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PC Competition for the Mac mini?
Omega1045 asks: "When Apple announced their Mac mini last week for US$499, it caught my eye. Wanting to buy/build a small PC for my already cramped breakfast bar, I started pricing out similar PC hardware. The results startled me. It was very difficult to price a PC as small (6.5" x 6.5" x 2") as the Mac mini with comparable equipment cheaper than the Mac mini. Indeed, most of the configurations I found were more than the humble $499 of the Mac, often much more. To match price I often had to configure with a much bigger shuttle-style case. What computers are currently on the market to compete with this? When my wife asks for the 'cute little Mac', what PC can I buy instead that will take up as little space and do as much for the same price (or less)?" How long do you think it will take PC manufacturers to answer Apple's latest entry into the market?
what PC can I buy instead that will take up as little space and do as much for the same price (or less)?
Nothing comes to mind that can do as much for that price, but I'm sure someone will post all the components that they got for some price you'll never be able to find. They won't account for the OS price, the time spend building the computer, or the lack of any warranty.
--
Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things.
How lond do you think it will take PC manufacturers to answer Apple's latest entry into the market?
;-)
:-) why not? It's unix.
I don't think anyone really knows how lond
omega1045: just buy the mini
/* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
How lond do you think it will take PC manufacturers to answer Apple's latest entry into the market?
If the Mini sells well, look for copies in less than a year; if it's not a big hit, the big guys (Dell, HP, et al) won't bother.
"It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
Before all of the do-it-yourself system builders leap in, check out this post from Yesterday's discussion:
Leo McGarry said, and I can't think of a better summary,
"Howzabout you buy a computer instead of hand-carving your own microchips?
People love to talk about how you can build a top-flight desktop computer for $3.25 plus two subway tokens and some kind of weird-ass coin that you dug out of your sofa that's got "Røølï" written on it, but what they curiously omit is the fact that if you took all the time you'd spend gathering parts and assembling them and worked a minimum-wage job at some fast food place instead, you'd earn hundreds of dollars. So the real cost of this "It's Shake-n-Bake, and I helped!" special is, in fact, several times higher than the sum of the price tags on the hundreds of inscrutable parts that went into it.
People who say "I can build that for less" are either not bothering to account for their time or just flat-out lying, because the plain truth of the matter is that if they could, somebody already would have, and you'd be able to just go out to a 7-11 and buy the damn thing for half off with the purchase of a medium or large fountain drink."
Three Squirrels
I bought a fanless mini pc from CappuccinoPC. I don't see the exact model I purchased on their site, but it was close to this one:
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/slimpro-sp300-fanless
1.65"H x 5.75"W x 9.84"D
Slightly bigger than the mini-mac, and not as stylish.
They have a variety of other systems, some with fans, some without. Some of them come in a brushed silver color.
They have cases, barebones, and fully functional offerings. I bought a complete PC and it was under $600.
The facts have a liberal bias. --The Daily Show
Don't answer him! It's a provocation by some apple zealot!
;)
Robert
PS
Bastard Operator From 193.219.28.162
None, and you can't.
You want something small and functional for your breakfast bar, right? Then just get the Mac Mini and be done with it. It'll play your music, browse the web, and read your email every bit as well as your Windows PC, so what's the problem? Are you planning to play Doom 3 over eggs and bacon?
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
My wife asked me for one thing, how can I give her something else entirely and act all pompous like I went out of my way for her? I like sleeping on the couch.
When my wife asks for the 'cute little Mac', what PC can I buy instead that will take up as little space and do as much for the same price (or less)?
You could just buy the Mac Mini. I know it seems silly, but this is exactly what Apple is hoping you'll do. For iLife, a BSD userland, and some other fun stuff, how can you resist? I know you can, thank you peanut gallery.
I tried pricing something similar a while ago -- look at OEM parts, and consider putting the whole thing into a cardboard box; you can do well with an Athlon 64, a couple hundred megs of memory, and a bulk HD. Size, however.. that's hard. MiniITX doesn't come cheap.
"When my wife asks for the 'cute little Mac', what PC can I buy instead"
Why would you want a PC when a Mac can be had for that low price. What does the PC have that the Mac doesn't?
My comments may be crap...but they are my crap...and I am brave enough to stand by them...Never post as AC!
Are you actually saying you'd prefer buying a PC over the Mac mini?
As a long-time PC user who's wanted an OS X Mac for simply years, I must ask: Why?
