PC Competition for the Mac mini? 603
Omega1045 asks: "When Apple announced their Mac mini last week for US$499, it caught my eye. Wanting to buy/build a small PC for my already cramped breakfast bar, I started pricing out similar PC hardware. The results startled me. It was very difficult to price a PC as small (6.5" x 6.5" x 2") as the Mac mini with comparable equipment cheaper than the Mac mini. Indeed, most of the configurations I found were more than the humble $499 of the Mac, often much more. To match price I often had to configure with a much bigger shuttle-style case. What computers are currently on the market to compete with this? When my wife asks for the 'cute little Mac', what PC can I buy instead that will take up as little space and do as much for the same price (or less)?" How long do you think it will take PC manufacturers to answer Apple's latest entry into the market?
Nothing (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing comes to mind that can do as much for that price, but I'm sure someone will post all the components that they got for some price you'll never be able to find. They won't account for the OS price, the time spend building the computer, or the lack of any warranty.
Re:Nothing (Score:2)
Re:Nothing (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean really, unless you could get a comperable PC for less than the $500 price tag why would you even consider it?
Don't like OSX (It takes some getting used to, but I think it probably has the best UI of any OS out there)? Run PPC Linux.
Re:Nothing (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Nothing (Score:5, Interesting)
Apple thinks they are discovering a new market with the mini. If it turns out they are right, the Windows world will certainly rush to come up with something that reaches that market. Let's see what they could do:
The mini looks very similar to the eMac mobo, or possibly more like the G4 mobo with a single DIMM slot replacing the two SO-DIMM slots. The idea is, it's a laptop-class system in an ultra-small desktop box.
Now, Intel has been trying to find a way to compete with the lower heat and longer battery life of the iBook/Powerbook line for a long time, with very limited success, but they've recently gained a lot of traction with the new "Centrino" line of mobile processors.
Now suppose TI or Intel or some other company who has the capacity to do motherboard design comes out with a 5" x 5" Centrino mobo which uses standard-size memory.
They will probably use integrated video to save a few bucks, rather than patching on an ATI Mobility card the way Apple does, but nobody will care... this isn't a 1337 game system, it's an attempt at a mini killer. Integrated sound would also be likely.
It would probably support USB2 and VGA, and even hang on to PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, but scrap the parallel port and all but one serial port. Since they preserved the PS/2 Bus, it would cost almost nothing to bundle a keyboard and two-button mouse with it.
It would probably work with a standard Targus laptop power supply, and probably ship with a generic version of the same thing.
Instead of the laptop drive, make it a half-inch taller and put in a full-sized ATA HD.
Total cost to buy one of these units from HP, eMachines, or some other low-end company would be $349 and include a default installation of Windows XP Home Edition.
The problem is, hard-core PC users will have spent the better part of a year convincing themselves that such a design is strictly for those gay-ass Mac-heads, and spend their money on a conventional tower system.
The lack of DVI would make it less suitable for the entertainment system (most of your better projectors and HDTV systems now support DVI inputs), and the lack of Firewire or 802.11g/Bluetooth antennas makes it actually harder to expand than the mini, which (let's face it) is not a particularly flexible machine by PC user standards.
If they are really smart, they will spend the extra money to preserve that other staple of PC laptops: The PCMCIA slot. This will present the opportunity to add Firewire, wireless networking, and a few other things which mini users will already be taking for granted.
But like I said, nothing like this is likely to happen until after the industry witnesses the Mac mini selling like hotcakes, and then they will need a couple months of R&D to react.
There's actually a chance that the mini will turn out to be the "Mac cube" of 2005, in which case nobody will bother to copy it, and after it's discontinued used minis will sell for above the original retail price on eBay, just because it will become such a curious novelty of days gone by.
Re:Nothing (Score:3, Interesting)
Looking at the ports, the
Re:Nothing (Score:3, Insightful)
For once, Apple has released the fastest & cheapest system available in its class.
