Apple Mac Mini (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 320GB)

[ Music ] ^M00:00:03 >> Hey again. It's Justin Yu, associate editor for CNET.com here to give you a quick tour of the $799.00 MacMini. Now, if the external case looks really familiar to you, that's because Apple hasn't made any aesthetic changes to this latest update. You still get the same sized aluminum chassis and plastic top, which we think retains really stylish appeal. So if you turn the MacMini around to the back, you'll notice a few extra ports. This refresh adds an extra USB 2.0 port, as well as FireWire 800. There's also a mini display port and mini DVI as well, that lets you hook up several different types of monitors to the Mini. And yes, dual displays are now supported on this model. Now, for $799.00, you get a more robust set of components than the cheaper model. You get a dual core Intel 2.0-gigahertz processor, 2 gigs of DDR 3 memory, a 320-gigabyte hard drive, and a significantly improved Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip that actually lets you run a decent game of Quake 3 with minimal lag. Now, our main critique of the MacMini, as always, is that from an OS agnostic point of view, there are definitely some Window systems out there that will give you richer components and will let you do more with the Mini. Now, take the Gateway LX6810, for example. Now there is the traditional tower that offers a dedicated 3D graphics card with HDMI out, a faster processor with four cores, and significantly more storage space and memory for the same price as the MacMini. So what does that mean for a buying recommendation. Well, there's no doubt that the MacMini is a truly well designed machine. You know, it's small. It's sexy. And we definitely think that lightweight users on a budget are gonna be perfectly happy with it's ability to juggle several open programs at once, but at the end of the day the fact remains that you can spend the same amount of cash on a Windows machine and benefit from its more versatile features and upgradability. So I'm Justin Yu, and you just took a First Look at the $799.00 MacMini. Thanks for watching. ^M00:01:52 [ Music ]