After the new iMac, Where is the new Mini?

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 95
    sybariticsybaritic Posts: 340member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Walter Slocombe View Post


    your needs, fair enough.



    Mine? an extra Firewire slot (and not just a hub affair)



    My needs include the ability to run all the CS3 apps (except video) without a hiccup. Is this doable?
  • Reply 42 of 95
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sybaritic View Post


    My needs include the ability to run all the CS3 apps (except video) without a hiccup. Is this doable?





    wouldnt know really, I imagine its possible, if a little slower than other machines. I don't have CS3
  • Reply 43 of 95
    lotharsnllotharsnl Posts: 113member
    I like the low profile of the Mini when used with a TV. My brother uses a mini with his 60" 1080p Vizio, and it looks quite good. With that little bt keyboard, mouse, and the remote w/front row, it makes for a neat setup. He stores his iTunes library with a bunch of movies on his Time Capsule. Mostly, though, he prefers lying on his couch when playing online poker.



    I've been hoping that Apple might eventually turn the Mini into something like a Apple TV/Tivo/Mini/Slingbox. Would it be very expensive for them to add a coaxial in, and maybe replace the DVI with an HDMI? Or, at least, add an optical audio out. With a blu-ray option, it would be a great living room system.



    I guess one could always hack an Apple TV, but I'd still like the blu-ray. Being able to record to the drive like Tivo would be nice, too.
  • Reply 44 of 95
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by LotharSNL View Post




    I've been hoping that Apple might eventually turn the Mini into something like a Apple TV/Tivo/Mini/Slingbox. Would it be very expensive for them to add a coaxial in, and maybe replace the DVI with an HDMI? Or, at least, add an optical audio out. With a blu-ray option, it would be a great living room system.



    I guess one could always hack an Apple TV, but I'd still like the blu-ray. Being able to record to the drive like Tivo would be nice, too.



    ????????? Wha?????



    DVI works with monitors AND HDMI with the small addition of an adaptor, how many monitors out in the wild have HDMI AS WELL? not that many.



    optical audio out? all the intel models had that from day one. a little research please



    re position the mini as a tivo type machine? yeah seems like a good idea, sling in the BD for backup and it looks interesting, but EXPENSIVE. suddenly you have a machine that ISNT the low cost option for switchers that it should be, plus you get to eat into potential profit by NOT selling an aTV and NOT garnering the profits from rentals or sales.



    I don't think thats likely to go down well in Apple HQ, do you?
  • Reply 45 of 95
    aegisdesignaegisdesign Posts: 2,914member
    Avoiding the towermac debate because it is tedious, I've often thought Apple would sell more Minis if they included a cheaper screen than the Apple Cinema displays and the keyboard/mouse so buyers didn't have to source them themselves. It just seems bizarre to some people that you don't get them and there is no budget screen option with an Apple logo on.



    The hardware is no worse than a Macbook really and people have no problems buying those and you don't hear people bitching about the 2.5" drive or GMA or that they're largely sealed boxes.



    As to Dell's market share, most of that is businesses, not consumers so it's not really what the consumer 'wants' that drives their share. Apple doesn't really address that market hence their share being lower, even if increasingly more businesses are using Macs now.



    Then again, I've been in businesses since the original IBM PC XT was my company's choice for me and since then nobody has EVER come round to upgrade my PC piece by piece. This whole 'businesses need upgradable PCs' thing seems like a crock as far as my experience.
  • Reply 46 of 95
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aegisdesign View Post


    Avoiding the towermac debate because it is tedious, I've often thought Apple would sell more Minis if they included a cheaper screen than the Apple Cinema displays and the keyboard/mouse so buyers didn't have to source them themselves. It just seems bizarre to some people that you don't get them and there is no budget screen option with an Apple logo on.



    It would help the sales. Look, its pretty clear that Apple approaches this segment with stereotypes and misconceptions. They figure that anyone who doesn't have a display would buy an iMac.



    Quote:

    The hardware is no worse than a Macbook really and people have no problems buying those and you don't hear people bitching about the 2.5" drive or GMA or that they're largely sealed boxes.



    You don't see too many Macbooks used as he main family computer. Believe me, if my iBook were my main computer I would be approaching it very differently. You can also access the memory without tearing the macbook apart.
  • Reply 47 of 95
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aegisdesign View Post


    The hardware is no worse than a Macbook really and people have no problems buying those and you don't hear people bitching about the 2.5" drive or GMA or that they're largely sealed boxes.



    You know what? I have bought

    - a Powerbook

    - an iBook

    - a Macbook

    for my *main* computers, and all this time what I have wanted to buy was a real desktop. Mini is.. just a Macbook, exactly. So I ended up getting the mobility for just a little bit more, but I'd have survived without. Apple's crippled-or-huge laptop philosophy, which also continues to this day, never sat well with me either. After the Powerbook I'd much rather have bought a Powerbook-priced 12" Thinkpad, it just didn't run OS X.



    I'll soon be receiving delivery of a desktop PC. That's how content I am with Apple filling my hardware needs.
  • Reply 48 of 95
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Walter Slocombe View Post


    ...DVI works with monitors AND HDMI with the small addition of an adaptor, how many monitors out in the wild have HDMI AS WELL? not that many...