Yes, the Mac mini is a small form factor, and that's part of what makes it so appealing. However, the specs are all far from top-of-the-line: an older processor, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB HD, etc. etc. This all helps keeps the cost down. Trying to build something specifications-equivalent in a PC involves buying a low-end processor and a small motherboard to match (not to mention the other components), and I don't know if it can be done. The integration that Apple can pull together with its hardware enables low-end but tightly integrated computers such as the Mac mini to exist. The componentization of the PC world does not lend itself to a build-it-yourself Mac mini equivalent.
but as a mac user, i wouldn't touch a PC even if it's $200 cheaper and smaller than mac mini for the simple reason it won't be running OS X.
Unless you have a lot of time on your hands and some crazy Mini-ITX skills you're not going to find anything like that for awhile.
Since the MacMini also has a video card that isn't integrated into the mother (logic) board. I have a feeling you're not going to find anything with the type of video processing power either. Decent video cards aren't very small these days.
I really don't think its hygeinic to have windows in the kitchen, all those viruses and worms
;-)
when your wife asks for the "cute little mac" just get it for her, trying to force your sense of what a good computer is on her is a little selfish.
How would you feel if you asked for a nice BMW and she came home with a similar Toyota?
Those who know, do not speak. Those who speak, do not know. ~Lao Tzu
Really, it is stylish (nice color, will look good on coffee table), it runs UNIX, can be gotten for cheap now, even included an IndyCam -- and form-factor is not too far from mini-mac.
Only partially kidding!
Paul B.
So, when asked "When my wife asks for the 'cute little Mac', what PC can I buy instead that will take up as little space and do as much for the same price (or less)", your suggestion is a box that's significantly larger and heavier and costs nearly 4x as much?
in order to get something of the same size, you're going to have to go mini itx. the majority of the mobos in that form factor will be hovering at or below 1ghz.
if you want something that will perform similarly, you'd have to go for something like this. that's $175 for the motherboard alone, and you're stuck with intel "extreme" gfx and the p4m processor that you'll have to buy separately.
your best shot might be the pentium-m (not p4m) mini-itx combos. those are quite a bit more expensive though (i can't find it on froogle, but the company's site says 674 euros if you buy 100 of them).
with the via mini-itx solutions, you'll get good price/size. with the p-m you'll get good performance/size. as far as i can tell, the mini is the only one where you'll get price/performance/size, which is why i pounced on it right as jobs announced it.
"what PC can I buy instead that will take up as little space and do as much for the same price (or less)?"
Mini-ITX is the way to go. You'll need a motherboard and CPU ($160), a good case and PSU ($70), a laptop HDD ($130 will get you a 60GB Seagate 5200rpm), an optical drive (DVD/CD-RW; $33) and some DDR ($80 for 512M).
Total: $473.
Compared to the Mac Mini:
+ More memory
+ Larger HDD
+ Twice as many USB ports
+ Parallel / Serial Ports
+ Free PCI Slot
+ Audio input
+ PS2 ports
+ Dual Ethernet
- Slower CPU
- Slightly Larger
- No FireWire
Add Linux or Windows.
Maybe he's a big fan of spyware and would miss out on all of the "fun" if he got a Mac.
I have a website. It's about Macs.
Can you name a single man here on slashdot who wouldn't get hot @ the thought of his wife wanting to use a UNIX-based operating system?
Get her the Mac Mini and get the AppleCare stuff so you won't have to worry about a damn thing in the event terrorists strike. And when she asks for help, you put one arm around her to work the keyboard, reach around her to grab the mouse, and whisper in her ear, "Oh no, baby, Safari is so much better than IE. Let me show you..."
*cough*
[o]_O
How about just installing the Windows Remote Desktop Client for Mac and remote onto your headless PC? I went tried this out at a local Mac store this past weekend -- the guy walking the floor did a double take when he saw that I had a full Windows desktop (my machine at home) running on a PowerBook... apparently he was not aware of this functionalilty.
Hubris. It's the same reason we can't stop and ask for directions.
No sig for you!!
What case are you basing this on?
Is it equivalent in size to the Mac Mini's?
It is a reliable PSU, right? Not some $10 taiwanese job that's going to blow out and fry your mobo in 6 months?
What processor and mobo?
Are they as fast as the Mac Mini's?
Does your hypothetical miniPC have a graphics card equivalent to the Mini's Radeon 9200, or is this some Intel Integrated piece of crap that leeches off of system RAM?
