New Intel Mac mini

[Dm84]

I have 3 Macs on different floors of the house and my 1940's brick colonial did not get wired for ethernet when it was built. Big oversight but they built a lot of them like that in the 1940s.😕

My house was built in the 1880's. Obviously it wasn't wired for Cat 5 when it was built. So about 5 years ago, my family spent 3 days wiring the house for Cat 5e. Was it a pain in the ass to do? Yes. But the speed is so much faster than wireless; recently we began the process of installing Gigabit switches and NICs. We've got about 6 computers running at a given time, but only 1 Mac (my PB). We also have VoIP.

We also have an 802.11g network for the laptops, but for streaming movies to a TV, I would only do that over ethernet. Therefore I'm not sure if making 802.11g standard on the Mini is a good thing. At least have a BTO option to remove it.

 

[balamw]

Therefore I'm not sure if making 802.11g standard on the Mini is a good thing. At least have a BTO option to remove it.

If you don't use it, just turn it off. The components added to enable it are minimal, and being able to remove it would further increase the cost of the mini See the thread about AOpen's pricier mini clone.

Aside, what's funny is that my house is new (2002) and was prewired for Cat5, just in all the wrong places. 😉 There are two runs to the home office, and two to a common room upstairs, but that's it. The place where I most need it is virtually impossible to access unless we start ripping walls apart (the media center is in an alcove that sticks out from the house, and thus not a straight shot from anywhere).

Adding Cat5 to my 1950s raised foundation house was so much easier....

B

 

[Grasbak]

For all those not wanting some of the features on the new mini in order to get a lower price... Apple have decided that the minimum mac spec has bluetooth, wifi, ethernet, frontrow & remote, 512mb ram.

Maybe this is a pointer to some future peripherals/services that will work on all NEW macs.

 

[balamw]

Maybe this is a pointer to some future peripherals/services that will work on all NEW macs.

Yeah, I was making a similar argument a while back. They seem really intent on creating an early base of Intel based, Front Row equipped machines for one reason or another...

People seem to forget that configurability ususally comes at a cost. To be able to make the AP+BT features removable, they would need to add a connector and daughterboard. This adds cost, so you would not recoup the full cost of the elements you are removing, and you'd add cost to the ones with the feature. All in all, not a good trade. The only time when configurability works in your favor in terms of cost is where the element is a standard module/subsystem that is already manufactured in volume and can be swapped out trivially like RAM or drives.

B

 

[peharri]

For all those not wanting some of the features on the new mini in order to get a lower price... Apple have decided that the minimum mac spec has bluetooth, wifi, ethernet, frontrow & remote, 512mb ram.

Maybe this is a pointer to some future peripherals/services that will work on all NEW macs.

Bear in mind that BT, WiFi, and Ethernet (together with USB), are essentially "free" with the chip-set Intel designed to go with the CPUs Apple's using (and is what Intel's being doing for a while with mobile chipsets.) So it might be, but co-incidences can be a result of unrelated decisions.

Personally, I like that aspect of everything. I think Wifi, BT, Ethernet and USB, are exactly what should be in every computer sold today. It's good that Intel's building that into everything.

As far as the Frontrow remote stuff, you probably have a point on that. Apple has wanted to do the digital-hub thing for a while, and this is yet another move in that direction. I'm surprised they appear to be using IR, as Bluetooth makes IR redundant, but that, itself is a clue that points in the same direction as you're going. ie the clue isn't that all new Macs have X, Y, and Z, it's that they have X, Y, Z, and an apparently redundant technology Q.

 

[peharri]

Here ya go: (core solo)

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/macmini.ars/6

I guess regardless of the reviews you'll wait 'cause rosetta isn't going to make those two year old games run faster than the platform they were originally intended for, especially on what is (for Apple) an entry-level computer.

Not sure why you're bringing up Rosetta as UT2004 is a Universal Binary.

Yeah, I was disappointed with the review as it didn't really answer my questions - I was interested in the Core Duo, it covers the Solo, and I wanted some idea of the real world performance of hardware OpenGL, it just runs the usual XBench type stuff where you can't tell how much is due to an under-utilized CPU putting in a bit of muscle it wouldn't actually have in real-world tests.

My questions were answered more by this, it's sad, but as I said in response, I hope Apple sees fit to add an additional model soon that includes a mid-range graphics card. Nobody's expecting the machine to be the ultimate gamer's rig, but it's unfortunate that they're going backwards in one key area, reducing the usability for a major use of a home computer.

 

[sunfast]

i don't understand having wireless on a desktop computer

bluetooth, yes.

but my desktop is plugged into the router, when i get my laptop, it will be on wireless.

i just don't understand why one needs wireless in a desktop.

clue me in?

I live in a rented house with three other flatmates. Rather than run cat 5 all over the place we can all share the internet connection effortlessly.

 

[gunm]

Not sure why you're bringing up Rosetta as UT2004 is a Universal Binary.

Yeah, I was disappointed with the review as it didn't really answer my questions - I was interested in the Core Duo, it covers the Solo, and I wanted some idea of the real world performance of hardware OpenGL, it just runs the usual XBench type stuff where you can't tell how much is due to an under-utilized CPU putting in a bit of muscle it wouldn't actually have in real-world tests.

My questions were answered more by this, it's sad, but as I said in response, I hope Apple sees fit to add an additional model soon that includes a mid-range graphics card. Nobody's expecting the machine to be the ultimate gamer's rig, but it's unfortunate that they're going backwards in one key area, reducing the usability for a major use of a home computer.

I wasn't referring to UT04 per se. Most Mac games, particularly the 3D ones, are not UB at the moment.