Comments on: Mac Mini a maxi deal? Depends what you want

When it comes to Apple Computer's new Mac Mini, beauty is in the eye of the person holding the wallet.
Photos: Mac Mini
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Mini

I just bought one and waiting to receive it.

I can place it in the top of my WIN XM (VelocityMicro SLI) and use it. It eventually will help me decide which one I like most.

My VelocityMicro SLI has been a deceptioning experience since SLI does not work well with digital monitor and hDTV monitors and I have been forced to back to an old monitor to use it.

Don't buy SLI yet, is a work in progress.

Will see if Apple converts me....

Comparisons

Analysts are too glib about PC vs Mac comparisons.
Worth looking at http://www.systemshootouts.org/shootouts/desktop/2005/0111_dt0600.html>

Comparisons

Analysts are too glib about PC vs Mac comparisons.
Worth looking at http://www.systemshootouts.org/shootouts/desktop/2005/0111_dt0600.html>

Apple Mini

The experts are overlooking demand for the apple mini from the
pc user that has already purchased a third-party flat screen and
wireless keyboard/mouse from a warehouse/reseller. This type
of user can now easily leave the pc world with all of its blue
screen errors, virus and pop-up problems and just connect the
apple mini without missing a beat.

Apple Mini

The experts are overlooking demand for the apple mini from the
pc user that has already purchased a third-party flat screen and
wireless keyboard/mouse from a warehouse/reseller. This type
of user can now easily leave the pc world with all of its blue
screen errors, virus and pop-up problems and just connect the
apple mini without missing a beat.

Important Aspect Glossed Over

I think one of the most important reasons why this Mac should
be taken seriously, is the fact that it comes with the Mac OS and
a bunch of Apple software.

Though mentioned, it was glossed over and drowned out amidst
comparisons with budget PC's. Nobody argues or denies that
Mac's are more expensive. But when highly subjective phrases
like 'value for money' are bandied about, I begin to wonder just
where the perspective of the journalist is in the presentation of
the article.

Mac's are arguably much better value for money. They are a
high-quality machine that is stylish and comes with an operating
system that works for you, instead of making you work for it.
The philosophy behind the OS is also present in the applications.
Therefore ones productivity on a Mac can be said to be much
higher, given that they aren't spending time figuring out how to
maintain their computer or prevent viruses from infecting it, or
how to configure X, Y or Z to do A, B or C.

It's all fine and well to tell a family that a budget PC is cheaper,
but telling them it's better value for money is bordering on
deplorable. The average family who wants to enter into the
computer age, wants something that will just work, and not sit
and gather dust until their teenage children can figure out how
to fix it.

Important Aspect Glossed Over

I think one of the most important reasons why this Mac should
be taken seriously, is the fact that it comes with the Mac OS and
a bunch of Apple software.

Though mentioned, it was glossed over and drowned out amidst
comparisons with budget PC's. Nobody argues or denies that
Mac's are more expensive. But when highly subjective phrases
like 'value for money' are bandied about, I begin to wonder just
where the perspective of the journalist is in the presentation of
the article.

Mac's are arguably much better value for money. They are a
high-quality machine that is stylish and comes with an operating
system that works for you, instead of making you work for it.
The philosophy behind the OS is also present in the applications.
Therefore ones productivity on a Mac can be said to be much
higher, given that they aren't spending time figuring out how to
maintain their computer or prevent viruses from infecting it, or
how to configure X, Y or Z to do A, B or C.

It's all fine and well to tell a family that a budget PC is cheaper,
but telling them it's better value for money is bordering on
deplorable. The average family who wants to enter into the
computer age, wants something that will just work, and not sit
and gather dust until their teenage children can figure out how
to fix it.

Doesn't take software into account

This story is unfair to the Mac because it only takes hardware
into accoount, not software. Since Wintel vendors charge extra
for software, so analysts should take software into account.

I've done similar studies and found that when you take both
hardware AND software into account, the cost of the Mac and
Wintel is about the same. Since CNET continues to run stories
saying that "similar" macs cost more than Wintel one must
conclude that they are anti-Mac.

Doesn't take software into account

This story is unfair to the Mac because it only takes hardware
into accoount, not software. Since Wintel vendors charge extra
for software, so analysts should take software into account.