Why do you consider a system that's $26 cheaper than the Mini but includes neither an operating system nor software equivalent to the iLife suite to be comparable to the Mini?
And finally:
Who are you trying to kid?
Not only is it tough to find a PC with comparable hardware at a comparable size with a comparable price, but you've also got to factor in the software. The Mac Mini comes loaded with OS X, iLife, AppleWorks 6, Quicken 2005 and two games.
There's actually a lot of value there for $499. If you're able to find comparably sized hardware at a comparable price, I'd be very surprised if it came with anything more than the OS already installed.
Jobs & co are already on record saying margins are similar to the eMac, and I can believe it, since the machine is actually priced quite similarly to an eMac without keyboard, mouse or monitor.
D
What I don't understand is the lack of emphasis on the bundled software that comes with the mac mini (the iLife suite in particular). While most of the talk around the mac mini seems to be on the hardware, 1.25 Ghz is more than enough to edit DV, create/burn DVDs etc. Sure it won't rip through it like a dual G5, but I use a 1Ghz eMac for editing/dvd creation and it's fantastic (admittedly, you will have to up the ram...) but the whole iLife suite is the best thing going for the mac mini. There are no programs that come close to iLife on a PC in terms of power to price ratio. This is where apple will convince 'switchers' to stay switched and should really focus their marketing attention...
Well, that's my AU 2 cents... [US 0.0152 cents]
Does this make my brain look big?
Apple systems are a bit different from Windows machines when it comes to megahertz. OS X (recent versions at least. anything 10.2 or later, with the Mac Mini shipping with 10.3) runs suprisingly well on 'older' hardware. OS X will run just fine on a 500mhz mac with 512mb of ram (128 is minimum, but bump it anyway, trust me). a 1ghz system with at least 512mb is a field day for OS X. My powerbook was top-of-the-line one and a half years ago, with 1 ghz G4, 1gig ram, and a 60 gig HD. That hardware is perfectly capable of doing some of those awesome tricks like having a bunch of hardcore apps running at a time. The final answer is just about any program you throw at it will run excellent, except 'pro' apps, where performance will be acceptable (not great, but if you want to, you can). Example: Video editing with iMovie is WELL within it's abilities, and the step-ups of Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express should move along pretty quick too ...Assuming you do get a ram bump, which I HIGHLY recommend. Other than that, this looks to be a nonissue.
HP Recalls
Dell Recalls
Make sure never to buy from them either, since aparently a company admitting a problem and fixing it for free is too much for you to deal with. While your at it, make sure to sell any vehicle you own, as it is likely that company has also issued recall notices on some of their products. Next up, make sure to avoid the grocery stores. They have recall notices posted all the time too.
A PC maker would never create a mac mini clone, as the engineering efforts would outweigh their bottom line on the system. They would be able to make a slightly larger box, but the temptation to use things such as full sized hard drives is too great a temptation for them.
The other problem is heat, the system will definitely be based around laptop technology for it's size and heat production, which is going to up the price even further.
Ultimately when you work with PC's the Speed, Price, Design triangle applies, I.E in the PC world you can get any two of the three, always at the expense of the 3rd. It only takes an experienced electronics company that is used to making small(iPod, 1" Total thickness Powerbooks, ultra thin displays, sunflower iMac, flatpanel iMac, etc) devices to pull off a good price, reasonable speed and fine design balance.
Another issue is that the moment you get some *useful* software for the low end PC the price bellows outward significantly and the result is that it will cost far in excess of the mac mini which ships with excellent(Award winning even) software, not trials/demos of paintshop pro and crippled OS's that don't let you connect to server volumes.
So now you say, oh we'll just pirate all the software we need from our friend, which to any unscrupulous person is a good tactic to get around that price barrier. The problems don't end there though, the moment you want acceptable video in the unit you will be forking out for a separate video card, as on board video using shared memory is woeful to say the least. This is then going to be run on the cheapest architecture that the PC maker could phathom, so performance of that card is going to be cut up significantly. Finally there are numerous issued to do with your optical drives, for computer manufacturers combo drives work out to be more expensive than individual cd and dvd rom readers. Such as in the low end dell offering, you can't get a combo drive, instead you have to get two individual drives one for reading dvds and one for burning cd-r/rw.
Anyway the point is made, for PC makers the numbers don't make sense, you'll get more cheap offerings, but as with the nature of going-on-the-cheap, the units will always be lack lustre.
