New Intel Mac mini

[ddrueckhammer]

Those of you scratching your heads wondering who the ehll this mini is for I have your answer. me.

I went with core solo with 1Gb ram and superdrive. Getting a fw HDD for it too. It will hook up nicely to my 32" lcd tv 1366x768 via DVI. The most graphics intensive thing I need it to do is play videos, run front row, and do slideshows in iphoto🙄 . The external hd will house my movies and music and serve as backup. I was hoping for the 3.5" drive in this model but oh well.

I'm glad this fits your needs. Like I said in my earlier post, unless you have a 30"+ LCD this may not be for you. I bet that if they come out with a Movie Store with reasonable rentals or a subscription for 600x800+ content you would be ecstatic...I don't think there are a lot of people with 30" + LCDs out there though but I could be wrong....

 

[yoda13]

Well, the integrated graphics kill this deal for me, plus the raised price. I do like the fact that they offer a core duo though, so its not all bad. At that price point, I would prefer a dedicated graphics chipset, though. But I guess those that buy minis don't care about playing any games at all. I am not a hardcore gamer, but I do like to take one or two on the road with me. I am afraid the iBook/MacBook specs will be very similar. Looks like I had better start saving. My next computer looks like it will be a MBP. Oh well. The iMac is also a better deal than this, IMO. Oh well. Kind of a dissappointing day for me.

 

[LimeiBook86]

Well I'm glad I screenshoted this before the new Intel Mac Mini page went up. It seems this has come back to bite Apple in the behind. The old Mac Mini site mentioned how built-in intel graphics were bad! Haha! Screenshot is attached, have yourselves a look! 😛 😀

Seems like this Mac Mini has become one of those "cheaper PCs"...oh well...

 

[johnadurcan]

I thought the Mac mini was - 'a cheap Mac'

So why is it so expensive! In the UK, the first Mac minis came out at £339 and £399. Now these new ones are £449 and £599! Even the original Mac Minis were a little over priced but that was bareable as £339 is an acceptable price point. These new minis do not have a good price point.

I understand that all the features are great, but they should have still offered a budget version without the bluetooth, airport and remote. Then users can decide to add the remote if they want to. This should have easily brought the price point back down to a more reasonable level.

I would have thought this update was great if the prices had stayed the same, and ecstatic if it was lower.

The end point is that I can no longer persuade people to go mac as their are no cheap versions of the mac.

I only hope that they do drop the price. They probably will on April the 1st as they announce the video Ipod touch screen that works seemlessly with it all in the home with the movie download service.

 

[cube]

I don't understand how Integrated Graphics would be that bad. I am sure Intel improves it every year. Perhaps Integrated Graphics in the 90's was really slow but it probably is faster than the fastest video card of those days.

At least the main processor isn't a Celeron M. Even the low end Mac has a excellent CPU. Apple is buying in volume of select Intel CPUs rather than buying last years CPUs.

The Core Solo is a really bad deal. The low end would be a way better computer with Celeron M + discrete graphics.

 

[dvdiva]

I don't understand how Integrated Graphics would be that bad. I am sure Intel improves it every year. Perhaps Integrated Graphics in the 90's was really slow but it probably is faster than the fastest video card of those days.

At least the main processor isn't a Celeron M. Even the low end Mac has a excellent CPU. Apple is buying in volume of select Intel CPUs rather than buying last years CPUs.

A celeron with a good video card would have been the better choice. Yes, integrated graphics is that bad. Can't wait to rub the quotes of fans for this product a year from now when stuff doesn't run or runs really slow.

 

[stcanard]

Getting a fw HDD for it too. It will hook up nicely to my 32" lcd tv 1366x768 via DVI. The most graphics intensive thing I need it to do is play videos, run front row, and do slideshows in iphoto🙄 .

Don't forget that the integrated graphics chipset has hardware mpeg decoding, motion compensation, 16:9 decoding / output.

In other words it was made to go in the front room, play videos, allow you to show your vacation photos to your friends, and to play the music on your main computer's harddrive.

