Mac Mini: VERY SLIM!

[AndrewZorn]

nice shell... why not fill it with some better components for $700?

[h0bbes]

considering the high-power hardware present in macbooks their battery life is extremely impressive; and NO other manufacturer comes remotely close to the macbooks in terms of build quality and design

I remember taking a better look at the macbook battery life and found laptops of similar if not better hardware, with better energy consumption. The business models of both Dell and HP are not bad at all when it comes to build quality but they can be a bit more pricey than the macs but you get pretty good service. In my opinion, the Dell studio XPS 16 was better value for money than its rival macbook pro 15 (i could set it up with a quad core, + SSD + better screen and it would be cheaper than the mac), even though it has a heating issue (the macbook pro 15 does as well from what i remember). You can also look at the non mainstream brands such as Sager, which build quite good gaming laptops from what i know.

[Russian]

Imo, they would have saved power and generated less heat if they went with an i3 + DDR3 design rather than the socket 775 design. Oh apple and your planned obsolescence.

[OutSider]

They are just giving more reasons for people to upgrade when they release newer model

[generics_user]

I remember taking a better look at the macbook battery life and found laptops of similar if not better hardware, with better energy consumption. The business models of both Dell and HP are not bad at all when it comes to build quality but they can be a bit more pricey than the macs but you get pretty good service. In my opinion, the Dell studio XPS 16 was better value for money than its rival macbook pro 15 (i could set it up with a quad core, + SSD + better screen and it would be cheaper than the mac), even though it has a heating issue (the macbook pro 15 does as well from what i remember). You can also look at the non mainstream brands such as Sager, which build quite good gaming laptops from what i know.

trust me; i have both my E6410 (newest dell business offering) and a 13" MB PRO at hand and if you factor in weight; build quality and battery life nothing comes close to a macbook

while the XPS16 is a great notebook its build quality is a complete joke compared to the macbooks; display hinges and display flex are horrible; batterylife completely sucks witht he non-stand out battery; let alone that it's heavier than a 17" MBP

while there are many great non-apple notebooks (my E6410 is one of them) there is a reason why macbooks cost more: they offer more than other notebooks in terms of weight/battery/performance (ALL 3 factors together; sure there are alot of PC notebooks with higher performance; good build quality (still 2 notches below apple) and great displays (dell precision M6700 is one of them) but their weight and battery life are subpar and suck compared to the macbooks; additionally these notebooks are even more expensive than Apple parts

And don't start to compare sub 1000$ notebooks from acer; asus; hp and so on to macbooks because their quality and reliabilitx is NOT acceptable (same goes to those glossy display lids; crappy loud fans; low battery life; cheap plastics; EXTREMELY sucky touchpads (nothing comes even remotely close to an apple touchpad)

there is a reason why alot of people buy macs; and in at least 30% of all cases it's not the design; it's the overall package...

[3NZ0]

Imo, they would have saved power and generated less heat if they went with an i3 + DDR3 design rather than the socket 775 design. Oh apple and your planned obsolescence.

The nvidia gpu is also the chipset. It packs far more of a punch than the pathetic igp in the i3.

This is pretty much a macbook in a desktop chassis without a screen, keyboard and trackpad but with far more connectivity.

Looks fantastic imo, still wouldn't get one. I can't think of a use for it, without a blu ray drive it's perfect use goes out the window.

For £650 you can either get a far better pc or something far cheaper if you plan on just browsing the net.

[jogshy]

I don't like it:

1. No blu-ray.
2. The design is so good that they decided to put in the back side the card reader and the USBs...
3. In Europe the Apple Store lists it by 799€ ... when, with the actual $-€ exchange, should cost around 650€...
4. I was expecting a DX11 mobile GPU not that obsolete DX10 thing...
5. An obsolete Core 2 having i3 or i5 available.... hmmmm....
6. I like the removal of the bottom to operate inside but... why I have no access to the HDD?

