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From Dixon Chan
Hi Charles,
As for my opinion on the MacMini...I really want one ...but cooler heads prevailed...I sold my CUBE recently and picked up G4 gigabit tower with a 1GHz 2MB L2 �processor upgrade...for less money than a Mini...
I would say the form factor is the biggest thing that was hard to give up...the CUBE is silent and relatively small. �The MINI would even be smaller...but with my growing MP3/ACC music catalogue...Website development, and �the �need for more HD space..the MINI is too expensive to grow with as a primary machine.
I am not the MINI�s target market...Having two other G4 towers also cinched the deal...If I ever sold one of the towers to upgrade to a G5 tower...the parts could be used in the other two boxes...also, dual G4�s are only going to get cheaper and I�m sure the option to add a dual 1.4GHz �processor to the existing boxes would BLOW away the results from a 1.25GHz Mini..
Keep up your good work...
Dixon
Magid On The mini
Mac Mini Review
My Mac Mini And Me
Apple Mac mini Review
First look: Apple's Mac Mini[/url]
Magid On The mini
CBS' Larry Magid says:
"Hearing the hype about Apple's new $499 Macintosh gave me pause. Could Apple, which is known as the BMW of computer companies, really come out with a machine cheap enough to tempt Windows users yet still "Mac" enough to satisfy Macintosh aficionados? After unpacking and setting up the new machine, the answer is a qualified yes....
"In keeping with Jobs' BYODKM suggestion, I cannibalized some of my old Windows PCs to come up with a Gateway monitor, a Dell mouse and a Compaq keyboard, all of which worked perfectly with the new Mac. That's no accident. Apple hopes to win over frustrated Windows users who already have these peripherals connected to an old PC.....
"So how did the Mac stack up? Apple sent me the basic $499 system except it was upgraded to 512 megabytes of memory, which turned out to be more than enough for every thing I threw at it, including Adobe PhotoShop.....
"Now my home office — with its Windows machine and Mac Mini — is a little like my friend Peter's garage that houses a Mercedes and a Ford. I'll leave it up to you to decide which computer most resembles which vehicle."
For the full report, visit here.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/24/scitech/pcanswer/main668781.shtml
Mac Mini Review
MacInTouch reports:
"The Mac Mini is, at once, a radical change in direction for Apple Computer Inc. and the quintessential Macintosh.
"More than two decades ago, the original designers of the Macintosh envisioned a $500 appliance computer that exemplified simplicity. The Mac Mini is just that, at exactly that price. Mac OS X has lost some of the software elegance and consistency of the original system, but the Mac Mini is still the finest example of those principles on the market today.
"As the lowest-cost personal computer ever sold by Apple, the Mini also represents a big change in Apple's business model. We discussed this concept at length two years ago in our iCheap pages, and it was the core of a raging debate back in 1997 over the termination of Mac OS licensing.
"When Steve Jobs killed licensing, it saved Apple's profitability, but Mac OS market share slid into decline. The first iMac - a wildly-successful, modestly-priced appliance computer for the Internet age - helped save the company.
"Now we have a new Apple appliance for a new decade of personal computing, one of declining costs and margins symbolized by IBM's sale of its PC business to China. The Mac Mini, built in Taiwan to Apple's specifications, has the potential to boost Apple's business again, just as the iMac did in the 1990's. The market (and Apple's future development of the Mini) will decide.
"The Mini, like the iMac, represents a radical re-packaging of technology, rather than a revolution in technology like that of the original Macintosh. Yet, this sort of repackaging can change the market dramatically, if hoards of people buy it, or if a "killer application" transforms it, the way VisiCalc transformed the Apple II and iTunes transformed music distribution."
For the full review, visit here:
http://www.macintouch.com/macmini/review.html
My Mac Mini And Me
CNET News.com editor Jeff Pelline says:
"I'm definitely not one to shop till you drop, but I snapped up a Mac Mini on Saturday morning--at a mall, no less. You know, just to feel good.
"It didn't break the bank, either--for $499, I got a computer and a DVD player, and I quickly built a home media center with our existing HDTV. (Oh, and I got to download iLife '05 on my other Mac, a $79 "value.") This toy also fulfilled my curiosity--as a consumer and a journalist....
