AOpen Mac Mini Look-Alike

[jase]

I guess maybe I'm closer to the target market for the AOpen Mini-lookalike.

I bought the Mini primarily because of its size, and because it runs almost silently. OS X wasn't a big draw for me. I like it. It's very nice. But I'm also completely satisfied with Linux as well for my purposes as well. Either OS will work just fine for what I need.

I just got tired of big, noisy boxes. The Mini was the first system that solved both of those problems, so I bought it. And I'm incredibly happy with it.

This little AOpen box might allow me to do exactly the same thing, but with Linux instead. I certainly wouldn't replace the Mini, but it might make a nice complimentary system.

[blazer]

[idave]

[ihatewindowsbashers]

Here's why:

1.25GHz PowerPC G4
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo drive
DVI or VGA video output
AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth optional

And let's get one thing clear Mac OS X is UNIX. You're paying $500 for a cheap POS that barely has any power (read 1.25 GHz and 256MB DDR333 SDRAM). I could build a better PC put Linux or ever (gasp) Windows and not pay for anything. The nice thing about Microsoft is MSDN which my school has (XP Pro for free? Yes!, and it's legal). Oh and here's another thing, in 10+ years of working on the Windows platform, 6 of which were spent programming I've only seen the BSOD once, and it was on Windows ME (which is the only Windows that I'll say sucks). Windows isn't that bad, if you know what you're doing. Plus the sheer amount of good, quality software is rivaled only by Linux. I hate the Mac (sadly I've used it before) and the way it is setup is illogical, nonsensical, and poorly done. I hate not being able to upgrade, the fact that almost every piece of software costs you money, and it's poor support. I'll stick with "Wintel" because it's higher quality, and if there is something wrong it doesn't cost me much to fix it.

There's a reason why Windows and Linux are favored over Mac. They are poor as gaming machines, poor as servers, and Linux beats it for work. They may have graphics (maybe...).

[LouieMacGoo]

O.K. Well back to the subject at hand! It will be interesting to see how it messures up as far as specs vs cost. I might concider one to to play with some flavor of Linux on it, but I have a hunch that it won't last long once Apple Legal gets rolling.
_________________
13' Macbook 2.0ghz C2D w/2gb RAM and 120gb HD
G4 Mac Mini 1.42ghz w/1gb RAM, 80gb HD, SuperDrive, 160gb MiniStack
eMac 700mhz G4 PPC 1gb RAM 40gb HD, Combo drive
G3 iMac DV 400mhz 512mg RAM 40gb HD, SuperDrive
Follow me http://twitter.com/louiemacgoo

[jase]

[devo]

[andp]

[greg]

[senn]

I can hear the Pandora users now. The hard drive is too slow. The Video card won't run Avalon in Longhorn. VGA output is dim and dark. Not enough USB ports.

Meanwhile the 2nd generation Mac mini will break new ground and continue to set the standard. Intel and Microsoft will freak out and and pay off some vendor you never heard of to make another mini clone. Can't we all just get along!

[James T. Kirk©]

Pandora with Linux, uh, oh; Pandora with MS Windows: Pandora box opened!
But a Mac mini is "A saucerful of secrets"! (if you know your Pink Floyd)
Anyway, I like the TFT screen next to it, anybody knows which one it is???
_________________
take care,
____________________________Jim
~ Registered Linux user #310054 ~
made in Xandros 3.0 (Linux)

[senn]

I'd like see the inside of Pandora and how they designed the case to be opened. It would be cool to have thumbscews or clips instead of using a putty knife.

[James T. Kirk©]

[Brian]

Hardware.info posted some new pictures of the AOpen Pandora mini PC with a better look at the back ports.





http://www.hardware.info/nieuws.php?id=4920

[James T. Kirk©]

3 USB's, no Firewire. Otherwise, AOpen could have made Apple's next MacTel Mini...
_________________
take care,
____________________________Jim
~ Registered Linux user #310054 ~
made in Xandros 3.0 (Linux)