Mac Mini anyone?

[Mark Fletcher]

Just read about Steve Jobs announcement of the Mac Mini, a cut down version of the Mac at $500

Mac Mini

Ive been a PC user since 97, and whilst Ive considered buying a Mac since OS X came out, Ive never been able to justify it to myself because for what you would pay for a Mac, you can get a much more powerful PC.

Now, Im seriously considering buying one. It would be cool to set up as a small headless fileserver in the house. I can see why Apple are marketing this... its at the perfect pricepoint for PC owners who have been tempted to try out the Mac but havent until now. Plus, if youre one of those folks who have shelled out $400 to $600 on an iPod, but dont own a Mac, you might be tempted to buy one based on your experiences with an iPod.

I know that you can get PC's for the same price as a Mac Mini or much less, but this is the first PC type computer Ive seen that reminds me of the Commodore Amiga - A fun little computer that you can hook up, play games on, program. Sure you can do that with a PC and Linux, but Linux isnt the most user friendly of OS's is it?

What do you think?

Mark

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

Looks sweet!

I've been wanting an OS/X box for Mac platform testing; looks like just what the doctor ordered. Hook it up to the ol' KVM switch, put my coffee mug on it -- never even know it's there!

[Bacon]

Is the $499, just for the box? Do you have to buy the monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. separate?

[Mark Fletcher]

You have to buy the monitor, keyboard and mouse separately.

The idea behind this is that the Mac Mini targets people who already own computers, who are either curious about trying the Mac, but previously didnt want to shell out upwards of $1000 for it, or upgraders. Just plug in your own mouse, keyboard and monitor and away you go. Also it comes with a VGA Monitor Adapter, so you dont have to purchase an expensive Apple cinema display.

[Marc Peabody]

That's awesome. I might get one.

I would definitely get one if they came loaded with Oregon Trail.

[Gerald Davis]

I might get one also. I Like the thought of owning a computer that is come close to being more standardised opposed to all this different PC spec. The mac os X is suppose to be a flavour of Unix(like Linux and FreeBSD) so I should be able to compile Unix application or download binaries , Open-Office ,Mozilla , Perl.

And Unlike PC, installing peripherals shouldn't be a pain, I still cannot get the 3D acceleration on my graphics card and my scannar plays up because correct drivers are not available.

[Bacon]

Originally posted by Gerald Davis:
...I still cannot get the 3D acceleration on my graphics card and my scannar plays up because correct drivers are not available...

You just need a MS Wizard of some sort. Don't they solve everything?

I just virus scanned my XP box...over 300,000 files, most of it OS. I guess no one in MS ever heard of elegant code. More like layered code on top of layered code. It probably still has stuff in it from MS DOS from 1983!

I may switch to MACs and never look back.

[Jim Yingst]

[EFH]: Hook it up to the ol' KVM switch, put my coffee mug on it -- never even know it's there!

Excellent idea. I've been looking for something like this ever since I accidentally broke off the drink holder on my current computer.

[Michael Matola]

...ever since I accidentally broke off the drink holder on my current computer.

You mean the thing above the slot where you insert your credit card when making online purchases?

[Bacon]

Be sure to use a sturdy cup. If cup holder retracts and the cup is whimpy... well lets just say that its messy. Then you get that blue screen with a message that I think means you need more coffee, although I have to admit its a bit vague. Something about a kernel or was it colonel?

[Gerald Davis]

Originally posted by Ray Marsh:

You just need a MS Wizard of some sort. Don't they solve everything?

I just virus scanned my XP box...over 300,000 files, most of it OS. I guess no one in MS ever heard of elegant code. More like layered code on top of layered code. It probably still has stuff in it from MS DOS from 1983!

I may switch to MACs and never look back.

I use Mandrake Linux, windows has nothing to offer me. I never used my WindowsNT partition in 4 years or 5 years, when I started to use it with MS-Word because it has better grammar checkers with some web access. Viruses continually attack like savage dogs. I got all kinds of crap message adverts poping up on my desktop even if I am not using the internet.

Now I have deleted the NT partion, I now run MS-Word in Wine and it works very well now.

[Jeroen Wenting]

I looked at the specs and went to the Apple store to find out what a machine with decent hardware would cost.
Nothing fancy, just maxed out the RAM and added the DVD writing capabilities (which, if you read the marketing blurb is hinted as being standard...) on the faster model (the entry model being totally pathetic).
I came out at (for just those options) more than double the price of the entry model for a total of �1129 (�599 for the higher spec model without options). For a machine with those specs that's ridiculous, especially given that I'd also have to buy a lot of software and would end up with a machine an order of magnitude lower in performance than what I could get with an Intel CPU for the same money.

It does look good though...

[Jeroen Wenting]

Originally posted by Mark Fletcher:

Ive been a PC user since 97, and whilst Ive considered buying a Mac since OS X came out, Ive never been able to justify it to myself because for what you would pay for a Mac, you can get a much more powerful PC.

1984 here...

Originally posted by Mark Fletcher:

Now, Im seriously considering buying one. It would be cool to set up as a small headless fileserver in the house. I can see why Apple are marketing this... its at the perfect pricepoint for PC owners who have been tempted to try out the Mac but havent until now. Plus, if youre one of those folks who have shelled out $400 to $600 on an iPod, but dont own a Mac, you might be tempted to buy one based on your experiences with an iPod.

That's supposedly the main market, though I see it more as yet another plaything for the Macaddicts

Originally posted by Mark Fletcher:


I know that you can get PC's for the same price as a Mac Mini or much less, but this is the first PC type computer Ive seen that reminds me of the Commodore Amiga - A fun little computer that you can hook up, play games on, program. Sure you can do that with a PC and Linux, but Linux isnt the most user friendly of OS's is it?

Mark

except there's little software for them, and most new titles will already require a G5 or at the least a lot more RAM and a higher spec videocard than the 32MB thingy they include (and given the formfactor cannot be replaced)...