[MacOS-Fan]

I just ordered my CoreDuo Mini! Apple store says that standard config Minis will ship in 24 hours. I opted for the 1GB of RAM and that change pushed my ship time from 24 hours to 1-3 days. Still not bad. I am ecited

[Commodus]

Congrats. Needless to say, please give us a capsule review when you have it running!

[onlykaria]

Originally Posted by MacOS-Fan

I just ordered my CoreDuo Mini! Apple store says that standard config Minis will ship in 24 hours. I opted for the 1GB of RAM and that change pushed my ship time from 24 hours to 1-3 days. Still not bad. I am ecited

lol i also just ordered mine. lol.

[TomR]

Congrats! Please give us a review once you've fired her up and test drove it!

Tom

[TETENAL]

Tell us whether the graphics chip supports Core Image (or other words: do you see the ripple when opening Dashboard widgets).

[onlykaria]

Originally Posted by TomR

Congrats! Please give us a review once you've fired her up and test drove it!

Tom

well you wont be getting that from me because my roomates refuse to allow me to use the tv for the display.... well to make a long story short. the order has been canceled.

[Tuishimi]

What the?!?! I posted the same thing EARLIER in the day and it got locked! Anyway, congrats! I ordered the high-end version, 1GB ram, wireless keyboard with it... I also ordered the Dell 2005FPW wide-aspect 20.1" monitor. Says it will ship by Friday and be here by next Friday.

Here's hopin' it comes sooner!

[ururk]

I got a shipping notice and it says delivery by the 2nd! I opted for the cheaper shipping option, and 1.6 duo...

[mrplow]

it does support core image and all that jazz... i read it earlier today on osx86, when i was pricing parts for a PC for a friend when I was extremely disappointed in the new macmini (that i convinced him to wait for instead of building a pc....... he doesn't really care if it runs OSX, he jsut thinks it would be cool if it did.. and he wants it cheap... Dual Core pentium D 2.66ghz total machine price < $500, even found a 19" widescreen LCD for only $250 that has 5 star review!)

anyway, hope that helps.. and just as a final note, im extremely disappointed in the new mini (wouldn't be so bad if they didn't up the price.. but this really is a downgrade without 56k/crappiergraphics/etc! notice "most afforadable mac ever" is gone now too..heh...)

[ururk]

Although the bloody DVI-Video adapted didn't ship with the mini, which is frustrating but I can manage for a few days

BTW, I canceled my MacBook that I had on order via Amazon - I figure the "high" end mini plus my aging Ti 550 should hold me out till Adobe CS is released as Universal. This way, I can sell it to my parents when I get a MacBook on the next revision.

[ururk]

Originally Posted by mrplow

it does support core image and all that jazz... i read it earlier today on osx86, when i was pricing parts for a PC for a friend when I was extremely disappointed in the new macmini (that i convinced him to wait for instead of building a pc....... he doesn't really care if it runs OSX, he jsut thinks it would be cool if it did.. and he wants it cheap... Dual Core pentium D 2.66ghz total machine price < $500, even found a 19" widescreen LCD for only $250 that has 5 star review!)

anyway, hope that helps.. and just as a final note, im extremely disappointed in the new mini (wouldn't be so bad if they didn't up the price.. but this really is a downgrade without 56k/crappiergraphics/etc! notice "most afforadable mac ever" is gone now too..heh...)

It is pricey but I think Apple is trying to prevent it from cannibalizing their iMacs. The integrated video is iffy, but the reviews seem to point to decent HD support. Me, I'm not terribly worried. I'm treating it as an interim machine until the redesigned MacBooks come out. My Ti is on the verge of failure, my parents photos are in disarray (I'm going to get them used to iPhoto...), and I have a 1905FP, Apple Keyboard, and mouse just laying around (well, the 1905 I use with the Ti, but it is soooo painful to use the Ti).

[onlykaria]

Originally Posted by ururk

I got a shipping notice and it says delivery by the 2nd! I opted for the cheaper shipping option, and 1.6 duo...

wow thats fast

[mrplow]

Originally Posted by ururk

It is pricey but I think Apple is trying to prevent it from cannibalizing their iMacs. The integrated video is iffy, but the reviews seem to point to decent HD support. Me, I'm not terribly worried. I'm treating it as an interim machine until the redesigned MacBooks come out. My Ti is on the verge of failure, my parents photos are in disarray (I'm going to get them used to iPhoto...), and I have a 1905FP, Apple Keyboard, and mouse just laying around (well, the 1905 I use with the Ti, but it is soooo painful to use the Ti).

