MWSF: Mac Mini thoughts
The Mac mini is a reality, and a marvel of Apple engineering. They managed to pack a full computer (minus the keyboard, mouse, and monitor) into a 2 inch by 6.5. inch by 6.5 inch container that weighs in at 2.9 pounds and costs either $499 for the 1.25 Ghz G4 model or $599 for the 1.42 Ghz G4 model.
If you spend the extra hundred dollars you get an 80 gig hard-drive, otherwise you will have to settle for 40 gigs,
which might not make too much sense if you own a 60 gig iPod photo.
Both models include 256 MB of RAM, as well as the iLife '05 suite and Appleworks. I find both of these inclusions to be rather odd choices.
It is no secret that OS X loves RAM, so the more the better. Why give a machine that is supposed to woo new people to the Mac a largely insufficient amount of RAM? If people plan to burn a DVD while listening to iTunes and surfing the net with the base models of the Mac mini they are in for a shock.
While we are on the subject of RAM, I feel I should point out that the Mac mini maxes out at 1 gig of RAM and that is all in one slot. This machine is definitely not for a power user, so no fear that these will eat into Powermac sales.
And why include Appleworks? iWorks '05 was just announced and will be shipping on the same date that both the Mac mini and iLife '05 will be
(January 22nd) so why not include iWorks with the Mac mini instead of the program it is supposed to replace?
However, with all that being said you still get a lot of computer in a little space with the Mac mini. I envision a lot of people picking one of these up to serve as a media server, and as a back up machine for their main Macs.
As you can see the Mac mini has lots to offer in the back as well; from left to right we see the power switch, power in, ethernet, modem, DVI/VGA, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a 400 Firewire port, and a security slot (a very good inclusion since these things are small and light).
One final note of interest, Apple points out that you can use a TV with the Mac mini as a display either with a DVI
connector or an optional S-Video/Composite Video adapter.
Does the Mac mini represent Apple's first steps towards a full fledged set top device? Will you be buying one, or more? If not, why? Leave your thoughts in the comments.