Apple Mac Mini 1.8GHz
The basics
Mac OS desktop with 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip, Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics card, 1-2GB RAM and 120-320GB hard drive. Five USB ports come unadorned with mouse, keyboard, monitor, webcam or speakers. Draft-n Wi-FI and Bluetooth. iLife 09 software. Measures 508x165x165cm. Weighs 1.3kg.
The good
Who said computers had to take up half a spare room, whirring loudly and wheezing out hot air? The aluminium-clad Mac Mini is about the size of a large paperback – and its carbon footprint isn’t much larger, thanks to its highly recyclable construction and power-sipping 13W idle mode. Stick it under the telly, behind the sofa or even in a cupboard, using Bluetooth and zippy 802.11n wireless to squirt data around your (probably designer Danish modern) digital home. A decent Nvidia graphics chip is well up to modern gaming or High Def movie playback.
The bad
Less is more, at least when it comes to the Mac Mini’s price-tag. For the same kind of money, you could buy a designer Windows system with a faster processor, more RAM and a much larger hard drive – and at least get a mouse and keyboard with it. While its cut-down chic is appealing, some omissions just feel miserly, like the lack of an Apple Remote (£15) and no HDMI output to enjoy your media on a nearby flatscreen.
The bottom line
Flat-sharing urban professionals and well-heeled young parents will adore the Mini’s stripped down style and plug-and-play simplicity. Anyone else might decide to sacrifice some design kudos and enjoy a cheaper, more powerful Windows system instead
User comments (9)
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balbus24 August 2009
I have just bought my third Mac Mini. The first an IBM power PC processor bought to try out the macs after a lifetime of PCs and Windows. What a revelation! It did everything I wanted, silently and very efficiently. It is now over 5 years old, running the latest Mac Leopard OS very well and is living with my eldest, who is a technophobe, but very happy. The second is the centre of a home entertainment system after giving years of trouble free use, and the latest just gets on with life, but just a little bit faster. Now here is the most amazing thing. I have only ever needed to load software once, ever. Each new Mac Mini will take up the programs and settings of the last and run as if nothing has changed! I have never had to wipe a drive and reload the OS (I do it every 6 months for XP and Vista is a dog). Despite teenagers who download all sorts of rubbish, have never had a problem of a virus or malware on the Mac, lost count of the number of times its happened on the PCs. My advice. If you're not sure about trying a Mac go for one of the new minis, you can use your existing mouse and USB keyboard and monitor. Its not meant as a gaming machine but for everything else it is brilliant.
Report as inappropriatehayley sweet07 December 2009
I got my fella this for his birthday this year and he thinks its the best thing ,What a revelation,hes happy now ,after pc after pc running slow ,this thing is fast no problems at all ,once you go MAC YOU NEVER GO BACK !!!!!
Report as inappropriatemozzey16 March 2010
three stars... its sooo much better than than. I used to have an old xp that supossedly is faster but no. THis runs faster is about 1/20th of the size and has no bugs at all. Love it.
Report as inappropriatebob07 April 2010
rip off, i mean £600 for a tiny shoebox sized pc? no thanks. btw, i'm not surprised dell has fought back with a similarly sized pc for £250
Report as inappropriatedoktordoris12 April 2010
Bob you are missing the point, it isn't about money it is about perfection. The reason mac owners pay twice as much is because the product is twice as good. Simple. I own a MAcbbok Pro I bought last week, it cost me 1400 pounds, I could have bought a similar spec PC for a third of that, but the finish and detail of the mac is well worth the extra. Little things like the power cable being magnetic and being able to plug it in either way up, the trackpad knowing the difference between one, two, three and four finger swipes; all of which do different things. The screen being covered with real glass so it wont get scratched. The keys being illuminated and set into the keyboard in such a way that no crumbs can get inside. The camera being a light sensor so the screen is as bright as it needs to be for the environment. The battery lasting 7 hours. The list goes on and on, and that is without mentioning the OS or software. I own a huge gaming rig PC but when at home browsing or doing WP I use my macbook. A mac is more because you get more. doris
Report as inappropriatejonnie eleanor 23 October 2010
Hi I am just about to buy a mac mini from the apple website with my uni discount but it says that it doesn't come with keyboard or mouse and the only apple ones are £50 for mouse and another 50 for keyboard. This is way to expensive for uni people like me and i was wondering if there are any cheaper mouses and keyboards that are compatible with the mac mini cheers Jonnie
Report as inappropriatechar b18 November 2010
from what i can see on the apple website i have noticed there is a HDMI output on the back. Fault me if im wrong but i think im right!!!
Report as inappropriateVirginTrain126 December 2010
I have the 08 Mac Mini 2GB of ram , love it and i have just switched from windows, never going back!
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