"I know we'll get our money's worth from the Mini. I can plug it into a small flat-panel TV in the kitchen, and take it to Lake Tahoe or to work. I still have my original "Web TV" in the garage; with this setup, I'm going uptown."
For the full report, visit here.
http://news.com.com/My+Mac+Mini+and+me/2010-1041_3-5546581.html
Apple Mac mini Review
PC Mag says:
"The Apple Mac mini makes an attractive entry point for the Windows-to-Mac switcher, the Mac user who needs an upgrade from a pre-1-GHz Mac, or the user on a budget who wants a small, silent desktop with a really cool design. Just be sure you already have the essential peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers), since purchasing them separately quickly makes the system not such a great bargain—especially given the low RAM and hard drive space that come standard."
For the full report, visit here.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1753962,00.asp
First look: Apple's Mac Mini
PC World's Rebecca Freed reports:
"Apple's new, entry-level desktop system, the Mac Mini, is a solid little (emphasis on little) machine. If I didn't love my G4 PowerBook so much, I'd be very happy to have a Mac Mini on my desk, and I can't quibble with the price. The test unit that Apple sent us has 512MB of RAM (DIMM), plus built-in 802.11g Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
"This system has the same advantages and drawbacks as a typical notebook (except it doesn't have a screen). On the plus side, it's extremely light and portable, and fits unobtrusively into lots of different environments, unlike a typical tower system. On the minus side, it's relatively difficult to upgrade, and you can quickly clutter up your work space with external peripherals. And its external power brick is about a quarter of the size of the box itself.....
"It's interesting that the audio port doubles as both line-in and line-out, meaning that you can bring in audio (such as from a guitar or keyboard, or a turntable or tape player) through the port as well as hooking speakers or headphones to it......
"It ran about as hot as Mac notebooks tend to -- I could feel heat coming from the back vents and from the bottom after about two hours of use. One pleasant surprise was how quiet the Mini is: I heard a little drive noise when the CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive was spinning up, but I usually didn't hear the hard drive, and the fans are very quiet. Even better, when I plugged headphones into the combination line-in/line-out jack, I didn't hear the droning system noise my PC pumps out."
For the full report, visit here:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/index.cfm?go=news.view&news=4484
Mac Mini COMPLETE Technical Disassembly Documentation Posted (PDF)
Ben Guild's SMASH website says:
"Another friend, after seeing my site, slipped me this PDF. It has the *COMPLETE* disassembly of the Mac Mini... including all required tools, high-quality images... everything you could possibly need.
"It's almost 22MB (which is a hosting NIGHTMARE) so I've got a BitTorrent tracker running.
For more information, visit:
http://www.smashsworld.com/2005/01/mac-mini-complete-technical.php
or
http://www.digg.com/apple/Mac_Mini_*COMPLETE*_Technical_Disassembly_Document_(PDF)
Mac mini Take-apart Photos
Here are photos of one of my Mac minis taken apart. It's a stock (40GB) configuration. Missing in these photos is the daughter-board that the Airport Extreme and internal Bluetooth module connect to (and those boards and antennas as well).
Note: Some of these images are over 1MB.
You can check it out at:
http://nak.journalspace.com/?entryid=340
Many Faces of the Mac Mini�
Wired's Leander Kahney says:
"Available in stores for just a few days, Apple's new Mac mini computer appears to be something of an omnia omnibus -- all things to all people.
"Positioned by Apple as an inexpensive impulse buy for Windows switchers, the Mac mini is already being put to a wide array of uses, from a livingroom video recorder to a media center for cars -- and a desktop computer, of course.
"Enthusiast sites like BYODKM.net, which stands for "bring your own display, keyboard and mouse, are popping up. Lots of sites, like (PVRblog or MacMerc, are detailing how to turn a mini into a living-room digital video recorder.
"ITX hobbyists are planning to gut it and stuff it into toasters, and tech pundit Robert Cringely wants one for his kitchen.
"So hot is the mini, Gratis Internet, the company behind FreeiPods.com, has already launched FreeMiniMacs.com.....
"In Austin, Texas, a colocation company is building a low-cost data center out of dozens of Mac minis.
You can check it out at:
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,66363,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html
***
Charles W. Moore
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