Thinking about it, I don't think (at the current pricing) the Mac Mini will be that successful, in Australia at least... If it were at the AU$650 price as was rumoured, yes, it'd grab the market of home users upgrading from a sub-1GHz Wintel machine who don't have any real tie to the platform (not avid gamers, unable to keep their machines virus-free, etc.); it's what you'd expect to pay for an upgrade to a current Windows machine anyway. But with the actual retail price of AU$850... No, "I could by a P4 w/ Monitor and everything for that."
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Anonymous2005-01-12 10:34
I think it will. The price here is about £350. You're never going to get a pc that good for that price, (it has an ATI 9100 graphics, not some intel built in stuff) especially not with a dvi output. If I didn't have a little shuttle for it already, I'd get it just for uni coursework.
And no, I'm not a computer novice, I also have the AMD64 beast I'm posting from now.
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Anonymous2005-01-12 11:38
I don't think the price is so hot either (when you factor in the price of monitor+mouse+keyboard) but I think it's moot point. To me, the pricing is about the right range for people who already have a PC and a decent interest in Macs but can't justify the purchase yet.
It's obviously not a powerful machine but it's decent enough (except for the RAM).
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Anonymous2005-01-12 16:08
Well, I'm biased because I've been building my own PCs for years. A sub-1.5-GHz machine with only 256MB of memory, a 40GB or 80GB hard drive, and 32MB low-end Radeon video for $500 US? Is this supposed to impress me? Hey Apple, U FAIL IT
The tiny case is very cute, and perhaps the Apple fanatics will find them charming, but it's become possible to build a surprisingly impressive PC for that kind of money.
Get a clue. You're nowhere fucking near the target market for this computer.
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Anonymous2005-01-12 18:49 (sage)
It's obviously not a powerful machine but it's decent enough (except for the RAM).
Exactly. I might buy one next year. It'd be my first Mac, and I don't even have an iPod, heh. Plus I'm sure I could find a cheap 1gb ram upgrade elsewhere. I've already got one system for games, and my main uses for a work computer are simply office + internet + music.
Other than that, my wishlist includes one of those upcoming miniBTX systems with a *real* soundcard. That'd be cool. My computer-life would be complete then, I think. :P
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Anonymous2005-01-12 21:28
All macs should have gone the way of the Betamax years ago.
Ever since I've used an iBook, I've wanted one but the price has been the biggest deterrent. However with the Mini, the price lowers significantly and it's a lot more tempting now.
Like poster 4 said, you can build pretty nice machines for the same price of a Mini. If hardware were the only factor for me, I would agree with 4's conclusion. But OSX is another big thing for me plus Apple's reputation for quality. So to me, the $400 is more justifiable.
I'm pretty much the demography Apple is aiming for with the Mini. Always wanted to switch but couldn't shell out the money. Hopefully it doesn't fail and it'll lower the price a bit more by Xmas...
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Anonymous2005-01-13 0:41
>>8's e-penis is threatened by >>7's small e-penis
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Anonymous2005-01-13 0:50
I'm look at getting a Mini primarily as a G4 Linux box... (It's certainly cheaper than other readily-available faster PPC systems. "lol AmigaOne" :)
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Anonymous2005-01-13 3:44
>>11
Also Makes an affordable cluster that could reside on your desk. I'm told that some high end pc's go for almost 3 large. Hmm. Six CPUs, Six GB RAM for that price?
You have a monitor, keyboard and mouse already. They'll work just fine with it.
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Anonymous2005-01-13 4:11
>>12
It really would need Gigabit networking for a decent cluster with more than a few nodes..
