Slashdot Mirror
Intel Preps Mac mini Look-Alike
boarder8925 writes "From Wired: 'A new Wintel prototype that openly apes Apple Computer's popular Mac mini is due out this week, giving Intel a showcase to prove its chips are a match for anyone when it comes to tiny PC designs. Working prototypes of the Mac mini look-alike running Microsoft Windows and based on Intel's Pentium M CPU have already been built by Taiwan PC maker AOpen at Intel's request, according to two sources in Taiwan's PC manufacturing industry who have seen them.' This isn't the non-working box Slashdot covered earlier."
I like the idea of competition in this space. I would love to buy a Mac Mini (and probably will within the next year), but it would be nice to see either: prices drop, or features improve. Intel coming into the game as a chip-maker is interesting, and I hope that someone like Dell goes for it as well. I would wager that they will given their current thrusts into some home/game/media oriented PCs.
Helping with organizational effectiveness is our job.
PCs are designed to be easily upgradeable so I really don't see a point to this PC Mini.
Mini computers, with nice looks existed for a long time. But at least from my point of view, the coolness factor of the MiniMac is exactly this: it is a Mac - a cheap Apple computer, similar enough with its bigger brothers that I am not so interested to buy. A normal Apple computer although is very nice, is not useful enough for me to buy it at its price. But a MiniMac toy seems interesting enough at a right price. On the other side.. I don't want a small PC. I want a big PC, with enough free slots for the cards that I want to use. A compact PC card (like all those 5.25" and 3.5" motherboards with mobile processors) is very nice to use with a flash card as hard disk in various appliances - but a shiny tiny pc sits just in the middle. It is not flexible enough - no space for addon cards. It is not rugged enough (still a pc, with hard disk, not a compact computer designed to work in extreme conditions). It is not even a cheap solution because the PC market is very cheap already and I guess this mini pc will not be 50$ to mantain the price proportions of the normal Apple versus MiniMac.
I don't see the big rush for these Mini-machines. They are clearly aimed at a market where people want a very simple solution. The people that want email, internet access, and maybe Office.
I think Intel is better off with the normal PC market. For the same price you can get way more out of a normal PC. Apple might make a little money off the Mini mostly because the Mini looks trendy and that drives a lot of Mac sales.
The Mini design might start looking good for a media PC that would sit on top of a TV, but until there is a way to add way more storage for DVR and storing DivX, they won't cut it. Also, I am guessing the GPU in it won't play HD quality very well.
Intel might be a little better off enlarging the size, but adding more power to it. Call it the "Almost-mini" and sell it as a faster solution.
/. ++
The Apple Mini is just one size too small, and thus sacrifices efficiency (laptop HD, little cooling).
If you are looking for a good office solution look at the ASUS Pundit. They don't get hot, have space for a decent harddisk and DVD drive and are very efficient with desk space (especially when used with a flatscreen and wireless keyboard)
What's the point? Get a normal tower case and put it under your desk where you can't see it. I don't want to see any case on my desk at all, I'd much rather have the space clear for useful equipment or something nice looking like a plant. Everyone has plenty of room under their desk and having the top of the desk clear except for the monitor, mouse and keyboard looks much better than having your case there with loads of wires coming out the back of it. The only reason I need to use my case is to turn the computer on and put a CD in it once a month. A small case just means less expansion slots and having little room to move inside it when you're upgrading. A small, nice looking 'case' is good for a portable, but the point of this for a immobile home machine alludes me.
e x05/paradox.jpg
Look at the photos for the macmini lookalike:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/images/comput
It's nicer looking than a normal case but why would you want it on your desk anyway? It's a waste of room.
Having a silent computer is good though, but you can do that with normal cases.
I've to confess I've never used an Apple (Mac or anything else they might've made). But when I saw a Mac for the first time, I feel insanely in love with it. The only thing stopping me from buying a Mac is it's price - it's too high (well, it would be if you convert the price to Indian Rupees. $1 ~ Rs. 43). If Intel brings an Apple clown and if we can get GNU/Linux or any other FOSS OS running on it, won't it be cheaper? Lot of if's and but's but the future sure looks coluorful :-)
Something like this would be great for sticking in a flat where space is at a premium and/or you want something that looks good and doesn't make a lot of noise.
It would be nice if companies now concentrated on size and quietness rather than mhz. If my next PC was smaller than a shoebox (and just as expandable) then I'd be there in a shot.
Of course I could just get a Mac Mini, but having lots of money invested in PC software, I'm not yet prepared to make the switch.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
I have been purchasing pc's like that since at least 2002, with my total at 3 so far. I'm glad the big manufacturers have taken notice of the mac mini, it means the prices will be pushed down where they should be. In the $100 to $200 range for new systems maybe.
