[ajprice]

OK, eMac v Mac mini

eMac
1.42GHz
512Mb RAM
160Gb HD
8x Superdrive
64Mb ATI 9600
17" display
+ AE and BT modules

£749 (£679 + £70)

Mac mini
1.42GHz
512Mb RAM
80Gb HD
4x Superdrive
32Mb ATI 9200
No display
+ Modem, Apple KB & Mouse

£557 (£499 + £58)

Add a display to the mini and your within a £100 difference between the systems, so for the extra you'd pay for an eMac, your getting better graphics, twice the storage in a faster HD and a faster Superdrive, thats worth paying up for in my opinion for the HD size and speed alone. Roll on Intel!

[Simon]

Yeah, the difference in price between a mini and an eMac is not large. However, the eMac has a non-exchangeable display, that sucks by the way, and it's bulky and fairly noisy. The mini gives you the choice of any TFT screen, it's tiny and it's quiet. It's not inferior to the eMac, it just depends what a buyer finds most important. It's good Apple gives us the choice.

[stinch]

Originally Posted by yikes600

To me, the update to 512MB RAM is no improvement. I'll bet the majority of us here are used to at least 1GB and wouldn't settle for less. Since the Mini only has 1 RAM slot, this means removing the 512MB chip anyway.
512MB is adequate if you plan on running just the OS and maybe 1 app at a time.

256Mb was adequate if you planed on just running one app at a time. 512Mb is more than enough for most people especially the target audience.

On a mini with 512Mb and one safari window I have 250Mb free. That's plenty for several other programs to use. I regularly have 4 or 5 apps running at the same time with no problems and that often includes a compiler.

There is a bit of an elitist attitude to hardware on this forum. If it wasn't for the low specs of the mini I and many others would not have been able to afford one.

[GSixZero]

I'm so totally pissed about this mini update! It's totally weak! I was going to buy one to switch my pro-video rig from WinXP/Avid to OSX/FCP. I mean, everyone keeps telling me how great Tiger is, but I don't know if I can base my lively hood on such a weak update to Apple's product line. I was expecting a single 1.6ghz G5 and 128MB video card, but they definitely dropped the ball. I think I'll stick with my Dell.

[MacYourDay]

If you are doing video-editing you'd be better served by a PowerMac, the 4500rpm hard drive in the Mac Mini will not be enough to serve your needs. The Mac Mini is a low end machine, you wouldn't use a low end Celeron PC to do pro video editing would you?

[QuadG5Man]

You can use Final Cut Pro on 4200 RPM drives. 768+ megs ram recommended though. I did it with a 12" Powerbook 867, 640 RAM, 40 gig 4200 RPM drive, no problem. I don't see why the Mini wouldn't be superior to that.

[Simon]

FCP is a pro video tool. Using it on a mini is a bad idea. You should lay out and get a PM or at least an iMac. If you're too cheap to go down that road, you should really stick to your Dell.

Originally Posted by GSixZero

I was expecting a single 1.6ghz G5 and 128MB video card

Yeah, right, for sure on a mini. Dream on.

[tgags]

Hi, if I may chime in here...

The Mac Mini is great for what it is. It's an inexpensive Mac - something I've wished Apple would do since I was in design school in 96 (I had to take out a loan to get my first Mac setup). It's perfectly capable of meeting the needs of the average computer user (and I would add even the needs of a serious graphic designer, like myself (though yes, you got have more ram put in).

I remember myself complaining about the iMac, when they removed the option to replace the vid card (because I was into gaming). But again, with these models you have to understand what they are. I think a lot of ppl expect high end features in these consumer models. You always have option to go to the next model up for the better specs, but the consumer models are what they are.

I got a mac mini recently, not sure what rev it is, it's the second one up from the bottom (with the 80 gig HD). I also got the 1 gig ram, it was only about $80 more than the 512 (thru mac catalogue, not apple). I do graphic design freelance and I am very happy with it. I have installed Office 04 and the entire Adobe CS, all run perfectly smooth. I also play Halo on it, but I did not buy it for gaming as I know the longevity limitations of a video card. But aside from gaming, with the added ram I can't see what it wouldn't be good for. Again, it is what it is. The best thing is, I believe that making this inexpensive mac will make the mac OS more accessible to more people, which can only have a positive affect on the proliferation of the OS. The price point is really the kicker here.

TG

[ApeInTheShell]

Can they combine this thread with the 'Mac Mini is a Joke' and then delete them both for pointless bickering?

[GSixZero]

Perhaps I should have put a ' ' at the end of my last post...