[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

The good ol' Cube power supply and what looks like a monitor adapter...




http://www.apple.com/hardware/galler...n2005_480.html


So that is why it is so small.

[Kiddo311]

Your so called monitor-adapter is just the power supply of the display. ;-)

Kiddo

[mixin visuals]

huge power supplies suck big time

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Kiddo311:
Your so called monitor-adapter is just the power supply of the display. ;-)

Kiddo

Damn Apple monitors! Well you still get a brick for the power close to the size of the Mac Mini itself.

[DeathMan]

I'd either build a little shelf on my desk for them, or just rest them on the floor. I don't see what the big deal with a brick is. Better on the floor, out of the way, than making the computer bigger and hotter. Or duct tape.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
I'd either build a little shelf on my desk for them, or just rest them on the floor. I don't see what the big deal with a brick is. Better on the floor, out of the way, than making the computer bigger and hotter. Or duct tape.

I agree, my cube adapter never bothered me but some people thought it was the work of the devil.

I guess with the monitor brick and the Mini's it gets a bit much though.

[demograph68]

This thread is redundant. Ask tooki.

[OwlBoy]

Originally posted by Kiddo311:
Your so called monitor-adapter is just the power supply of the display. ;-)

Kiddo

Pwned!

-Owl

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

When I first got a 15" PowerBook, I had a co-worker practically $hit themselves over the power supply. (The white cigarette box) "The laptop is so cool, but...but...OMG!! What is that... that.. brick!!?"

WTF?

Many computers, monitors, -even laptops- have big honkin' power supplies, or else the big honkin' power supply is built in, making the gizmo itself that much bigger. It's virtually always a trade off of one or the other. Personally, I'd rather have big external powersupply/smaller gizmo. Stick the damn PS on the floor out of sight.

[DeathMan]

Originally posted by demograph68:
This thread is redundant. Ask tooki.

From now on, we have to ask tooki for permission to pass gas.

Tooki: Check your PM.

[demograph68]

Originally posted by DeathMan:
From now on, we have to ask tooki for permission to pass gas.

Tooki: Check your PM.

LMAO

[Link]

I dunno about you but the topic of this thread sounds a little explicit.

"Have you got very large external parts?!"

[Kiddo311]

@ Owlboy: Thanks man, feelign honoured =).

Kiddo

[Drakino]

What I don't understand is why they didn't juse use the Powerbook 65w power supply instead? The guts of the Mac mini are basicially the same spec as the first gen 15 inch Aluminum for power usage, except you have no screen sucking power. So why a bigger (physicially) power supply?

[Kitschy]

Originally posted by Drakino:
What I don't understand is why they didn't juse use the Powerbook 65w power supply instead? The guts of the Mac mini are basicially the same spec as the first gen 15 inch Aluminum for power usage, except you have no screen sucking power. So why a bigger (physicially) power supply?

The Mac mini has a bigger heart.

[theolein]

Originally posted by CRASH HARDDRIVE:
When I first got a 15" PowerBook, I had a co-worker practically $hit themselves over the power supply. (The white cigarette box) "The laptop is so cool, but...but...OMG!! What is that... that.. brick!!?"

WTF?

Many computers, monitors, -even laptops- have big honkin' power supplies, or else the big honkin' power supply is built in, making the gizmo itself that much bigger. It's virtually always a trade off of one or the other. Personally, I'd rather have big external powersupply/smaller gizmo. Stick the damn PS on the floor out of sight.

You and I agree on practically nothing, but here I agree with you. The mimiMac power supply is smaller than the regular Apple power supply to boot and looks quite asthetic, I think.

To be honest I wasn't surprised that Star Wars Bodypart started a thread to complain about something, though.

[hardcat1970]

sometimes you do get what you wish for. Apple did try with ADC, a more elegant way to connect the monitor and the computer, but it just doesn't sell well. At least no one adopts ADC on the PC side.

[xi_hyperon]

Power supply doesn't bother me... it's ok to put those under the desk, you know.

[Mithras]

"Large external parts", eh SWG? I'll show you some large external parts!

[xi_hyperon]

Originally posted by Mithras:
"Large external parts", eh SWG? I'll show you some large external parts!

^^ That's a very cool sig, Mithras.

[ort888]

I would much rather have a computer twice as big that was a little cheaper and easier to upgrade.