C sid=3c23d08bb22bf0f99259c3a8bd72e214/
http://www.thebookpc.com/index.php/cPath/68_33?os
Mac hardware has always been great, but I will buy which ever is cheaper. Mac Minis (like its mini itx predecessors) are not designed to be incredibly fast, but incredibly small. Their size makes them a nice addition to the home theater system, or pretty much anywhere.
They both run linux, so other than price, there really isn't much difference between them to me.
--dingletec--
Intel based PC's have been small and easy to hide since at least 2000. Based on this, the hoopla over the MiniMac really is quite misplaced.
There were even low profile Alpha systems.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
I agree. Even if this product does fairly well, Intel still loses due to the credibility gap it introduces -- we follow Apple, we don't lead PCs. Anyone who understands AMD knows this has been the case for awhile, but this is an exceedingly shortsighted move by Intel. Heck, the PC market would have provided this solution if there was a significant demand for it... I think the Mini is smart since it carves out a small niche for increased Apple sales, while not being overly revolutionary. Its like the VW Bug... some people like it alot, but everyone doesn't want to drive a Beetle.
PS I thought the mini was a good enough idea that I seriously looked into getting one as a 'stepping stone' out of the Wintel world...couldn't quite bring myself to do it, but its a good attempt by Apple to be entry-level friendly. Maybe the next generation or two will be better.
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
From the pictures, I don't see a modem, or a security lock hole. I know that most people are going to say you don't need a modem, but more people use dial up then high speed. This thing is so small it needs a lock hole so someone can lock it down. Otherwise, its just going to walk out the door under someone's shirt. Also doesn't have firewire. The plus side, it has 3 USB and 2 PS/2 ports so all your periferals will have a spot. And it also has a line in for audio. I think I would still want to take the Mac Mini over this.
Apple concluded that style and ultra compactness matters to some consumers more than raw computing power and apparently they were not entirely wrong.
.. another Mac zealot who thinks Apple invented the idea of tiny PC's .. .. how fudgeing stupid is that?
.. someone even made a matchbox size 486 PC.
Oh Gosh
The mac zealots have now convinced themselves that "anyone who makes a tiny PC is clearly copying Apple's idea"
Nevermind that the PC world has been moving in this direction for a while
Or maybe to peopel who want a mini-comp but don't want to get a mac... I mean it's not like Windows is 90% of the consumer market or anything... oh wait it is.
I smell "mee too!" in the air.
I always thought the biggest advantage with Mac was the OS. Having a Mac Mini lookalike with Windows does not a Mac Mini do. Unless Intel do some serious shaping up on Windows too this is just an ordinary crappy PC with Windows on it in a smaller package.
HTTP/1.1 400
That's the reason I'm not buying a G5 iMac.
I have an LCD screen. I have a keyboard and trackball.
And I have 3 computers connected to them all with a nice-ish switchbox.
It really, really, really sucks to have a machine with a built-in display for use on a KVM setup.
So it's a Mini soon for web/e-mail/file/backup server, and a dual G5 when I feel rich.
Is that the lawsuit that I see over the horizon?
http://www.soldam.com/ pioneered in the small form factor PC cases and component with small form factor motherboard in Japan.
One of their flash ship were named "Pandora" and "Pandora Plus".
Hem....box looks like iMac and it even borrows name from soldom product.
Shuttle's XPC has always been a rip off of soldam product.
()()
(@@)
oktokie
It is about the apps! The consumer will ask, "Will this Mac or Linux box run all those spyware programs I'm used to?"
But really, in the real world, people buy things for style as well as function, and for a computer the OS is responsible for a good part of that experience.
> So all this OS brand zealotry is really like
> saying you buy only a certain brand of car for the
> dashboard
A large number of people buy cars because they want others to see that their car has a certain logo on it, and they pay a premium for it. If running Linux makes people think that you're a computer whiz, or a Mac makes them view you as an aesthete, then those machines will sell too.
Not everyone is a pure utilitarian.
Get a Mac for Less
The modular design of Mac mini lets you upgrade your current system to the elegance, simplicity and reliability of Macintosh. BYODKM:* If you already own a monitor, keyboard and mouse, you can get up and running in minutes. Or choose any combination of new devices to match your setup. And yes, Mac mini will take advantage of your two-button USB mouse with scroll-wheel and your favorite USB keyboard. Just plug them in.
With a PC, don't forget anti-virus and yearly updates. And time lost to the spyware the eventually makes it in because your parents don't know to click "no" or don't know the difference between real dialog boxes and JPEGs masquerading as dialog boxes.
It won't suit everyone, but I grow tired of the "must clean Windows to make it workable" stuff. My PC at my parents' home has a 5 minute wait to do... something... before you can work on it. It's a 1.67 GHz VAIO -- that's unacceptable to me. It's acceptable to them, somehow... I guess that's how they think computers should work. I'll move on, thanks.
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!