Then why don't they either drop the price on the iMac (I'm not saying it's not a great deal- it is)
or, make the Mac Mini worth the price tag? An intel chip does not justify a $200 price increase!
If it maybe kept the modem, had an upgraded (perhaps even desirable?) graphics card, and duo across the board (it's a $31 price difference according to Intel's price sheet for christ's sake) then I'd understand... you can't justify a rip off by saying that too many people will go for the better deal if its available (instead of buying an iMac), because that's exactly the point.

[k squared]

Originally Posted by mrplow

Then why don't they either drop the price on the iMac (I'm not saying it's not a great deal- it is)
or, make the Mac Mini worth the price tag? An intel chip does not justify a $200 price increase!
If it maybe kept the modem, had an upgraded (perhaps even desirable?) graphics card, and duo across the board (it's a $31 price difference according to Intel's price sheet for christ's sake) then I'd understand... you can't justify a rip off by saying that too many people will go for the better deal if its available (instead of buying an iMac), because that's exactly the point.

The duo chip might only be a $31 upgrade from the solo, but how much more is the Intel chip over the PowerPC? How many people have actually upgraded a mini graphics card? What about the addition of 2 RAM slots? What about 1000/100/10 networking? Optical In? 5.1?

Holy Hell, you people complain and bitch about everything and only set yourselves up for disappointment. Your complaining about losing the modem?! The modem should have been lost years ago.

[Tuishimi]

Originally Posted by ururk

I got a shipping notice and it says delivery by the 2nd! I opted for the cheaper shipping option, and 1.6 duo...

Really? Are you sure? I also ordered the wireless keyboard/mouse and they are shipping separately. I already got the ship notification for the keyboard and mouse, but the system is not expected to ship until Friday and arrive by the following Friday.

[mrplow]

Originally Posted by k squared

The duo chip might only be a $31 upgrade from the solo, but how much more is the Intel chip over the PowerPC? How many people have actually upgraded a mini graphics card? What about the addition of 2 RAM slots? What about 1000/100/10 networking? Optical In? 5.1?

Holy Hell, you people complain and bitch about everything and only set yourselves up for disappointment. Your complaining about losing the modem?! The modem should have been lost years ago.

Everyone argues about everything... I'm surprised at myself for getting involved...
56k is slow and sucks-- but some people, especially around where I live, have no other option.
vacationing to a beach house with only a phone line .. no internet for a week? kinda sucks, especially with how nice google maps are for finding resturaunts etc when on vacation! sure, I could have a $30 a month wireless data plan... but that seems to be just a little excessive to me.

I could careless about optical/surround sound, especially in the mini.. gigabit ethernet however would be a very nice (and inexpensive) upgrade, since the damn thing is targeted as a multimedia receiver (today's "fun announcements").

I don't care enough to defend it much more, but one last attempt-- I think it's really weak that Apple is cutting corners everywhere they can (no more firewire support in ipod so they didn't have to include the extra firewire controller chip.. sucks for the people with older macs that have firewire but only usb! sure, new ones have usb2.. no big deal.. just drop $1000 to upgrade... not a very cool business practice, albeit a successful one, it's inconsiderate to past customers)
I'm on a macbook pro, and I think it's fantastic. My only gripe is the lack of a modem, which being a laptop seems sort of silly to lack. I'd probably only use it once a year at the beach, so no big deal. Lack of eSata or Firewire 800 is unimportant because i dont have either, but I bet someone looking foward to the new intel laptop that had one or both of these drives was very upset about it (not because he thinks apple sucks, but because the laptop is so close to being perfect but falls short on something EXTREMELY important to them)

the mac mini is great, that's not the point.. increase in price with decrease in performance (graphics wise) simply sucks.. it may very well be a fast machine, capable of running most software that is intel optimized quite well.. but anyone else notice that the Graphics tab is gone form their site? Obviously Apple isn't too confident in it's ability. Maybe that's not what it's targeted for? That's perfectly fine. But if you're going to degrade a part of a machine, the price should DROP. intel core duo = improvement, price goes up... fair enough... all I'm saying is that every revision apple seems to introduce, their profit margin seems to increase substantially. The mac mini was cool because it was small, it was bad ass because it was cheap, and impressive because of how well it performed given those two criteria.


