Meet your Mac" personal set up. Best Buy charges $119
per hour for something similar.
e. You will receive a 30% discount off of your MobileMe account. Best Buy charges full price.
f. You will get $30 off your iWork, for only $49. Much less than Office. If you are going to use Apple hardware, you are much better off using Apple software. iWork is Microsoft Office compatible, and it's Keynote and Pages are easily superior to PowerPoint and Word, and iWork works better with the other Apple programs, and uses less system resources. Ask for a demonstration to see what I mean.
g. With your mac purchase at an Apple store, you will qualify for One to One. It is unlimited personal training at all Apple stores for an entire year, plus a free data transfer. You also get free workshops, and direct assistance with personal projects, as many sessions as you like for a year. It also includes 24/7 access to online training tutorials. All of this is a one time $99. Best Buy has nothing like this, but will charge you $119 per hour for training and $169 for a data transfer, not to mention, they don't offer specialized workshops or assistance with personal projects. One to One is the biggest reason to buy a Mac from an Apple store. You can't get this kind of support anywhere else.
h. If you are using this for business, you will receive free business consultation and may also qualify for business discounts and incentives. Ask to speak to their business team.
i. If you are a college student or faculty of any accredited school, you will receive an education discount. Bring your school ID.
j. If you work for a company that Apple has listed in their books, you will receive discounts on products and services. Just ask them to see if your company is listed, and bring something to show that you are employed by that company.
k. If you are employed by the city, state, county, federal government, or are military/retired, you will receive a discount.
l. No restocking fees on all purchases returned or exchanged for up to two weeks. They can even look up your purchase w/o a receipt.
m. They have got every kind of Apple product and recommended accessories for Apple products, most of which are on display and demonstrable.
n. Apple Care costs less than Best Buys extended warranty, and includes free phone tech support for three years. Apple can diagnose problems quicker than anyone else can, and even see your screen through screen sharing if you enable it. Should you need to exchange a defective CPU, that is unserviceable, it gets replaced by a brand new unit over the counter, as long as it's in stock. Qualified business accounts, corporate employees, Govt./Military, and college students/educaters get a discount on Mac Apple Care.
I've purchased 3 macs, two iPhones, 3 iPods, and 1 iPad, all from the Apple store. I've had an iPhone replaced, my iPad replaced, and my macs serviced, all with Apple Care at no additional cost to me. I won't buy an Apple product anywhere else, and I won't take my Apple products to anyone else but their Genius Bar. I recommend that everyone should make their purchase at an Apple store if they've got one near them.
An added service bonus:
If you've got an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, download the Apple Store app for free from the app store, and use the store app with location services allowed. It will alert an Apple employee that you have arrived and they will meet you at the front. The picture of the person who is meeting you will be on your device. This app rocks for personal service when coming to an Apple store.