[Manicdan]

basically for a little bigger case you can get a quad core(or quad thread), with blueray player, and a semi serious gpu, for the same price.

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

I just like how small it is.

Is there something smaller? I think there's pico itx boards that are smaller, but you can't compare the two. That was my point, there's nothing this powerful that's this small, even if its obsolete.

We all i know its old, its not easy to upgrade, etc etc, but that's not the topic. I just wanted to comment on size, which astounds me. As others have said, get a laptop, um.... that's not the topic. I have a SMALL laptop (not a net top). See my profile, x200. Very small, still takes up more room on my desk than a mini. Even an 8.9" acer netbook does. For desktops, this is as small as you get w/ C2D or better tech. I challenge everyone to find something smaller, not a much thicker Zino (which is interesting in its own right) .

[Mats]

[XC] Synthetickiller: Get a small shelf for your laptop and you'll be fine.

It's easy to get addicted to small cases if you insist on putting it on your desk.
I prefer placing it far away, preferably in another room, but then again I never use discs anyway.

[Glow9]

Only thing I dont like is the graphics card. I'm curious what kinda cooling it has.

[h0bbes]

trust me; i have both my E6410 (newest dell business offering) and a 13" MB PRO at hand and if you factor in weight; build quality and battery life nothing comes close to a macbook

while the XPS16 is a great notebook its build quality is a complete joke compared to the macbooks; display hinges and display flex are horrible; batterylife completely sucks witht he non-stand out battery; let alone that it's heavier than a 17" MBP

while there are many great non-apple notebooks (my E6410 is one of them) there is a reason why macbooks cost more: they offer more than other notebooks in terms of weight/battery/performance (ALL 3 factors together; sure there are alot of PC notebooks with higher performance; good build quality (still 2 notches below apple) and great displays (dell precision M6700 is one of them) but their weight and battery life are subpar and suck compared to the macbooks; additionally these notebooks are even more expensive than Apple parts

And don't start to compare sub 1000$ notebooks from acer; asus; hp and so on to macbooks because their quality and reliabilitx is NOT acceptable (same goes to those glossy display lids; crappy loud fans; low battery life; cheap plastics; EXTREMELY sucky touchpads (nothing comes even remotely close to an apple touchpad)

there is a reason why alot of people buy macs; and in at least 30% of all cases it's not the design; it's the overall package...

i wouldnt compare any sub 1000$ notebooks from acer etc to the macbooks. I was planning to buy a SXPS 16 and i looked at loads of reviews and the most common problem was its heating issues (especially with a quad core; and i dont understand why the screen blocks the cooling vents) but i would rather get superior hardware and deal with minor overheating and "inferior" OS. As far as i know the precision laptops are the best ones of dell. I think for the uninformed user, a macbook is a more sensible/attractive option (assuming u have the cash to spend). Personally i want to get as much power as i can afford and i did look at the macbook pro 15 but i was disappointed at how overpriced it was.

[Jokester_wild]

I just like how small it is.

Is there something smaller? I think there's pico itx boards that are smaller, but you can't compare the two. That was my point, there's nothing this powerful that's this small, even if its obsolete.

We all i know its old, its not easy to upgrade, etc etc, but that's not the topic. I just wanted to comment on size, which astounds me. As others have said, get a laptop, um.... that's not the topic. I have a SMALL laptop (not a net top). See my profile, x200. Very small, still takes up more room on my desk than a mini. Even an 8.9" acer netbook does. For desktops, this is as small as you get w/ C2D or better tech. I challenge everyone to find something smaller, not a much thicker Zino (which is interesting in its own right) .

Eee Box PC ?

[Sparky]

considering the high-power hardware present in macbooks their battery life is extremely impressive; and NO other manufacturer comes remotely close to the macbooks in terms of build quality and design

You do realize that apple does not make their laptops? Asus makes them.

I find macs very visually unappealing for the most part.