I've done similar studies and found that when you take both
hardware AND software into account, the cost of the Mac and
Wintel is about the same. Since CNET continues to run stories
saying that "similar" macs cost more than Wintel one must
conclude that they are anti-Mac.

It's never enough

To Michael Dell the iPod is a fad. To PC analysts the Mini is
flawed.

For years we've heard that Macs could never be competitive
because they were over priced. Now that Apple has made the
mac platform a choice available to anyone choosing, it's not
enough.

So people unwilling to spend the 'premium' prices that have
always been attached to Macintosh were presumably interested
by dissuaded by price, but won't now spend marginally more for
the Mac they want than for the Dell or Gateway that still runs an
OS rife with security flaws and torturous routines and rituals?

I know! Apple should give away 15" PowerBooks. But then they
wouldn't include Office and that would be a flaw.

Yes, it says here, Apple has made a legitimate attempt to entice
curious and the snakebit. Meanwhile, it's also a great
opportunity for Mac families to upgrade and expand their home
networks. You know, the ones where you need only attach
FireWire and USB devices and they're shared - wirelessly if you
plug in an Airport product. With no IT department. Just Mom.

It's never enough

To Michael Dell the iPod is a fad. To PC analysts the Mini is
flawed.

For years we've heard that Macs could never be competitive
because they were over priced. Now that Apple has made the
mac platform a choice available to anyone choosing, it's not
enough.

So people unwilling to spend the 'premium' prices that have
always been attached to Macintosh were presumably interested
by dissuaded by price, but won't now spend marginally more for
the Mac they want than for the Dell or Gateway that still runs an
OS rife with security flaws and torturous routines and rituals?

I know! Apple should give away 15" PowerBooks. But then they
wouldn't include Office and that would be a flaw.

Yes, it says here, Apple has made a legitimate attempt to entice
curious and the snakebit. Meanwhile, it's also a great
opportunity for Mac families to upgrade and expand their home
networks. You know, the ones where you need only attach
FireWire and USB devices and they're shared - wirelessly if you
plug in an Airport product. With no IT department. Just Mom.

linksys router

Is My current Windows network compatible with the new mac mini? I have A 802.11b linksys router.

linksys router

Is My current Windows network compatible with the new mac mini? I have A 802.11b linksys router.

Similar doesn't mean Comparable or Same

Here's a comparison between the Dimension 3000 that Dell just recently and defensively price cut to $499 (the same as the Mini). What do you gain with the Dell? A slightly faster spinning hard drive, low-end CRT, keyboard and 2-button non-scroll wheel mouse, unnecessary and essentially unused chassis space and totally unnecessary (on a Mac) virus/spyware/malware tools. What's the same? The 2.8 GHz Celeron is pretty much the same as the 1.25 GHz G4, they both have 10/100 BaseT, a modem (the Dell's consumes a PCI slot), USB ports and personal finance software. What do you lose? You get Win XP Home instead of OS X, a shared memory video pseudo card instead of a real 3D card, a plain CD (actually, the defensive sale bumps it up to a CD-R) instead of a CD-R/DVD-ROM drive and a 90 day warranty instead of a full year. You lose: the ability to display to ADC, DVI and VGA, FireWire ports, built-in wireless and BlueTooth antennas, the compact fanless case, iLife, spreadsheet and two real games.

To get the Dimension 3000 as close as possible to a Mini with a decent LCD monitor and three-button scroll wheel mouse at the Dell store it will cost you $943 ($444 more); however, you'll still be missing iLife, a real 4x AGP video card, a secure by design, easy to use, 3D accelerated, operating system, included developer system, scripting toolkit, etc.. If I had to, I could buy a good LCD monitor, powered USB hub, keyboard and mouse for less than it would take to buy the almost comparable Dell and add an after market PCI 3D graphics card. Also, after doing all that, there would be no free PCI slots, the video card would be hobbled in a plain PCI slot instead of a 4x AGP slot, I'd be stuck with a huge ugly case of wasted space and noisy fans. Then, if I added wireless Ethernet or BlueTooth, I'd have to deal with USB interfaces because all my PCI slots are already consumed by the modem, FireWire and video cards and I'd have antennas sticking out.