so, if anyone is still reading... i just miss Apple "Thinking Different", they're modifying products in the same respect that any manufacture would.. with profit margin in mind, not being innovative and cool. ipod hifi.. is just like all the other ipod boombox stero thingies that have been out.. they SHOULD have put WiFi inside so your mac could also connect to it (in the same manner that iTunes connects to airport extreme) THEN ti would have been truly unique. (and perhaps a future ipod revision would also have wifi, as many PDAs ahve packed it into a tiny package)

in summation... apple should up the price of the 599 mini to 630 and put the damn core duo in it.

[ryarber]

There are a few things missing from this mac mini that I can anticipate will result in gaps being filled soon. First is DVR functionality. I don't know if Apple is even going in that direction since they are getting in bed with the networks like they did with the record companies. The networks haven't been very happy with TIVO recently and apple may not be willing to risk losing that edge for their iTunes video sales. I wonder if they're providing a way for people like Elgato to make a companion product that can seamlessly integrate with frontrow to provide this functinality.

A front row box. A standalone small, cheap box that you can hook to any TV in the house and, using the new frontrow software, stream your video or music anywhere. Something like the Roku Soundbridge for music and video or like those windows media center extenders you can get for the Viiv systems.

Radio.... Does anyone really care about radio these days? Seems like traditional radio's days are numbered in the home media center. It is certainly not going to be dead, but when you're in your house, who listens to traditional AM or FM unless it is for the occasional ballgame. Most of those are streamed over the internet anyway, so that is no big loss.

Extensibility for add-ons eg. XM or Sirius radio. See above comments about radio.

I don't see people's point about the graphics cards in these things. They seem very capable of doing what most adults will want to do with these as a media center piece. They are capable of decoding and playing HD video. These things aren't going to compete with the X-Box or PS3. I don't see apple breaking into that market, so why put expensive graphics cards into a machine when they're not needed and needlessly driving up the price.

Why did Apple put in, by default, Airport and Bluetooth into these things? Seems that streaming video over wireless to these tings would saturate wireless bandwidth, and if people wanted to use these as an actual computer, they could order BTO. That seems like needless expense to me, unless you have a faster version of wireless going into these things.

Why no iSight built-in? These could make for great iChat machines or even a baby-sitter cam if you wanted to set it up like that. Seems they could have skimped on the wireless and added an iSight instead.

Bottom line, I'm disappointed and won't be buying this generation of mini. I was hoping to buy one, but this isn't the one I want.

[:dragonflypro:]

You surely realize they are in business and just happen to make cool stuff, not make cool stuff and just happen to be in business, right?

I think at the end of the day too many of us find it easy to forget they are a company the has to be profitable.

That includes building in parts (modem) that only perhaps 35% of the demographic will need.

[mrplow]

it's just not the strategy they used to practice, they seem to be getting further and further away from being different/cool (coincidentally they're increasingly successful as a business).. the originaly ipod was amazing because it offered something no one else on the market did (and most mp3 players were completely trash at the time)

and in response to the last big rant (thanks, now i don't feel so out of place with my rant) I agree 99%. DVR seems extremely unlikely because it would detract from iTunes new TV Show section. Additionally, a mac mini simply doesn't need a killer graphics card- very few people will use it for games (and even fewer that care about having games on highest settings with high FPS) BUT I think the price should reflect the fact that the machine lacks that feature.

..I bought an iMac Core Duo for $1020 brand new from Amazon a few weeks ago, so I guess seeing such a crippled Mac Mini for only $200 less doesn't seem appropriate.

[DCapple]

i just hope that they Apple will have products that is not so expensive!!!

[quiklee]

does anyone know if the mac mini is available at the apple stores?

[Rumz]

Originally Posted by mrplow

it's just not the strategy they used to practice, they seem to be getting further and further away from being different/cool (coincidentally they're increasingly successful as a business).. the originaly ipod was amazing because it offered something no one else on the market did (and most mp3 players were completely trash at the time)

and in response to the last big rant (thanks, now i don't feel so out of place with my rant) I agree 99%. DVR seems extremely unlikely because it would detract from iTunes new TV Show section. Additionally, a mac mini simply doesn't need a killer graphics card- very few people will use it for games (and even fewer that care about having games on highest settings with high FPS) BUT I think the price should reflect the fact that the machine lacks that feature.

