Should I Purchase a Mac Mini

Get the Mini, cause I'm too tired to bother asking why you need another computer in the first place. Actually, why not just buy a TV?

You haven't really given enough detail about what you want to use the desktop for, so it's hard to say. If you want to game on the Mac Mini then you'd best wait until it's updated.

One advantage of the Mac Mini is that if you get a monitor with VESA mounting holes then you can actually attach the Mac Mini to it. Might not be possible if the updated Mini is much smaller, but on the current mini you can easily fit four holes on the bottom cover, which you can then screw onto a monitor with 100mm x 100mm (or narrower) mounting holes, just make sure the screws are the right size and don't have huge heaps and you can just twist the Mac Mini onto the back of your monitor.

I recently did this with a family member's Mac Mini, basically turning the monitor into an all-in-one. With the Mac Mini aimed ports down it's also very neat for cable management
If you don't fancy a DIY job like that then the Mac Mini fits pretty much anywhere, and you can place it on its side fairly neatly (and it doesn't seem to have cooling issues or anything), though I'd be wary of it tipping over. It can also go on a shelf to keep it out of the way, provided it has room for airflow. So while you pay a premium for it, the Mac Mini delivers its power in a very neat little package.


You could definitely get a cheaper PC that might be more powerful, depending what you want it to do, but it's hard to get a compact machine that's as good as Mac Mini, at least not without making compromises on size or performance. Whenever it gets updated it should become even more competitive.

Get it

Depends on what are you using for.

My case, ibook, MBP(IBM base), iMac(Intel), MBA(13 inch), MBA(11 inch, 13 was given to my sister), then Mac Mini.

I have to tell you I love this machine.

e-mail, web, picture storage, movie, whatever Mini is intended to perform well, performs well.
I recently build a Windows PC to play game. With 4th gen i5, GTX 760, 8G memory makes me play any newest game at the maximum setting possible which Mini cannot.
Then I realized, some tasks are faster in Mini even the spec is significantly lower than the bigger guy sitting next to him. Movies open and play quicker than PC, picture organization and backup is a few clicks away.

If that's via iTunes Windows it's because iTunes is a total pig in Windows.