Review: Mac Mini

[Charles]

Review: Mac Mini
"First things first: Is Apple's new Mac Mini cool-looking?
Yes, it sure is. In keeping with the company's penchant for sleek, white and brushed-aluminum products (did Steve Jobs watch 2001: A Space Odyssey a few too many times?), the Mac Mini is a very cool-looking square box with rounded edges, clothed in ... you guessed it, white and brushed aluminum."

http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050415.gtmacapr15/BNStory/AtPlay/

[dbatrium]

All reviews of the Mac mini count, but this one is very limiting, and constrained, highlighting too many negatives and not enough positives.
Regards
JJ

[bani]

I felt the review was pretty spot on. The mini is nice but not astounding or groundbreaking, which is exactly the conclusion the article came to.

[andp]

[bani]

nah the form factor isnt groundbreaking either. there have been smaller x86 mini pcs for many, many years now. for instance saintsong's espresso pc was introduced in 2000.

[andp]

I can't think of any Wintel box small as the mini? Do you know of any? The Shuttle ones are the smallest I've seen.

[bani]

saintsong's espresso pc is smaller than the mini, and that was 5 years ago...

the mini is only groundbreaking in the apple market (its the first apple that wasnt priced like it was a luxury automobile). in the overall pc market the mini is pretty old hat.

the big difference between the mini and the shuttles is that the shuttles have slots, you can upgrade the cpu, they have audio inputs, spdif/toslink, fit multiple 3.5" drives in, and you can go over 1gb ram...

i like my mini, but i like my shuttle more. i think apple could do well with a shuttle-style SFF mac (with eg agp slot, socketed cpu, etc)

[skipper]

Shuttles could be smaller if they dumped the internal power supply.
_________________
Skipper

[bani]

there are some SFF's with external PS's but you dont gain that much usable internal space by doing so.

[jaymenna78734]

[bani]

no you don't. the US reseller ships them preassembled. with os (your choice) preinstalled.

you can buy them barebones if you like though, without mem, hd, or cpu and assemble them yourself. your choice.

[dbatrium]

Well leaving unsuccessful PC's aside, I still think the form factor of the Mac mini is special its the fact that you can pick it up in one hand easily and it is square and stackable in a well designed modular way with a square based form only 2" high.

I have not seen any small PC that is designed as an appliance unless you go to the new tablet hand held. I looked at one recently and it is an unattractive box. I have seen many small form PC's but they all leave me cold because they look like shoe boxes with something stuffed in them and not like a neat little iAppliance.

The Mac mini is a very neat modular design quiet, small form factor miserly with energy and can be held in one hand comfortable and looks like an appliance even smaller than most external hard drives.

The laptop genre design is the key. I think its not just cute but truly ground breaking and I have seen em all from Apple since 1980.
Regards
JJ

[bani]

there's nothing special about the mac mini's form factor. apple is just following a trend set 5 years ago.

as i keep pointing out, the only thing groundbreaking about the mini is that it's the first apple which isnt priced like a luxury automobile. it's only groundbreaking in the apple market. in the overall pc market it's old hat.

[dbatrium]

bani
Well we who research and work in the iHome connected industry see it differently and so do many reviewers do as well.

Since when has apple produced a 2" high and 6.5" square desk top, the cube was march larger.

One would have to be blind or not very conscious of excellent industrial design to see the difference between the well designed modular small form factor which is carriable and large form factor like the iMac G5 and even the iBooks or not see the difference between the weight of the iBook 12" and the Mac mini. Even a 12" iBook or Powerbook are awkward to hold in one hand try it some time, it is the small form that has provided such an attraction to the buying public it is truly significant because it is so well designed.

To refuse to acknolwledge the most significant achievemant of Apple engineers to give us an appliance like form attribute of the Mac mini is a very strange stance indeed and defies reasonable common sense and perhaps shows a disregard for the acheivements of excellent design and engineering and besides such a stance is illogical to put it in word.
Regards
JJ

[bani]

like i said, the mac mini is significant mainly in the apple universe. earth shattering it is not -- apple had to cut a lot of corners on the mini. apple didn't invent SFF nor is the mini an earth shattering new development in the SFF world.

the significance of the mini is this: it's the cheapest mac apple has ever made. this means they might finally get some penetration into the mainstream market instead of the extravagantly priced elitist market that has traditionally been apple's core.

it means more people can afford macs, that's about it. apple could have achieved the same thing with a much larger form factor, it's primarily the price alone that is the significant issue with the mini.

if people keep ignoring its flaws, keep painting the mini as something it's not, and keep refusing to take off the rose colored glasses and give the mini a real objective evaluation, they're going to miss the point, and blindly praise the mini into the same grave as the newton.

comparing the mini to ibook or powerbook, or deluding yourself into thinking the small size or brushed aluminum finish are the primary reason people are buying it, proves you miss the point with the mini.

be objective, see the mini for what it is, not for what you desperately want it to be.