..I bought an iMac Core Duo for $1020 brand new from Amazon a few weeks ago, so I guess seeing such a crippled Mac Mini for only $200 less doesn't seem appropriate.

Remember your iMac was discounted by a few hundred bucks. Isn't the base 17" model normally $1299? In retail price terms, it's a much bigger price difference-- you just got a great deal on an iMac. I'd take that over a Mini any day if I could get that price.

It all depends on your point of view. So many people are disappointed with the Mini. Price and video card seem to be the biggest sore points. Now if in real world terms the core solo is on par speed-wise with the G4 (I still have a hard time believing state of the art Intel technology is only as fast as an outdated G4), I still think the extra hundred bucks is worth it to me. Why? Optical in/out. Gigabit ethernet. twice the capacity for RAM. Bluetooth and wifi built in. The little things add up.

To me, I couldn't justify spending $500 on a Mini because it was too handicapped with the RAM issue and the slow G4. I can understand people wanting it to stay at the $500 price point and who knows-- maybe down the road it will come down in price. In my honest opinion, the Mac Mini is now a lot MORE bang for the buck than it was before. As for me, I'm a little more curious about the $200 price bump for a superdrive, slightly bigger hard drive, and a core duo. We can all say "oh the core duo is only $35 more" but maybe this is where Apple's making their money. I love hearing Apple users complain about price because for years as a PC user I always thought Apple's stuff was overpriced. But it's the whole experience-- I could build a little whiz of a PC for $700, but would it really provide the same experience? Would it be as small and quiet and would it have the same level of usability?

But hey-- if the Mini doesn't suit you, it doesn't suit you. If that $500 PC is what suits you-- go for it. You should get what suits your needs for the money you're willing to spend. If you feel the iMac is more bang for the buck (again, for the price you quoted I'd agree that it is), go for it.

I wouldn't say apple is not "thinking differently" because they aren't doing what you think they should or because they dropped a modem. As a relatively new fan of Apple, I honestly think they are innovating more than ever. Part of what makes the mini great is it's potential as a media server. It's small, quiet, and powerful. I love the idea that front row + bonjour will make creating a home media network a snap-- zero configuration.

The idea started as a budget computer, a way to get new people to buy Macs. Now they can put more horsepower in that form factor (sans the gaming horsepower some want) and make it suitable to playback HD content-- why not push it as a media center? Many people felt like that was the direction it was headed from day one.

Anyways... I agree the new Mini isn't perfect. I'd love it if they had DVR software and a tuner as well but I agree with the above poster who said it could conflict with their online music/video store, etc. I'd even love it if it had a better video card-- but if it had an x1600 or thereabouts I honestly would expect to pay more for it. And since this horse is now dead I guess I can stop beating it

[thephotodork]

Originally Posted by quiklee

does anyone know if the mac mini is available at the apple stores?

It is in stock at the Shadyside Apple Store in Pittsburgh.

[ururk]

Originally Posted by Tuishimi

Really? Are you sure? I also ordered the wireless keyboard/mouse and they are shipping separately. I already got the ship notification for the keyboard and mouse, but the system is not expected to ship until Friday and arrive by the following Friday.

Yes. It's in PA right now (leaving from there). I'm as shocked as you are. I figure people will get them before me from the Apple stores, but I went educational so I had to buy online for the discount.

Frankly, it's not going to be a gaming machine. Yes, the $$$ is a bit high. BUT, and I say BUT, it's a decent machine, and is the same speed as the lower end MacBook USED to be. Yes, it has integrated graphics. But frankly, I'm not going to be doing much 3D gaming.

John

[JKT]

Even the old Mac mini was a perfectly good 3D gaming machine, just it was with games that were a year or two old - it plays Halo pretty well for instance. If you were interested your new Mac mini will be an OK games machine too, just not cutting edge.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by TETENAL

Tell us whether the graphics chip supports Core Image (or other words: do you see the ripple when opening Dashboard widgets).

It does: The Intel GMA950 graphics supports Tiger Core Graphics and the latest 3D games.
IIRC even GMA900 on the developer transition boxes supported Tiger Core Graphics.

Originally Posted by JKT

Even the old Mac mini was a perfectly good 3D gaming machine