    That is NOT the same as native HDMI though. using DVI > adaptor > HDMI does not work quite right with the 3 HD monitors/TV's I have. The menubar and dock end up being just off the screen when 1080 is selected as the screen resolution in this case. It seems there's something in that DVI/converter setup that doesn't quite meet the "standard" of HDMI.



    There's also the deal where you don't get audio through the HDMI cable when using the DVI/converter setup.
  • Reply 49 of 95
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    I suspect a Mini update could wait until after the official Montevina release in the first week in June.



    The oh so special iMac got some early Montevina stuff but it isn't widely available yet.



    This means another 4 week wait.



    Still, it should mean much faster graphics as they will skip over the X3100 chipset and the X4500 should be 5-6x faster than the 950 in the current Mini. It also supports HDMI so we could be getting a better multimedia computer overall.



    Short of a dedicated GPU, I think the X4500 will be a nice update along with some 2.26GHz+ Penryn CPUs.



    A month is such a long time to wait when you're waiting on something though.



    Hopefully DVD burners on the low end too. Why do manufacturers even make combo drives any more? 2GB Ram default wouldn't go amiss either.



    I'm also hoping for an all-metal case with a logo like you get on the MBP lid.
  • Reply 50 of 95
    fishyesquefishyesque Posts: 725member
    In what ways is the Mini competitive compared to other computers like it?
  • Reply 51 of 95
    tontontonton Posts: 14,067
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fishyesque View Post


    In what ways is the Mini competitive compared to other computers like it?



    What other computers are like it? A small, attractive computer that can run OS X?
  • Reply 52 of 95
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Walter Slocombe View Post


    your needs, fair enough.



    Mine? an extra Firewire slot (and not just a hub affair)



    edit : just wondering what you want the express card for exactly?



    Firewire 400/800

    eSATA

    TV Tuner

    Docking Station and/or expansion chassis = Video Card

    3G/CDMA/EVDO/GRPS/UMTS

    SSD

    Memory Card (CS, MS, SD, xD, etc)

    extra NIC or 802.11N

    serial or parallel port



    My needs are actually fairly generic since it encompasses a lot of other desires. It answers a significant number of expansion desires with a direct PCIe connection (alas only 1x) route.



    With an expresscard I can run a 30" ACD if I need to. It would be hideously expensive but I could do it.
  • Reply 53 of 95
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Walter Slocombe View Post


    ????????? Wha?????



    DVI works with monitors AND HDMI with the small addition of an adaptor, how many monitors out in the wild have HDMI AS WELL? not that many.



    You'd want HDCP support as well which the Mini does not provide. Granted it doesn't buy you much at the moment...
  • Reply 54 of 95
    fishyesquefishyesque Posts: 725member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post


    What other computers are like it? A small, attractive computer that can run OS X?



    You should have known I wasn't talking about that.



    Simply specifications of the computer and the price, compared to others.
  • Reply 55 of 95
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tonton View Post


    What other computers are like it? A small, attractive computer that can run OS X?



    I would prefer a slightly larger attractive computer than can run Mac OS X well and doesn't require a putty knife to upgrade the memory.
  • Reply 56 of 95
    benroethigbenroethig Posts: 2,782member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fishyesque View Post


    You should have known I wasn't talking about that.



    Simply specifications of the computer and the price, compared to others.



    If you're talking about direct competitors in the small form factor, its about the same, but there really isn't much success in that niche besides the Mini. Compared to entry level machines, they have excellent CPUs, but the 1.8ghz model is the last computer still shipping with a combo drive (even compaq and emachines ship DVD burners standard) and you;re going to have about a quarter the hard drive space.
  • Reply 57 of 95
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BenRoethig View Post


    If you're talking about direct competitors in the small form factor, its about the same, but there really isn't much success in that niche besides the Mini. Compared to entry level machines, they have excellent CPUs, but the 1.8ghz model is the last computer still shipping with a combo drive (even compaq and emachines ship DVD burners standard) and you;re going to have about a quarter the hard drive space.



    The closest mainstream competitor is likely the HP s3400t. Which is nicer than the mini but doesn't run OSX and is larger...I guess the slimlines from HP and Dell are about as small as they get until you get to Shuttle's X200 SFF computer.



    Which is $949 for the base model...so there's zero reason to buy the X200. The mini is priced far below the alternatives.



    http://us.shuttle.com/X200H.aspx
  • Reply 58 of 95
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BenRoethig View Post


    I would prefer a slightly larger attractive computer than can run Mac OS X well and doesn't require a putty knife to upgrade the memory.



    The putty knife is seriously a non-issue. If I can get into the box your average grandma can get into the box.
  • Reply 59 of 95
    royboyroyboy Posts: 458member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    The putty knife is seriously a non-issue. If I can get into the box your average grandma can get into the box.



    But most people don't have an average grandmother as set by your standards. I certainly don't know of any grandmothers, and very few people who aren't computer geeks, who consider it just a normal part of using a computer that one had to use a putty knife to pry open the computer case to install memory.
  • Reply 60 of 95
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Royboy View Post


    But most people don't have an average grandmother as set by your standards. I certainly don't know of any grandmothers, and very few people who aren't computer geeks, who consider it just a normal part of using a computer that one had to use a putty knife to pry open the computer case to install memory.



    Jeez, you put in two flat surfaces (putty knives or similar) and push.
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