Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: mac, pro, imac | Themes: Business, Desktop Computers, Laptops and Notebooks
2. Analysis Of The 2007 Mac Minis
Apple describes its Mac Minis as "BYODKM," which is an acronym for "bring your own display, keyboard and mouse. Bring your own display is certainly understandable, but I don’t recall every buying (or even seeing for sale) a retail computer without a keyboard and mouse. Given that this is Apple’s entry-level computer, I just don’t understand why Apple doesn’t make life a little easier for the entry-level computer user.
A close up of the Mac Mini and its built in optical drive.
Further, if you choose to go with an Apple-branded keyboard and mouse, you’ll spend at least an extra $100. The good news here is that Apple keyboards do have several cool features: in addition to the somewhat common on-board volume controls, there are also controls for adjusting the monitor. Plus, there are two USB ports conveniently built into the keyboard. The ports can be used for attaching just about any USB device to your Mac, such as your mouse, digital camera, flash drive, and, of course, your iPod.
Providing you have modest computer needs, the Mac Mini definitely serves as a quality entry-level computer, perhaps more than you’d get for your money than from some competing retail brands that are still selling old-generation Pentium fireballs at Mac Mini prices, and equipping Vista-based computers with just 1 GB of RAM. If your needs are sending email, surfing the Web, word processing, watching videos and performing mild photo editing tasks on low- to medium-resolution images, you’d likely be pleased with a Mac Mini.
However, if you’re a typical Tom’s Hardware Guide power user, you’d likely find that these entry-level units are inadequate. Despite using SATA, the 5,400 rpm hard drive is clearly going to be slow compared to today’s standard of 7,200 rpm. There’s no external SATA port available, and for reasons I cannot explain, Apple, which normally runs its Firewire ports using 800 Mb/s 1394b, only enables the Mac Mini Firewire port with 400 Mb/s 1394a. Apple invented Firewire, they really should know better.
Even considering all of the above, the most-significant problem for those of us that enjoy games and 3D rendering quickly becomes clear: the Mac Mini uses a motherboard graphics chip. As much as Intel has improved upon these, particularly with the inclusion of OpenGL instructions, you can still only go so far with on board graphics, and for those of us that frequent this site, that just won’t be far enough.
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For 2d graphics a 7300 is no worse than a 8800, and for 3d a 8800 is no better than a quadro FX.
I see your point but try thinking like a pro when you review such a system.
Of course that doesn't change your "over-priced" conclusion.
I've been in the market for a $1000 "Mac Desktop" for several months but in the end just gave up and reluctantly got a nice cheap Dell. I would have definitely preferred a Mac but if they refuse to make an "ordinary" product for us "ordinary" people then I'll throw my money elsewhere.
BTW, for less than $600 this is what I got from Dell C2D/2GB/250GB/DVDRW/x1300/22"LCD = $600. What's odd is that Apple would easily charge $1100 for these specs so people should really quit making fun of PC's because if Apple ruled the world then we'd all be broke.
While I totally understand your shopping method, I think its important to realize there is more to the computing experience than cheap hardware. I'd gladly pay 1200 for an iMac (2x what your dell costs) just so that I could have the iLife software and OS X. The iLife software is the best software for ordinary folks I've ever seen. Nothing touches it on any platform, including OS X. As for the OS, I guess basic file management can be had on any system, but I love the fact that I don't have to deal with virus/spyware/zombieware on my Mac. That last point alone is worth paying a measly $600. So, maybe Apple does not have the widest selection of hardware at the cheapest prices, but the actual experience of using it is worth far more than the cash you saved.
In my daily work, I use 5 machines, 2 are Macs. My home computer is a Mac.
While I totally understand your shopping method, I think its important to realize there is more to the computing experience than cheap hardware. I'd gladly pay 1200 for an iMac (2x what your dell costs) just so that I could have the iLife software and OS X. The iLife software is the best software for ordinary folks I've ever seen. Nothing touches it on any platform, including OS X. As for the OS, I guess basic file management can be had on any system, but I love the fact that I don't have to deal with virus/spyware/zombieware on my Mac. That last point alone is worth paying a measly $600. So, maybe Apple does not have the widest selection of hardware at the cheapest prices, but the actual experience of using it is worth far more than the cash you saved.
In my daily work, I use 5 machines, 2 are Macs. My home computer is a Mac.
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor(2.40GHz, 4x2MB, 1066MHz FSB)
ABIT IP35-E Motherboard (P35 Express, 8GB DDR2, 1333MHz FSB)
G.Skill 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 DIMM Dual Channel Memory
ASUS GeForce 8500GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card
Seagate Barracuda 320GB Hard Drive(Serial ATA-300, 7,200 RPM, 16MB)
Lite-On Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer (8x DVD±R DL)
Antec SOLO Silver/Black Mini Tower (ATX, 8 Bays)
Antec EarthWatts EA-430 430W Power Supply
Acer Black 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor (19", 1440x900, 5ms)
Microsoft Business Keyboard / Mouse Combo
Windows XP Professional x64
And for an extra $200 I am considering another 4Gb of RAM and a second hard disk. All this for less than half the price of the comparable Mac Pro model. My GPU is not spectacular but I'm not a gamer and it is easily upgraded. My next endeavor is to run Leopard on one of this systems' drive partitions. I'm not too crazy about Apple's hardware either. But Tiger running on my 21" iMac G5 2.1Ghz machine has been next to flawless.
On the matter of the Mac Pro: Yep, another Mac model that was not updated in any way other the processor for about 15-18 months! Only in Jan 2008 has there been a real update to the Mac Pro.
However, keep in mind that the fact that Apple owns the OS allows Apple to make special releases of Mac OS X for new Macs, and though that it is a good thing Macs don't need separate driver CDs for Mac OS X, it also may mean lag time while Apple write the drivers for the new hardware.