By Jen, 1 December, 2012
Forum
macOS and Mac Apps
I am considering in buying a mini mac desktop. I would like to know thaughts on this. It is coming with lion, this is where I am abit lost. I need help here understanding can I eventually upgrade. Does anyone use atmini mac desktop? Will I need sighted help setting it up? Am I going to have to purchase a n apple keyboard in order to use it, or can I use mycurrent one temperarllyyAny help would be great I thank you all for your help in advanced.
Comments
Getting Along with the Mac Mini
thoughts on keyboards and the mini in general
- you have a hard-wired keyboard; bluetooth requires pairing, which requires the mouse, which means you can't press cmd-f5 to enable vo until you pair it with the mouse.
- you have an apple-style usb keyboard. I have found that most windows-style keyboards require a setup process before they will work, which only takes a moment but is needed before you can use the keyboard to enable vo.
So, my suggestion is to have a sighted person on hand just in case, but once your keyboard is working they probably won't be needed. As to a monitor, some say you need one, and some say you don't. I have no clue which models do an don't require a screen, but my mid 2011 definitely does, and it has when running both 10.7 and 10.8. You can find a Mini Display Port adapter for VGA or DVI, assuming the mac is new enough to include a Mini Display Port (also called Thunderbolt), or use the included DVI to HDMI adapter if your monitor happens to use DVI. Note that there are two types of DVI, type D and type I; I don't recall which type the adapter is, but you will want to check that it is the proper type for your monitor if you plan to use it. As to upgrading the operating system, it depends on the mac. My 2011 can run ML just fine, but I have a used Mini from 2007 that can only manage Lion. If you are buying this used, it depends on how old it is already. As was said in the previous comment, have a look at the compatibility page to be sure the system can take it. If it can, ML is just $20 in the App Store, and the upgrade process is accessible.