For me, another key point is the "if I had to" clause. I've got an extra USB keyboard and mouse and a quality display; so my extra cost is $0. To be fair, I could buy the Dell with the cheap CRT (They won't let you drop the monitor entirely), keyboard and mouse and try to sell them. Even graciously assuming I could get an even $100 for the three, that would drop my net cost down to $691. That's still $192 more than a Mini and I've still got the incurable defects (noise, size, external antennas, cheap Dell components (my Dell laptop went through 3 keyboards and two motherboards), Windows OS, etc.) and I'd still have to buy a real video card to make the two machines comparable. Any way I look at it, the Mac Mini is still a bargain over the nearest comparable Dell.

Similar doesn't mean Comparable or Same

Here's a comparison between the Dimension 3000 that Dell just recently and defensively price cut to $499 (the same as the Mini). What do you gain with the Dell? A slightly faster spinning hard drive, low-end CRT, keyboard and 2-button non-scroll wheel mouse, unnecessary and essentially unused chassis space and totally unnecessary (on a Mac) virus/spyware/malware tools. What's the same? The 2.8 GHz Celeron is pretty much the same as the 1.25 GHz G4, they both have 10/100 BaseT, a modem (the Dell's consumes a PCI slot), USB ports and personal finance software. What do you lose? You get Win XP Home instead of OS X, a shared memory video pseudo card instead of a real 3D card, a plain CD (actually, the defensive sale bumps it up to a CD-R) instead of a CD-R/DVD-ROM drive and a 90 day warranty instead of a full year. You lose: the ability to display to ADC, DVI and VGA, FireWire ports, built-in wireless and BlueTooth antennas, the compact fanless case, iLife, spreadsheet and two real games.

To get the Dimension 3000 as close as possible to a Mini with a decent LCD monitor and three-button scroll wheel mouse at the Dell store it will cost you $943 ($444 more); however, you'll still be missing iLife, a real 4x AGP video card, a secure by design, easy to use, 3D accelerated, operating system, included developer system, scripting toolkit, etc.. If I had to, I could buy a good LCD monitor, powered USB hub, keyboard and mouse for less than it would take to buy the almost comparable Dell and add an after market PCI 3D graphics card. Also, after doing all that, there would be no free PCI slots, the video card would be hobbled in a plain PCI slot instead of a 4x AGP slot, I'd be stuck with a huge ugly case of wasted space and noisy fans. Then, if I added wireless Ethernet or BlueTooth, I'd have to deal with USB interfaces because all my PCI slots are already consumed by the modem, FireWire and video cards and I'd have antennas sticking out.

For me, another key point is the "if I had to" clause. I've got an extra USB keyboard and mouse and a quality display; so my extra cost is $0. To be fair, I could buy the Dell with the cheap CRT (They won't let you drop the monitor entirely), keyboard and mouse and try to sell them. Even graciously assuming I could get an even $100 for the three, that would drop my net cost down to $691. That's still $192 more than a Mini and I've still got the incurable defects (noise, size, external antennas, cheap Dell components (my Dell laptop went through 3 keyboards and two motherboards), Windows OS, etc.) and I'd still have to buy a real video card to make the two machines comparable. Any way I look at it, the Mac Mini is still a bargain over the nearest comparable Dell.

The Cheap PeeCee uses shared RAM

Yes both the Mini and the El Cheapo PeeCee's have on-board video cards, but the Mini has the chipset from an ATI Radeon with it's own VRAM. The on-board video card in the El Cheapo PeeCee's are shared memory (the video has to fight with the system and applications to access regular old system RAM) off brand (Intel is not a 3D graphics card company) chipset.

The Cheap PeeCee uses shared RAM

Yes both the Mini and the El Cheapo PeeCee's have on-board video cards, but the Mini has the chipset from an ATI Radeon with it's own VRAM. The on-board video card in the El Cheapo PeeCee's are shared memory (the video has to fight with the system and applications to access regular old system RAM) off brand (Intel is not a 3D graphics card company) chipset.

[killjoy]

its more comareable to a mid range dell

i like the mack mini but i prefer to make mine

[killjoy]

its more comareable to a mid range dell

i like the mack mini but i prefer to make mine