Yes, you can get a much faster & cheaper desktop system than the G5 iMac.
You can probably also build a sweet AMD system for the price of the G5 tower.
The iBook remains fairly competitive, but far from the cheapest laptop out there.
However, if
Re:Nothing (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Nothing (Score:3, Insightful)
There's only one issue: the Mini killer would probably run Windows. The entire point of the Mini is to produce a more affordable Mac to appeal to those who want to try a Mac but used to bulk at the price. If a user was totally happy with his or her Windows based PC, they probably wouldn't be considering a Mac in the first place.
I think I fit into the target demographic for the Mini. I ordered mine the
Re:Nothing (Score:2, Interesting)
It sort of sounds like selling at a lose and making it up in volume.
They're not selling at a loss, trust me. (Score:3, Insightful)
D
Re:Nothing (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm asking this only partly from the perspective of wondering what's wrong with the Mac mini in his eyes (I accept there may be any number of legit reasons for wanting a PC instead, like wanting to use certain software, etc.). I'm asking largely because I wonder why he'd prefer to get something other than what the wife wants - not something specific, mind you, but just anything that's not the one thing she's suggesting, despite the fact that from his own query's wording it apparently features everything he wants in the new computer, and at a price he can't match with another system. It sounds a bit like he's just arbitrarily refusing to get the Mac mini to spite her, or something. I hope that's not the case (and I do apologize if I've mischaracterized his intent; I just don't understand what he's thinking)...
Re:Nothing (Score:2)
Re:Nothing (Score:3, Insightful)
Wrong. How long does it take to download? Time is money, don't think it ain't. That's not to say that the cost isn't far less; just don't pretend that because the software itself is free, that everything else about it is as well.
One thing that bothers me about the geek community is that people seem to think that because they can and want to tinker with their computers th
Re:Not to Troll but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Dell Recalls [dell.com]
Make sure never to buy from them either, since aparently a company admitting a problem and fixing it for free is too much for you to deal with. While your at it, make sure to sell any vehicle you own, as it is likely that company has also issued recall notices on some of their products. Next up, make sure to avoid the grocery stores. They have recall notices posted all the time too.
I dunno Cliff (Score:3, Funny)
I don't think anyone really knows how lond
omega1045: just buy the mini
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:2)
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:2)
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:2)
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:3, Insightful)
While you are typing into, well, pretty much anything, if you misspell a word a squiggly red line appears under the work and you can control click it to select an alternate spelling.
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:4, Interesting)
Furthermore: it's a snap to switch to a different language (Cmd-shift-; and select the new language) in case you frequently use more than one.
And since this works for all Cocoa applications, you also get it in Mail applications, word processors, and even graphics packages (because the developers get it for free).
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, well...
Paul B.
Re:I dunno Cliff (Score:4, Informative)
I use a great Firefox extension called Spellbound [sourceforge.net].
Mini copies on the way? (Score:3, Interesting)
If the Mini sells well, look for copies in less than a year; if it's not a big hit, the big guys (Dell, HP, et al) won't bother.
Re:Mini copies on the way? (Score:3, Funny)
Hey! My Mom Can Build One! (Score:5, Informative)
Leo McGarry [slashdot.org] said, and I can't think of a better summary,
"Howzabout you buy a computer instead of hand-carving your own microchips?
People love to talk about how you can build a top-flight desktop computer for $3.25 plus two subway tokens and some kind of weird-ass coin that you dug out of your sofa that's got "Røølï" written on it, but what they curiously omit is the fact that if you took all the time you'd spend gathering parts and assembling them and worked a minimum-wage job at some fast food place instead, you'd earn hundreds of dollars. So the real cost of this "It's Shake-n-Bake, and I helped!" special is, in fact, several times higher than the sum of the price tags on the hundreds of inscrutable parts that went into it.