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Anonymous2005-01-13 12:08
keep in mind that apples target market are people that are unsatisfied with budget PCs they already bought. and even if you're not that kind of person, they offer options for increased ram, cpu, hard drive, dvd burner, and integrated wireless /w bluetooth and airport. of course it costs a bundle. I think the top end version of a mini is more than double the standard price (a 1GB stick of ram is pretty expensive though). If Apple can put stuff on like integrated wireless, why not swap out the Radeon 9200 for something more powerful? thats pretty much my deterrent. Then again, I'm not who they are trying to sell this to :)
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Anonymous2005-01-13 12:10
I showed the Mac Mini website to everyone at work and they all want one! Perhaps the Austrailian version is overpriced but for those of us who already own the monitors and other bits and pieces it's a really tempting little package. It'd be nice to have a Mac around the place to play around with too, plus I can check website compatibility against the Mac browsers too.
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Anonymous2005-01-13 15:44
this computer is very good for my partents.
My dad and Mom some time lose excel icon on desk top
For those who can not operate normal PC or Linux machine
This would be te best choice
I guess a lot of people think in thid way.
at same time.. if you have computer on your small deskon work.
this could be the good solution for it
these worker only need Web Browsing, Reading mails that's about it
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Anonymous2005-01-13 21:00
>>15 ... Apple HQ should probably send a memo to their Australia operation, saying "Hey, you know our new non-price-gouging Mac Mini we've released? You could like, remove that 20% gouge you've got on it so that the thing will actually sell to the people we want it to."
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Anonymous2005-01-14 3:48
I think its decent enough for the price. Sorry for the australian version being a little high.
256 mb ram is decent. This system ISN'T running windows xp, remember. Memory management on OS X is a little better.
Even then, ram is universal. Just as long as you have the proper speed ram, you can upgrade it yourself.
This has been long been rumored and DEMANDED in many macintosh forums. The so called "Headless imac". Entry level without all the fuzz of paying for the flatscreen. And remember the important part. This is ENTRY LEVEL.
Im really hoping it does take off, hopefully I'll have to deal with less window reinstalls/virus purge/adware purge for the people who pay me.
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Christy McJesus!DcbLlAZi7U2005-01-14 6:45
I'ma buy 20 of these little bitches and make a mini beowulf :D
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Anonymous2005-01-14 7:05
Sorry for the australian version being a little high.
It's always been that way-- even back in the days of the Mac II, it was cheaper to fly to the States, buy a machine, return, pay the tarrif at customs, buy a 240/110v converter, and still be a thousand dollars or so better off.
I'd had my hopes up that the new 'undermining' attitude at Apple would've ment the same thing here...
MacNews.de has pictures of a Mac Mini taken apart. Looks like RAM and HD are definitely self upgradable. I think that port just below the RAM slot is for the Airport card but I'm not sure. No dice on the processor though, it's soldered on.
>>22
I personally would like to know what chip requires so many circuits on the underside (the one right under the RAM slot). Even the processor and the ATI chip doesn't have that much.
If you think about it, the Mini's a re-arranged laptop.
Another thing.
I'm told that it fits in the standard mount in a newer car's dashboard. Hmm... CDs, iTunes, check email in the drive-through at McDonald's via WiFi. Lots of folks already have the LCD/DVD.
Keyboard you say? "Speakable Items" has been a part of Mac OS's for years. Scriptable. And OS X is Linux which is very "adaptable" to stuff like managing Nitrous systems or even the whole damn engine.
This cannot be mere chance.
Steve Jobs as CEO of Pixar Told Disney Pixar didn't need them anymore. Thanks/goodbye. Apple is awash with CASH! R&D budget is the highest percentage in the field.
We may not live to see it, but the day may well come when our children all wear mock-turtlenecks.
It's a matter of convenience. Buttons on the back suck; there's a reason power buttons have been on the front of cases for the last ten years. But the Mini is small enough that I suspect it won't matter.
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Anonymous2005-01-16 16:10 (sage)
And OS X is Linux
Mach != Linux
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Anonymous2005-01-16 19:48
i think this sort of thing can sit on your desktop and not under it, so back buttons wouldnt matter.
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G42005-01-17 0:50
os X = unix, sir.
