My opinion is "Lukewarm". The look seems plain and bland, so I am not too impressed from the stylistic point of view. :| It reminds me of my metal CD case which is just clunky, no stlye, and boring lines. Just my opinion of course... IMO, the black/platinum GCN looks better (me ducks).
The MacMini is small, that
is a big plus from a looks/deskspace perspective, but no expansion of course. I wonder how loud the fan(s) are?
But for what you get for what you pay for, I consider it a total turn off.
-256MB of DDR333 RAM => Too little, too slow.
-40GB HD => Small.
-8x DVD, 24x16x24 CDRW => Slow.
Then consider:
-You have weak access to the strong library of x86/Windows apps.
-No real upgradability.
-No
real gaming on this system (and very little on the Macs in general).
-Limited GPU (Radeon 9200).
-For the same cost you can get a similar/better SFF.
*$180 -- Shuttle Case/MB w/ integrated graphics
*$110 -- P4 2.26GHz (2.533GHz for $125, 2.8GHz for $154)
$23 -- 256MB DDR333 (512MB for $49, 1GB for $85)
$33 -- 16X DVD / 52x24x52x CDRW
$36 -- 40GB HD ($45 for 80GB, a mere $9 more)
Total = $382
Or the same system with AMD parts:
$100 -- AMD XP 2800+ (3000+ for $115, 3200+ for $143)
$183 -- Shuttle Case/MB
Total = $375
I left off the OS cost because (a) many people already have one laying around (b) you can get it cheap ($100 for WinXP Home edition when you buy HW, or $60 range on Ebay for a new copy) or (c) a small percentage of people would want Linux. Any way you get it you come ahead with the Shuttle--which
I personally think looks a lot better. Leap and bounds better. And that does not mention the ability to expand some.
Also, if you were going to go for the full $500 you could do quite a few addons. Get a better Shuttle, CPU, Memory, HDD, etc... or even add a decent videocard (a 9600Pro for $100; I have seen Radeon 9700Pros for under $150 on Ebay).
The MiniMac is a great deal for those wanting a Mac for general purpose computing. Outside of that I do not see the appeal. I think it will do well since Apple has reinvigerated the Apple brand with iPod, but I think there are better PC deals, especially SFF. Image is important, and it seems Apple is cool now and people like the look in general, so I would think this would do well. But if does well a major component with be marketing plus sex appeal--because SFF PCs from Shuttle, Asus, and others are just as "cool" looking, at least imo
But I do think the shuttles are
much better looking. They have a
wide selection of looks. This
page also has some shuttles in different settings. Now that I think of it, Shuttle should do a barebone mainstream system to compete with MacMini. EDIT: I checked, and guess what? They have some decent little shuttles for
$600. If they had more brand awareness and a little more aggressive pricing and/or features they could really make a name for themselves.
