Apple Mac mini (M9686LL/A) Desktop
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- Operating System: Apple MacOS X
- HDD Size: 40 GB
- Installed Memory: 256 MB (DDR SDRAM)
- Processor: PowerPC G4 1.25 GHz
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Probably the best 'silent' computer out in the market.
Pros
Quiet, lower power, great design, and easy to use
Cons
Performance can be lacking at times.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
For a casual computer user, Mac Mini is the best device.
This piece has been reviewed by few. I am reviewing this because I believe there will be plenty of 'used mac mini's' appearing and people will ponder whether it's a good idea to grab this piece of equipment.
So who is mac mini for?
- The target audience is 2 drastically different groups. First group are people who are looking for entry level macs and are not interested in paying a lot of money for mac. Second group are hard core geeks who are curious or want a small quiet computer.
-Entry level computer user
Mac is a wonderful OS in that it's very limiting. When you use a mac, you are not flooded with tons of information. You have a rather simple navigation bar at the bottom that dictates what applications you can use. For entry level user, this is more then sufficient. With introductin of Panther, we also have widgets, which are nice little feature that brings up/hides bunch of tools, which you can download, that will give capabilities to make your Mac more convenient. For example, I just tapped F12 and looked at weather, dopler radar, and world clock at a simple glance. Once you get used to mac, you will start to feel different about how to work. It's a great OS/Hardware combination for someone who 'wants to get tasks done' without the hassles of really knowing the details of the system and focusing on running apps. I personally use 3 types of operating systems on daily basis (Windows XP, linux, and OS/X) and I find OS/X to be very smooth and very pleasant to use. I would feel that most people would feel the same.
-Advanced user (Geeks).
Mac Mini is essentially a BSD with Apple interface running on top of it. Hidden behind is a realiable BSD operating system that can do pretty much what ever you want to do. One of the first things I did was compile and have Apache 2.0 running. I don't recall if I did run Tomcat on this thing, but I'm pretty sure it would run with little or no effort. Though one weakness of Apple that I noticed in the beginning was rather slow Java development. I am not sure exactly why this is the case. Also, mac mini's size and noise is important. One of the worst things that happened in PCs recently is that it's become bigger, and noisier. About 5 years ago, I purchased a Dell 4500 and convinced almost the entire office to switch as it was virtually silent. Having a quiet room is more condusive to a positive environment, and I appreciate not hearing fans whining all day long. As for the form factor, mac mini is nice and small.
Performance:
Mac mini is not a high performance PC by any means. It feels as fast as Pentium 4 2.0 ghz laptop (not core duo, or centrino), which is sufficient for day to day operation. Mac mini will not be a good gaming computer, nor will it replace high end video encoding and other processor heavy workload. But it is a wonderful web server, and other light duty work load. Other potential include Open LDAP, and mail servers.
Upgrades:
It's recommended to upgrade mac mini to minimum 512megs of ram. Everyone is pretty much upgrading mac mini to 1 gig. Additionally, external hard disk is recommend if you decide to stick with mac mini. If there is one thing that's slowing down mac mini that can greatly help it, it is the hard disk. Beyond this, video card (ATI radeon 9200 32megs), and Proc are the two weak components, but for most day to day operation, it is not neccesary.
Accessories:
I like my mac keyboard because it adds volume control and eject right on the keyboard for $29. But I do not feel justified to buy mighty mouse for $49. I am currently using a logitech MX1000 as I am using a corded gaming mouse for pc setup.
So what do I think about Mac Mini?
I think it's wonderful for couple of reasons.
1. Dead Quiet. (I never hear the fan running.) About the only time mac mini gets noisy is if you use CD/DVD. But I don't recall last time I inserted a CD.
2. Low energy. Yes, I drive a Prius and I'm environmentally conscious. But Mac Mini uses very little power and it's a great device.
