If you're not one of the Apple fans obsessing over all the
products
announced recently, let me tell you about the one that's peaked my
interest the most: the tiny MacMini (
although I keep wanting to call it the MiniMac ). I've been a recent
convert to the Apple camp, although I still have an AMD desktop machine,
so please don't think I'm just another raving fan
boy.
The thing that most intrigues me is the tiny case that it comes in 6.5
inches square and 2 inches tall. For home-theater enthusiasts, this
could be a good PC to sit near your receiver and
TV to watch
TV, stream Music, view Photos, and stream Video/Ripped DVD's from
another PC.
If you're looking to replace your current PC, either because it is old
or infested with
spyware/viruses, then the
MacMini is a great choice to look at. You can reuse your existing
keyboard, mouse, and monitor with it. Starting at \$500 you could have a
brand new machine, though you're likely to want to upgrade to the
SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW drive (+\$100), wireless card ( +\$79 ), and
throwing in some extra memory wouldn't hurt (512MB+\$75). I'm not
exactly sure why going to 1 Gigabyte of memory practically doubles the
price of the machine, adds \$425! Still, you're looking at an outlay of
less than \$750 that comes with a great bundle of
software, including the new
iLife
suite.
I hope Apple does a lot to market to user's who are ready to upgrade.
For an all-purpose, PC you can't beat such a small form-factor with
such a stable and secure operating system. Actually, if I had it my way,
we'd start replacing our computers at work with these.
Update: Apple's Tipping Point: Macs For The
Masses