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Anonymous2005-01-17 5:18
Having owned an iBook for a while, I just want to paraphrase Kurt's t-shirt and say "Commercial Unix still Sucks."
The most obvious reason is the /commercialization/ once again of the computer system types I've known and loved for the last 20 years. Who still remembers how _shitty_ commercial unix was (performance, software quality, support, corporate-hangers-on-trying-to-find-new-ways-to-make-money-for-a-ferrari, etc.) in the pre-GNU, pre-Linux era? (Xenix, AIX, christ--almost anything SysV-based..) ... OSX is unfortunately heralding back those Bad Old Days. Look at all those $35 shareware apps written for people whose minds are too precious to run a one-liner command on Terminal... Plus, don't mistake yourself into thinking that programs like iTunes, et.al., are any more special than, say, XMMS with an inbuilt paysite browser. A decent "gTunes" program written by the open source community would at least let you use more than one company's site--and have less chance of being worthless when the music distro setup dies.
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Anonymous2005-01-17 6:53
>>36
I have yet to use a jukebox program that comes close to iTunes in search speed, iPod integration, smart playlist features or network music sharing. I don't use the store.
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Anonymous2005-01-17 8:53
>>37
I've jet to have a jukebox program refuse to play music I've legitimately bought online because some third-party said so..
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les aptt2005-01-18 2:53
The Mac Mini's not intended for those who have a clue.
The Mac Mini's intended for your aunt Minnie and all those people YOU now provide FREE IT support for.
Want some of your life back? Tell them to get a Mini.
I don't know about you, but Three hours of MY aunt Minnie at Thanksgiving dinner is Two and One Half hours longer than I can stand.
It's your fault for not understanding the agreement properly, then. You don't have the right to buy a limited license and then pretend it's unlimited; if you think you should, read Slashdot less often.
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Anonymous2005-01-18 17:42
>>34 >>32 >>26
I haven't used a Mac in years, but don't they turn on with a keyboard combination? So, who cares where the buttons are?
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Anonymous2005-01-18 22:35
>>41
lol Hymn. Yeah, but that's exactly the kind of shit that commercial software rams down your throat. Fine, be a pussy and just accept that.
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Anonymous2005-01-18 23:49
>>42
USB doesn't have that ability; that only worked with the old ADB keyboards. >>43
OK, I only have one iTMS song and I couldn't care less if I couldn't play it outside my computer and iPod.
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Anonymous2005-01-19 21:13
I've seen those Minis pics around and... there's one thing I've been questioning myself: what about cooling? I haven't seen that mac cooling system, how can it work when all the stuff is so close?
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BMP2005-01-19 22:29
>>44
USB actually DOES have this ability. Someone was selling devices that could do this. They were specifically for macs, however. I don't know if some PC's do or don't have this feature, but it's tagline was that 'any USB enabled Mac' would work. google it.
>>45
It's a combination of careful engineering and prayer...but mostly the second. They can and do get hot, but never obnoxiously so. the mini mac most assuredly has better ventilation than an ibook or Powerbook.
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yog sosoth2005-01-21 0:02
Actually, the Oz pricing isn't as bad as it looks. Taking Oz$1 = US$0.75 then the US price is Oz$670. Add the inevitable GST and that's Oz$737. Send it half way round the world and the Price is Oz$799. Just under 10% dearer than US retail.
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yog sosoth2005-01-21 0:14
>>46
All Apple USB keyboards* equipped with a power button can switch power on and off. Later Macs come with keyboards that lack the button but the old type of keyboard can still do the job on the new Macs.
*And all the 3rd part ones I've seen.
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Anonymous2005-01-21 11:23
>>47 Meh. Apple's ODM factories in China are a bit closer to AU than the States..
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Anonymous2008-03-18 15:03
Old thread is old
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Anonymous2008-03-18 18:38
Man, /comp/ really sucked back in the day -- what's up with these helpful on-topic replies, huh?
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Anonymous2008-03-18 18:45
the mac mini did take off. i saw it on mythbusters.