People who say "I can build that for less" are either not bothering to account for their time or just flat-out lying, because the plain truth of the matter is that if they could, somebody already would have, and you'd be able to just go out to a 7-11 and buy the damn thing for half off with the purchase of a medium or large fountain drink."
Re:Hey! My Mom Can Build One! (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, I am wondering about the cost for local vendors trying to compete with the big guys. Can a local computer shop put one of these together to compete with the Mac? Even with a free (as in beer) OS?
Re:Hey! My Mom Can Build One! (Score:2)
Re:Hey! My Mom Can Build One! (Score:5, Insightful)
it is when it's the dominant parameter being used to make comparisons.
Re:Hey! My Mom Can Build One! (Score:3, Insightful)
When it comes to a 1500+ mac (ie Tower) I can see this argument and it's hard to claim they spend THAT many hours. Now with the mini I don't see it....
Re:Hey! My Mom Can Build One! (Score:4, Insightful)
Plus half of the rebates don't come through. Yes, Belkin, I'm talking about YOU. Bastards.
Re:Hey! My Mom Can Build One! (Score:3, Insightful)
If someone was doing this at work you would be correct. But last I checked I wasn't getting paid for stuff I do on my own time after I come home in the evenings. I am not getting paid for my time from six pm to eight am, so I'm in no way losing money by building something like this.
Cappuccino (Score:5, Informative)
I bought a fanless mini pc from CappuccinoPC. I don't see the exact model I purchased on their site, but it was close to this one:
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/slimpro-sp300-fanless
1.65"H x 5.75"W x 9.84"D
Slightly bigger than the mini-mac, and not as stylish.
They have a variety of other systems, some with fans, some without. Some of them come in a brushed silver color.
They have cases, barebones, and fully functional offerings. I bought a complete PC and it was under $600.
Re:Cappuccino (Score:5, Insightful)
I looked this up and it is a pretty awesome box for an embedded app. For someone who just wants a computer, I think it's probably not worth the hassle.
I get a total of $808 configured thus:
Pentium mobile at 650Mhz (the fastest they'll install for you)
PC133 256MB RAM
40GB 4200 RPM drive
Slot-loading combo drive
DOS-formatted drive (add $159 for XP Pro)
Integrated graphics, (no VRAM cited, so I assume this is shared.)
it does have PS/2 and serial ports, but only USB1.1. It includes a firewire.
I don't think this is the right machine for the application, and even though it is a much lesser machine than the Mini, it still is more expensive.
Cool box, just waiting for hacking, but not for the punters.
Re:Cappuccino (Score:2, Interesting)
Me again... a fairer comparison is a cappacino EZ3 [cappuccinopc.com]
This combo is $1,042
Intel Pentium III @1.26 GHz
PC133 256MB RAM
40GB 4200RPM HD
Slot-loading DVD-CDR Combo drive
XP Pro
Intel integrated graphics
No montior or keyboard
PC people, no flame, but what makes this more expensive!?
Re:Cappuccino (Score:2)
Re:Cappuccino (Score:4, Informative)
Provocation! (Score:2, Funny)
Robert
PS
Think different. (Score:5, Insightful)
None, and you can't.
You want something small and functional for your breakfast bar, right? Then just get the Mac Mini and be done with it. It'll play your music, browse the web, and read your email every bit as well as your Windows PC, so what's the problem? Are you planning to play Doom 3 over eggs and bacon?
Re:Think different. (Score:3, Insightful)
Incidentally, with the Mac mini, he could.
Re:Think different. (Score:3, Insightful)
Granted, the CPU is less likely to be a concern, but the video RAM is a definite problem. Doom 3 is likely to crawl on the Mini because of it.
Re:Think different. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Think different. (Score:3, Informative)
I have a laptop PC with a 2.4Ghz processor and a Geforce 4 Ti Mobile GPu. Doom 3 runs like ass.
I've ordered a Mac Mini tho (not to play doom on), and I'd very surprised and happy if it could play Doom 3. But if it can: why, on such low specs?
