Apple Mac Mini (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

Summary: I look to c|net for thorough, objective reviews that shed light on the pros and cons of today's technology. The review seen here is a little off in ...

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Summary: I look to c|net for thorough, objective reviews that shed light on the pros and cons of today's technology. The review seen here is a little off in that the reviewer has compared the performance of the Mini to that of more powerful machines. Case in point: the Mini used in tests had a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip; the Velocity Micro machine used to compare the performance of the Mini had an Intel Core 2 Duo 6320 overclocked to 3.0GHz. Unless my math is off, that's 50% more processor power! Secondly, the Mini was equipped with 1GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM whereas the same machine mentioned above was equipped with 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM. So, not only is there 100% more RAM, the front-side bus is just under 20% faster. Thirdly, the hard drive on the Velocity Micro machine was spinning at 7,200 rpm?s whereas the Mini?s hard drive merely putters along at 5,400 rpm?s. Now, I realize that you?d probably have to compare the performance of the Mini with that of a laptop in order to compare component performance fairly, but maybe that?s the point! (The Mini is made with laptop components!! When you compare the Mini with a comparable laptop, the benefits of the Mini suddenly come to the surface: you can change out monitor and you can change out the keyboard.) And we, the unwashed masses, are expected to accept test results that show, not surprisingly, that the Mini doesn?t compare favorably to more powerful machines. The argument the reviewer appears to want us to focus on is cost. Well, for an additional $150 the reviewer could have at least added an additional 1GB of RAM that could have at least evened out the QUANTITY of RAM, setting aside the differences in the speed of the front-side buses. This would have brought the cost difference to $50 ? the Mini still being the cheaper of the two. What would the test results have looked like if that one minor upgrade had been made to the Mini? One wonders. I?m giving c|net the benefit of the doubt that the setup for this review was not made with malicious intent.

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Summary: I am an individual that is stuck between my day job and my nightly hobby. During the day I work for a firm that is Microsoft Office based (and other ...

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Summary: I am an individual that is stuck between my day job and my nightly hobby. During the day I work for a firm that is Microsoft Office based (and other Microsoft based back-office applications), and the week nights/weekends have me recording music with some of the top talent in the Midwest. After many years of pretending a Windows OS based machine can handle the requirements within a digital recording/studio setting, this little gem allows me to play the corporate suit-wearing role by day, and then get down to some serious musical creativity at night. I beefed up the RAM to 2 GB and have added an external HD for archival purposes. Simply put, if you were to go out and buy a XP OS based machine, and then turn around and buy a Apple MAC, you are easily looking at $1500+ to have both worlds. With the purchase of this machine, I have been able to use my existing monitor, keyboard, mouse and other USB devices/applications. I highly recommend this little powerhouse. Just make sure you have a large external HD and a budget for adding the Parallels application that brings the XP OS and compatible applications and all its glory to this Intel-based friendly unit. Nice job Apple. Keep up the good work!

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Summary: Gee I haven't had to re-install OS X every few months to straighten out the non-existent registry. I can't count the number of times I had to reinstall ...

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Summary: Gee I haven't had to re-install OS X every few months to straighten out the non-existent registry. I can't count the number of times I had to reinstall Windows XP Pro or use tools to fix the registry on the last couple of Windows PC's I used to have. The Windows Registry is extremely fragile. I can use a VPN client and Microsoft Remote Desktop Client to log into my office PC, and do everything I need to do remotely. I don't have to worry much about viruses and worms getting on the Mac Mini either. OS X takes very little system administration ... just install the updates and it works.

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Summary: First off, the reason I signed up for a C-NET account was to refute a big mistake in the review. The Mac Mini DOES have wireless networking. Unless they removed ...

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Summary: First off, the reason I signed up for a C-NET account was to refute a big mistake in the review. The Mac Mini DOES have wireless networking. Unless they removed it, our first gen 1.66ghz duo has it so I'm sure the new model does too. It has both WIFI and bluetooth.

Secondly the entire review strains so hard to remain OS neutral that they completely gloss over the fact that you can easily load a legal version of Windows which lives happily side-by-side with OSX on this computer. We got our Windows XP Home legally on ebay for about $65 with shipping. For that extra $65 we have a monster machine that allows us to run apple apps where they are happiest and windows apps where they are happiest.

We also have a high performance PC laptop for audio work and even tho it does it's job well, it feels like 1/2 a computer by comparison. I run the Mac Mini on a gigabyte ethernet network with the laptop and have rock solid performance. I also access an apple airport express from both the mac and the windows side with no trouble at all. I will never buy another computer that won't run both OSes again. I know some people have hacked OSX to run on PCs but when you see the simplicity and stability of Apple's Bootcamp software, which is FREE, you'll see why it's such a nice solution. Incidentally, windows XP screams on this computer. It runs natively and again, is rock solid.

Consider that a mouse and keyboard (decent ones) can be had for $50 and a dell 20" monitor for under $200. It's pretty good. What the review also failed to mention was that the starting price on a new Imac which supplies the monitor/mouse/keyboard is not too much higher. If they were going to review $1000 PCs they should've mentioned that option too.

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