[Millennium]

Originally posted by ort888:
I would much rather have a computer twice as big that was a little cheaper and easier to upgrade.

If you want upgradeability, then you're not in the Mini's target market. It's not going for people who keep their boxes for years and years, upgrading them every so often.

I've got to admit, though; I'm thinking of it as an attractive option for building chibi clusters. When you need more power, you just buy another one and add it in. I wonder if Apple might come up with consumer-level clustering software for just this sort of thing?

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Millennium:
I wonder if Apple might come up with consumer-level clustering software for just this sort of thing?

That would be off the chain.
Connected by Firewire or USB2, there you go...

-t

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Mithras:
"Large external parts", eh SWG? I'll show you some large external parts!

Ok, please do.

[suprz's ghost]

Originally posted by theolein:
To be honest I wasn't surprised that Star Wars Bodypart started a thread to complain about something, though. [/B]

man, you got that right! There is always someone ready to piss on your parade no matter what

[ajprice]

How come you just said piss without the word being bleepinated. Does the bleep machine know piss?

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by theolein:
To be honest I wasn't surprised that Star Wars Bodypart started a thread to complain about something, though.

I am surprised he will even use a Mac considering it's an American product.

[ort888]

Originally posted by Millennium:
If you want upgradeability, then you're not in the Mini's target market. It's not going for people who keep their boxes for years and years, upgrading them every so often.

I've got to admit, though; I'm thinking of it as an attractive option for building chibi clusters. When you need more power, you just buy another one and add it in. I wonder if Apple might come up with consumer-level clustering software for just this sort of thing?

I'm not so sure. People have been demanding a cheap headless Mac for years. The demand has always been there, you hear it over and over and over...

You never hear people asking for smaller and smaller Macs though. Sure, being small is cool, but at what price? I would have much rather gotten a box twice the size, with two RAM slots and an easily replacable full sized hard drive. I bet a lot of people would agree.

[Mithras]

Originally posted by ort888:
I would have much rather gotten a box twice the size, with two RAM slots and an easily replacable full sized hard drive. I bet a lot of people would agree.

[suprz's ghost]

Originally posted by ajprice:
How come you just said piss without the word being bleepinated. Does the bleep machine know piss?

I was wondering if it would come out when i typed it...HMMM
maybe i should have said "pee, pee" instead, but hey it worked either way

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by ort888:
You never hear people asking for smaller and smaller Macs though.

I have. Some people don't like towers.

Sure, being small is cool, but at what price? I would have much rather gotten a box twice the size, with two RAM slots and an easily replacable full sized hard drive. I bet a lot of people would agree.

Then you want a tower. The Mac mini isn't for you.

I see a lot of people wishing it had all these extras, but if it did, it wouldn't have been as cheap.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

[Skip Breakfast]

I think the power supply should be external for every computer. I see no reason to have the heat generated by one close to the motherboard and CPUs.

[ort888]

A full size hard drive would make the price go down, and sacrificing some of the size to accomodate two RAM slots wouldn't add any cost either.

Apple spent to much effort making it small and not enough making it practical.

The tower isn't for me anyway. I'm a Powerbook guy. I was debating using the Mini as a secondarry system/home file server, but soon realized that it would be a lot more than $499 to set it all up.

[Mithras]

Originally posted by Zimphire:
I see a lot of people wishing it had all these extras, but if it did, it wouldn't have been as cheap.

You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Well, probably it would have been just as cheap or cheaper to put it in a slightly bigger box and use a 3.5" drive instead of a laptop drive.

[xi_hyperon]

They are small enough to tote around. I wonder if there will be any 3rd party company which will offer a dock of some sort. I can see have a keyboard/monitor/network setup at home and in the office, and just carrying the mac mini back and forth in a small backpack.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Mithras:
Well, probably it would have been just as cheap or cheaper to put it in a slightly bigger box and use a 3.5" drive instead of a laptop drive.

I think it would have been cheaper actually as those laptop ones can run you some serious bling bling..

[Millennium]

Originally posted by turtle777:
That would be off the chain.
Connected by Firewire or USB2, there you go...

Yeah. It's a shame that they didn't throw in Gigabit Ethernet with these, -it's even faster, and with DHCP and Rendezvous it could be made almost as simple- though maybe they did that to discourage their use in clusters?