Re:Think different. (Score:5, Funny)
Get her the damn Mac min! Then when you ask for sex or a blow-job you'll be more likely to get one.
"She wanted a Mac mini and I told her I could build her a better PC myself. Now when I ask for sex, she hands me the baby oil and tells me to do it myself. My name is Wayne Kerr and I wish I was a Switcher."
The couch (Score:5, Funny)
My wife asked me for one thing, how can I give her something else entirely and act all pompous like I went out of my way for her? I like sleeping on the couch.
Re:The doghouse (Score:4, Insightful)
Hubris. It's the same reason we can't stop and ask for directions.
Sorry, has to be said (Score:5, Insightful)
You could just buy the Mac Mini. I know it seems silly, but this is exactly what Apple is hoping you'll do. For iLife, a BSD userland, and some other fun stuff, how can you resist? I know you can, thank you peanut gallery.
I tried pricing something similar a while ago -- look at OEM parts, and consider putting the whole thing into a cardboard box; you can do well with an Athlon 64, a couple hundred megs of memory, and a bulk HD. Size, however.. that's hard. MiniITX doesn't come cheap.
Re:Sorry, has to be said (Score:2)
Seriously, I have a couple of apps that I really like on my PC that I would not have on a Mac. It just isn't what I am looking to get into. I might end up using this as a light weight home work machine if needed.
Re:Sorry, has to be said (Score:2)
Re:Sorry, has to be said (Score:5, Interesting)
Not much to learn, really. Replance CTRL for Command (Apple key) for most functions, and then you know what to do if coming from a Windows world. CMD+C = copy, CMD+V = paste, etc.
I got my first Mac in March of '04, and within a few hours of just fooling around, I was moving just as quickly as I do on Windows. Now, after using it lmost exclusively for the past 9 months, I do things much fater on it than I could on my Windows box.
It's seriously easy as hell to learn, and plug in a USB multi-button mouse and work like you do on Windows for most things (only thing I miss is clicking the scroll wheel and moving up or down to quickly scroll through documents and such). Other than that, the OS is a snap to use.
Re:Sorry, has to be said (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously. If a Linux box is what you want, and you want it as small and quiet as the mini, than a mini running Debian or YDL is hands-down the cheapest way to do it.
However, before you reformat and pull out those Debian disks, I suggest you give OS X a brief trial.
- It's pre-loaded with the only browser that compares favorably with Mozila's offerings, and Mozila runs fine in OS X if that's your preference.
-Bring up the terminal window and you have access to a bash prompt.
- It has a remarkably simple e-mail app with thread tracking and spam filtering, but feel free to run command-prompt mail programs if you are a hard-core Linux/BSD CLI guy.
- It comes with Apache pre-installed. Launching httpd is as simple as clicking a box in the network preferences.
- The remote desktop tool works great, and also comes pre-installed. ssh is loaded up and ready if you prefer.
- The developer disk (which is not pre-loaded, but ships with every copy of OS X) contains an outstanding set of programming tools.
- Aqua is a more consistent and functional GUI than anything the free *nix world has ever offered. The Finder window in 10.3 or later alone is worth the price of admission.
- BBEdit, the preferred text editor of most Mac users who do dev work in text-based environments, is fairly cheap and far in advance of TextPad (the best inexpensive Windows-based text editor I've seen to date.) If you are a text-based programmer, start using BBEdit and you just might turn into a raving Mac Bigot. Plus, if you really love *nix tools, you can just run Emacs or vi.
Re:Sorry, has to be said (Score:4, Informative)
One better: TextWranger [barebones.com] -- basically BBEdit without a few things [barebones.com] -- is now free.
Buy her what she wants! (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would you want a PC when a Mac can be had for that low price. What does the PC have that the Mac doesn't?
Re: What does the PC have that the Mac doesn't? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Buy her what she wants! (Score:3, Funny)
Trying to buy a PC instead? Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
As a long-time PC user who's wanted an OS X Mac for simply years, I must ask: Why?