An impressive move by Apple.
There is only one impressive thing about the Shuffle and the Mini-mac that highlights a new marketing move by Apple that might finally allow me to stop hating them - the price.
Apple has always dressed up average, underpowered personal computer components, slapped a white case around them, dropped a proprietary OS on them and sold them at three times the price to people who'll gladly pay three times the price for a computer because it's from Apple and it's "Blueberry" or whatever fruit flavour is popular.
I'd consider buying one of these newer, cheaper products because of the price and functionality. For a desktop PC I'd never own a Mac, simply because I'm a gamer, I need computational power and flexibility with my desktop (I want the choice between *nix and Windows, something an Apple can't provide). Not to mention the range of games available.
Having said that, I think Apple has screwed up with the Mac mini. All they had to do was add a TOSLINK/spdif audio out + s-video for the hi-fi enthusiasts and they would *KILL* the home theatre market. Modded X-box? No. Shuttle IPC? No. Micro-ATX? Nowhere near. It's so small it would run perfectly in a hifi stack, and with the CPU apple put in it, it's only good for video playback or web browsing or little functions like that. Unfortunately, there might not be enough CPU for on the fly video encoding, and it could use an imbedded HDTV tuner.
I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
It goes without saying but everyone is forgetting:
It's the software stupid!
The Mac mini is bundles with:
- BSD OS that is VVF (virtually virus free)
- Quicken '05
- iTunes
- iPhoto
- iMovie
- iDVD (if you opt for the Super Drive option)
- Garage Band
- Safari
- iCal
- Mail.app
- Address Book
- iSync
Without the software, the hardware is just something to look at (in the case of the Mac mini) or hide (in the case of most PC cases).
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
The problem you run into shopping for Apple hardware isn't that the Apple
hardware is much more expensive than equivalent PC hardware -- it's generally
comparable. The problem is that there's an entire very important class of
system (namely, the expandable midrange system) that Apple never supplies.
Their low-end systems, such as the new Mini, but also the iMac, eMac, and
so on, all have pretty much zero capacity to be expanded, enhanced, or
upgraded. *Maybe* you can add another stick of RAM (but not two or three
more), and external peripherals, and that's just about it. If you want to
add another drive or two or replace the graphics card, you're fresh out.
For that kind of thing -- which is no problem with $400 PCs and is rather
important for anyone with even mild computer-geek tendencies -- you have to
go all the way to the PowerMac tower systems, which start at some thousand
and a half smackers. Granted, they're much higher-end than the $400 PC
and are probably worth what they cost, but that's small consolation if
you don't need all those extra GHz but do need the ability to add an extra
drive next year or an expansion card.
In other words, Apple has to-date never tried to sell anything in the niche
occupied by the Celeron-based mid-tower system.
But in the niches they *do* try to compete in, they generally are fairly
price competitive (all else being equal), and the new mini seems to be a
hit in that regard. To keep myself from buying one, I keep reminding
myself that four computers in my bedroom, three of which are turned on
pretty much all the time, is *enough*, darnit. Also, the one that's not
turned on most of the time is the one that's not x86-family, which is
probably not a coincidence (although, it's a bit on the old side as well
and doesn't have TCP/IP installed, so there are more reasons than just
architecture).
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
http://logisysus.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=74
http://www.boldata.com/html/minipc.cfm
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/default.asp
those are from the first page of a google search
The Mac Mini has a switching PSU; 100-240VAC, 50-60Hz.
I am an MS shill who is shitting in his pants about the prospect of a highly afordable mac i dont really have a wife because i have an IQ of 40 im ugly as hell and i weigh 500lbs. In an attempt to please my evil satanic master (Monkey boy) i have concocted an imaginary story where my wife wants a mini mac ( see the part about not having a wife ) and how i am on this grand technical quest to find a pc for this imaginary wife so that i can get that for her instead. in this imaginary world my imaginary wife would have to have an IQ of 30 and therefore truely want a pc. My grand attempt at FUD for my master would work best on /.
