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Updated Mac Mini Aims For the Living Room
WrongSizeGlass noted that besides the pre-order of the new iPhone appearing on the Apple store today, Apple has revved the Mac Mini and started selling those too. "PC World is reporting on the latest version of Apple's Mac Mini. At only 1.4-inches tall the unibody aluminium enclosure includes an HDMI port, an SD card reader, and more graphics and processing power. Even the power supply is inside now. The base model comes with 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB hard disk — for $699. Graphics power comes from an NVIDIA GeForce 320M GPU (as found in lower-end MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops). Apple appears to be aiming for living rooms by including the HDMI port and eliminating the external power brick."
So with the current mini you're looking at doubling the ram like you always have to for a stock machine and it's a proprietary case not meant for user fiddling so you have to pay the mac store to install the ram
They actually designed the case so the RAM is user upgradable, just scroll down http://www.apple.com/macmini/design.html
It's one of Apple's magic combined analog/digital 3.5mm jacks. Plug in an optical TOS cable and you've got your digital audio. It's what I do on my iMac.
It's a Unix system - I know this.
so you have to pay the mac store to install the ram
It's not easy to replace the RAM as in other cases, but there are a number of guides online how to do it. The only unique tool you will need is a putty knife.
then you have to get the mouse and keyboard which will be wireless and thus more expensive, plus any other accessories you might pick up.
You don't have to get a wireless keyboard and mouse. You can use USB ones. Or if you already have one like from Logitech it will work.
Oh, and let's no forget the mandatory service plan since Apple gives you a flat one month warranty, that's it. My mini's hard drive took a shit at one year plus two months. They told me I was SOL.
The warranty is one year not one month. One year is fairly standard. And no one is forcing you to buy a service plan.
In your case the HD failed, not the MB so I don't see how your are SOL. HDs fail and the HD isn't a part that Apple manufactures so they don't have control over the quality of it. Replace it and you still have a computer. You'll lose all your data if you didn't perform regular backups
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Unibody (unopenable) case: BOO
You can open it. From the bottom, which makes for very easy access to the RAM, unlike the previous design.
Still Core2 instead of i5/i7: BOO
Same reason the 13" MBP is still Core2Duo. Try to put a discrete graphics chip in that form factor without losing any of the other features.
> Oh, and let's no forget the mandatory service plan since Apple gives you a flat one month warranty, that's it.
In what God-forsaken country do you live ? In all of the EU all the Apple products have a two-year national warranty (including a one year international warranty coverage) by default.
Also: no other company would have replaced a component they don't manufacture (the hdd) after the warranty expired.
You're a troll.
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Dell Zino vs Mac mini comparison:
Z & M- Gig Ethernet, 4 USB, SD card reader, 2GB RAM base - up to 8GB
Z- M-Radeon HD 3200, M-Radeon HD 4330 option (nice)
M- NVIDIA GeForce 320M (faster)
Z- max 1.8GHz Athlon dual
M- max 2.6GHz Core2Duo (alot faster)
Z- base 160GB HD, max 1TB (unless you buy your own)
M- base 320GB HD, max 500GB (unless you buy your own)
Z- VGA & HDMI
M- DP & HDMI
Z- eSATA
M- FW800
Z- analog audio I/O, mic, optional better audio upgrades available
M- analog + digital optical audio I/O
Z- external power brick
M- internal PS (new feature - I like it)
Z- flimsy tray load DVD
M- slot load DVD
Z- WiFi - optional
M- 802.11n (a/b/g/n) WiFi standard
Z- Bluetooth ?? (seems to be no option)
M- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR standard
Z- Windows Vista OS - base (Win7 -> +$150)
M- MacOS X Snow Leopard
Z- 3.4 x 7.8 x 7.8 inch, 4lb, plastic
M- 1.4 x 7.7 x 7.7 inch, 3lb, aluminum
Z- enviro - you can BTO a tree planting - woo hoo
M- enviro responsible/recycleable if that's a big thing to you
Z- Configured to come anywhere close to base Mac mini - $503
M- Base price - $699
If you upgrade the Zino to a 320GB HD, best Athlon CPU, par up the graphics, add WiFi, and add Windows 7 to the Dell Zino, you're within $50 of the Mac mini price, and you still don't have a fast CPU, Firewire, Bluetooth, DisplayPort, digital audio I/O, or a slot load DVD drive. Plus you also don't have the build quality. Methinks the Mac mini wins hands down compared to the Zino, and probably any other SFF PC on the planet.