I still don't understand why so many people want to play video games on these things -- my son's PS2 has a far better experience for action games than any computer I've ever had, and costs about as much as a decent controller for my computer.

 

[amancalledsun]

I do agree that the integrated graphics are disappointing, but perhaps Apple got a better deal from Intel by agreeing to use it, bringing down the price of the whole box. It's hard to criticize too much without knowing the inside details.

Fact of the matter is if you need decent video performance you should NOT be buying a Mini. Complaining about the video is like buying an SUV and complaining about the gas mileage.

For my needs it's fine. It's going to be my main iTunes & internet box. There's a lot of people with simple needs like that. That's why the Mini exists.

Actually, it's more like buying a Honda Civic and complaining that it doesn't have a 400HP engine or a turbo.
🙂

 

[Diatribe]

Well I'm glad I screenshoted this before the new Intel Mac Mini page went up. It seems this has come back to bite Apple in the behind. The old Mac Mini site mentioned how built-in intel graphics were bad! Haha! Screenshot is attached, have yourselves a look! 😛 😀

Seems like this Mac Mini has become one of those "cheaper PCs"...oh well...

Nice find. Apple's twisting the truth as they want, no news unfortunately.

As I said on page 4... an iMac costs the same as the mini if you spec the mini accordingly and still has more features. Who in their right mind would buy a mini? 😱

 

[Whistleway]

Well I'm glad I screenshoted this before the new Intel Mac Mini page went up. It seems this has come back to bite Apple in the behind. The old Mac Mini site mentioned how built-in intel graphics were bad! Haha! Screenshot is attached, have yourselves a look! 😛 😀

Seems like this Mac Mini has become one of those "cheaper PCs"...oh well...

Thanks for that. Apple is no saint and soon might become a PC-maker 🙁 really sad on this trend to go intel and now this. 🙁

 

[R.Youden]

For a lot of people this is nt meant to rival the iMac. I, for one, would be interested in one of these units, not for a personal mac, but as a TV integrated mac. With the adition of Front Row this is what the mac mini will evolve into, especially with the digital audio etc...

 

[tutubibi]

Really lame. I don't really care about integrated graphic as I do about the fact the FrontRow is still iLife exclusive only. And no DVR functionality at all.
It's not that I expect Apple to release DVR software but at least enable interoperability of FrontRow and remote with something 3rd party 😕 (like EyeTV, or give me a chance to configure MythTV frontend to use Apple remote).

 

[turtlebud]

Well this pretty much tells us that the bottom line iBook will use Core Solos @ 1.55 and the upper end ones will get Duos at 1.66.

If they put an Intel Graphics chip in the iBook...😡

so, it seems like the imac, macbook pro, high end mac minis, AND high end macbooks (to be released) will have the same or very similar processors. Seems odd to me that the prosumer and consumer lines can have the same processors. i would think the pro series would get different ones. while it probably saves because of the volume discount, it just seems like the whole intel line is only differentiated by the casing that the computer comes in and not much else.

of course when the mac pros comes out, they'll have different processors. wonder if they'll upgrade the macbook pros & imacs to match.

 

[MacAri]

Will it drive the Dell 2405FPW?

Any idea if the video ram will be able to drive a Dell 2405FPW?

It's not junk, it's the perfect processor for a low end, entry level machine that can also be used for a media centre. They don't expect people to be doing 3D games, or graphically intensive work with this machine. This application is what the Intel graphics processor was designed for.

 

[NVRsayNVR]

But if you spec the Mac mini with the same specs as an Intel iMac or even the G5 iMac, the iMac is a better value since it'll be about the same price as a similarly speced Mac mini. Where's the logic there?

We pay for SAMLL FORM FACTOR and cuteness! It's easy to switch cause you can bring your old @#$! over. This will satisfy the "SOMETHING NEW" itch until you figure out that you WANT much more! Time to BUY AGAIN!

Apple specializes in ADDICTION. 😀 My vote is for the iMac!

 

[paddy]

€889 for a high end Mac mini on the Irish-store is disgraceful. Thats over $1000! I know we have different taxing systems over here but where do they justify that price hike?😡

 

[dernhelm]

Perfect little machine for me...

