In last week's The Road Warrior I parsed a value comparison between the new Aluminum & Glass iMac as a "desktop substitute substitute" computer vs the MacBook.

A reader with the Web-handle of ncbill wrote to say:

A reader with the Web-handle of ncbill wrote to say:

"I think you missed a third option - the new Mac Mini...."

Good point. I didn't miss it, and the thought occurred to me back when the mini was first introduced as a G4 unit that it might be a viable alternative for folks who use their laptops mainly as desktop substitute computers. Of course, like the iMac, the mini can’t qualify as a real portable because it has no internal battery power, but with a small power inverter that costs about 30 bucks you can be good to go anywhere, say any car or RV, where you have access to 12 volt power.

The Mac mini actually has a lot more in common with the MacBook than with its desktop Mac stablemates, being not so much a "headless iMac," as a stripped-down notebook without a display or battery. For instance, the mini shares with the MacBook a 667 MHz frontside bus in contrast to the iMac's 800 MHz bus, has laptop-type 5400 RPM 2.5” hard drive, a typical laptop array of I/O ports (only more of them), a laptop-style optical drive, and the mini CPU weighs a pound and a half less than the lightest notebook Apple ever made.

So, is the Mac mini a viable laptop substitute? It depends.......

| | | | | | |

(0) Trackbacks •