With New Mac Mini, Apple Makes Switching Attractive, Affordable

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

PERSONAL TECHNOLOGY
By WALTER S. MOSSBERG


With New Mac Mini, Apple Makes Switching Attractive, Affordable
January 20, 2005; Page B1

If my e-mail from readers is any indication, more Windows users are thinking of switching to Apple Computer's Macintosh models than at any time in a decade. A significant minority of Windows users are so fed up with battling viruses and spyware, or so impressed with Apple's iPod music players, that they are seriously tempted to jump to the Mac.

(snip)

So, this weekend, Apple will start selling its lowest-priced Mac ever, a tiny but full-featured desktop computer called the Mac mini, priced at just $499. But there is a catch. The mini doesn't include a monitor, keyboard or mouse. Apple says it was designed to work with the monitors, keyboards and mice from Windows PCs that it assumes switchers already own.

I've been testing the Mac mini under just that scenario for several days, and it does indeed work, quite well. I connected a mini to a Dell flat-panel screen and a Hewlett-Packard keyboard and mouse, all about three years old. The little Mac fired up and worked perfectly at every task I threw at it.

The mini comes with Apple's older G4 processor, which in some ways beats the Celeron processors used in low-end Windows PCs. It has 256 megabytes of memory; a 40-gigabyte hard disk; a video card with 32 megabytes of video memory; an Ethernet networking port; and a DVD drive that can also burn CDs. It also comes with Apple's superb suite of multimedia programs, called iLife. In addition, the mini comes with Apple's latest operating system, called Panther, which has so far never been attacked by a successful virus and has been plagued with little or no known spyware.

(snip)

Before going into the details of my mini tests, let's talk about price. Even at $499, the mini isn't as cheap as the cheapest Windows PC. Dell is selling a model for $399, including a 17-inch monitor, keyboard and mouse. The Dell has less usable memory than the mini, and it can't burn CDs. It also has only a 90-day warranty, instead of the mini's one-year warranty. But you can add CD burning, a one-year warranty and extra memory for $115, or a total of $514.

(snip)

In my tests, the mini did very well. I plugged it into my cable modem, and within minutes I was on the Web and sending and receiving e-mail. I copied hundreds of songs, hundreds of pictures and dozens of Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF documents to the mini from my Windows PC. The mini's built-in programs played the music and displayed the photos and PDF files swiftly and perfectly. I burned CDs and played DVDs with no problems. The Word documents also opened perfectly in the mini's rudimentary built-in word processor. However, if you are going to use a lot of Microsoft Office documents on the mini, or any Mac, I recommend getting Microsoft Office for the Mac, which can be bought for as little as $150. I tried Office on the mini, and it ran fine.

(snip)

Overall, the Mac mini is a good choice for Windows users on a budget who are tempted to switch. It's not a technological breakthrough, but it may just be one of Apple's smartest business moves.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at [e-mail]

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110617556246330653,00.html

[rocktivity]

1. The key word here is "switchers"

The mini isn't for Mac newbies. If you have a PC keyboard, printer, mouse and monitor, you can buy a Mini, an external floppy drive if necessary, and be in business.

What makes me happiest about the Mini is knowing that the G4 isn't on its way out. I'm not buying a Mini because I'd have to replace my G3's monitor, serial printer, keyboard and scanner. For the same amount of money, I can get G4 processor card, a USB card, and a recordable CD drive. Moving up to OSX will mean getting a USB printer/scanner and floppy, but that still comes out cheaper than a comparably-equipped Mini, or even the G4 eMac with the monitor built in.

:headbang:
rocknation

[cheezus]

2. those bargain dell comparisons are stupid

because the mac mini ISN'T a bargain PC, it's just in the same price range

[mrbassman03]

3. A main feature that is overlooked is the cost of software!

All Apple computers come with some of the greatest FREE software you will ever need. iMovie, iPhoto, Garageband, CD Burning drivers, and many more. ALL of these cost more on these "bargain" PCs. If those can even run XP.

[TommyO]

4. Very true, it's the software

that is seriously drawing me into the Mac camp. I've been a WinAMD (haven't used an Intel processor in my past three PCs) user for many, many, many years, but am seriously considering a Mac just because of the iLife bundle (and some of the other software like Netflix Freak) that is available for OS X.

The decision now is whether I get a Mac Mini, or a 20" iMac G5 (I know, two very different machines).

With my corporate discounts, a very well equipped 1.42Ghz Mini with 512Mb memory, Superdrive, Airport, Bluetooth, and wireless keyboard/mouse for a bit over $900. If I go the Mini route, it will co-exist with my Windows XP box and share monitor and file resources so the smallish drive in the Mini won't be a huge hindrance.

If I go for the iMac, it would become my primary machine, I would go for the 250Gig drive, upgrade the memory on my own, and stick with a wired keyboard and mouse. This machine would run around $1950. Basically the cost of the Mini with a 20" monitor thrown in. Clearly this machine will outperform the Mini

Thank you Apple for giving me choices!

[reprobate]

5. I just bought an iMac G5 and couldn't be happier.

20" G5 iMac, 1.8M chip, 512 memory, 160G HD, superdrive, wireless kbd and mouse, airport express, all for $2152. Retail.

I'm a brand new windows escapee. This is the way computing should have been all along.

Unless space is a consideration, I'd recommend going with the iMac. Of course it depends on your applications, but for the price I think you can't go wrong.

As for the mini, we plan to get one to replace the win/intel machine in the kitchen. It's small, quiet, and will do everything we want with an airport added.

[rocktivity]

6. I stand corrected

Originally posted by myself:
I'm not buying a Mini because I'd have to replace my G3's monitor, serial printer, keyboard and scanner.

Correction: the Mini comes with a VGA to DVI adaptor, so you can hook up a Macintosh monitor to it.

:headbang:
rocknation