Re:Trying to buy a PC instead? Why? (Score:2)
Re:Trying to buy a PC instead? Why? (Score:3, Insightful)
And what are you going to do when your Cappuccino PC or other ultra-mini PC breaks? Those are typically made with proprietary components that are not user-servicable or replacable, and the Mac is not at a disadvantage there. Do you know if Shuttle or Cappuccino has support on the level of Apple? Because you sure as he
Just buy the Mac Mini (Score:2)
Just buy the "cute little Mac" (Score:2)
Mac mini has low-end specs; SFF low-end PC? (Score:4, Informative)
why not just buy the mac mini? (Score:2)
an obvious flame inducing topic... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:an obvious flame inducing topic... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:an obvious flame inducing topic... (Score:3, Informative)
OS X doesn't support virtual desktops out of the box, but there are plenty of utilities that do a great job. Desktop Manager [sourceforge.net] is free and probably the best of the bunch.
On the topic of little things OS X is missing, Quicksilver [blacktree.com] is a great application launcher that makes the dock all but obsolete.
Not gonna happen right now. (Score:2, Insightful)
Since the MacMini also has a video card that isn't integrated into the mother (logic) board. I have a feeling you're not going to find anything with the type of video processing power either. Decent video cards aren't very small these days.
When your wife asks (Score:2)
Apple is here for the long term. Will shuttle be?
FYI please dont compare hardware vs hardware becuase you can get something for that price. But when you compare XP Pro, Office, Video and Picture Editing things get expensive. With mac's it's already there.
And the target audience is those who dont upgrade their pc's.. in 2-3 years there may be updated mac mini's to upgrade to but that's beyond the point.
Linux maybe... Windows... very difficult (Score:2)
For what you get (software/hardware/size), it is going to be tough to match let alone beat the Mac Mini setup for some time.
Get the mac (Score:5, Funny)
Not really a fair comparison (Score:2)
AFAIAC, the super compact form fa
dealing with the wife (Score:2, Insightful)
How would you feel if you asked for a nice BMW and she came home with a similar Toyota?
When will we get a clue? (Score:2)
It may well not be the best specc'd machine, but it's a cheap Mac, man! That's why they'll sell like hotcakes. I want one!
Old SGI Indy... (Score:3, Funny)
Only partially kidding!
Paul B.
I'd start looking here (Score:2)
Of course, I've already build my own Mini-ITX PC [krisjohn.net], so small isn't so much of a big deal anymore. Thus I stopped tracking prices a little while ago.
PC System (Score:3, Informative)
Mini-ITX is the way to go. You'll need a motherboard and CPU ($160), a good case and PSU ($70), a laptop HDD ($130 will get you a 60GB Seagate 5200rpm), an optical drive (DVD/CD-RW; $33) and some DDR ($80 for 512M).
Total: $473.
Compared to the Mac Mini:
+ More memory
+ Larger HDD
+ Twice as many USB ports
+ Parallel / Serial Ports
+ Free PCI Slot
+ Audio input
+ PS2 ports
+ Dual Ethernet
- Slower CPU
- Slightly Larger
- No FireWire
Add Linux or Windows.
Re:PC System (Score:3, Insightful)
so it's not really comparable, is it? windows costs money. linux takes time to install/configure.
then factor in iLife apps. and warranty.
how about dvi out?
Re:PC System (Score:3, Insightful)
You've created more Questions than Answers... (Score:3, Insightful)
Is it equivalent in size to the Mac Mini's?
It is a reliable PSU, right? Not some $10 taiwanese job that's going to blow out and fry your mobo in 6 months?
What processor and mobo?
Are they as fast as the Mac Mini's?
Does your hypothetical miniPC have a graphics card equivalent to the Mini's Radeon 9200, or is this some Intel Integrated piece of crap that leeches off of system RAM?