Dear MS Troll
Please go back to your brige under the freeway and shoot yourselfe with a bazooka. cut off you balls so there is no chance that you could ever even accidentally procreate. idiots like you are wasting valuable air that other things could actually use ( gestating maggots come to mind ). i have a real wife and i bought her an ibook she loves it and uses it all the time. she is compleatly confident with it and she has never had a virus spyware or needed me to fix it. originally she wanted a PC laptop but i lent her my PB for a week and she decided she wanted a MAC to. i intend to either buy or convince all the members of my family to buy one of these so that i dont have to put up with repair calls. also i showed my wife that in order to do all of the things that you can do on a mac you would have to pay about 400$ more you would have to essentially find a free pc to campare the two. the new mac mini comes with
no spyware
no viri
ilife
iwork
UNIX
omnigraffle ect
and 16 other professional grade applications and utilities.
peace of mind
there is no pc that can even come close to maching this deal.
if you actually had a wife you would respect and honer her and get a mac. but please built this imaginary PC for your imaginary wife. and use it to get pr0n off the internet because that is the closest you will ever get to intimacy with a real woman.
From www.dictionary.com:
anymore (n-môr, -mr)
adv.
Any longer; at the present: Do they make this model anymore?
From now on: We promised not to quarrel anymore.
Chiefly Midland U.S. Nowadays.
Regional Note: In standard American English the word anymore is often found in negative sentences: They don't live here anymore. But anymore is widely used in regional American English in positive sentences with the meaning nowadays: We use a gas stove anymore (Oklahoma informant in DARE). Its use, which appears to be spreading, is centered in the South Midland and Midwestern states, as well as in the Western states that received settlers from those areas. The earliest recorded examples are from Northern Ireland, where the positive use of anymore still occurs.
my sig could kick your sig's arse...
A geek is a geek is a geek is a hopeless non-empathic cheap bastard who doesn't know his luck.
Your wife ASKS you to buy A SPECIFIC COMPUTER. And you think that's a problem. You're going to go to all the trouble to buy her something "better" - read: not what SHE asks but what YOU want to buy.
Dude, you've got a problem, and it's not necessarily with computers.
I think, therefore I am...I think.
[Expandability] is no problem with $400 PCs and is rather
important for anyone with even mild computer-geek tendencies
Careful there, "computer-geek" is a pretty general word.
I make a living programming and I love to screw around with my computer, but I hate screwing around with hardware. I want a computer that Just Works so I can play with robots or writing a laser-pointer tracker or whatever I feel like doing this particular day of the week. I don't like fooling around with internal components and I don't like having to repair my OS. For this reason, I own a Mac.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
Ok if your going get into Labor rates for car techs and not talk about computers you should get your info straight. 1. tech's don't make 80 an hour their company does they normally make from 15 to 30 an hour depending on the car line and their experence. Their company doesn't have a pure profit on the rest of the money they must also pay the service writer, the cashier, the porters and detailers + they have massive insurance, equipment, education/training and ult. cost. Most dealership shop barely break even or post a very very small profit. Car dealers make money selling cars not on their shops. 2. If you are a programmer making $15 - $30 you can pretty much bet your company is charging their customers quite a bit more for your time. 3. You get to work in a nice office, and i bet your not worrying about increased cancer/health risks found in mech. tech. due to their work environment.Your lose of hearing from impact tools and when was the last time you lost a finger due to kernal failure? Or just came home with your hands cut up by the dread blue screen of death. No? That hasn't happened, well techs burn, shock, bruise and cut themselves all the time, next time take a look at their hands - I think you'd perfer you small chance of corp. tunnel to their almost daily dose of abuse. 4. Ya on some jobs they might get the job done in under the standard time and make a little extra money but that's been going down for years and they don't get paid a cent for all the time their filling out paperwork or waiting for the parts guy to pull what they need. Also there are jobs that eat their ass where they get paid much less then they put in. Plus the real bitch is if their dealership doesn't bring in enough work - they're still required to put in their 8 - 10 hour days but they might just get paid 2 or 3 hours for that day. They also have some of the worst benifits and vacation policies. How would you like to spend 50 hours at work but come home with a check for 20 or 30, oh and one of the worst times of year is right before christmas. Anyway I know you guys aren't trying to put down techs really, it's just a sore place for me. Believe me techs don't have it easy - most customers really don't understand or appreciate their techs and think their just trying to screw them but most of them are really good people. Ya there are hacks but there are sucky people in every industry - I mean just look at M$. ;) Sorry to be off topic.
Don't hassle dude. Just buy the Mac.
What is more sexy?? A BSD based Mac Mini with bash, a fast processor, iLife, DVI out to RCA, real video card and more at 5.5x5.5 or a Win Longhorn Bathroom edition 6.5x7.5 with no DVI??
Huh? Tell me! I mean really.
