Apple offers Mac Mini 'test drive'

Apple Computer has launched a promotion for its no-frills Mac Mini computer, allowing customers to return the machine for a full refund after a 30-day "test-drive."

The deal, which began Wednesday and ends Oct. 31, is available only through Apple's online store. Customers normally have 14 days to return Apple merchandise. The company usually only gives full refunds for unused machines in unopened boxes unless the product is defective.

"We're so confident you'll love your new Mac Mini, we'll let you test-drive it for 30 days with no risk," Apple's site states. "If you decide you don't want it, we'll take it back."

Customers are on the hook, however, for return-shipping costs.

The promotion signals that Apple may not be thrilled with the pace of Mac Mini sales after the initial excitement over its January launch wore off, technology analyst Roger Kay said. It also smacks of late-night TV advertising, he said. Kay, the president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, has heard anecdotally that Mini sales have slowed.

"I think the issue now is that growth may have stalled, and a campaign like this may be designed to reinvigorate it," Kay said.

Apple declined to comment on the test-drive campaign or the state of its Mac Mini business, but when the company introduced a new version of the machine last month, executives sounded upbeat. "Our overall Mac business is very strong," Apple Vice President David Moody said in an interview.

The company introduced the Mini, a budget version of the Macintosh, with a $499 price tag in January. The product, which does not come with a keyboard, mouse or monitor, was hailed at the time as the company's big foray into mass-market desktop computers after focusing exclusively on luxury goods. The eMac, Apple's next cheapest computer, starts at $799.

Many viewed the introduction of the Mac Mini as a shrewd way to parlay the huge success of the iPod into greater Macintosh adoption. To some degree, it appears to be working. Apple's global share of the desktop computer market hit 2.1 percent in the second quarter, nearly double its share from a year ago, according to Kay.

Yet the jury is still out on the appeal of the Mini. For one thing, the product may be geared toward budget shoppers, but it still costs about $100 more than similarly configured PCs from Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and others.

And while the Mini may be smaller and more stylish than the competition, its insides are very similar. Just how many budget shoppers let style trump price remains to be seen.

[MacHammerTen]

Can we end the lame-ass comparisons?

How many times do we have to hear some lame-ass reporter
compare the Mac Mini to the bottom of the barrel, cheapo PC?
The cheapo PC might be slightly cheaper, but all of that "free"
software that comes on it expires in 30-60 days and you have to
pay cash money to keep doing all the stuff you are now so fond
of doing. Apple gives you a comparably-valued software
package to the cost of the computer: iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD,
iMovie, Mail, Garage Band, and a kick-ass operating system!--
ALL FREE WITH YOUR PURCHASE. Try to buy them in the PC
world and see how much you will pay. Then, try to make that
varied suite of software work flawlessly together! Comparably
priced, my left buttock!

[catchall]

Lets see

You can get iTunes for the PC for free. I prefer Media player, but that is me.
MovieMaker comes with XP, so there is iMovie.
For iPhoto, you have tons of free choices. Mine is Picasa2 from Google.
Outlook Express comes with XP, so there is Mail
So, we have most of the basics covered. iDVD will be handled by whatever ships with a DVD player
I am unfamiliar with Garage Band, so I'll give you that one. And for integration, this is Windows. Everything works together, sometimes more than you want...

Now, lets see, with the PC you get over $100 off, and you get a monitor. You get a better processor now, not in a year or so (don't argue. Even Apple has seen the light)
I'll take the cash over GarageBand. I'll take the monitor, processor, and the rest as bonus.

[Andrew J Glina]

I agree

While I feel that the Mini is not a good deal due to its old CPU and its lack of expandabity, this is an opinion. The comparison that CNET and other sites have shown are portrayed as facts, but they have been too disputed to be seen as facts. Yet they are linked to almost everytime the Mini is mentioned. I think CNET is trying to up the forum page hits again.

[EvlD99]

Performance problems

I prefer my OS highly customizable and efficient. Looks like Apple needs to tweak their OS performance a little before blaming the Power PC processor as their bottleneck.

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2520

I'll Take Linux Thanks!

Why not buy the cheapo PC, get all that great hardware, and load linux. Any software you want is free.

[M C]

Lame-ass comparisons = page hits from Mac fans

That's why they do it. Sad that they need to resort to that to get their traffic up, but that's business, I guess.

