Mini look a like PC

To be fair, that kind of PC case (based on mini-atx?) has been around a hell of a lot longer than the Mac mini. I think they were even available before the cube.

Still, it is butt ugly

Are you sure? I don't see a resemblance.

It looks like a portable fridge. I wonder if the cooling system's efficient enough to keep my lettuces crisp.

mad jew said:

It looks like a portable fridge. I wonder if the cooling system's efficient enough to keep my lettuces crisp.

Click to expand...

Lol. I agree with the previous post. I don't see the resemblance. Just because it's smaller doesn't mean it's the exact same. Did Apple copy the Suffle, because small MP3 players have been out for a while.

mad jew said:

It looks like a portable fridge. I wonder if the cooling system's efficient enough to keep my lettuces crisp.

Click to expand...

now that is funny. i do not see any resemblance either. it's big and bulky compared to a mac mini.

it looks like more 4 mac mini's on top of each other (And even after that they do not have much in common

I see a resemblance.

...to my toaster.

That still doesn't look like a frickin' mini. They've been selling PCs like this for years.

Its almost like 2000 A Space Odyssey and Mars.

Mini's still look better but those look nice compared to all the other SFF PC's around these days

not much of a resemblance really. ports on front and whatnot, too shinny as well

meh

Daveway said:

Are you sure? I don't see a resemblance.

Click to expand...

Agree..if this is the best they can do....well then they have a logn way to go

Platform said:

Agree..if this is the best they can do....well then they have a logn way to go

Click to expand...

The appeal is to kiddos who want to take gaming rigs to their friends house for a LAN party. Add an LCD monitor and its pretty easy to move the whole rig. Among that group, I'm sure that the flashy shoebox look gets ducats. This is the same group who like to build custom case mods out of lexan and blue LEDs, or put an LCD screen in a drive bay. Lots of fun stuff to do, but nothing useful or aesthetically pleasing.

As others have said, this form factor has been around a lot longer than the Mini.

To be fair, those cases have been available LONG before the Mac mini came out. And in fact, I do see the Mac mini being copied on those cases!

If you don't see it, imagine putting one of those, face down, then cutting it in half (vertically). Voilà, Mac mini.

Of course we're only talking about the cases here. The C3 (Mini/Nano-ITX) doesn't stand a chance against a G4.

I actually quite like it!

(Ducks for fear of flying venom)

It's not as cute as the mini though obviously - its twice the size, but it's a damn sight better than the rip off of the G5 esq PC tower posted in forums today!

Yes those cases HAVE been around for ages and they have all the lack of easy upgrade that the mac mini posesses without actually being as small or practical. We have 2 at work and it's actually HARDER to find somewhere for it, it takes up lots of room on the desk still, but can just be dumped on the floor like a standard tower.

Useless!

Reminds me of a toaster my parents had when I was a kid . . . FUGLY!

I also thought of my toaster...

... just missing the slots on top.

My toaster

[Edit]
Can someone confirm the "Output per hour" number???
[/Edit]

My toaster also looks more like Mac than that shiny case. At least mine is in brushed steel:

i made a ham sandwich the other day and noticed that it looked a lot like Mac mini.

my LaCie drive looks allso like a mini... hmm did lacie copy that design before the mini was around??

yesterday I went to buy a packet of chewing gum and was surprised about the similarity in size/weight as an iPod shuffle...

and other manufacturers using metal/silver colored cases... widescreen displays... yes even DVI??

lol stop being paranoid get a life I would say... those shuttle PC's are here for some years now (I think even before the first CUBE -don't hit me when I'm wrong about this date -)

harddrive MP3 players... had one before the first iPod was born

everybody is ripping from everybody, but just face it: when apple designs it it looks nice and you want it on top of your desk (still have to see the first mac wich is shoved under a desk), when a PC manufacturer designs it: you think about the nice closet you saw to hide it in...

ChemicalGeoff said:

Yes those cases HAVE been around for ages and they have all the lack of easy upgrade that the mac mini posesses without actually being as small or practical.

Click to expand...

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?

I had a Shuttle (SB51G -- Intel 855, ICH4, and whatnot). AGP, PCI and socketed processor. It wasn't particularly quiet, but I had an amazingly fast machine for video encoding and gaming. It was quiet and unobtrusive, and this was 2 years before the Mini.

The Hoodjum cases, whilst not Mac Minis, are for a completely different market. Just because it's not an Apple doesn't automatically make it crap.

Why would you want to get one of those toasters when you could get a fragbox? http://www.falcon-nw.com/fragbox.asp (Ooohhh Lights!)