[h0bbes]

You do realize that apple does not make their laptops? Asus makes them.

Care to expand on this ?:P

[Russian]

You do realize that apple does not make their laptops? Asus makes them.

I find macs very visually unappealing for the most part.

No they don't. Quanta and Foxconn and Flextronics do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quanta_Computer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flextronics

Over $100Billion in Revenue between Quanta and Foxconn alone, Adding Flextronics would probably put it over $150 Billion...

[Sparky]

I stand corrected then. My boss (who generally likes macs since OS 10) said that Asus made them. Interesting, guess not.

[Russian]

I stand corrected then. My boss (who generally likes macs since OS 10) said that Asus made them. Interesting, guess not.

ASUS *might* make their motherboards, but making the motherboards is nothing close to actually making Apple's computers.

[lowfat]

Anyone know what Nvidia chipset uses the 320M graphics? Now that this thing has HDMI it should be able to do LPCM 7.1 (at least in Windows). If so it would make an excellent HTPC if you can afford the expensive hardware.

[Manicdan]

Eee Box PC ?

id say the Eee Keyboard is smaller, since its all in the keyboard, u really only count the extra little touchscreen on the side of it. then if you use your TV as your monitor like no other computer can (correct me if im wrong) that makes the Eee Keyboard the smallest, practically nonexistent, PC out there. just wip it out and make your friends play "find the PC", they will be all over your entertainment system looking for a small box, but find nothing.

[h0bbes]

ASUS *might* make their motherboards, but making the motherboards is nothing close to actually making Apple's computers.

So the same factories make Dell, apple, alienware etc laptops but just use different parts?

Btw according to Squaretrade who did a survey with 30 000 laptops, apple was the 4th most reliable. Bit surprising and suspicious actually, since Toshiba and Sony were ranked higher (asus was number 1)

P.S2: according to another survey of 140 000 systems, Apple and toshiba were the most reliable brands, so i guess toshiba is reliable:P

[Bradan]

I don't like it:

1. No blu-ray.
2. The design is so good that they decided to put in the back side the card reader and the USBs...
3. In Europe the Apple Store lists it by 799€ ... when, with the actual $-€ exchange, should cost around 650€...
4. I was expecting a DX11 mobile GPU not that obsolete DX10 thing...
5. An obsolete Core 2 having i3 or i5 available.... hmmmm....
6. I like the removal of the bottom to operate inside but... why I have no access to the HDD?

1. Dead format really, we're moving to digital steamed/downloaded media. It would also add to much $$$
2. I'm goona go out on a huge limb and say this was for asthetics. USB who cares :/
3. European prices include taxes.
4. Yeah, because tesselation would be great on a low range card that can barely push dx9c (48 shader nvidia part)
5. Core2duo have comaprable performance/watt and performance/TDP since the 45nm process is so mature. This allowed lower cost and also allowed the use of an integrated low-power, but high performance/watt graphics chip. Intel HD is about 40% of 320m.
6. I think it's to give the illusion of upgradability... whos goona upgrade it from 2gb->4gb as it's goona cost you about the same and a little hassle.

[Aleki]

As many of you know, I am NOT a fan of apple and usually have nothing good to say about the company, but after getting a look at the new mac mini, I am impressed, at least with the physical ramifications. I can't see myself making a system this small. I'd consider this an xtremely small yet decently powerful computer.

That said, WAY overpriced.

Reading the title, I was surprized to see it wasnt a thread created by "therightway" or whatever his name is. More surprizing, it came from you!

I suppose for the size, its a fairly well spec'ed machine. Although I still wouldnt couldnt justify the price tag for something so gimmicky...
OTOH: it could make for an expensive, yet convenient HTPC. Perhaps there might be something more to this than just a sheeple lure

[STEvil]

I wonder if it overheats when you make it do something other than look pretty?

[lkiller123]

Hello mini-itx....