When my current Dell P3 finally dies (I give it another 5-6 weeks at best), this is what I'll replace it with. Yes, integrated graphics sucks unnecessarily, but I'm no gamer, and a 64MB graphics adapter will be enough for what I do. I was thinking about an iMac instead, but a dual-core tiny little box I can hide on my desk is too good to pass up.

 

[Evangelion]

I'm actually thinking of getting to replace my 1.25Ghz Mini with one of these. Why? Well, I need a small, convenient and quiet machine for everyday use. And the Mini fits the bill perfectly. I would be running Linux on it mostly (please don't kill me), with OS X as a backup through Mac-On-Linux. So, why replace my current Mini with the new Intel-Mini? Simple: The CPU. There are many binaries out there for Linux that only exist as x86-binaries (flash-plugin, several media-codecs etc. etc.). So they wouldn't work in the G4-Mini, but they would work in the Intel-Mini. Having a x86-CPU in the computer would make things much simpler and easier for me.

Yes, The intergrated graphics suck. But it's not fatal for me, since I would still have a dedicated gaming-machine. Of course I'm looking at this through the eyes of a Linux-user, so my perspective is a bit different from your perspective 🙂.

 

[sw1tcher]

Well I'm glad I screenshoted this before the new Intel Mac Mini page went up. It seems this has come back to bite Apple in the behind. The old Mac Mini site mentioned how built-in intel graphics were bad! Haha! Screenshot is attached, have yourselves a look! 😛 😀

Seems like this Mac Mini has become one of those "cheaper PCs"...oh well...

Ah. Good find. SJ's RDF at work again.

 

[bighairydoofus]

What a sick joke...

I've been waiting and waiting for the new mini to replace my iMac G4 1GHz, and it comes with integrated graphics... forget it, Apple. You're not getting my cash.

😡

 

[sam10685]

apple usually posts' video's of their keynotes somewhere on apple.com. where is it?

 

[Regular_John]

as per ussual nobody is pleased because uncle steve didn't come down from heaven and grant you a....actually I have no idea what it is you people want. Your never pleased.

But really this is actually a pretty souped up mini, for a student in graphic design this is actually a responable option to get them through the first few years of school (ignoring the universal app issue for a second).

Is it a powermac? no, but is it useable? Yes

 

[The Red Wolf]

Cost Vs. Reality

except one thing, it's NOT a $500 computer. It's a $650-900 computer with taxes and all. You cannot put integrated graphics in a computer if you do not give the customer a choice for something else. That's just dumb. People will buy this because it's apple and many are fanatics who have no real intelligence. (READ--Steve Jobs coolaid drinkers). But this is not a good deal at all. And for the person who had an intel mini and the dual 1.8 g5 at the same price, for goodness sakes, why on earth would you buy the mini?!?!? Please don't.

Guestiments on component prices:
1.66 GHz Duo = $150
OS-X Tiger = $129
iLife 06 = $79
Quad Port USB hub = $29

Lives in the space of four stacked CD cases and has ripples in Dashboard?

$387... Just for parts...
It starts at $499...

Where the hell for less than $100 can you get a non-integrated PC that comes in the same size case that runs Tiger? Anyone? Didn't think so...

We have to pay taxes on PCs too...

Apple Fanatics? Hmmm... Yea, they're insane.
Reasonable UNIX IT Professionals who see a good deal in a perfectly tiny BSD UNIX Mini Box... Well, the deal is insane but I'm not.

 

[carlivar]

So why on earth would you buy a mac mini if for $70 more you get a kick-ass graphics card, 40GB more HD space and a better processor?

Because you might already have a monitor, mouse, and keyboard and you don't give a crap about iSight. That makes the iMac almost $400 more.

And some folks don't like built-in monitors, period.

 

[Diatribe]

Use some common sense here people.

You are buying a computer that costs the same as an entry level iMac with more features for switching? 😱 😱 😱

If you're not using the mac mini to connect to your TV why on earth buy it?