3. Easy of use. Just plut all the devices, power it up and you are good to go.
4. Great interface.
When I am not heavily into gaming, mac mini become my default computer. Otherwise, my PC with 4 gigs of ram, RAID controller, and 7900GTX video card that sounds like a jet fighter tied down to my desk is running. But on a quiet nights when all I want to hear is music and concentrate on writing (like right now), I use Mac Mini.
So who is mac mini for?
- The target audience is 2 drastically different groups. First group are people who are looking for entry level macs and are not interested in paying a lot of money for mac. Second group are hard core geeks who are curious or want a small quiet computer.
-Entry level computer user
Mac is a wonderful OS in that it's very limiting. When you use a mac, you are not flooded with tons of information. You have a rather simple navigation bar at the bottom that dictates what applications you can use. For entry level user, this is more then sufficient. With introductin of Panther, we also have widgets, which are nice little feature that brings up/hides bunch of tools, which you can download, that will give capabilities to make your Mac more convenient. For example, I just tapped F12 and looked at weather, dopler radar, and world clock at a simple glance. Once you get used to mac, you will start to feel different about how to work. It's a great OS/Hardware combination for someone who 'wants to get tasks done' without the hassles of really knowing the details of the system and focusing on running apps. I personally use 3 types of operating systems on daily basis (Windows XP, linux, and OS/X) and I find OS/X to be very smooth and very pleasant to use. I would feel that most people would feel the same.
-Advanced user (Geeks).
Mac Mini is essentially a BSD with Apple interface running on top of it. Hidden behind is a realiable BSD operating system that can do pretty much what ever you want to do. One of the first things I did was compile and have Apache 2.0 running. I don't recall if I did run Tomcat on this thing, but I'm pretty sure it would run with little or no effort. Though one weakness of Apple that I noticed in the beginning was rather slow Java development. I am not sure exactly why this is the case. Also, mac mini's size and noise is important. One of the worst things that happened in PCs recently is that it's become bigger, and noisier. About 5 years ago, I purchased a Dell 4500 and convinced almost the entire office to switch as it was virtually silent. Having a quiet room is more condusive to a positive environment, and I appreciate not hearing fans whining all day long. As for the form factor, mac mini is nice and small.
Performance:
Mac mini is not a high performance PC by any means. It feels as fast as Pentium 4 2.0 ghz laptop (not core duo, or centrino), which is sufficient for day to day operation. Mac mini will not be a good gaming computer, nor will it replace high end video encoding and other processor heavy workload. But it is a wonderful web server, and other light duty work load. Other potential include Open LDAP, and mail servers.
Upgrades:
It's recommended to upgrade mac mini to minimum 512megs of ram. Everyone is pretty much upgrading mac mini to 1 gig. Additionally, external hard disk is recommend if you decide to stick with mac mini. If there is one thing that's slowing down mac mini that can greatly help it, it is the hard disk. Beyond this, video card (ATI radeon 9200 32megs), and Proc are the two weak components, but for most day to day operation, it is not neccesary.
Accessories:
I like my mac keyboard because it adds volume control and eject right on the keyboard for $29. But I do not feel justified to buy mighty mouse for $49. I am currently using a logitech MX1000 as I am using a corded gaming mouse for pc setup.
So what do I think about Mac Mini?
I think it's wonderful for couple of reasons.
1. Dead Quiet. (I never hear the fan running.) About the only time mac mini gets noisy is if you use CD/DVD. But I don't recall last time I inserted a CD.
2. Low energy. Yes, I drive a Prius and I'm environmentally conscious. But Mac Mini uses very little power and it's a great device.
3. Easy of use. Just plut all the devices, power it up and you are good to go.
4. Great interface.
When I am not heavily into gaming, mac mini become my default computer. Otherwise, my PC with 4 gigs of ram, RAID controller, and 7900GTX video card that sounds like a jet fighter tied down to my desk is running. But on a quiet nights when all I want to hear is music and concentrate on writing (like right now), I use Mac Mini.
