Would you buy a Minimac?

[hard candy]

http://vnuuk.typepad.com/silicon_valley_sleuth/2005/01/mac_mini_gettin.html I read this and went to the Apple online store.
Apple Store (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71007/wo/VI1poZqpW63g3qjPDmN1djrPFBQ/0.0.11.1.0.6.21.1.0.1.0.0.0.1.0)

it does seem a little high but not too bad. And it would be nice to have something so portable. But apparently it is sealed- but the xbox was "sealed" when it came out, too.
So if you were to spend $600 and it was "free " money- (you know, the wife gave it to you and said spend it anyway you want)-would you get a real fancy PDA? a miniATX PC? a minMac? 400GB External USB HD ?Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?DEPA=0&description=22-154-320&ATT=Hard+Drives+External&CMP=KNC-goog13) Some other toys?

[canon006]

I'd go for the Mac Mini, I like OS X and I especially like using it for web development and other creative type stuff. Until I'm no longer a poor college student, my iBook and my Ubuntu machine are more than enough.

[templest]

Well, I already have a PowerBook, but 80GBs for a HD just doesn't make the cut. I'd opt for the 400GB HD and another 1GB stick of RAM.

[ph34r]

I'd spend it on restoring my Porsche 356...

But, if I had to spend it on computer stuff, the mini Mac would be a nice upgrade for my server (its currently a 400mhz iMac).

[beerman]

They look like a great little machine (depending on what you use it for naturally) but I really can't see sinking money on a machine that I won't really have a use for. I use Linux for everything but gaming and I do all of that in Windoze.

[infiniphunk]

The MAC mini looks like a something for soemone who's just going to surf the web, read and send emails, compose a letter...
I dunno, it doesn't suite my needs. If I understand the Apple store website correctly, a burner is an addititonal option only? Hmmm. Plus one still needs a monitor, and keyboard to really use it. I think I'd rather just put $600 dollars towards building a new comp on my own. Not that I don't like MAC's; Just saying I'd prefer to have the complete system if I did get a MAC.

[Parcival]

I won't buy a MiniMac, as I already have a PowerBook and would never use OSX for a server - Gentoo does this job way better. I'd use the 600$ to make my server a hell of a machine and do some serious case modding. :D

However, for my dad a MiniMac would be perfect... he needs to upgrade his computer and he has never been really happy with SuSE, so it would be best if I turn his old machine just into another server and have it replaced with a MiniMac.

[habibbijan]

infiniphunk, the Mac mini comes standard with a DVD/CD-RW combo drive. A DVD-burner is an additional option.

I wouldn't buy one because I already have a Powermac G5. My fiance, on the other hand, could use one of these....

[gehidore]

I'm buying an ibook as soon as I can (if I can ever get a .edu email address with my college...) as for the mini(s) I saw one at the college last friday (I think it was one) and I didn't like it. It seemed underpowered and overheated right out of the box. Just my observations though.

[MartinB]

Nope, I wouldn't buy one either. I already have 4 computers (3 PC's running Linux, 1 running Windows 98), and don't feel that I need any more at the moment. When I do need another computer, it will likely be another more powerful Linux PC so I can run UT2004 faster. :)

[leonpmu]

I would buy the latest version of my Motorola phone, is Linux and Java based!!! It can be found here. (http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS3567256959.html)

[JayMan8081]

I would buy a mini mac since it would have better specs than my current backup machine and I want to play around with OS X to see what it's like. If you aren't a serious gamer I think it would serve its purpose well. The only it couldn't do that I would want at some point is authoring DVDs.

[Hmse]

I think the miniMacs are insanely awesome except for the fact that they are sealed shut, no no upgrading the ram or replacing the harddrive without sending into Apple. But I'd probably just use the 600 for other stuff.

[tucolino]

Originally posted by ph34r
I'd spend it on restoring my Porsche 356...

But, if I had to spend it on computer stuff, the mini Mac would be a nice upgrade for my server (its currently a 400mhz iMac).

cool. got any pictures of your porsche?

[ph34r]

tucolino - my avatar is similar ot mine, different color and year though. Mine is one of the last 356s made (58 after mine). All original too, although needs restoring. My dad bought it brand new in '65.

[cybertron]

I don't think I'd take a Mac if you paid me for it. Yeah, I dislike Macs and Apple that much, and no I'm not going to explain why because it would just start a flame war:D

Anyway, my biases aside I'd have to wait a while and see how they work out. The cubes scare me to death because they get so hot, and I'm afraid this thing will burn through whatever it's stitting on. Plus, it turns out that unless you need the portability, or want the ability to mix and match non-Apple parts, it's not a very good deal. You can get an iMac for less with better specs once you buy all the peripherals you'd need (or so I'm told by a Mac-using friend).