[flamethrower on]
How about sucking it up and getting her the Mac Mini? Afraid it won't integrate with your Windows XP Home network or something? Afraid you might like it better than your own machines? Afraid your wife might like it better than you? Get over it.
If she does ask for a Mac, and you buy her a PC instead, it really won't matter what size it is, because it'll be sleeping in the bed with her, while you're sleeping in the garage. Think about all the other times she asked for a diamond and you bought her a bigger CZ instead.
[/flamethrower off]
Do not touch -Willie
Paul Thurrott says that the Mini's competition is eMachines and Compaq and that both of them will squash Apple like a bug. Had a good laugh at that this morning.
Exactly. A lot of us geeks would rather express our geek sides by dicking around writing code and making our computers to *intersting* things -- not by shelling out bucks for the latest and greatest XYZ card to give me 64000 channel surround sound or whatever.
Personally, I feel great pleasure in optimizing my code. Just this morning I've got my robotics simulator ( in this case doing quadruped simulation, with many motors, sensors and whatnot, but it can simulate just about anything you can describe to it ) running at 100 Hz physics and 30 fps using less than 10% CPU -- on my meager 12" powerbook. Now, *that* is being a geek. Soon I'll be able to simulate swarms of robotic spiders, each with its own brain and with all with realistic physics. And all for fun.
I think a lot of people today mistake consumerism for geekery. A lot of people I hear being referred to as "experts" are really just people who know how to go to CompUSA or whatever and buy a card, stick it in, and run the windows installer for its driver. [sarcasm]Way to go. That's some HARD stuff. You must be really, really l33t[/sarcasm]
Rant over.
lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet
The costs should include software - I think I'm right in saying that the mini comes with iLife, i.e. video editing, photo editing, iTunes and DVD authoring (with the superdrive). If you're into these consumer apps, neither Linux or Windows come anywhere close to their functionality, reliability and ease of use.
See here for a toaster sized box running Linux,. html
http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS5621664618
$160.
geez. whiz.
They Live, We Sleep
On my blog I have posted this:
In my first Build Challenge I set forth a challenge to build a x86 PC to compete with the Mac mini. I didn't get any great systems listed but we did have a good laugh about how sexy Macs are.
I've posted on other sites including The Tech Report and most of the responses tried to compare full sized x86 PC to the mini. I've said how this is crazy. I just want to compare the mini with SFF x86 systems.
That begs the question just what is a SFF system? I can't find a good definition on the web so I'll set my own.
SFF acronym for Small Form Factor: Computer system that is smaller than 925 cubic inches.
SFF system range greatly in size from the Shuttle SB59P at 915 cubic inches to the Cappuccino EZ3 at 63 cubic inches. The Mac mini is on the smaller side at 84.5 cubic inches. The price range also varies greatly as do performance and style. Lets leave out performance since it isn't really an issue for most people in our post megahertz era.
To narrow the challenge follow these criteria:
Size: Must be under 925 cubic inches
Price: Must be under $1200
Style: Must not be ugly
I guess we could argue that last one but I'll accept anything that at least tries to be attractive. Also it has to be ordered built and tested with Windows. Most people don't want to build their own systems and since you can't with the Mac mini it wouldn't be fair to compare it to bare bones systems. Also the systems should match the mini's configuration: 256MB RAM/40GB Hard Drive/Combo Drive.
No single SFF x86 PC meets the mini on all the factors so I'll compare it to three:
Cappuccino EZ3
Size: 63 cubic inches
Price: $823
Style: 5 out 10
Even smaller than the mini. But more expensive and close to ugly.
Shuttle L 5600h
Size: 680 cubic inches
Price: $515
Style: 7 out of 10
Much bigger than the mini. But larger hard drive by default.
Hush Mini ITX
Size: 452 cubic inches
Price: $1159
Style: 9 out of 10
Great looks. But still bigger and way more expensive.
Compare these to the:
Mac mini
Size: 84.5 cubic inches
Price $499
Styles 9 out of 10
And I hope you can see why the Mac mini is the best system overall and the only one that is more than the sum of it's parts. Now for some the fact that it doesn't run Windows means they would never choose it. For others the fact that these systems run Windows means they would never choose them. Let's not have any flame wars over the OS. And I'm leaving out the bundled software that comes with the mini as a factor in the price. But it is a nice plus that you get iLife, iWorks, and Appleworks.
Please post any systems that are better than the three I've listed that meet my criteria.