<![CDATA[I bought a Cube back when it was introduced for, if memory serves, $1,799. Now, Apple cut the Cube down to a third it's original size and will sell it for $499. Very slick.
As I wrote at Red Herring three weeks ago, this is the year Apple makes significant inroads. Scoble counters that $499 isn’t so cheap, but he compares it to a clunky PC from WalMart. The salient point is that buying a $499 MacMini is like getting a newly designed Cooper Mini compared to a 1964 Buick for only 10 percent more. They both have their charms, but only one needs to distinguish itself from the crowd with great design.
Since the Mini supports any DVI or VGA monitor and USB keyboard/mouse, it’s easy to imagine someone with an old PC swapping up and not having to buy any additional hardware.]]>
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MacMini
<![CDATA[I bought a Cube back when it was introduced for, if memory serves, $1,799. Now, Apple cut the Cube down to a third it's original size and will sell it for $499. Very slick. As I wrote at Red Herring three weeks ago, this is the year Apple makes significant inroads. Scoble counters that $499 […]
3 replies on “MacMini”
I like the minicooper idea, but not versus a 64 buick…more like minicooper vs. flavor of month compaq car…
I did some quick analysis:
For $499, you get:
1.25GHz PowerPC G4
256MB DDR333 SDRAM
ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB DDR video memory
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo drive
DVI or VGA video output
Mac OS X (Panther)
iLife 05, Quicken 2005, AppleWorks 6
To Apple s credit, the headless, keyboard-less, mouse-less mini is almost in the same price range as a similarly configured Windows system.
For $499 you can get a Dell Dimension 3000 with:
2.80 GHz Pentium4 processor
512MB DDR 400MHz SDRAM
Intel Extreme Graphics 2
40GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive
17 in (16 in viewable,.27dp) E773c CRT Monitor
48X CD-ROM Drive
WordPerfect word processor
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
The Windows PC has processor with a faster clock speed, more memory, a screen, mouse and keyboard for the same price as the headless iMac mini, which does better the Dell PC with a DVD/CD-R drive and FireWire and DVI ports. But the real value in the mini is in having a low cost box (6.5 inches wide and 2 inches thick) that can run the Mac software, including Panther and the rich iLife 05 personal productivity suite. Compared to Windows XP Home edition, the Mac OS and bundled software is a huge (and more secure) step up. It will be attractive to Windows users with some spare parts looking for an easy way to get into the Mac OS X, as well as Mac users who want to cobble together a system. If you have to buy the mouse, keyboard, a decent display and wireless connectivity for the mini, the price hovers around $1,000, which isn t that far from the $1,299 G5 iMac. The iMac mini is Apple’s best effort so far at providing a Windows switcher system, but whether it succeeds or not, it sets the stage for media center iMac device.
Dan, great analysis.
Yes, the 64 Buick was a bad comparison intended to convey how un-cutting edge are the PCs the MacMini will compete against. I also never really liked the Buicks very much, frankly, but I wouldn’t fit comfortably in a CooperMini, either, so the analogy is shot through with problems….
I’m a little concerned as to the quality of the machine, but then again, I’m not. Let me splain.
My office runs about 70 macs that I have to maintain. We just upgraded everyone to OS X about two months ago (yeah, they were dragging their feet, but their business is publishing, so it was neccessary) and we set up a bunch of eMacs which are essentially the same as these new minis. Only one of them was defective out of the box. Now, out of the G5 machines, we lost 1/3 which is pretty bad. So, I have reservations about the quality of machine Apple if putting out these days, but then again these are somewhat based on machines that have been good. I really liked the Cube by the way. I don’t know why that never caught on. It was a cool machine.
As far as the cost goes, Apple is making a good attempt to be competitive, but in reality once you add in the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and extra ram, your price is going to be just slightly less than a stock eMac. So, who knows how it will turn out.