The Mac Mini was released in January 2005 at Mac World, and was then updated, for the first time, in July 2005. This Mac Mini is the result of that update.
Improvements - The $599 Mac Mini now sports 512 MB of DDR SDRAM, which is twice the memory the original Mac Mini included. This is a significant upgrade. The majority of users can now buy, out of the box, a machine that performs beautifully and allows a fair amount of multi-tasking. The Mac operating system, Mac OS X Tiger, thrives on memory, and 512 MB helps to create a speedy experience, for users.
Bluetooth - Bluetooth is a great wireless technology that Apple heavily backs, and it is included with this Mac Mini, an addition, from the original Mac Minis, when bluetooth was an optional add-on, at Apple.com, for $50 more. Purchase a bluetooth keyboard or bluetooth mouse, and they will work wirelessly, with your Mac Mini. It makes for a very clean and uncluttered desktop. There are also many mobile phones and PDAs, which utilize bluetooth technology, which you can sync to your mac using isync, included with Mac Mini.
Airport Extreme - This is the wireless networking card now included with the $599 Mac Mini, after being a $70+ upgrade at Apple.com, on the previous model. Do you have a wireless-b or wireless-g network in your home? If so, the Mac Mini will be able to connect to it, without problem. Again, making the computing experience simpler and less tangled.
The Good Things that Continue to Shine with Mac Mini - A buyer of the Mac Mini will continue to enjoy Mac OS X Tiger, which is the best consumer operating system in the world. It works with the hardware beautifully to provide a simple, fast, elegant, and reliable experience. One of the favorite descriptions of Mac fans, to describe Macs, is simply, "it just works."
The Mac Mini continues to include iLife '05, with great applications such as iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iTunes, and Garageband. These are all included, with every Mac Mini. You will be challenged to find any PC that includes applications that come anywhere close to the iLife suite. Manage thousands of your digital images in iPhoto, create home movies in iMovie, and create professional music in Garageband.
Appleworks is included for simply word processing, spreadsheets, etc., but you might want to pick up Microsoft Office for Mac. A student/teacher edition is available, for just over $100.
Speed - The 1.42 GHZ PowerPC G4 processor makes the Mac Mini a very capable machine. This will satisfy the horsepower needed to complete tasks in the iLife suite, included with your Mac Mini.
Hard Drive - 80 GB is a significant-sized hard drive, so you will be able to store thousands of photos and songs.
ComboDrive - The Apple Combo Drive allows you to burn music and data CDs, plus you can watch DVDs!
Drawbacks? The $599 version of the Mac Mini no longer includes a modem, if you want this version of the Mac Mini with a modem, you will have to custom-order it at Apple.com. However, the ethernet port is included on the back, to plug into a DSL or cable modem, plus you have the Airport Extreme, for wireless connections. However, if you don't have broadband, you'll need a modem for dial-up, so you will either need to order a custom-built Mac Mini at Apple.com, or buy the stock $499 model, which includes a modem, but lacks the wireless components.
Overall, Apple has created another fantastic product, with the Mac Mini, and the July 2005 update only made it better. You get more memory, plus wireless connectivity via bluetooth and airport extreme. This Mac Mini really includes everything the average user needs to enjoy the internet, manage his or her digital life, and have fun doing it all. Apple Mac mini M9687LL/B (1.42 GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB DDR SDRAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)
This computer is great it works with out constant problems like a Windows PC. If Mac actully supported games I would buy a high end G5 and chuck my Dell XPS right out the window, and the Dell has been great. ANY Mac is highly recommened UNLESS you play games. This computer is also completely silent unless a CD is in the drive.
A lot of the reason I am so pleased with the Mac Mini has to do with Amazon.com. Great customer service, price, shipping. Buying this from the Apple store would have cost me $150 more. Now, about the computer-
First off, I was shipped a unit with upgraded Processor (1.5ghz) and Video. Also the Superdrive is dual layer, not single although I haven't been able to see if it works as a DL. So I'm pretty pleased that I have an upgrade right off the bat.
The slogan says BYODKM, so I'll tell you how I have it set up. Apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse and the display is a 50' plasma TV. This is a really cool setup for my kids, playing educational games.
About 2 days after the unit was delivered, Apple released the new Intel version of the Mini. Initially I was disappointed, but after looking at the new specs I realized I had bought the better PPC version. The Intel version shares video with the 512 main memory and has no dedicated chipset seperate.
The positives are: Small form factor, great performance, price. You just can't beat OS X in terms of reliability. I will not miss being a system administrator on my wife's dell, constantly scanning and removing malware. Price-Got mine with a superdrive for $630 shipped.
Negatives: Memory. Although units shipping now have a standard 512k, I really think I'll need to upgrade to at least 1mb. Also, after having been a Powerbook user, there is a perceptable difference in the build quality. Not bad mind you, but not quite up to par with the Powerbooks.
Overall, a great machine if you already have your keyboard/mouse/display. If not, the new imac is a much better value. Why only 4 instead of 5 stars? Well, the superdrive seems to only want to burn at 2X, not the 8X as advertised. Apple has nothing to remedy this issue yet, but will probably issue a firmware upgrade sometime.
So my advice is to take the plunge and switch over to OS X, you'll be very happy you did. - Mac - Mac Mini Desktops - Apple - Macintosh'
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