[CoffeeMan]

Yeah, that thing is weak, it is just an overpriced piece of eyecandy. But I can run linux, so its not total crap

[fatTrav]

I haven't had a chance to really look it over, but I think I'd buy it if I could put a much larger hard drive in it. I've been wanting a media pc for the entertainment center and sorta been waiting for Apple to get off ther butts and make one. This seems like the closest thing they have in that area.

Odd how a computer company whose profits come from the sale of a portable music device has yet to offer a full home media solution ...

[soulestream]

i think being as i just became a career student again and am taking 8 classes i would go with a good pda to keep track of all my crap.



soule

[squeegy]

For me the answer is yes, because I already bought one.

I bought the base model with no upgrades, after subtracting my student discount, and adding taxes the grand total was $512USD roughly. The mac mini was my second Apple product, I bought an iPod a few months ago. I have played with OS X on a customer's powerbook a few times, but never for any serious amount of time, so this was my first real experience with it.

Here are some of my impressions after 3 days of owning it.

Physical Characteristics:
Obviously this thing is TINY, I couldn't believe it when I saw it. Not only that, as to be expected it is extremely solid. It also is extremely quiet, I almost dare say silent. I can't wait to move my old desktop out my bedroom so I can get better sleep. I also really like the the slot loading optical drive as simple as that may sound. I have not opened it up yet, and I don't plan on it until I upgrade the ram from 256 to 512 or 1GB I haven't decided yet. From what I have read taking it apart is not much of a hassle.

Performance:
My previous desktop being an Athlon XP 1900+ with 128mb videocard, 256mb ram, 200GB hard drive space, running Gentoo and Ubuntu. I was initially skeptical how the mac mini would perform, only having a 1.25GHz PowerPC G4, 256mb ram, and a 32mb videocard.

I must say that I was very suprised, this little bastard feels smoother/faster than my other desktop system. I haven't done any solid benchmarks but a lot of apps seem to load faster and things feel all around snappier. I'm not sure if this is actally due to the hardware of the fact that the OS is built specifically for the hardware. Which brings me to my next point.

OS X:
I think I've found my new favorite operating system for desktop use. I can't say enough good things about OS X. It gives me Just Works(tm) behavior, but also lets me dig around on the terminal. Expose is pretty darn nifty, works very smoothly thanks to Quartz. It feels all around very intuitive. Finder is a great tool, nuff said. The dock has taken me a little while to get used to but it is growing on me. Other than that applications are pretty much applciations regardless of what OS they're for. I love the fact that Fink/apt-get is there and allows me to install a bunch of applications that are familiar to me from linux.

Overall I give the Mac Mini two thumbs up.

[jefjj01]

I bought my wife a Mac and it has worked out very well.

Now, for me as a developer I like Linux (Ubuntu), but I am a developer and my needs are different.

I led my wife down the rabbit trail of Linux for a few years and although she never really complained there are certain things I could not give her...Quicken, Palm Desktop and Excel (ugh...I hate to admit that but her biology classes had to have it). I hate Windows because it never worked very good for me, so we tried Mac. Its been an amazing machine. Just like my Ubuntu machine it never goes down!

I would recommend Mac to anyone that is not able to run Linux fully. I mean the choice for many is Linux for most things and Windows when you have to. For us its Linux for most things, and Mac when we have to. I do acknowledge that the price is high though...and the mini will get more people on to Unix because it is priced very well!

[Wolfger]

Originally posted by Parcival
I won't buy a MiniMac, as I already have a PowerBook and would never use OSX for a server - Gentoo does this job way better.
Ah, but Gentoo installs on a MiniMac (http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/20050124-newsletter.xml) :D

I think, however, I would spend the money on other stuff.

[Parcival]

Well, I don't really get the idea why one should make a server with Gentoo out of a miniMac either. My Linux server serving the entire house is in a standard ATX case. As it just stands in a corner of my office nobody cares how it looks and I have it modified in no time. However, I'd set up a miniMac in the living room to pull the files from the server and have them broadcasted to the stereo/tv/whatever. :)

[blackbelt_jones]

What I need is a second PC, nothing too fancy, so I can putter around with different distros without holding my system up.

[mrBen]

I wouldn't buy a Mac Mini because:

a) I don't like being forced to purchase an OS with my hardware
b) I'm not convinced that Apple would be any less 'monopolistic' than Microsoft, given the chance.