As for replacing the hard drive, I don't see a need; just add on an external FireWire drive and away you go. If you're concerned about cost, put an internal drive in a FireWire enclosure and save yourself some cash; I do this all the time.

[itai195]

Originally posted by Mithras:
Well, probably it would have been just as cheap or cheaper to put it in a slightly bigger box and use a 3.5" drive instead of a laptop drive.

Maybe. The 3.5" drives also weigh a lot more and put out more heat, so there are more considerations than just physical size. Of course, they're also much faster.

[funkboy]

The Mac mini is keeping with Apple's core strategy:

sell boxes on a frequent basis.

They're a hardware company first, and that means selling more boxes. Because this is not too user-upgradeable, most people will toss/sell their Mac mini to get a brand new one from Apple in a year or two.

This just fits in with Apple's strategy of selling more boxes - Apple would be silly to do otherwise.

[hardcat1970]

Originally posted by ort888:
I would much rather have a computer twice as big that was a little cheaper and easier to upgrade.

it's because every time apple releases a new product, you think you are going to buy it. There's a product for different audiences, and the mac mini is not target to you. Why? if they get something cheap and easier to upgrade, then it will hurt their other lines of product. Same as the ipod shuffle, if it has a screen, then who is going to buy a ipod mini?

[MaxPower2k3]

Originally posted by Drakino:
What I don't understand is why they didn't juse use the Powerbook 65w power supply instead? The guts of the Mac mini are basicially the same spec as the first gen 15 inch Aluminum for power usage, except you have no screen sucking power. So why a bigger (physicially) power supply?

The mac mini draws something like 84 watts. Still probably much less than some PC laptops.

[Drakino]

Originally posted by MaxPower2k3:
The mac mini draws something like 84 watts. Still probably much less than some PC laptops.

Out of curiosity, where did you find that? Odd that it is so much higher then a Powerbook that can run a screen, computer, and battery charger off 65w. Makes me wonder if the entry level system would actually outbenchmark my Powerbook.

I do own a Dell laptop as well, with a 150w brick power supply at 2 pounds. That beast is more a desktop PC crammed into a laptop, complete with a R420 based Radeon and full blown P4 and desktop chipset.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Not sexy...

[Mithras]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Not sexy...

that has exactly one cable more than a Powerbook would, no?

[kiskynet]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Not sexy...

Neithers the backside of my G5, come to think of it or my Powerbook, GameCube, TV, Stereo, in fact actually this looks neater than any of them. I don't know what else they do with something which needs a bunch of wires. (although the Cube atleast made some effort to hide ugly stuff)

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by kiskynet:
Neithers the backside of my G5, come to think of it or my Powerbook, GameCube, TV, Stereo, in fact actually this looks neater than any of them. I don't know what else they do with something which needs a bunch of wires. (although the Cube atleast made some effort to hide ugly stuff)

yes they do!

The cube totally hid all the wires as the cables were vertical so you could push the cube 99% against the wall if you wanted to.

The back of your G5 also hides all of the plugs as they are in the middle of the unit and can't be easily seen.

Your gamecube does not sit on your desk.

The iMac also hides all the cables behind a scene.

This Mini would look horrendous sitting on a desk. My Airport express looked so bad with 4 cables sticking out the back and pushing it inches away from the wall that I finally just hung it up.

Picture this mini on a neat desk against a wall, it will push it 4-6 inches away from the back because of those large plugs and since it isn't tall they will all be totally viewable.

[Millennium]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Not sexy...

What would be? All-wireless? Granted it's still pretty tentacular, but it's much sexier than the backs of most machines.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Millennium:
What would be? All-wireless? Granted it's still pretty tentacular, but it's much sexier than the backs of most machines.

Perhaps if some of the cables would be under the unit still horizontal though. The USB and firewire ones are ok though.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Putting the graphics port under the machine means the unit would have to be as tall as the graphics card is long, plus have a base stand to clear the DVI connector + VGA adaptor. By the time you’ve done all this, you’d have to mount the optical drive face up too. In other words, it’d just be another Cube.

Personally, I’d stick it under a hutch, hiding the cables. In fact, looking at my home office desk, I’ve got just the spot for a mini. Now if I only had a valid excuse to get one...

[saltines17]

I think the BEST thing about this machine versus the cube is that the wires are horizontal and not vertical. That was by far the most annoying thing about the Cube - it's a nuisance to plug things in.