Why do you consider a system that's $26 cheaper than the Mini but includes neither an op
Re:PC System (Score:3, Insightful)
In either case you are still considerably short of what the Mac comes with in terms of software, and you didn't include a cost for Windows.
zerg (Score:5, Insightful)
Can you name a single man here on slashdot who wouldn't get hot @ the thought of his wife wanting to use a UNIX-based operating system?
Get her the Mac Mini and get the AppleCare stuff so you won't have to worry about a damn thing in the event terrorists strike. And when she asks for help, you put one arm around her to work the keyboard, reach around her to grab the mouse, and whisper in her ear, "Oh no, baby, Safari is so much better than IE. Let me show you..."
*cough*
There's more to the Mini than just small hardware! (Score:3, Insightful)
Not only is it tough to find a PC with comparable hardware at a comparable size with a comparable price, but you've also got to factor in the software. The Mac Mini comes loaded with OS X, iLife, AppleWorks 6, Quicken 2005 and two games.
There's actually a lot of value there for $499. If you're able to find comparably sized hardware at a comparable price, I'd be very surprised if it came with anything more than the OS already installed.
Can't and won't bother. (Score:3)
A PC maker would never create a mac mini clone, as the engineering efforts would outweigh their bottom line on the system. They would be able to make a slightly larger box, but the temptation to use things such as full sized hard drives is too great a temptation for them.
The other problem is heat, the system will definitely be based around laptop technology for it's size and heat production, which is going to up the price even further.
Ultimately when you work with PC's the Speed, Price, Design triangle applies, I.E in the PC world you can get any two of the three, always at the expense of the 3rd. It only takes an experienced electronics company that is used to making small(iPod, 1" Total thickness Powerbooks, ultra thin displays, sunflower iMac, flatpanel iMac, etc) devices to pull off a good price, reasonable speed and fine design balance.
Another issue is that the moment you get some *useful* software for the low end PC the price bellows outward significantly and the result is that it will cost far in excess of the mac mini which ships with excellent(Award winning even) software, not trials/demos of paintshop pro and crippled OS's that don't let you connect to server volumes.
So now you say, oh we'll just pirate all the software we need from our friend, which to any unscrupulous person is a good tactic to get around that price barrier. The problems don't end there though, the moment you want acceptable video in the unit you will be forking out for a separate video card, as on board video using shared memory is woeful to say the least. This is then going to be run on the cheapest architecture that the PC maker could phathom, so performance of that card is going to be cut up significantly. Finally there are numerous issued to do with your optical drives, for computer manufacturers combo drives work out to be more expensive than individual cd and dvd rom readers. Such as in the low end dell offering, you can't get a combo drive, instead you have to get two individual drives one for reading dvds and one for burning cd-r/rw.
Anyway the point is made, for PC makers the numbers don't make sense, you'll get more cheap offerings, but as with the nature of going-on-the-cheap, the units will always be lack lustre.
Impressive! (Score:3, Interesting)
There is only one impressive thing about the Shuffle and the Mini-mac that highlights a new marketing move by Apple that might finally allow me to stop hating them - the price.
Apple has always dressed up average, underpowered personal computer components, slapped a white case around them, dropped a proprietary OS on them and sold them at three times the price to people who'll gladly pay three times the price for a computer because it's from Apple and it's "Blueberry" or whatever fruit flavour is popular.
I'd consider buying one of these newer, cheaper products because of the price and functionality. For a desktop PC I'd never own a Mac, simply because I'm a gamer, I need computational power and flexibility with my desktop (I want the choice between *nix and Windows, something an Apple can't provide). Not to mention the range of games available.
Having said that, I think Apple has screwed up with the Mac mini. All they had to do was add a TOSLINK/spdif audio out + s-video for the hi-fi enthusiasts and they would *KILL* the home theatre market. Modded X-box? No. Shuttle IPC? No. Micro-ATX? Nowhere near. It's so small it would run perfectly in a hifi stack, and with the CPU apple put in it, it's only good for video playback or web browsing or little functions like that. Unfortunately, there might not be enough CPU for on the fly video encoding, and it could use an imbedded HDTV tuner.