[DeusExMachina]

I feel so guilty

This is one of the most insightful things ever written in these
mostly lame talkback fora.
I am guilty as charged!
You know all the stupid BS you are going to read even before
you click the link, and yet you do it anyway.
For the record, the Mac mini is much CHEAPER than a similarly
configured Dell/Gateway, etc., and I challenge ANYONE to show
otherwise.
Know in advance however, that if you try, I will show no mercy in
exposing your total lack of intelligence regarding the subjects of
shared memory vs. independent RAM, onboard video specs, BIOS
level extended RAM support, WinXP pro vs. WinXP Home, etc..

Is CNET owned or sponsored by Microsoft?

I don't read CNET very often, but when I do, I found it to have a
decidedly anti-Apple, pro-Microsift bias. I was curious as to why
-- both companies have their place in this market. Does anyone
know the particulars behind the founding or funding of CNET? I
guess I'm curious becuase CNET's bias is so outwardly blatant.

Thanks!

[Nathan Lunn]

Read more often?

And you'll see that c|Net has very little bias in reporting inaccurate / incomplete stories with misleading headlines.

[shadowself]

Apple has used this sales tactic many times before

Apple has often used this sales tactic over the years. Apple even used it when Apple had it's highest market share (about 19% in '89/'90 and it was the #1 in unit shipments in the desktop computer market). The most famous of the campaigns years ago was the one about teachers being able to take a new Mac to school or home. If they didn't like it they could return it. (They didn't even have to pay 100% for it up front like this campaign requires.)

This is not a sign of Apple believing they are not growing their market share fast enough. It is a sign of Apple being more agressive.

As an aside: I do believe c|net uses these inflamatory headlines to lure readers. Occasionally the headlines have little direct relationship to what is said in the story. Every once in a while there is even a Mac related headline on the main page which only points to another page with no Mac related articles at all! It's just how c|net ups their page view count.

[lingsun]

Anything less than religious enthusiasm is bias??

With these Apple religious fanatics they expect every article to be so thrilled with whatever Apple is doing that anything less is obvious bias in their mindset. Not everybody loves everything Apple does just because Apple is doing it. What a shock to some people!

[DeusExMachina]

No

No, they expect honesty and correct facts, two things this story is
sorely lacking

[technewsjunkie]

It's not (just) the hardware, it's the OS that SHINES

When will these reviewers grasp the difference between Macs and
PCs - it's the Mac OS and user centric approach that Apple has
always known was key, while Microsoft's approach to PCs is market
share. Certainly MS has the better business model, there's no
question of that.

Apple has always publicly stated they're not in it to make cheap
computers. They're in it to make great computers for real people
and discerning people.

[sanenazok]

of course it can't

Of course Mac's greatness can't come from the hardware, since soon it'll be the same as eMachines, Dells and $99 Walmart Computer Box. Is it the software then? Well, it's different I guess. I've used it and the jumping icons would have been nice if I didn't have to do work on my computer. Otherwise it's just another Linux, except for money, lots and lots of money.
So what's left? The users, that's what makes Macs what they are - the incredibly faithful and ecstatic user base is what ensures that Macs are better. Forget what the marketplace shows, it's what the users of the computers think. Good job Apple for convincing people that you're better.

A Good Way to Convice People to Switch

If someone is hesitant about making the switch to a Mac, whether it
is for operation system allegiances or because the cost is
prohibitive, this seems like a way to try one out with no strings
attached. If they like it, keep it, if they don't return and go with
one of the similar PC systems, their choice, no pressure.

[Christopher Hall]

One thing...

One thing keep me and tens of millions of other computer users from switching to Mac: games.

[Rye1761]

Oh, PULEE-E-EZE!

I don't consider CNET a reliable source of information any more, although I've subscribed for years, and I don't often open my CNET News anymore for one reason: I have yet to read a rave report or even an enthusiastic review from CNET about an Apple/MAC product. It's constant pecking at the iPod, with Kudos for competitive late comers, ad infinitum, and running down every new Apple market entry or campaign.
I'm on my 12th year with Apple products, and have never had to have my equipment de-bugged, suffered a data loss, or lost function from any infestation by a virus/worm, etc. As a matter of fact, I think I'll un-subscribe to CNET after sending this off to all you ditto heads in PC land! 'Bye now -

[Nathan Lunn]

Your terminology reveals you

Ditto heads? Rush Limbaugh listener are we?