Don't forget what makes a computer worth using (Score:4, Insightful)
It's the software stupid!
The Mac mini is bundles with:
- BSD OS that is VVF (virtually virus free)
- Quicken '05
- iTunes
- iPhoto
- iMovie
- iDVD (if you opt for the Super Drive option)
- Garage Band
- Safari
- iCal
- Mail.app
- Address Book
- iSync
Without the software, the hardware is just something to look at (in the case of the Mac mini) or hide (in the case of most PC cases).
easy, and have been around for years (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.boldata.com/html/minipc.cfm
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/default.asp
those are from the first page of a google search
man oh man (Score:4, Insightful)
Your wife ASKS you to buy A SPECIFIC COMPUTER. And you think that's a problem. You're going to go to all the trouble to buy her something "better" - read: not what SHE asks but what YOU want to buy.
Dude, you've got a problem, and it's not necessarily with computers.
please save yourself (Score:3, Insightful)
What is more sexy?? A BSD based Mac Mini with bash, a fast processor, iLife, DVI out to RCA, real video card and more at 5.5x5.5 or a Win Longhorn Bathroom edition 6.5x7.5 with no DVI??
Huh? Tell me! I mean really.
Suck It Up (Score:4, Insightful)
[flamethrower on]
How about sucking it up and getting her the Mac Mini? Afraid it won't integrate with your Windows XP Home network or something? Afraid you might like it better than your own machines? Afraid your wife might like it better than you? Get over it.
If she does ask for a Mac, and you buy her a PC instead, it really won't matter what size it is, because it'll be sleeping in the bed with her, while you're sleeping in the garage. Think about all the other times she asked for a diamond and you bought her a bigger CZ instead.
[/flamethrower off]
Paul Thurrott strikes again (Score:3, Funny)
Re:First thing that popped into my head... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Bargain PC makers probably won't match the Mini (Score:2)
Ummm...
iMac clone maker to swap color after court ruling [cnn.com]
Re:What about an inexpensive... (Score:3, Informative)
How about just installing the Windows Remote Desktop Client for Mac [microsoft.com] and remote onto your headless PC? I went tried this out at a local Mac store [machardware-kc.com] this past weekend -- the guy walking the floor did a double take when he saw that I had a full Windows desktop (my machine at home) running on a PowerBook... apparently he was not aware of this functionalilty.
Re:the answer is no (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Heat is your enemy (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Apple does pretty well, if it hits your niche.. (Score:4, Insightful)
important for anyone with even mild computer-geek tendencies
Careful there, "computer-geek" is a pretty general word.
I make a living programming and I love to screw around with my computer, but I hate screwing around with hardware. I want a computer that Just Works so I can play with robots or writing a laser-pointer tracker or whatever I feel like doing this particular day of the week. I don't like fooling around with internal components and I don't like having to repair my OS. For this reason, I own a Mac.
Re:Apple does pretty well, if it hits your niche.. (Score:4, Interesting)
Personally, I feel great pleasure in optimizing my code. Just this morning I've got my robotics simulator ( in this case doing quadruped simulation, with many motors, sensors and whatnot, but it can simulate just about anything you can describe to it ) running at 100 Hz physics and 30 fps using less than 10% CPU -- on my meager 12" powerbook. Now, *that* is being a geek. Soon I'll be able to simulate swarms of robotic spiders, each with its own brain and with all with realistic physics. And all for fun.
I think a lot of people today mistake consumerism for geekery. A lot of people I hear being referred to as "experts" are really just people who know how to go to CompUSA or whatever and buy a card, stick it in, and run the windows installer for its driver. [sarcasm]Way to go. That's some HARD stuff. You must be really, really l33t[/sarcasm]
Rant over.